All's quiet...

Quiet week here on Yokosuka Naval Base... I used up my fun adventures for the blogs earlier in the week so don't get too excited about this one! I've just been hanging out, reading, watching TV... no gym this week- I've been super tired and have had a lot of headaches... which I think is due to the changes in the barometer again! It is pretty warm during the day but really cools off at night. It has also been very windy at night, where it howls through the house!

I went to the movies last night and saw "The Help" which was wicked good! I really enjoyed the book and the movie was just as good although there were a few parts they changed a little bit. The theater was packed... mostly women and children... no shock there!

Tonight I went to temple and met some more really nice people. We actually had a minyan (10 people) tonight so that was kind of cool. I went to dinner with 5 of the people from temple after services, we went right off base to a Vietnamese/Thai place and it was pretty good. They are all contractors with the Navy and none of them are active duty, but it was nice to get their perspective on getting a job here. One of the guys actually works at the hospital and is going to ask around for me... even though there are still no new jobs posted...

The BIG news on base the past few weeks is identity theft... apparently someone who worked at the Chili's Restaurant on base was stealing credit card numbers and someone was charging up a lot of money in the states. I think there have been something like 70+ cases reported that can be traced to Chili's... The problem was in the month of September... and Damian and I ate there 1 time, but it was at the very end of August so I think we are ok. NCIS is investigating and it is a really big deal all over base now.

The exchange and other stores on base already have aisles and aisles of Christmas stuff out... and in my mind it's still a little too early for all of this... I mean at least wait until you take the Halloween stuff down! On Monday for Halloween, they open the base up for the local Japanese to come on and trick-or-treat. In the Japanese culture it is not polite to go to someone's house, knock on their door, and ask for candy... but here it's a free-for-all, so apparently the base becomes packed with children trick-or-treating! They are having a Halloween carnival for kids this weekend somewhere on base. I, however, will be in Tokyo for Halloween so that will be a fun adventure for the blogs next week.

Japanese word of the day:
Hashi: Chopsticks
*pronunciation: Ha-she (a friendly suggestion was to add the pronunciation to help with the words of the day)

Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil

Anyone know where that originated from.... Nikko, Japan! The famous 'Three Wise Monkeys' are depicted in a carving over a door on the Toshogu Shrine in Nikko, Japan and were done in the 17th Century. They are thought to incorporate Confuscious's Code of Conduct. The Toshogu Shrine was one of our stops on our tour of Nikko, Japan that kicked off around 0400 yesterday AM.The Toshogu Shrine was amazing, it was one of the biggest shrines I have been to, and it is considered a World Heritage Site. It was truly remarkable and we spent about 2 hours there walking around and going into the different buildings. The main theme of this shrine (and many others all over Japan) is peace. There is a beautiful 5 story pagoda there (although it was so foggy you can barely see the top in this picture)... each story represents a different element: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Heaven! The colors of the paintings, the carving, and all the details were so amazingly ornate in each of the buildings! There are over 5200 carvings all with different messages located around this shrine. In one of the shrines temples we went into there were dragons painted all over the ceiling... there must have been at least 75 dragons and each one was in a different pose- absolutely gorgeous!At this one we made wishes by throwing some yen into the big bowl, bowing twice, clapping twice (to wake up the gods), and then making your wish, and then bowing one more time in thanks! We even did the 207 stairs to climb through the forest to the top where there is a tomb with the remains of the person the shrine was dedicated to. I could definitely feel my legs and butt after doing all these stairs. Part of what was so beautiful about this shrine was the rich green moss on a lot of the old stones (as you can see on the stairway in this picture). Some of the shrine is being restored and we could watch as they painted all of the intricate details... the restoration is expected to take about 4 years!

Another stop we made on our tour of Nikko (which is about a 3 hour drive from Yokosuka) was to the Yudaki Waterfall. To get to this beautiful waterfall we had to go up a very steep mountain with 48 switchbacks!!! I don't usually get car/bus sick, but with the bus twisting and turning it was hard not to! This waterfall was huge and the fall colors were absolutely gorgeous! It made me a little homesick for all the fall colors, smells, etc! We walked up the stairs to the top of the waterfall where there was a big lake and some sulfur hot springs (you know... the ones that smell like eggs)! It was a rainy day and the fog was so dense you could barely see the other side of the lake! One thing I missed (and probably said like 5 times throughout the day) was the crunching sound of the leaves! That is such a fall staple to hear all the leaves crunching as you walk and with the ground being wet with rain, the leaves were mostly slippery!

