When I am 90...

Spring has arrived - It came today bringing with it a bright sun, a warm breeze, a sky filled with blue and budding flowers and trees at every glance.   It also brought me a special dose of homesickness.  It reminded me of being back home on the Rez...the smell, the breeze, the river.  I wanted to be home taking a walk, not here in Japan.  I have to be honest I didn't really want to walk in this weather today it amplifies my homesickness. But Oliver's tummy is upset, so in fear of him throwing up in the house we went for a walk.

Along our normal path Oliver and I had the pleasure of meeting the sweetest 90 year old man. Yes, I said N-I-N-E-T-Y!  When we came upon him I did my usual head nod and smiled, sometimes I'll say, "Konnichiwa"  and sometimes I don't.  We've never seen him before  so I chose to do the first and he spoke to me instead.  Unfortunately, I can only understand a few catch phrases and I didn't understand him and answered with Gomenisai, ni hongo wakaru nai (I'm sorry, but I don't speak Japanese).  He then asked if I spoke English and when I answered, "Yes", to my surprise he said in perfect English, "Where are you from?"  This opened up a completely unexpected conversation.

Once our formalities were done, we walked along the river bank for two miles.  He was a little hard of hearing, and we walked a little slow but during this walk I learned that he had spent one year in Montgomery, Alabama attending the Air College  learning about a new aircraft that McDonnell-Douglas was building,  the Jet Engine!  He was chosen by his company to learn about the new plane and how to fly it.  I learned that it took him over a week to get America.  One day  for each stop - Tokyo to Wake Island, Wake Island to Hawaii, Hawaii to San Francisco.  He then traveled by train from San Francisco to Montgomery, which took 3 nights and 4 days.  PHEW. I'm tired of just thinking about it!

I also learned that he has four children, 3 sons and 1 daughter.  He has a granddaughter that just married an Australian and is to meet him in a few days.  He was very happy that he could practice his English on me.  I also learned that he is just visiting for a few days, but is looking for an apartment or home close to his son, whom he is visiting.  Our walk only lasted about 45 minutes, but I wished it were longer, he had to return to his son's house.  His daughter-in-law was coming to make lunch, then he was going to catch a train to Tachikawa for a dental appointment.   Did I mention he was 90?!! Yes, he was traveling by himself.

I never did catch his name, but that's alright because what I learned is that even though homesickness has a way of creeping up on you, push through it and find the positive.  I was able to feel past this, enjoy the beauty of today, this sweet man helped me recognize that when I'm ninety,  I want to walk two miles on my own with a sound mind!  So, "Thank You" kind stranger for sharing your walk with me on this beautiful Spring day.

Conserving Energy - Roulette Style!

Since March 11, Each day is a barrage of public service announcements and warning from the Giant Voice in our city.  We didn't have a CLUE of what was being said and the first few days we relied on rumors. Thankfully, Rei, our Japanese friend who lives on base, would kindly listen for the announcements and interpret them for us.  Now, finally, Fussa City gives Yokota heads up for those of us living off base and the announcement is then posted on FaceBook. Thank you, Mr. Zuckerman!

Oh yes, Public Service announcements...well,  we found out that the majority of them are notifications of our rolling blackouts.  In order to conserve energy, Tokyo is divided up by its suburbs, so to speak, and we are subject to 3-4hr rolling blackouts.  Sort of like Russian Roulette.  Instead of a gun it's with energy.   So some days it's from 12:30 to 16:30, the next is from 9:30 - 12:30, etc..you get the picture. Sometimes if the city has been good on conserving energy we get a reprieve by cancelling the next day's blackouts and don't always find out until AFTER you've altered you schedule. Grrrrr...!  These rolling blackouts have become quite the aggravation making it hard to plan my day around...I have an order to my day with regards to cleaning my home and making dinner.  So my housework rolls with the blackouts, too.  Not to mention, my walks with Oliver..he's a little discombobulated, as well. 

But amongst all this disorder...(insert evil hee-hee) David and I have found our humor.  A little tid-bit, the Japanese do not have four-way stops here, or even three-way stops for that matter.  Our first blackout occurred at 6:30pm and it was to last until 9:30 so we decided to venture out with Oliver for a walk.  David wanted to take my day route in the dark, I was like no way there may be Gah-hiite..(Ghosts)..there's a shrine along the route that has dressed up baby Buddha's. It's just a little creepy..he laughed and we headed towards Fussa...over the bridge...it was cold that night and the wind was whipping, what were we thinking??  Well all this second guessing flew out of our minds, forgetting the cold,  when we came across our first intersection with the lights out (it was pitch black).  Did I mention that the Japanese are probably the politest society I know?

