Best Wishes for a wonderful holiday

I have to say it... Merry Christmas!!! A little late I know but all I can say is whew. It was such a nice Christmas this year. I hope that everyone who celebrates Christmas enjoyed it. I know that not everyone celebrates this holiday so if you do not then I hope you had a wonderful winter holiday/celebration. I hope that with this time of year you may renew your spirit and find peace. I have.

Choices AKA Pro Con list

When I have a major decision I pull out the pro con list...actually I do it with big decisions and some smaller ones too...heck to some small degree all decisions get a quick pro con list (should I stop at that stop sign or do a CA roll...If I stop then there wont be a ticket but I could get caught by colors....on the other hand if I roll I might get a ticket and be even MORE late). Well I had to use the good old pro con list to make a major decision. I was offered the SLP position at the school here on base. The hard part of this decision is that I really like my current job. SO out I pull my pro con list and try to make a really hard decision. This is the first time where my list did not help with the decision. With all the pros and cons weighed there was no clear choice. I guess that means I must do some soul searching.

Thankful

Thanksgiving....a day to give thanks. I try to be thankful every day but today I find myself very aware of all that is good in our world. We have so much in our lives to be thankful for. I am so thankful for my friends, family, and most of all for my husband. Life has so many joys and blessings!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

What is GOING ON!?!?

Recently there has been a number of alarming events that have occurred around our country. Emergency services are not being provided in the manner that one would expect. We teach our children very early on that in an emergency you call 911 and the good guys will come to the rescue. Every 911 service provider from the call centers, to firemen, to police officers, and the EMTs are needed. ALL could be considered almost super heroes. Their roles are to serve, protect, rescue, and save and yet in the span of two weeks I have read articles about EMTs NOT providing services (leading to unnecessary death) and firemen NOT putting out fires (leading to a family loosing EVERYTHING and the cruel death of the family pets). When you can not expect the good guys to do it right who can you depend on?....I worry....

Kintai Castle

This weekend Izac and decided to explore a little closer to home. We went to Kintai castle. We had FANTASTIC weather and up on the mountain a nice breeze. All in all it was fun exploring. Our view was this

And This

And this

WOW

Where's the cat?

"Where's the cat?" An innocent enough question with a normal cat. With ours we run to find him. I looked in all his normal hiding places (behind the TV, in the closet, in the office) I then proceeded to get his favorite toy (the irresistible one)and tried to get him to come out. Nothing....at this point I was freaking out. I finally asked Izac to look out on the balcony and low and behold there is the cat. Izac had checked on a weird noise we heard about an hour and a half earlier. Darn cat got out and was stuck 6 floors up and nowhere to go. "Where's the cat?" Safe inside.

2nd class Citizen

As a military spouse you make many sacrifices that a lot of people neither know nor care about. Most spouses have some idea about what it will be like but every now and then you are smacked in the head and told to wake up. This week I got a reminder about our lack of status (spouses). A friend of mine had a death in her family. This is considered a family emergency. When a family emergency occurs we are allowed to get a letter that explains the situation and gives us status to fly Space Available (Space A) home. The categories are scaled 1-6. If my friend's husband went with her then their category was level 2. If she went alone her category level is a 4. With the Active duty member you jump two categories. I was very upset for my friend as she was traveling for such a sad event and I told my husband how I was feeling. His response was that it is a privilege for our sponsors (the active duty member) to have us live with them. To that he got a snort. I understand that to the military I am just a growth on my husband's side (one that cannot make decisions nor do anything on this base without my sponsor) but I say right here right now... I AM NOT LESS THAN MY HUSBAND. I may not be active duty but I serve right alongside my husband, sacrificing and bending... Semper Gumbi and all that....I am NOT a second class citizen.