The rain had let up a little and I really wanted to throw some leaves up and let them fall on me (just like when I was little)!!! I grabbed a whole big handful of leaves (wet) to throw them up, but when leaves are wet, they all stick together and pretty much just came down on my head in a giant clump... not exactly what I was going for...

We also stopped at the Kegon Waterfall... and you had to take an elevator to get down to the viewing area... it was pretty intense.. mostly because they pack the elevator before you go down!!! I'm sure this waterfall and surrounding landscapes would be just as magical as the other, but unfortunately the rain and fog had covered most of it...you couldn't see the top of the waterfall and I couldn't get any pictures of the colors of the leaves to come out because of all the fog! We had a chance to walk around in the town while we were at this waterfall site and have lunch! For lunch I had Om rice... which is Japanese sticky rice, a tangy ketchup, onions, all covered with an egg and more ketchup (and usually there is chicken in it too). It was oishii! While we were there we also stopped at a place where this man did wood carvings... you could give him a name in English and he would translate it and carve it into the wood... he was so quick and his work was absolutely beautiful! All in all, it was a really great tour and a great day! The rain was a bummer because we couldn't see all the colors as clearly, but I think I will definitely do another trip to Nikko at some point!

Japanese word of the day:
Yokoso: Welcome

Fuji-licious

My day started at 0500, aka the middle of the night! It was rainy and humid on my walk over to MWR (Morale, Welfare, & Recreation), but when I got to the bus the guide assured me the weather would get better throughout the day! We left Yokosuka base around 0530 to head to Mt Fuji for the day! My tour guides name was Midori (she wasn't sour though... She was spicy with all her Japanese jokes!) She got this name because she was born in June when everything is lush and green and Midori means green as well!

First stop, Japanese rest stop! It had a Starbucks and a huge outlet mall-- but it wasn't open yet! I got this great little pre-made Starbucks latte at the little family mart there and it was very tasty! There was a bus full of older Japanese gentleman and they all had canned Chuhai's while walking around the rest area... Keep in mind it was 0700! I sort of wanted to join their tour instead!

Next stop, Mt Fuji Peace Park! This park was opened in 1964-- same year as the Tokyo Summer Olympics! This peace park has been built with a prayer for the peace and happiness of Japan as well as World Peace. This peace park has 33 statues of the Goddesses of Mercy which are said to heal if you touch the statue where you have sickness. They were all very different and beautiful. There was a large bell at the park that the Buddhist monks ring on December 31st each year; they ring it 108 times as that is the number of earthly temptations we all must overcome to achieve nirvana. A beautiful white pagoda looks over the entire park and has statues of different buddhas on each side. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see Mt Fuji from here today.

Next stop was the Mt Fuji visitor center and an informational video on the mountain and it's history! Mt Fuji is a dormant volcano, it's last eruption was in 1707. Mt Fuji is 12,385 feet at the peak and is broken into "stations." The top is the 10th station and today we went up to the 5th... And I hiked to the 6th. You can climb Mt Fuji between July 1st and August 26th. It takes anywhere from 6-8 hours to the top and about 3-5 to get down. Altitude sickness is common so it is best to take your time and at this time of year it is less than freezing at the top! ***Fun fact alert: The first woman to climb Mt Fuji was in 1972 and she did it disguised as a man... Up until then it was believed the mountain was too sacred for women to climb.

Once we got to the 5th station at a little more than 7000 ft, the weather had really changed! The wind was blowing and it was cold enough for me to put on my hat and gloves... I even saw a few snowflakes! It was pretty cloudy and you couldn't see the mountain at all never-mind the peak! We were there for awhile so I started the hike towards the next station up...It wasn't long before I was sucking wind so I stopped at a nice rock and had some of my lunch I packed... PB & J!!!It was an amazing view from there and I could have sat there all day... But there was a mountain that was mocking me so I continued on up! I made it to the 6th station and it was beautiful and very cold... I was literally IN the clouds but I had to get going on the rest of the tour so I headed back down to get back on the bus. I considered this a "meet and greet" with the mountain before Damian and I conquer it next summer!