Picture this, you have to, walking along, pitch black, no moon, and the wind being very, very cold...then imagine coming across a VERY BUSY four way intersection with no light signal and no one knows what a four-way stop is.  It was hilarious!  The cars were doing one of two things. 1) they were politely scooching up into the intersection, tapping on their horn or 2) just kinda creeping up then blowing through.   Now the tapping of the horn wasn't  a "hey, I'm here watch out" it was a "No, no, you go..." and then the other would tap back, "No. No. I insist, you go..." and back in forth this would go. We had found our evening  entertainment.  We stood on the corner for about five minutes watching the cars politely tap back and forth, going, not going, the heck with it, I'm barreling through, making up our own imagined conversation  of the drivers and couldn't stop laughing!!  I'm chuckling now,  just thinking about it. (insert evil hee-hee-hee ...)

It didn't occur to us to video tape this until AFTER we got home.  We have had several blackouts since then but not at night.  I promise to videotape the next time we have one at night.  We figure that videotaping them at night would be less noticeable than during the day.  The Japanese have a hard enough time figuring out how to cross during the day, let alone stopping to pause and wonder what those CRAZY Gaijin's are doing on the sidewalk??!  Our blackouts are opened ended until the reactors are controlled.  Things here are finding their own "new" normal - Gas has trickled back in, there are more cars on the road; shelves are still bare and when supplies do come in they are bought just as quick.  I, finally, saw some of my old dog walking friends this past Sunday.  I am happy. So until our "new" normal is here to stay... I will continue to find humor in my everyday living!

I Have No Words.

I Have No Words.

Today, is March 15, 2011.  I have no words.  David has been taking hourly readings throughout the day and first thing in the morning when we wake up.  They are normal.  Normal...to who? It has been four days since the 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit, along with an historical tsunami that has wiped out a minimum of 10,000 people in one town alone -  Sendei is gone.  Normal, it is not.  Oliver, my dog, keeps me busy and it's because of him that I know things are not normal.  Our daily walk along the river are now silent. Gone are the daily walkers; I don't know who they are or where they live, but  I miss them.  Gone are my new friends with their dogs. The ones who try to speak English to me as we let our dogs sniff and play. I wonder how they are.  Gone are the multiple birds along the river bank, did they leave?  Perhaps they've taking their cue by the absence of people.  This is not normal.

Normal.  I feel safe.  I am not alarmed.   I Skype my mother, my sister, my father regularly, my Facebook page is filled with concerns.  All is well in my household, we are safe.  Normal.  I have faith in the Lord, he will provide, reassure and comfort where man cannot.  I have faith that our military leadership will provide accurate information and care for us if the time comes.  Japan is in a very calm panic, If I may describe it that way.  The store shelves are bare of everyday items - rice, milk, bread, tofu.  There is no gas.  Our neighborhood driveways are lined with cars that no longer move, their owners are being frugal with what's left in the tank.  People are now riding their bikes to work or walking.  The majority of vehicles on the road now are commercial - delivery trucks, semi's, construction, etc.  I drove to base today to do my normal grocery shopping and I felt guilty.  Guilty, because I could drive, there's plenty of gas on base.  Guilty, because I could buy food, the shelves are well-stocked.  I purchased a 20lb bag of rice, just in case.  Just in case we starve? No, just in case we had to leave...I could provide something for my new friends Junko-San and her family and Fumiko-san, our shop keeper.  They have brought joy and laughter into this foreigners life and have made me feel more welcome here than I could have ever imagined.  I hope I do not have to say, "Sayonara".

My heart is overwhelmed by the multiple well wishes, thoughts and prayers;  more so, for the people of Japan.  I can only imagine what they think, or can I?  This natural disaster has affected their town, prefecture - their nation.  Even though we sit SAFE some 200 miles away, I've not seen a soul, they must be inside grieving. Grieving for the loss of their loved ones, the unexpected, for what might have been.  Or, perhaps they are being cautious for the "just-in-case" and are choosing to stay inside and conserve energy.  Twice, there was notice of a blackout. Twice it was cancelled.  The nation has done well conserving energy as their government, along with the United States and other nations assist in stopping a nuclear meltdown. We  were rewarded with the cancellation.  Tonight, there is a call for another one, perhaps that will be cancelled, too. 