Kyoto: a blend of old and modern

I have found a new favorite city. Kyoto. Many people know about Kyoto from the movies, particularly Memoirs of a Geisha. I got to go to so many wonderful places. We first went to the Sanmon of Nanzen- ji. It is this LARGE gate that symbolizes the three roads to Buddhist liberation. Although a bit humid it was so beautiful we payed 500 yen and climbed steep steps to the top of the Sanmon. Up top we had an amazing view and a wonderful breeze. After that we took a cab to the Kiyomizu Temple. Kiyomizu means clear water (sometime translated pure water). This is a unique temple because it had both a Buddhist temple and a Shinto Shrine in the same location. Here I was able to learn about both types of shrines from our taxi driver guide.

I stood on the balcony that a bunch of people jumped off and about 83% survived and the popular expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" was born. This is like the english phrase "to take the plunge". I thought it sounded more like taking a leap of faith. I was able to taste the water of Kiyomizu known for bringing wisdom, health, and longevity. From there I was able to go to the portion of the temple that was the Shinto portion. I was able to learn how to pray for/request assistance from the gods. I Even got to rub the head of a statue that will make me smarter.

After Kiyomizu we went to the Sanjusangen-do. An AMAZING place where we saw 1,001 buddah statues. They were all made of Japanese cypress. 124 were made in the 12th century. The remaining were made in the 13th century when the temple was renovated after a fire.

The third portion of our journey took us to the Fushimi Inari Taisha. It is a shrine with 10,000 tori gates. It was AMAZING to see these. We were only able to take the 5 minute tour but WOW. I cannot wait to go back and see all of them. The long walk to see everything is a 4 k hike.

Following that we saw drove to two other shrines unfortunately the first one was closing and the while at the second one it started storming.

We then drove through Gion in hopes of catching a glimpse of a Geisha or Maiko. NO such luck. Izac and I had to get back to the train after that so we were unable to do anymore.

Our next trip I would like to spend some more time at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, see a bit more of Gion, go to the Golden Pavilion and the castle, and see the Japanese cultural show.

I look forward to my next visit to this Wonderful city

78 degrees or melt

Where we live our heating and cooling is controlled by the military. When we arrived we were told that it would be 5 days at 70 degrees or June 1st when the AC would be turned on. NOW we have been told it must be 3 days of 78 degrees (no or). So someone up on high changes a number and we spend two weeks (so far) sweating ourselves to dehydration day and night and having to decide between cool air with the addition of bug bites or no bug bites and suffering from heat exhaustion. I miss having control over my Publish Postair.

3 years

So my hubby and I made it. 3 years. Now, to many that may not sound like a lot, but in a world of staggering statistics where 51% of couples that get married will get a divorce I am EXTREMELY thankful for my 3 years. I look forward to the many more we can have.

On June 2, 2007 I married my best friend, the love of my life, and one of the best people I know. Now, 3 years later I look forward to the future.

Appropriate Gym Attire

Just a quick note on appropriate gym attire. I will not harp (too long) on this topic but somethings MUST be said. In all cases these faux pas occurred during various aerobic/yoga classes on numerous occasions. 1. A thong while appropriate in many situations is NOT something I want to see, particularly when said underwear is two or three inches above the waist band of the pants being worn. 2. Tennis scorts in white that are too short may be fine on the court but do not lend themselves to peaceful yoga at least for those around you (unless those around you are singles you want to attract). 3. booty shorts with words on the butt. Putting writing on your butt when you are in public is a lot like having a sign posted on your back. Seriously do you REALLY want people reading your butt and then comparing you to whatever it says?

OK, My rant is done. Just please leave the thongs, booty shorts, and micro scorts at home when working out.

Colors

There are many things about living on a base that are different than living off base. One of these things is Colors. Every morning at 7:50 there is a blast of trumpets to remind you that colors will be playing. At 8:00 you hear the beginning strains of the National Anthem. You stop, face the flag and pay your respects. This also applies if you are driving. In this case you stop, put on your hazards and also listen. In Japan we play the Japanese National Anthem after the American National Anthem. If you ever get a chance to hear these two Anthems together it is something. Very Beautiful. Sometimes I find myself running to get inside before colors (so I am not late for work) but for the most part I stop. I am proud to take the time to stop and respect the flag that so many have fought and died under. Our freedom has cost many lives and that flag represents the sacrifice and honor of those before us. Of the many military traditions, rules, regulations followed on base this one is one of my favorites.