I passed many people on the trail and said a friendly "kon'nichiwa" to most... I did however get a very unexpected "buenos tardes" didn't see that one coming but for right now my Spanish is still better than my Japanese... At one point there was a group of Japanese tourists taking pictures of ME... The tour guide said my skin/eyes make me a celebrity! Awkward!!!! There's this beautiful mountain and landscapes and they take pictures of me... C'mon people!

Up next was the Fuji Sengen Jinja shrine, one of the largest forest shrines in all of Japan! From there you could see Mt Fuji and there is a trail to hike to the summit from here. This shrine has a goddess of fire for which at the end of each summer they have a fire festival for. This goddess had to give birth into the fire to prove her faithfulness to her husband... A little extreme, no?!?! The gate of this shrine is now made out of wood... It used to be made out of steel but Japan needed the steel during World War II so they took it down. The Japanese symbol for a shrine is a backwards swastika... It means happiness in Japanese. These symbols are located on many statues around the shrine as well as the symbol on a map to show where there is a shrine.


Oshino Eight Ponds was our last stop of the day before heading back to base. It takes 80 years for water from Mt Fuji to get from the top and filter through all the way down to these eight ponds. This water is considered the purest!Each of the eight ponds has a different name and there is one pond called "sake bottle pond..." the legend of this pond is that many years ago there was a wedding and during the wedding the bride "did gas" (that's how Midori told it) and the bride was so embarrassed that she ran away with a sake bottle and jumped into the pond and committed suicide... Supposedly, sometimes you can see her wooden clogs floating in this pond! I LOVE Japanese legends like this!

After this it was a long drive back to base... With a quick stop for some dinner.... Which i didn't have because everything had meat/fish in it... Hope this blog isn't too choppy, I wrote it throughout the day on the bus on my iPhone so I wouldn't forget anything! We got back to base around 2200 because there was tons of traffic from an accident and my tour leaves tomorrow AM at 0400... Guess I'll be sleeping on the bus tomorrow!

Japanese word of the day:
Taiyo: Sun

Now what?!?!

I had hoped that putting all of our stuff away would have taken me more than 2 days, but I should have known better! At least it kept me busy for 2 days... I am thankful for that! The house is about as clean as it can get.. I've dusted, vacuumed, mopped, and scrubbed just about everything, but it's just me here so it doesn't get too dirty... except for the abnormally heavy hair loss I have going on, it's not too bad otherwise. I have read all 5 magazine my Mom put in my last care package and am all caught up on this weeks TV shows. I figured out how to hook up Damian's PS3 to our TV and to our Hulu account so I could watch all my shows... I am very proud of myself for doing this on my own and it is definitely nice to watch the shows on a TV instead of a 15 inch laptop!

I went to the post office yesterday to find a letter from HR on base saying that I did not get the job. The letter was dated the day after I turned in my application and paperwork and I have a sneaking suspicion that they already had the position filled when they advertised it... I didn't necessarily want the job in the immunization clinic but it was a J-O-B... oh well! This was the first job I have ever applied to and not got... I guess you're never too old to learn about rejection.

It's a rainy day here in Yokosuka, and I don't have much to do, the time goes by pretty slowly when you spend most of your day trying to figure out what to do to make the time pass... sort of like waiting for the toaster or watching a pot of water boil...

Tomorrow I am heading to Mount Fuji for a sightseeing tour from the base! It is the last tour of the season that goes up to the fifth station of the mountain! I'm definitely going to dress in lots of layers for this adventure! We leave at 0530 and don't get back until around 2200 and then another tour the next day too! I should have lots of fun stuff to report back and will most definitely need a day of rest after these 2 back to back tours!

Hoping to meet Damian at the ship's next port in another few weeks, although haven't booked it quite yet! That will definitely be something to look forward to! Can't believe we are spending this much of our first year of marriage apart... someday I will look back and think it's kind of funny, but it's not funny quite yet ;)

Japanese word of the day:
Itadakimasu: I humbly receive (literal translation) but is the equivalent of bon appetite etc... when you get your food at a restaurant this is what the waiter says... when it comes out really fast it sounds like "Eat a duck or mouse"

Finally... moved in!

