Super Bowl.... Monday???

Yup, that's right... Super Bowl was watched here in Japan on Monday AM... around 0800!!!! Definitely a different kind of Super Bowl than we were used to. I'm used to having all day to prepare and watch the pregame etc... but nope, we basically got up Monday morning and then our guests arrived to watch the game... good thing we had everything ready the night before! Damian even supported the right team... PATRIOTS.... kind of... he at least supported Danny Woodhead by sporting his jersey and humoring me for the day! We had a Super Bowl breakfast with LOTS of food and fun! It was a pretty nasty day here.... cold and rainy so not too many people came over, but we made the best of it.... even though the Patriots didn't win and we had a few LOUD Giants fans in the house- I think everyone had a good time!

I know I haven't reported much on our daily stuff lately since we have been having so many fun adventures I thought I would try not to bore you with the boring stuff! Damian is busy back at work and I am still not busy hanging out at home. The Red Cross volunteer thing is the biggest waste of time since they are still working on my credentialing and I have pretty much put it on the back burner as I don't even care anymore, and I have been approved to substitute teach at the schools here on base... I just haven't actually been called yet... I've been working out and reading a lot lately and I try to fill my days the best I can! Damian is taking leave again next week, but we don't have too much planned... I'm sure we will find something fun to do... and then in March we signed up for a few more trips through the base for some sightseeing! Hopefully we have some new adventures to tell you about soon... until then...

Japanese Phrase of the Day:
Ureshii desu (ew-resh-ee des): I'm happy :)

Seven Lucky Gods

The seven lucky gods of fortune are a BIG deal here in Japan. You can see carvings, figurines, and pictures of these 7 lucky gods in almost every Japanese home. On Wednesday I went on a free (gotta love FREE) tour with a great group of women in Kamakura to visit 7 different temples/shrines that are home to the 7 Gods!!! This is a full day event as each one is not right down the road from each other, we took the train and walked until we went to all 7. We bought a stamping sheet with a picture of the 7 Gods in the middle and had it stamped at each location.... this is going to be great when it is all framed! My favorite as the first one we went to (to the right), Hotei, he is the god of contentment and happiness! I liked him the best because he was life size and we got to rub his belly for good luck. Many of the others were off limits to pictures and definitely to touching! There was even one that we couldn't see at all because it was behind closed doors!!!

The 2nd one we went to was Fukurokuju, and it was literally a head in a box... He is the god of longevity and wealth and has a long beard and a abnormally long head. The 3rd one is pictured to the left and his name is Daikoku. You're not supposed to take pictures of this one, but we had already taken this when we saw the sign that said no pictures.... oops! Anyway, he is the god of wealth, agriculture, farming and commerce, and sits upon bales of rice which is very important in Japanese culture. He has a mallet in his hand which symbolizes good luck so we rubbed the string attached to the mallet. Daikoku was located at the Hase-dera Temple which has gorgeous views of Kamakura and the ocean! We had lunch up there... it was pretty cold with the wind but the view was priceless! The 4th one we walked to was Ebisu, the god of fisherman, the ocean, sailors, commerce and fair dealing. He was so tiny and off limits that you couldn't even see his fishing pole or fish that he carries!

Seven is an important number, not only in Japanese culture, but in many cultures all over the world. Seven can be seen in many different ways... there are 7 principles in the Samurai's philosophy, The Japanese Star Festival is on the 7th day of the 7th month, when a baby is born they celebrate it on the 7th day, and when someone dies, they mourn for 7 days and then again after 7 weeks, and in Buddhism they believe in 7 reincarnations.... all very interesting! Sometimes these 7 gods are found in pictures where they are all in a treasure ship as each one represents a different kind of fortune! It is common for people to visit all 7 gods right after New Year's to ensure they have all sorts of good luck for the new year!!!