Living Alone

SO my time as a single woman/geobachelorette is coming to an end (in a week). In terms of possible separation this was a relatively short separation (10 weeks rather than 8 months) but I have not liked it. I have survived. I have met friends. I have worked, worked out, cooked, cried, danced, I drank, cleaned, unpacked, and so much more. Ive dealt with a broken stove, smoke detectors beeping in 15 sec increments, household goods delivery, rude neighbor kids, building furniture (about 12 hours of my life LOST to this) and so on. Considering that this is my first time to ever live truly alone it has been an en lighting experience. I respect people who enjoy living alone. That being said I cant wait until Izac gets back. I look forward to doing some of these things with someone. I miss the simple things such as a hug when Ive had a bad day. A cuddle when I wake up. A kiss just because. Friends are great for most things but there is something special that only a partner can provide. I am HOWEVER keeping Girls night!

Saiyuki... My hero the bug killer.

So despite living on the 6th floor I still get some very interesting bugs in my house. I HATE bugs inside my house. Outside fine that is their territory but inside NO. The other night a HUGE moth got into my bedroom. I didn't notice it right away but I did notice Saiyuki freaking out. He has a specific noise he makes when hunting (also when he sees birds). Thats when I noticed the moth thing. The body was the size of a quarter (the wings made it bigger). What did I do you ask? I took a magazine and knocked it down towards the cat. He then pounced on it, batted at it for a bit and then it got away. We went on like this for about 20 mins while I looked for something to catch it with so I could release it outside. Unfortunately the cat ate it instead. I have to make sure he never gets a hold of the stink bugs.

Geobachelorette

So as I live as a geobachelorette and adjust to living alone and doing for myself I feel I am growing as a person. I am doing so much more now than I ever have. I am not worried about doing things by myself because if I dont do it then it wont get done. I am thankful that when I CANT do something people in my small community are willing to help or send their marines to help. I forgot what a supportive community a military base can be. All in all I continue to grow and learn and will hopefully keep doing so while Izac is gone.

Earth Quakin

So I again live where earthquakes are a regular occurrence. The elevators have special sensors that detect quakes and take you to the nearest floor and let you out when they occur. We had one here while I was sitting at the computer. It was sharp and quick. I was not even sure I had felt what I thought it was. I had to confirm with other people that I had indeed felt a quake. The good news is that I remember all the stuff we were taught in school (here in Japan) about quakes and what you need to do to be safe. I wonder what other geological/weather phenomenons I will experience while living here?

Lunch with the girls

Last week while eating lunch with Heide and Li (Heide and I had Subway and Li had what looked like the BEST BLT on the planet) we started talking about Heide's husband's homecoming. He was bringing home most of his laundry dirty. Li asked if they had a housekeeper to help with the laundry. Apparently there was a lady available but she would wash only 9 pieces per guy every two days. After a quick discussion on what counted towards the 9 pieces (a pair of socks is one piece not two) and figuring out that the guys could wash two days of uniforms and under clothing with the 9 article limit I asked about the housekeeper. Li said that in Taiwan and the Philippines and some other countries it is a normal situation to have a live in house keeper. In fact in most middle class homes there is a live in housekeeper. I was trying to process this when Heide said that she had visited a friend/family member who had a housekeeper that pressed ALL laundry including under clothing. I again had to think about this. I have been raised in what is considered an upper middle class house environment in the US and have for many many years done my own laundry. I HATE to iron and often ask the hubby to do it. But would I want someone who is not immediate family to handle my under clothing? (not really I dont even like my grandma to do my laundry). Only one time in my life do I remember a house keeper and it was in Japan. Mitzi, a little Japanese lady, would come in and clean our house (the floors, windows, carpets etc) but never pickup or do laundry. For us it was a luxury to have someone come in and help. Although I also know my mom would go crazy and clean before the cleaning lady came so I dont know why she bothered. Its an interesting conversation that brought to light the differences in the way people live their lives. I am very fortunate that although I grew up one way I have been exposed to other ways of living. I am SO thankful for the opportunity to meet such wonderful people who are willing to talk/share about their culture and the way they grew up. Li promises to teach us how to play mahjong next. I HOPE so.