The movers came bright and early on Tuesday AM and in 3 hours everything was moved into our place and out of the boxes... now the tough part... putting it ALL away! It took me about 2 days to find a place for everything and get somewhat settled. Everything seemed to be here... everything except our remote control... which I am pretty convinced is in storage in San Diego!!! The TV is only about 6 feet from the couch but I really don't see myself getting up every time I want to change the channel... I ordered a new one already!

The best part was unpacking our kitchen stuff and having real plates and cups and pots and pans!!! EVERYTHING went into the dishwasher because it had a funky smell after sitting all wrapped in boxes for 5 months! It was the first time I had used the dishwasher since I had been eating off plastic plates and using "keg" cups for the past 6 weeks! Well... that didn't go so smoothly and the water backed up through our disposal and made a mess... really!?!? I haven't had a dishwasher in years and didn't grow up with one so I wasn't really sure if I somehow messed this up...

I called the housing department the next morning and told them the problem and they said they would send someone over... I forgot that someone was ALSO coming in the morning to clean the dryer vents in all the units in the building. Well, the doorbell rang and this very nice Japanese man who spoke pretty much NO english was standing there. I welcomed him in and began explaining to him in very elaborate sign language the problem with the sink/disposal/dishwasher... he smiled and then walked down the hall towards the laundry room... oopsy! About an hour later another maintenance guy came and fixed the problem.

Everything is all put away now and the house feels more like a home with all of our stuff... just one thing missing and that's Damian!

I must be really bored today because I ironed all of Damian's shirts that were super wrinkly after being shoved into boxes 5 months ago... many of you know that I don't really iron and actually didn't own an iron for 4 years in San Diego... if something had a wrinkle in it I would use my hair straightener to fix the problem... true story! That killed some time!

Last night we had a beautiful sunset. I took this picture leaning over our patio looking out towards the ocean. That's about it for me! A nursing job was posted on base and I applied but won't find out for a few weeks... my guess is that there is A LOT of competition for this job! Still waiting for all my Red Cross paperwork to process! I'm going on 2 tours this weekend and am very excited! I will have lots to blog about when I get back and hopefully have some great pictures too!

Japanese word of the day:
Sentaku: Laundry

Beth & Damian take on Singapore, Day 3

Another HOT day here in Singapore, we started out by walking down by the river to Boat Quay, another restaurant/bar hotspot in Singapore. We walked down to the Fullerton Hotel, another historic hotel in Singapore located at the mouth of the Singapore River. It was beautiful inside and out and we saw lots of brides and grooms taking pictures! Good thing we had our sweat rags because we did A LOT of walking and sweating! The Fullerton Hotel is also located right across from Marina Bay and Merlion Park, our next stop!

Merlion Park is a must-see on a trip to Singapore. The Merlion statue has been there since 1972 and is the head of a lion and the body of a fish! This is symbolic as it is from the original name of Singapore... "Singapura" which mean "lion city," and also because Singapore started as a small fishing village which is where the fish part comes from. It's pretty neat and there were certainly a lot of tourists down there!


Next we walked around the bay, stopping frequently in the shade to cool off or to quickly hop into a building with A/C on our way to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Shops! This was very impressive. The shops went on forever and were all pretty high end. Marina Bay Sands was built in 2006, the property has a 2,561-room hotel, a 1,300,000-square-foot convention-exhibition center, 800,000-square-foot Marina Bay Sands mall, an ArtScience museum, two large theaters, seven "celebrity chef" restaurants, two floating Crystal Pavilions, an ice skating rink, and the world's largest atrium casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. The complex is topped by a 340m-long SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a 150m infinity swimming pool... to say the least it is impressive!!!

We spent a few hours just walking around the shops and eating at the delicious food court inside... and when I say food court, I'm talking real dishes, fancy chopsticks, and about 20+ freshly made asian food specialties to choose from... we watched them make noodles right in front of us, all had fresh veggies too... it wasn't like a food court in an American Mall to say the least. We even had freshly squeezed kiwi juice! The ice skating rink was right next to the food court so while you ate you could watch people skate around. We headed up to the top of the SkyPark to get the awesome views... on the 57th floor! It was breathtaking up there. Unfortunately because we weren't guests at the hotel we could only walk around a small section of the SkyPark, but we got some amazing pictures looking down at the city and also out to the sea!