The 5th one we went to was Jurojin and he is the god of longevity and wisdom... super important to see him- especially because I want to live forever! The 6th one we visited was Bishamon, the god of war, treasure, defender of Buddhist faith and patron of warriors. He was so tiny I couldn't even see him, plus he was inside a temple that was really dark! The 7th and final god of fortune we visited was all locked up and only is brought out on special occasion, but her name is Benzaiten, the only female in the group! She is the goddess of eloquence, the arts, wisdom, and beauty! In the pictures we saw she would be really neat to see... AND the thing with this 7th one is that there is actually ANOTHER statue of Benzaiten that is a little different located at another shrine and as you can see our stamp sheet has one more open spot... soooooooo hopefully soon we will make it to the 8th place to get the stamp and complete the page! I like getting the stamps because they are all hand done... first they use the red stamps, then they do the writing by hand and it is so beautiful to watch! A very awesome day!!!! Can't wait to get the 8th stamp and then frame this for our home!!!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Nani Nani (nonny nonny): What is it??? (slang)

Our Tokyo Getaway

Last week Damian and I spent 4 days up in Tokyo just kind of hanging out and sightseeing and enjoying our last few days off together! We went up on Sunday AM and headed to Harajuku to try and catch a glimpse of the kids/teenagers who get all dressed up on the weekends as their favorite anime or pop stars... BUT of course it was raining so we only saw a few out and about! While we were there we also walked through the Meiji Shrine (which I wrote all about in a previous blog) and checked out some of the funky stores in the area. Then we headed back to the hotel (The New Sanno- military hotel) where I had a haircut appointment... finally! That night we had very very oishii take out sushi from a place right down the street from the hotel that came highly recommended!!!

The next day we got up early to watch the Patriots win the AFC spot in the Super Bowl..whoop whoop!!!! Then we went about our day... first stop was the Tsukiji Fish Market located right in central Tokyo! It is the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the WORLD... and it is truly massive! It was really impressive, we could have walked through it all day... the only thing was that by the time we got there most of the early morning action was over. Each morning there are thousands of restaurants represented bidding to get some of the fish... I'm sure this starts WAY before I even think about getting up... we got there before 10 AM and it looked like they were packing up for the day already! We did get to see a lot of fish including these massive frozen tuna that you can see to the left... I had no idea tuna were so incredibly big... I was a little worried about the smell of fish bothering me when we went down to this market, but I honestly could barely even smell it. There was also a very large vegetable and fruit market down in this area and it is all a pretty big tourist attraction! There were a few little sushi restaurants located in some of the shops down by the market that had wicked long lines... I'm sure they have the freshest fish in the whole city!!!

From the fish market we walked down towards Ginza, another Tokyo neighborhood. Ginza is known for some of its shopping and some of it's high end stores. We had to head down to the Omega store anyway to get a link taken out of Damian's watch so it was perfect to head this way! It was a pretty nice shopping area, but nothing more than a few long streets lined with expensive stores! Next stop was the Sony BUilding to check out the Sony showroom with new products. We spent about an hour checking out some of the newest technology Sony has to offer as well as many things that haven't even been released to the public yet. In this picture I was riding a bike with 3D glasses and TV and I had make it to the goal by pedaling... it was pretty neat! A lot of the new stuff Sony had was 3D related which honestly I'm not so crazy about... makes me a little dizzy! Some of the new MP3 players were pretty unique as well. It was cool because you could play with all the stuff, pick it up, touch it, take pictures, listen to music... it was a neat experience!

The next day we went to Tokyo Tower (also discussed in an earlier blog) and took the elevator to the top observatory... it was a clear sunny day! The night before it snowed in Tokyo and it actually stuck!!! It was more icy than anything, but pretty cool to see everything covered in a thin layer of snow!!!It was cool to see the view in the daylight because the last time I went it was night time. The night before we had a pretty decent sized earthquake that really shook our hotel so I was a little nervous about having another one when we were high above the world in Tokyo Tower. After leaving, we stopped at a really yummy place for lunch. Japanese speaking only, no English menu, and one of those places where you order by pushing a button on a vending machine and getting a ticket. It was sort of an adventure because we were matching pictures with Japanese writing trying to figure out what we wanted... it worked out fantastically because we both got exactly what we wanted and had lunch for under $8 for the two of us!!!! BONUS!