The Kitchen towel

Moving one part of a multiple family home without a few mixups would be a miracle. Wile unpacking my express stuff I found an old kitchen towel from when my mom liked cows (that means it is AT LEAST 11 years old because she switched from cows to penguins when she started teaching kindergarten). At first I was upset. It is not my towel. After talking with mom and getting her assurance that its ok for it to be here, I find I am a little glad to have it. Its a tiny reminder of home and darn useful. It has been washed countless times and worn in so that it soaks up much better than some other towels (like what I got at the MCX). It has cleaned everything from fine china to spilled food on the floor. I do not have to fear that it will bleed onto other fabric and it cleans up well when I need it to. You may think "Whats the deal? Its just a kitchen towel" to me it is a touch of home.

It has happened...

Well it happened. I had to use the restroom and came upon my first squaty potty (at least my first this trip). So far all the others I have seen have been western style (with heated seats) but today it was wait for it...the toilet where you have to squat. I went in, looked at it and laughed. I took a breath and thought OK...then I heard "You can do it" (Rob Snyder esc). Luckily I have used these toilets before and I did just fine. Not as difficult as I thought it could be (kids are flexible and whatnot and I am NOT). Camping doesn't hurt either. Lets just hope I don't have to use this toilet for any serious business. There are no bars to do the orangutan hang with.

Rules and the Squeaky Wheels

I am finding one of my pet peeves is when rules are established by fearless leaders and all minions are told what to say and how to enforce said rules and then a squeaky wheel shows up and all of a sudden there are "exceptions" to the rules. THIS DRIVES ME INSANE!! It happens in schools, it happens in libraries, and I am sure it happens elsewhere. The problem is that the squeaky wheel gets the oil per say but the nice quiet wheels that follow rules do not. These quiet wheels often have nice quiet training wheels that never get the same benefits as the the loud, obnoxious, and often irritating squeaky wheels.

Japanese Valentines Day and White Day

I was talking to my Japanese co-worker about Valentines day and found out that it is celebrated differently here. On Valentines day the women give gifts to the men in their lives (usually store or homemade chocolates). I asked if the women got anything and she said no that this would happen on March 14th on White Day. White day is when the men who received the chocolates on Valentines day then give gifts (usually more expensive ie jewelry, a trip etc) to the women. Hmmm This sounds like it might be a good custom to adopt :)

Happy Valentines Day

With my Valentine away you might wonder how I am celebrating this day. I was able to Skype with Izac so that was nice. I have been receiving cards from him and rationing them like a starving person saves chocolate. I splurged and opened two today (I had to resist the urge to open them sooner). For some people cards are impersonal but I find often the cards say exactly how I feel so I like them. Izac does as well. This was a method of communication that we used fairly often during our courtship and fall back on when we are separated for any length of time (Im known to stash at least one card per trip in his baggage). I stashed a number of cards for valentines day and his birthday in his suitcase before he left. SO although we are separated Izac and I still find ways to say I Love You.

Happy Valentines Day

TMO: Our things: Round 1

Well I have some good news. Our express shipment has arrived. They will be delivering it next Tuesday at 8:30!! YAY!! I am so excited!!! Two weeks after that our household goods should arrive. I might have this place up and running by the time Izac gets back. THEN I can take and put up pictures so everyone can see the place. Video will have to wait until Izac gets back with the camera that takes video.