Next was the world famous Singapore Flyer, the 165-meter high Observation Wheel is the tallest in the world and takes 30 minutes to do one full rotation. It is HUGE and very sturdy! You go into a car with about 12 people and can walk around and take pictures and get a good view of most of the city this way!
After our busy day we went back to the pool to chill out for a little bit and it was incredibly hot out there... even at 1600! We didn't stay long as both of us got a lot of sun being outside walking around all day! We had a busy couple of days but good thing because Damian was supposed to be here for another 24+ hours when he got a phone call in the hotel that he had to be back on the ship ASAP! I was obviously super bummed because it was very unexpected and I hadn't even begun to think about saying good-bye again! We grabbed a quick dinner and then he headed back to the ship.... tear tear tear.

Today I spent some time by the pool and just walking around the city. We were going to go to Sentosa Island today to spend the day together on the beach before he left but my shoulders got too much sun yesterday, and I didn't want to go by myself. I head back to Japan tomorrow morning... about a 7 hour flight.

Hope these 3 blogs make up for me not blogging for a few days! :)

Beth & Damian take on Singapore, Day 2

Day 2 in Singapore and we got up somewhat early and hit the ground running... so much to do and see! We started by getting some coffee at a little coffee place in the basement of the mall across from our hotel... all the coffee here (except Starbucks) is espresso and super strong... that'll wake you up... especially if you're not used to it! We started walking towards the center of the city and found ourselves in many shopping malls...there is A LOT of shopping malls here in Singapore... something like 250! They are all at least 3-4 stories and are filled with all sorts of stores! One that we went to was 6 floors of electronics... ALL electronics.... anything you could possibly think of! It was pretty neat, but after the 3rd floor it all looked the same. It was fun to look around at what they had, but we didn't buy anything here. We learned that every store we went into we were bombarded by pretty aggressive sales people so after a few stores we just looked from afar.

We walked down to an upscale mall (which there are also A LOT of here) but they had a big food court and we had a nice lunch there.Then we walked across the street to Raffles Hotel, one of the world's most famous hotels built in 1899 and named after the founder of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles. This hotel has an amazing history but we didn't go for the history, we went there because it is where the Singapore Sling originated, apparently invented by a bartender at the Long Bar sometime between 1910-1915! There were 6 different Singapore slings to choose from... I had the original and Damian had the Summer Sling... yum! They also had peanuts all along the bar and at the tables... you throw the shells on the floor... always fun!

At some point during this day we were inside one of the many malls and went to use the restroom... well of course in the ladies room there were about 8 people in front of me... I peeked out from the line to make sure there were real toilets inside the stalls as I had already been fooled a few times on this trip... I was happy and relieved to see there was. I waited patiently and when it was my turn I walked down to the end to the open stall to find.... a squatty potty... c'mon... reallly... what the ****(insert expletive here)!?!? Of all the stalls in there it was probably the only one... what luck!!! I didn't want to male a scene and get out of line to wait for a real western toilet, but did I really want to do this... I had no choice... that Singapore Sling did me in! Luckily I had a dress on which made this somewhat easier, but I'm just not a fan of squatting over a hole in the ground... makes me feel like a puppy!

Next stop, Orchard Road... this is basically a big street with lots of shopping... very high end too! The streets were lined by Prada, D&G, Burberry, Hermes, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Dior to name a few... obviously we didn't buy anything down there... just window shopped! We walked most of the street and it started to rain so we headed back to the hotel. We took the subway everyday as it was super easy, and very clean too!

Our hotel was located in an area of Singapore known as Clarke Quay (pronounced "key"). It is a large section of bars/restaurants and right on the river. It is really neat at night and during the day too. They have river taxis that take you all along the river to other places in the city! The river looks pretty dirty, but it is supposedly a lot cleaner than it used to be! On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, they have a river market all along Clarke Quay and a lot of people come out for the nightlife here! At night is is all lit up and really beautiful. Lucky us we stayed a stones throw away and could just cross the bridge and be at our hotel!