Next stop was the Imperial Palace which is absolutely ginormous!!!! If you were to walk around the outside perimeter it would be over 3 miles... all surrounded by a very large moat, and very high walls to protect the palace from attack (in the old days)!The grounds were covered by a thin layer of snow which was really pretty and we walked a short distance around to see what we could... you can't really see the palace from outside the walls, and it is only open on 2 days of the year for people to go in and see the Royal Family... On January 1st so the family can receive the New Year's greeting, and on the Emperors birthday (December 23rd) so the Emperor can receive birthday wishes from the people! I'm thinking we may have to venture up there next year to see all the craziness that goes on when the Emperor makes an appearance! It was pretty cold out so we didn't do the whole walk around the palace grounds... maybe next time!

We then headed up to northern Tokyo to Ueno (ew-ay-no) Park area to check out a museum. The park had many museums, and even a zoo! It was a completely different part of Tokyo and kind of neat to see another area. We went to the Tokyo National Museum that was full of awesome historical artifacts from Japan's history. We got to see some beautiful kimonos, samurai swords, old pottery, scrolls, books, wall hangings, paintings, toys and religious sculptures! It was really neat to see some of this stuff... a lot of it was pretty old and in great condition! I was glad we were able to go and check out some more Japanese culture.

Japanese Word of the Day:
Yuki (you-key): Snow

Hiroshima: 66 Years After the A-Bomb

August 15, 1945... it was a normal morning for the residents of Hiroshima during World War II, children were already off to school, parents were at work, the port of Hiroshima was busy as usual and at 8:15 AM the world as they knew it changed forever. On that morning Hiroshima, Japan, became the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon. The watch to the right was an artifact at the Peace Museum in Hiroshima where we spent many hours on our visit to the city. The United States chose Hiroshima as the city to drop the bomb on because of many factors... Hiroshima was one of the cities chosen because it didn't have any ally POW camps in it's borders, it was larger than 3 miles in diameter, it was a large urban area and a bomb would cause a lot of damage, and the most simple reason was because that day the sun was shining and it was a clear day over Hiroshima. They used a "T" where 2 bridges connected as a target and came pretty close. The atomic bomb exploded 600 meters over the city of Hiroshima killing 80,000+ people instantly and by the end of the first year after the bombing more than 120,000 people had died. About 69% of the buildings in Hiroshima were completely destroyed that day and 7% were severely damaged. One of the only building that remains today is now known as the Atomic Dome and is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. In 1949, Japan declared Hiroshima the City of Peace. The Peace Memorial Park stands in the middle of the city as a reminder of what happened that day, part of the park is the Hiroshima Peace Museum run by a large team of volunteers. It took us close to 3 hours to go through the entire museum- some of it I was prepared for, but there were definitely some pictures and artifacts that I couldn't possibly prepare myself for...

The picture to the right is clothing from a young boy who was at school the day the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima... He was severely burned and injured, his family found him by the school, and he died a few hours later... This was just one of the MANY pieces of history housed in the museum... many of the artifacts were accompanied by stories of the people they belonged to... Some other things that were there were dishes that were melted in the blast, lunch boxes burned, bicycles and toys that barely resembled their original shape. There was also clumps of peoples hair that had fallen completely off as well as pieces of people's skin and nails that peeled off... Some of the pictures of people's skin literally melting off were hard to look at as well as the pictures of the burns inflicted on people from the blast. One of the most amazing things they had was a slab of concrete where someone was sitting when the atomic bomb went off... the concrete was all discolored around where this person sat and the shadow that remains was truly haunting...

There was a large section of the museum dedicated to the survivors of the atomic bomb and how their lives were affected. Something rather remarkable was that the rebuilding of this city started almost immediately and it is hard to believe that they city is as immense as it is today! Many if not most of the survivors had multiple medical complications after the atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima. Women who were pregnant at the time of the blast had children born with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads, that led to a lifetime of medical problems and round the clock care. Many people had problems with their GI systems including nausea, vomiting and ulcers... ALL very similar to the side effects patients receiving radiation have today. Later on in life, many of these survivors suffered from horrible cancers, leukemias, and thyroid problems. Many of these survivors still live in Hiroshima today as they never really left the home they once knew.