David and I have no television or cable.  We obtain all our news from the internet, however, I've chosen to limit myself.  It's too much.  Too much grief, too much sensationalized journalism, it's just too much.  Every few hours a giant voice is speaking. It reminds of the exercises that I participated in with the Air Force, and on my deployment.  I wish I could understand Japanese...I hear Kudasai (please), arrigato (thank you), onagyshimas (I think that's "I repeat or I say again" - I've butchered the spelling, I know).  This is when I search the news for updated information.  This is when I am, again, confronted with what has happened.  I read the articles, I see the photos. I am overwhelmed with emotion -  I feel guilty, I have food.  I am safe.

I have no words.

March 11, 2011

When I first opened my eyes, I awoke to a blazing fire red sunrise staring at me...the first thing that popped through my head was "Red sunset at night a sailors delight, red sunrise in morn' sailors be warned" a little rhyme I used to hear my mother say when I was a little girl.  I shared this with David as we laid there looking at the beauty rising in our bedroom window.  He just chuckled, as he usual does at my little sayings and the thousands of useless little tidbits that I share daily.

At around 2:40pm I decided that I would work with Oliver to allow me to touch his paws.  I clipped his nails too close when he was very young and I am no longer allowed to touch them.  I now have a Pedi paw but I cannot get close enough to touch him.  I had just sat down on the floor with him when David called, our friend Kitty, wanted to know if I'd like to go to the movies..so we made our plans and hung up.  Little did I know that that small rhyme I recited earlier would have such an affect on a town, one nation, and the world.

At 2:46pm I heard what I thought was a huge gust of wind; they periodically come and go, out of the blue and just as quick.  From the floor I looked towards our front window, the wind sounded like a freight train...then all of a sudden the floor started shaking and I thought "Oh, my first little, big tremor".  I wasn't scared, so I just sat there..then it started getting bigger and the whole house started shaking and thought to myself, "What do I do? I should know..but I can't think" so I quickly got up and sat on the recliner for a second, then realized I should stand in a barrier supporting wall or doorway. Everything was so surreal, it felt as if I was on a roller coaster ride, clickety clacking on my way up to the drop.  Only instead of me dropping, I stood and watched my pictures frames fall, my spices rolling of the shelves and only imagined what else was falling.  At this point I still was not afraid, I can't explain it but I knew that I and David were safe.  He was at school and I know that Yokota had built very sound facilities.  During all of this my phone was ringing, but I had left it on the side table about six feet away I knew it was David calling to check on me, but I figured I better stay put.

So many things were going through my mind, like "Wow, my first earthquake ~ Crazy!" "This is a new house, surely its somewhat Earthquake friendly"..yeah, why I would think that? LOL..."I hope it's not too serious the bridges will fall....how will David get home?".. "I can't wait to tell my family".."I should be videotaping..oh man, my phones over there...darn." "Is this supposed to last this long..it feels like forever" In fact, I was told it lasted almost three minutes.  When all was done..Oliver came to me and the cats came downstairs.  I thought, so much for animal premonition. I told them they were useless! so together we surveyed our home.  Kitchen cupboards were open, drawers pulled out..spices on the floor.  In reality, we were very, very fortunate.  I went outside and saw the power and phone lines swinging, there were some elderly couples out for their afternoon exercise who definitely worked their core muscles to keep their balance, they were okay and giggling!

It wasn't until David came home to share with me the horror that the earthquake brought, a tsunami 160 miles away that wiped out a town of 10,000 plus people. Not including other small towns up and down the coast.  I felt horrible, I had already taken Oliver back out for a walk and waved to the other dog walkers as we charade (d) across our experience to one another.  How could we be so close but yet far enough away to go on as normal, never realizing that such a travesty occurred?  We have no television or radio. Our sole source of news is the internet.  When I first looked on the news, there wasn't anything so I went about my day..only for David and I to read much later of what was to come.  I am blessed.  We are blessed, the Lord has kept us from harm. 

Celebrating Valentine's - Japanese Style...