It was Friday night and we headed out early to hit up happy hour and grab some dinner too. We stopped at a lot of different places including a place called Brew-werks, which is right on the water at Clarke Quay, where we did lots of beer tasting... we did a sampling of some of the beers and then picked our favorites... it was fun! Damian liked Oatmeal Stout and I liked Blonde Assassin!
We also went to a place called "Clinic" that had a hospital/clinic theme... wheelchairs and hospital beds for seats, drinks served in IV bags on IV poles and shots in syringes, and the wait staff is dressed in scrubs... definitely a novelty kind of place, expensive but fun for one drink!


After checking out many of the local bars/restaurants, we headed home to rest up for our next day full of adventure!

Beth & Damian take on Singapore, Day 1

Singapore is an island nation off the tip of Malaysia and about 85 miles north of the equator! HOT! There are approximately 5 million people who live on this tiny island and that is approximately 19,000 people per square mile... what?!?! The population is made up mostly of Chinese, Malay, and Indian people, as well as many people from Europe and the U.S. The official language is English, although most people here speak many languages.Singapore is known for its booming economy, futuristic architecture, and also for it's intense laws... Chewing gum is illegal here which makes the streets very clean, also there is no spitting...Offenses like being caught with drugs on you could lead to caning or hanging... no joke! There are signs just about everywhere with rules and fines on them... this one I had to look up what a "durian" was... it is a very foul smelling fruit found here in Singapore that is apparently very delicious but the aroma can be compared to gym socks... ummmm I think I'll pass!


I arrived on Wednesday night around midnight and Damian's ship came in the next day! We met up that afternoon and went to explore around our hotel and also in Chinatown which is HUGE here! The shopping was about the same as in any Chinatown around the world... lots of stuff that you may buy but by the time you get home you're not sure why you bought it... we did a lot of looking around in the shops but didn't buy anything. We did stop and share a dragonfruit & kiwi fruit smoothie... it was so yummy!

We had dinner in Chinatown later that night and Damian had a spicy crab plate and I had noodles with veggies! I tried the sauce that was on the crab and just a little drop just about burned the tip of my tongue off.... good thing we had 2 large Tiger beers to help cool off. Tiger beer is brewed here in Singapore and is really tasty and light! We had an early night the first night, both pretty tired and it was nice to just spend some time together.

*Sorry no words of the day for this trip, but once I'm back in Japan I will continue!

1492

Happy Columbus Day!

Uneventful weekend for me here in Japan... I'm starting to miss home, not just because of all my friends and family, but you know that feeling when you're on vacation but you're ready to be back home... yeah that's how I feel! This is probably due to the fact that our stuff is still not here so it doesn't feel like home, but hopefully it can be delivered next week!

Today I went for a long walk... I needed to get out of the "fishbowl" as Kate calls it. The base is nice because everyone speaks the same language as me and I can read all the signs, and I can buy the stuff I'm used to at home, but sometimes you just have to get out of this little bubble we live in! This morning when I left the gate, I had to show my ID to leave... that was new to me... usually I just have to show it when I come back ON base. It's like college when you wanted to get into your dorm and there was that ID checker at the door to buzz you in... same thing.... ugh... haven't I done the college thing a time or two or three before?

Anyway, I left the base having no plan of where I was going, I just started walking... I walked down to Mikasa Park which is literally a stones throw away from the base in the picture you can see the base right beyond the park-- across the water). It was nice and sunny today, and pretty warm in the sun! It was nice to wander around with absolutely no purpose! Mikasa park is home to the Japanese battleship 'Mikasa' which is one of the "4 Great Historical Warships of the World." ***fun fact alert*** The USS Constitution in Boston, MA is also one of the 4 Great Historical Warships of the World. The battleship Mikasa launched in Britain in 1900 and was an active battleship for the Imperial Japanese Navy for many battles. The United States has helped preserve this ship with direct involvement from Admiral Nimitz and was completed in 1961. It is now permanently located in Mikasa Park and is a museum you can tour.

It's not the Nina, the Pinta, or the Santa Maria.... it's the Battleship Mikasa!!!