It was an amazing day and I am really glad we were able to go to Hiroshima and see the Peace Park and the museum. I learned so much about this time in history and how it affected this part of the world...

Japanese Word of the Day:
Heiwa (hay-wah): Peace

Miyajima Island... and some sake too!!!

Last week we took the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Hiroshima and again hit the ground running... we took a short local train ride to Hiroshima Port where we could catch the ferry across to Miyajima Island... a quick 10 minute ferry ride across the inland portion of the Sea of Japan! Some fun facts about Miyajima Island include that is it one of Japan's 3 most scenic views, the entire island is sacred, and no one is allwed to give birth or die on this island. Most people travel to Miyajima Island to visit the famous floating torii gate that is located on a sandbar in front of a shrine. The floating torii gate symbolizes that the ENTIRE island is sacred and it is truly beautiful! At low tide you can walk all the way out to the torii gate, but it wasn't low tide when we visited this site! Miyajima Island is also home of the very awesome invention of a rice scoop!!! The largest rice scoop in the world (as pictured behind us in this picture) is on Miyajima Island and took over 3 years to make and weighs over 2 tons!!! You can buy rice scoops in every store along the main walk! Another funny thing in Miyajima was that there were wild (but very tame) deer walking around all over town and in the parks... they looked a little mangy and rough around the edges but they certainly weren't skittish at all! VERY different from the deer I grew up seeing in New England who would take off running at the sight of you 50 yards away!!!

After walking around the island and seeing all there was to see (a lot was closed because it is very seasonal over there and freezing this time of year) we took the ferry back across to the mainland and then the train back into Hiroshima to have dinner. We found a great little place right at the train station that looked delicious and they didn't speak any English... which makes it even more of an adventure! We had LOTS of beer (biru) and we all had a very oishii dinner! We were seated next to a group of Japanese business men that were on their 3rd extra-large bottle of sake by the time we finished eating and were getting pretty rowdy.... extremely entertaining! We finished our big beers and ordered some sake to end the evening, and all of a sudden there were only 2 of these Japanese businessmen left next to us and they were trying to talk to us... obviously between all of us we couldn't say much!!! One thing they could say was "sake champion" and they began calling me this... we had a fun time with them and one of them actually ordered us some really yummy hot sake which we definitely didn't need at this point! We all drank sake and had a blast! We made some new friends too...

Japanese Word of the Day:
Shakushi (shaw-koo-she): Rice Scoop

Kyoto: Adventures in Old Japan

We took an early Shinkansen to Kyoto from Yokohama and arrived around 0830 on Monday AM. Kyoto is a city of about 1.5 million located in the middle of the main island of Japan, Honshu. Kyoto was the original capital city of Japan before Tokyo and is home to much of Japan's history! We basically got off the train, checked into our hotel which was pretty awesome and located right at the train station and hit the ground running... as usual! Our first stop was the Fushimi Shrine... home of more than 10,000 torii gates!!!! (Torii gates mark the entrance to many shrines and temples around Japan and represent the entrance to a sacred area). This shrine was located all along a trail heading towards Mt. Inari and there was a 4km hike (ALL uphill) to get to the top... we of course did this hike and spent most of it walking through torii gates... it was absolutely beautiful!

Next stop was the Toji Temple which is home to a 5-story pagoda that is the tallest wooden structure in Japan and built in 1644! This temple is one of the oldest in Japan and it is believed that many of the city's religious foundations were laid here. It was very beautiful and we could see the pagoda standing tall from different areas in Kyoto. The grounds of this temple were a little more simple than some of the other ones we had seen, but still very peaceful and beautiful as it was located right in central Kyoto surrounded by modern buildings!

