Sorry it has been so long since I last blogged.... but let's be honest... sometimes our life here just isn't "blog-worthy." Since New Year's, our life has been pretty ordinary and a little boring.. which is fine once in awhile! Damian worked all week, we went out to sushi one night last week for a little dinner date and another night we saw "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," which was absolutely phenomenal! Damian left a few days ago for a conference in the U.S. and he will be back later this week- can't wait! We've got lots of fun trips planned for the next 2 weeks while Damian has leave from work... Sumo Tournament in Tokyo, Kyoto City, Hiroshima, and a few days of Tokyo fun! 
Today I went up to the other base (about 15 minutes by train) for a cultural craft class!!!! whoop whoop!!! It is taught by the same Japanese ladies that took us on the hike in Kamakura last month! They are so nice to have these classes and outings and really have us embrace Japanese culture and Japan in general. Today at class we made "kimekomi" (kim-may-Ko-mee) balls! When we first got there I was a little nervous because I'm not really the "crafty" type or creative at all... but most of you who know me already knew that! "Kimekomi" in Japanese literally means "to tuck in" which is what you do with the fabric around the ball. These traditional balls are considered a folk art of Japan, dating all the way back to the 18th century when a priest from Kyoto made one of these balls by using scraps of fabrics from a shrine festival. They are also called "quilt balls" as they have a quilt-like pattern on them.
Traditionally you would use a wooden ball but for today we used a styrofoam ball which was actually better because it was easier to cut and a little more forgiving to make it look presentable! We first had to carve lines around the ball, then we cut fabric to match each section and then glued (although usually only tucked) and tucked the fabric in the lines that we carved. It was actually very therapeutic to sit there and hang out with a great group of ladies while making these beautiful balls. The women who were teaching the class brought us some absolutely beautiful pieces of fabric to choose from and it was hard to chose which ones to use! Even though many of us used some of the same fabrics, all of our balls looked a little different. After tucking fabric in all the way around the ball, you glue on the trim and then pin on the tassels and BOOM- you have yourself a kimekomi ball! They are really beautiful and it was really fun to make them! *mine is the second one from the left... with the purple tassels!!!!
After craft class we headed back to Yokosuka and had an oishii lunch at a Thai restaurant near base! It was good food and good company! When we were leaving the restaurant we saw this sign and it is totally blog worthy and probably facebook worthy too! hehehe We liked the guy on the top corner peeking over to the women's stall.... really?!?!? Japanese Word of the Day:
Tenki (tank-ee): Weather
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