I stopped at many stores, mostly just to wander around and see what was there... one thing I don't think I have mentioned yet is how most big stores, even grocery stores, have a pet section where they are selling puppies and kittens... It is weird to have this at the grocery store or the home depot like store but I can't help but go look at them every time! They are so little and cute (kawaii) and cuddly... but then I remember that they are probably coming from puppy mills etc and I have to walk away before I get all emotional in the store... It's like those ASPCA commercials where Sarah McLachlan is singing that song and they show all those sad animals...

On a much lighter note, on my long walk today I came across a funny sign that I wanted to share with you... You can hopefully figure out what it says from the detailed picture!

I don't know if I will blog again before I go on vacation but I will have lots to share when I get back!

Japanese word of the day:
Inu: Dog

TGIF... whatever

Hello all! TGIF... it's Friday night here... the start of Yom Kippur... let the fasting begin! It doesn't really matter that it is Friday because it's not like I have an exciting weekend coming up or anything... there was a time in my life where Friday nights were what I waited all week for... those days are long gone! ;)

Today I had "Provider Orientation" at the hospital which was supposed to be 4 hours long and only lasted 1... usually I would be happy with a class that ends early, but honestly it was something that filled my afternoon and kept me out of the house... oh well! It was pretty interesting to learn about the hospital and how it works a little differently here than a hospital in the U.S. There is a lot we are lacking here as far as specialties and often times the providers have to make decisions to transfer out to a Japanese hospital or transfer to the U.S. for specialty or follow-up services. There are about 6 hospitals out in the community that we transfer to for different specialties... the question that comes up often is regarding the quality of care as the Japanese physicians go to Medical School for only 2 years and then work as "apprentices" for many years to gain their skills and often times the care they receive in the community is very different than the care we provide in an American hospital. The two places in the U.S. that we would consider transferring patients to are San Diego and also Tripler Army Hospital in Hawaii... I was surprised to find out they transfer patients quite often.

There is NO inpatient psychiatric unit here... although they could probably fill it if they had one, there is also no neurosurgeon or cardiologist. It is a younger population but there are also many contractors on base as well that are middle-aged and could potentially have some problems. If you go into premature labor here, they very often send you out to a Japanese Hospital where they can better take care you... however, this may mean NO epidural and giving birth in a room with a whole bunch of other people... yikes! I spoke with the Red Cross Coordinator for the hospital today and she told me they would not be able to place me and I wasn't allowed to do ANY patient care until my security clearance comes back... so at least 2-3 months! I'm putting this out there so everyone can stop asking me if I got a job or if I started volunteering yet... nope and nope... it's gonna be awhile! Also, for anyone who thinks I'm having fun not working for 6 months and thinks I am enjoying this "time off" or "vacation"... all I have to say is "have you met me?" I'm not very good at sitting still and not being busy ALL the time... this is very hard for me!

On a lighter note, I wanted to share the vending machines with you so you could see what they look like... they are everywhere! On the top row of this one they have cans of coffee which are so yummy! Damian and I bought a case of them so we have them in our fridge all the time and they are really good and not too sweet! In many of the vending machine they have apple tea which I don't like at all... it tastes like an apple Jolly Rancher to me. A lot of people like CC Lemon which is a lemon flavored drink but I'm not a big fan of this one either. This particular machine is on the first floor of our building so I've tried most of the stuff in it... and now I know which ones I like and don't like.

I'm still pretty homesick... which is weird because I'm not really one to get homesick, but it's hard being on the other side of the world all by yourself... it probably doesn't help that I miss Damian so much! The good news is that our belongings have arrived and were clearing customs this morning... the bad news is they probably won't be delivered for over a week because I'm going away next week... lucky me!

Japanese word of the day:
saishoku-shugisha: vegetarian (I definitely have to write this one down)

Grilled Cheese/Tomato Soup Kind of Day

It's been raining here all night and all day and I know most of you in New England can understand because it's been raining there too... it's actually has cooled off here quite a bit, especially at night! It still feels pretty humid out, and I can verify the humidity because I am still emptying my dehumidifier 3+ times a day at my apartment! Today was a nothing day, it was gloomy and rainy and I didn't really feel like doing much of anything. I did attempt to go for a walk out in town, but after my first stop (100 Yen Store), I was drenched, even with my raincoat and umbrella so I headed back home. I was hoping our belongings would arrive in Japan today, but no word yet... trying to have a little patience, but I'm missing my stuff!