One of the coolest structures in Kyoto was Kyoto Station... the train station! We actually stayed at a hotel right inside the train station and it was phenomenal! Kyoto station has some of the most unique architecture I have ever seen. It was completed in 1997 by a famous architect from Tokyo and has won international acclaim for this design. It was very open and was home to the Shinkansen, the regular trains in Kyoto and the subway and bus lines. It is extremely centrally located and has just about any shop you could ever imagine inside it. There were 10+ stories of restaurants, shops, and malls and it was quite easy to get turned around very quickly as we found out a few times... We did some good eating and shopping in this station!

It's not a vacation with the Storz Family unless you are up and at 'em nice and early to see everything the city has to offer! We started our second day on a mission to see many of the popular Kyoto tourist spots. Our first stop was Kinkaku-ji or the Golden Temple. We arrived there after a short train ride and a few mile walk. It was totally worth the trip out to the city limits to get to this temple! This 3 story temple is covered in gold leaf.... inside and out! It was beautiful and I was really happy the sun was shining brightly the day we went to see it! The grounds of this temple surrounded a pond and it was one of the most peaceful temples we have been to. This temple actually served as a "retirement villa" for the original builder and I could totally see why. The picture does not even come close to doing this glimmering temple justice.

Next stop was Kiyomizu-dera Temple which literally means "pure water." This temple was located on the complete other side of the city from the one we had just come from, but again it was totally worth the journey. This temple is over 1000 years old and is actually currently undergoing some restoration as most of the temple was under some scaffolding. The view from the temple was absolutely gorgeous as we could see over the entire city of Kyoto.Many people make the pilgrimage every year to this temple to drink from it's sacred spring... and for a few hundred yen you could also buy a bottle of the sacred spring water to take home with you!We, however, did not get to drink from the sacred spring... the line was just too long! One of the most amazing things about this very large temple was the structure itself. Even though most of the outside was covered with scaffolding, you could still walk through some of the inside and see it's beauty. It is comprised of a large veranda that overlooks the city and the entire temple was built without using a single nail... absolutely amazing!

On our walk down from Kiyomizu-dera we walked through the most darling little streets that were no wider than a sidewalk with cute little shops lining both sides.... so fun!!!! We came across the Yasaka Pagoda which is all that remains of a Buddhist Temple that once stood in this part of the city. The next and final temple in Kyoto we went to was by far the most awesome temple I have ever been to... and I don't even have any pictures to prove it so I had to borrow from Google to get a picture... Sanjusangen-do Temple is a sacred temple and pictures are not allowed inside... and neither are shoes... talk about cold feet that day!!!! Anyway, Sanjusangen-do Temple is home to 1001 statues of Kannon or the Goddess of Mercy! I didn't really know what we were going to see at this temple, but I knew it was a "must-see" in Kyoto. We walked into a room where we had to put our cameras away and take our shoes off, then we walked down a large hallway (that was freezing) and into this very very very large/long hall that had these 1001 statues lined up in rows... Sanjusangen-do is actually the longest wooden structure in the world!!! It appeared as if they went on forever! The hall is dark and the statues almost shine and create this magical and eerie effect... pretty awesome if I do say so myself! It took awhile to walk down this entire building and see all the Kannons lined up as if they were ready for battle! The statues are made of Japanese cypress and are considered a National Treasure. The building has remained unchanged for 700 years... absolutely blows your mind to see it in person... and again the picture just doesn't do it justice! After walking through the 120 meter building, we walked around the temple gardens which weren't nearly as cool as the statues inside. It was VERY cold in Kyoto and at this point in the day the sun was starting to go down and it was time to head inside since we had been outside pretty much ALL day sightseeing.

The next day we headed out on an afternoon Shinkansen about 2 hours to Hiroshima and Miyajima Island!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Yama (ya-ma): Mountain

Shinkansen: Faster Than A Speeding Bullet???