English Language can be weird

The English language can be a puzzle. Children (and people learning our language) often struggle with learning irregular plurals. When I was working in the schools this was an area of focus for a number of my students. Well today I came across a word that I had never thought of the plural form before so I decided to look it up. Mongoose. When I looked at it I thought "Is it like moose where the plural is the same as the singular form or is it like goose and it has an irregular plural form?" Turns out its a regular plural. Mongoose and with a plural form of mongooses. Who knew?

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Ahh transportation and the various noises they make. Which do you think is the most annoying to me? As you may or may not know Iwakuni is an Air station. People not used to an air station might find it a noisy environment. As I child I lived on various air stations and so I find the noises that the planes make more familiar than not. So nope not the planes. The second transportation noise I can hear are those made by the local trains. Our midrise is located between two local stations. What I often hear is the "ding ding ding" as the gates close to prevent cars from going onto the tracks, followed by the "clack, clack, clack" as the train goes by. 5 mins later it starts again as the southbound train goes by and the dings and clanks happen again. The final transportation noise I hear is the cars. Always worse in the morning and early evening as the work day ends. At home the car noise bothered me so much we had a fan on 24/7 to block out the noise. The winner: Cars. I am still most annoyed by cars driving by.

One half

Well Izac is back in the states at NJS. He will be there for 10 weeks. I don't like that he is gone. I get that its only 10 weeks and that it could be longer but right now, on a Saturday night, I cannot pretend that he is still at work. During the week and the daytime I can find things to stay busy. At night it is so quiet. I miss my best friend and my love. This is not the first time we have been separated and it will not be the last. People say it will get easier. I doubt that. I think I will adjust as all military spouses adjust. I will function as I have to but until he is home I will be missing a part of myself.

Hiroshima: A Bomb Dome

This weekend Izac, myself and two other Marines (Reggie and Samuel) went to Hiroshima. We decided to go to see the A Bomb Dome. We took the train up again and then from the Hiroshima station we took the cable cars. Once we arrived at our stop we got off, walked a block to a MAJOR intersection. I couldn't find a cross walk. Reggie took us to what looked like a subway station. Turns out for this part of Hiroshima pedestrians cross UNDER the street. As we were crossing to the exit we needed Izac said "Welcome to the Underground". I laughed and looked at all the shops. It was kinda like a round about or a wheel. Shops in the center and the sides with spokes off the center directing you to where you needed to go. After gawking for a brief moment I had to walk-run after the guys (they are all 6-6'2 in height and therefore have longer strides), up some stairs (again the tall ones took the steps 2 at a time), and then we walked another block. We emerged from typical city tall buildings and noise to the edge of Peace Park. What we saw first was the A Bomb dome. I remember seeing this building when I was a kid but I also have memories of Amanda chasing after pigeons so this was a good experience. Izac took some wonderful pictures and SHOCK we have a picture of us together. As we finished with our visit to that portion of Piece park an older Japanese man started talking to us. I was not quite sure what was going on but he whipped out a badge that said Free tour guide and a notebook. Now mind you I am still a very suspicious person so I didn't quite want to hang around but none of us wanted to be rude. The guide spent the next 30 mins or so telling us the history of the atomic bomb. It is interesting to hear his interpretation of the events. It reminds you that "history" can be written in many different ways. After the short history lesson he asked us to follow him to the hypocenter. Now at that point I was like uhhh no way (in my head), and I guess it showed on my face because four more free guides came over and suggested that we go and that it would be ok. One said "Japan is the safest country in the world". I actually feel pretty safe here but I am also pretty suspicious of people. The guys seemed fine with it so I followed them (I figure they all have training and when I am cornered I get mean). The guide took us to an old looking cemetery. About 10 mins of trying to figure out what he was saying he told us to touch the stones. I didn't want to because I felt like this would be disrespectful but he wanted us to feel what the heat blast did to the granite. Apparently there are examples of this stone in the museum but you cannot actually touch it. It was interesting. The guide then took us another block to this tiny granite slab that had a plaque. He told us to read it then proceeded to talk again for 15 mins. What he and the plaque basically said was that 580 meters up was where the bomb exploded. He ended his tour showing us a tiny antenna that was on the bomb and telling us that it was Japanese. The job of the antenna was to register when it hit 600 meters and detonate. He kept saying how ironic it was that the Japanese created the antenna that allowed the bomb to explode over their city. After that we decided to get some food, walk around some shops, and then head back to Iwakuni.