I wasn't going to blog today because I don't have much to talk about, but I have to stay up for a few more hours so I can make the necessary phone calls in the U.S. It's sort of a pain to be 13 hours ahead of EST but even more of a pain when the office doesn't open until 0800 CST and I am 14 hours ahead! I'm just trying to get my nursing license which I have had more problems trying to get because they need official verification from every state I have ever been licensed in and in order to get "official" verification you have to pay lots of money and it's all very frustrating... the BEST part is that when I finally do get this nursing license with my advanced practice status on it, I have to send them another application for a name change! HA... comical! I'll be lucky to have it by Chrismukkah!

I need the updated nursing license for the credentialing department at the hospital here so I can volunteer for the Red Cross... you would think with this entire process I'm going through that I am going to have some Top Secret clearance when all is said and done... I'm thinking that's pretty doubtful... can you imagine... me in my Red Cross Volunteer vest (I'm not making this up) with a top secret clearance!!!

I haven't done much in the past few days that is "blog worthy..." I did get my fingerprints redone so they could start my security clearance and when I brought them into the office they told me it was just a clerical error and the first ones were fine... so glad I waited an hour at security to get that second set of fingerprints done... the guy told me I could keep them... like it was a prize or something... maybe I'll frame them and hang them on the wall so I can always remember how fun this process was!

Japanese phrase of the day:
Yasai dake: Vegetable only

Empty House

The movers came this AM to take all of our "loaner" furniture... I wasn't using any of it anyway since I've been sleeping on the couch since Damian left so I figured I would have them come get it with hopes that our stuff arrives soon! On the website, it says that our stuff is somewhere crossing the Pacific and hasn't made it to port here in Japan yet but I'm hopeful that it will be here in the next week! I pretty much live in the living room these days anyway... I sleep on the couch, eat my meals on the couch, watch endless Law & Order SVU episodes on the couch... I try to switch sides everyday so I don't indent one cushion! Brilliant!

As I was crossing the "quad" on base today the Fire Department was out doing a demonstration for the elementary school and they also had an earthquake simulator that was basically a metal box on a trailer that shook like a bad carnival ride! I walked by it twice and both times the nice Japanese lady firefighter tried to get me to come try it out... ummmmmm no thanks, I live here and I don't need to get inside a metal box that shakes... that would only make my phantom earthquake syndrome worse than it already is! I think it's Earthquake awareness month or something, I keep seeing stuff all over about what to do during an earthquake.

When you walk down the street here in Japan, people are often handing things out in the streets, sometimes they are flyers for a restaurant or a store, or coupons for something, and very often they are handing out coupons that are in a little pouch of individual tissues... at first I didn't really take them because I didn't really know how everything worked around here yet and I was thinking I don't really need tissues I don't have a cold... but Kate filled me in... They are great to have in your purse or satchel (man purse) because you never know when you are going to be in one of those squat toilets with no TP and you are really going to wish you took that coupon and tissue packet from the nice man handing them out down the street! So far, I haven't had to use those kind of toilets, but it is only a matter of time...

I'm getting excited for my "vacation" to meet Damian at his next port call, I booked a spot on the airport shuttle today and am already starting to pack a little even though it is a few weeks away... In my previous life where I worked full time and attended grad school full time I would pack the night before a trip or the the morning of, but in my new life I have lots of time so yes I am packing weeks before because I am excited to see my husband! I booked a MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation) trip today through the base to go on a sightseeing tour of Mt. Fuji in a few weeks as well. It will be the last trip before there is too much snow to go that far up the mountain and I am really looking forward to it. I'm going by myself... but am totally fine with that! I'm not afraid of a little "ME" time!

I was lying out on the patio trying to salvage what is left of my awesome New England Summer tan, but these huge dark clouds rolled in so that kind of ruined my afternoon. I'm nervous for the winter where I will actually see what color my skin is without my San Diego tan year round (it's been a few years)... Damian has no idea he married Casper, but he'll see soon enough...

Japanese phrase of the day:
Toire wa, doko desu ka?: Where is the bathroom?