The Shinkansen, better known as the "bullet train," is a high speed railway found all over Japan and was started in 1964 (same year as the Tokyo Olympics)! When the Shinkansen first started running it was a symbol of future drive for Japan and today still remains a source of national pride. In the past week we took the Shinkansen from Yokohama to Kyoto, from Kyoto to Hiroshima, and then from Hiroshima back to Yokohama! It was all pretty awesome! If we were to have driven from Yokohama to Kyoto it would have taken us about 4+ hours, BUT on the Shinkansen it took us about an hour and a half!!! It is definitely a great way to travel and I understand why so many people here in Japan use it.

We boarded the train very early in the AM in Yokohama on our first Shinkansen trip. Everyone lined up before the train arrived on the platform and once the train arrived it was all very orderly and everyone was on the train and settled within a few minutes... very different from any Amtrak experience I have ever had!!!! A study was done a few years ago and found that each Shinkansen train arrives and departs within 6 seconds of the scheduled time.... this is NOT a typo... 6 seconds!!!!! It is truly unbelievable how efficient this country is!!!!!!!! The inside of the train felt a little bit like an airplane, we paid extra for reserved seats so that we didn't have to stand for 2 hours, and it was a very nice ride. The seats were relatively comfortable, and reclined just like on a plane. We had tables that came down from the seat in front of us, and we had A LOT of leg room. All in all it was a very comfortable journey and pretty smooth considering we were on a train! They even have people coming around with carts of food you can buy... sort of like a flight attendant.

The Shinkansen we traveled on go anywhere between 149-186 mph, but it doesn't feel that fast because it is such a smooth ride. Many Shinkansen travel daily between Tokyo and Osaka the two biggest business hubs in Japan. About 13 trains an hour during the day travel between these two cities. On the 16 car trains (like the ones we took) there are 1,323 seats!!!! These trains even have an automatic braking system on the train in case of a major earthquake... thankfully that didn't happen while we were traveling! The Shinkansen was an amazing experience and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who comes to Japan to visit and travel, however, the tickets for our 3 trips were just as expensive as airline tickets if not more... part of that is because the Yen rate absolutely SUCKS, but you are also paying for the convenience of fast travel throughout the country.

On all of our trips, we bought food in advance (and beer or chu-hi's) to bring with us on the train. This seemed to be what everyone else did too. On our way back from Hiroshima (stay tuned for that blog), it was about 3 hours and 45 minutes, but really didn't feel that long at all. we made a few stops at some of the other major cities, but I didn't mind. We stopped in Osaka, Kobe, and Nagoya on our train trip back, but now I can say I have been to those cities... hahaha!!! We had a great trip and I have a lot more blogging to do... Kyoto, Myajima Island, and Hiroshima!!!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Chiketto (chick-etto): Ticket

One word... SUMO!

OK... let's start from the beginning with Sumo Wrestling... also known as the national sport of Japan! Sumo originated in Japan around the 16th century and is a full contact sport where wrestlers are in a ring and try to force the other wrestler out of the ring or to get the other one to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of his feet. It was originally used a performance to entertain the gods. Japan is the ONLY country where Sumo is practiced professionally... all those other countries are just amateurs! haha On a serious note, many of the ancient traditions of Sumo have been preserved. Life as a Sumo wrestler (rishiki) is extremely regimented down to what and when they eat and the way they dress, even outside of the ring. Other things that are regulated as a Sumo Wrestler... just in case any of you are interested:
-no driving cars
-must have long hair with a topknot
-usually 20-35 years old
-expected to wear traditional Japanese Sumo dress.... ALL the time (yikes)
-no breakfast, LARGE lunch, then a nap (supposed to help them gain weight)
-live in places (called stables) with other wrestlers and have chores and strict rules to follow...

Sumo wrestlers in Japan have a life expectancy of more than 10 years of the average Japanese male... for obvious reasons... diabetes, hypertension and for some less obvious ones such as arthritis and also liver problems from the excessive alcohol intake!

There was a time when women participated in Sumo, but it was mostly a spectacle and seen in brothels... The Sumo Association believes that it should be men only because it has been that way for centuries and it would be a dishonor to their ancestors to change it now... Women are not even allowed to touch or step foot into the Sumo ring as this would make it "unpure."