Sometimes its good to Complain...

So the old me would never complain. I would accept the cold food, the broken stove, the bad living conditions and just let it go. Now I have learned that sometimes you need to speak up. I'm not saying complain all the time about everything (that is VERY annoying) but when you want to cook and the large front burner of the stove doesn't work and the the oven alternates between burning your food to a crisp and not cooking it at all then there is something wrong. The same thing applies to food. We purchased a 12 pack of soda made by a certain company and the first soda I opened tasted funny. I thought well that was a bad one. I later opened another can and tried it. It too tasted funny. When Izac came home I had him try a third one. When he said it tasted funny (with no prompting from me) I knew something was wrong. So in both cases I contacted the people who deal with difficulties. In the case of the soda I contacted the company and had a favorable response. In the case of the stove I contacted housing. The end results of these encounters was a coupon for a 12 pack of soda and a new (new to me) oven/stove from housing. Im REALLY glad I can now cook without risking food poisoning. SO sometimes its good to complain, just don't take it overboard.

The Wonders of Technology

We live in a wonderful time. Technology has definitely improved from the telegraphs my Mom sent to my Dad while he was on the ship ( Dear Mike Bought House Love Sheryl). In comparison Izac and I are much luckier. You know that technology provided Izac and I with the opportunity to have a long distance courtship. Let me tell you now why I love technology more than I did then. Last night and this morning I was able to talk to my Mother and my friend Jessica via Skype. If you are not familiar with it look it up. Its AWESOME. So much better than a phone call once every few weeks. On top of that we have social networking sites (Facebook)and email that allow me to communicate with my Aunt Jane in CA as well as my sisters in laws in CO and WA state respectively. So as long as I have an Internet connection I can better handle the separation from my husband and family.

Necessity is the mother of invention or at least creativity

As you may or may not know our household goods have been misplaced as has our express shipment. This means that we have been without many of the things that we use daily. We do not want to re-purchase these items. This means that Izac and I have gotten very creative. We have been plagued by some serious static electricity and there are no humidifiers available. So you might ask what we have done. I remembered my parents putting loaf pans full of water on our heaters when we lived in Japan as kids and guess what? It still works. What else have we done you might ask? Well I was making mashed potatoes and realized I did not have a potato masher. I tried all the loaner spoons and spatulas and all of them were too flimsy to appropriately mash the potatoes. Did I give up? NO. I took a can of tomato sauce, wrapped it with foil and mashed away. In all the loaner things we received there are no bowls bigger than cereal bowl and no baking sheets/pans. We did end up purchasing the baking sheets. I do not like the mixing bowls that are offered here so to bake a cake I mixed the ingredients in the pot that we were provided with. It certainly is not a unitasker any longer. Another difficulty during the holiday season was dealing with a dearth of holiday wrapping, boxes, and bows. Did Izac and I give up? Nope. We used shopping bags, left over wrapping paper, and various boxes that had purposes prior to their use as gift wrap. For example a coke 12 pack box works very well for holding clothing and a reusable shopping bag for the commissary when tied is a nice gift bag. Until we get our things I do look forward to seeing the creativity Izac and I must use to live in our new home.

New Years Wishes

It is now 2010. This is often a time for reflection and renewal of goals and expectations for oneself. I find that having moved to another country and spending the holidays here that I am more able to reflect and appreciate all the wonderful people, traditions, events, and experiences that helped make me who I am. I look forward to this new year and all experiences to come. I wish everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful year. Happy New Year!