There are 6 Grand Sumo Tournaments held per year, each lasting 15 days... we were lucky enough to get to go to one on Sunday in Tokyo!!! Each tournament lasts for 15 days.... so each Sumo wrestler has one match per day for the 15 days! It starts around 0800 each day with the amateur Sumo's and then finishes up with the last matches around 1730 at night with the really good ones. We got there around noon and there was not a lot of people in the arena... but by the time the really good wrestlers (Yokozuna) came up it was a packed house and A LOT more exciting than I thought!!! One match takes about 5 minutes with all the traditional and symbolic aspects... they really only wrestle for about 15 seconds though! When they lift their legs in the air, they are stomping out the evil that may be inside the ring!

Some things that are not allowed are hair pulling, striking with fists (must have open hand), eye gouging, choking, or kicking in the stomach or chest... enjoy the show!!!


We had such a fun day watching Sumo for about 6 hours. We went with some friends and Damian bet 50 yen on each match... all in all we came out on top with +450 yen. One thing we were surprised about a little was the amount of foreigners participating in the matches. We ended up watching Sumo on TV a few days later and definitely understood it more... I was glad our seats were up in the balcony because I didn't like it as much on TV when you could really see up close... it was sort of gross!!!!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Rikishi (ree-key-she): Wrestler

Balls, balls, balls

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

Yokoso 2012 (Welcome 2012)!!!

Happy New Year!!!! It was pretty strange ringing in the New Year earlier than all our friends and family back home... then going to bed, sleeping for a few short hours, waking up, taking the train home from Tokyo (slightly hungover) and then still being able to call the U.S. and wish everyone a Happy New Year before the ball even dropped in Times Square.... Anyway, let me start from the beginning... we decided pretty last minute that we were going to go to Tokyo to ring in 2012, and booked our hotel about 5 hours before we actually got there... we got a pretty good deal and it was in the area of Tokyo we wanted to be in! We took the train up to Tokyo and Damian had his first experience with the Tokyo subways which was all positive considering they are clean, on time, and somewhat user friendly after you get the hang of it! We checked into our hotel around 1600 and everyone was very nice and spoke enough English to get by! Our first impression while walking down the hall to our room was "wow, all the doors are miniature size..." It felt kind of like a funhouse or something... We were already prepared for a "Japanese-style" hotel and expected it to be small, but this was something else! We opened the door to a room that was smaller than our bedroom (probably about 8x10) which barely had enough room for a double bed and about 1-2 feet to walk to the door... The bed was fine for one night, it was hard as a rock and the pillows were sort of a joke... this was going to be an adventure! The bathroom was about the size of an airplane bathroom and actually looked very similar with a teeny tiny tub/shower! It was perfect for one night in Tokyo, but definitely not for more than that!

We met up with a friend at the hotel then headed out (walking) to Roppongi to meet some more friends at a restaurant/bar! We met them at Suji's, and for any of my friends here in Japan who are reading, I highly recommend this restaurant if you are in Tokyo, it is a New York style restaurant with comfort foods, all very good! We actually spent the entire night hanging out there with the Owner (her name is Suji and she is pretty awesome) and a group of people. We drank, danced and had a blast! This restaurant has a direct view of Tokyo Tower and right before midnight we went out to watch them light it up with "2012!!!" It was all pretty awesome! After that we headed to a karaoke bar and stayed out playing until around 0330! It was a great night and a perfect start to our new year ahead!

On New Years Day we had to check out of our hotel by 1000, which sort of sucked... but we headed back on the train and were back home by around noon! We spent the day watching movies and lounging around while we recovered from our fun night! Damian also had the 2nd off and we had a low key day and stayed home and played Wii most of the day! He is back to work today, and I started back at the gym bright and early this AM! 2011 was an amazing year for us and I'm sure 2012 will be another adventure for us as well!

Happy New Year again to all of our family and friends! May you all have a very healthy and happy 2012!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Tsukareta (skah-retta): Tired