Last week, Rei, asked me if I wanted to go to Tachikawa to shop for a Valentine's Day gift for David.  Yes!!! Valentine's Day,  even though it is one of those commercialized holidays, its the one I've always wanted to celebrate.  There's just something romantic and magical of receiving a secret valentine that I can only imagine makes your heart pitter-patter off the chart!  You see, I was one of those girls that would watch the other girls receive secret candy grams and florist made bouquets delivered during class from some secret admirer, <sigh> just holding my breath that one of those beautiful flowers would be mine.. it didn't happen *sniff* :)

Fast forward - I am finally married to a man that I have loved almost my whole adult life and knew that someday we would marry.  This year will be our first Valentine's Day physically spent together, EVER!  Flashes of past daydreams dancing in my head imagining what kind of Valentine's Day we would have..it was going to be romantic and, well...magical.  Imagine my surprise when David came home to tell me that he specifically liked Dark Chocolate, but I could forgo the flowers.  I'm like..WHAT are you talking about??!!  He quickly, and very happily, I might add, that in Japan the men receive flowers and chocolate, not the women.  I thought he was joking because he knows I can be quite gullible, but I was not going to fall for this trick.  Unfortunately,

Rei confirmed this sad bit of information. No it's true...the men receive all the pretty valentine flowers and chocolate. 




 

This past Wednesday, Rei and I went to Tachikawa. I could not believe my eyes, this is no joke, the japanese women take their Valentine's Day shopping seriously.  It looked like an end of season clearance sale at Macy's. Counter after counter, kiosk after Kiosk was a bevy of chocolates! Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, truffles, bon-bons...and women everywhere.  It was a chocolate haven and I suspect that some of those women pushing and sampling couldn't help but make a few hidden purchases for themselves!  Sales ladies passed out chocolate samples like the perfume lady in front of Macy's, only instead of being nauseated by the smell of perfume, we were nauseated from sampling too much chocolate!  In fact, this trip reminded me of buying perfume. I liken this experience the same as trying to find the best chocolate to finding the perfect scent but because you've smelled so many, you can't remember which one was your favorite. I knew David liked dark chocolate, but which one?  There were just so many to choose from.  In the end, I selected one that was sprinkled with 60% dark cocoa over Dark Belgian...ooh so yummm.

But wait...what about the girls??  We get a marshmallow.  Yep, it's called White Day and its celebrated in March.  Apparently, the men give their sweethearts a marshmallow, hence the white.  I don't know who's bright idea that was but I'm with Rei, screw the marshmallow..I want chocolate!

Watashi no inu wa friendly desu! translation: My dog is friendly

The simple phrase of "Watashi no inu wa friendly desu" meaning, "my dog is friendly" has been such a blessing to me this week.  I walk Oliver three times a day - 5:00 am, noon, and at 7pm;  30, 60 and 30 minutes, respectively, with an occasional 15 or 20 minute one, mid-afternoon.  During these walk we often pass the same people out with their dogs and are suspiciously looked at as if to say "Who is this very tall woman and her extremely large dog?" to which I can assume they're really thinking...will her dog eat my dog?!

I wanted to let them know that my dog was friendly, so I ask my friend Rei how to say it.  This simple phrase has opened up my lonely days.  Lonely only during the day, as every English speaking person I know, works.  I pass Japanese people all day  and I feel suffocated because I do not , yet, know the language.  And for those of you that know me, know that I enjoy people and love to chat. 

I have to laugh because on Monday, a curious gentleman stopped to chat with me.  I wasn't sure what he said, but I did use my new phrase to which he then asked me in perfect English, "What kind of dog is he?"  We've met Yoko and her dog, Moku and hope to pass them again.  We've only put Mee-Maw's fears to rest that Oliver will not eat her dog that's just as old as she is, and I can only assume really, really old!

This morning was the best!  I met Mrs. Jun-ko and her daughter's dog.  It seems the biggest question, is what kind of dog is he?  Jun-ko informed me that we walk by her house everyday and I could stop and say hello.  However, I apologized because I didn't understand her directions and she let me follow her home.  Her home is one that I often admire and was curious about. She has a garden that I can assume is quite beautiful when in bloom.  She brought her husband out to interpret as he has lived and traveled abroad to England.  She is a domestic goddess as well, and he is a Farmer.  He is also the man  I see practicing his golf swing each day along the banks of the river when we walk.  This photo is of a Japanese radish, known as Daikon, which he proudly grows.  David and I often see it at the farmer's market and wondered what it was..now we know!  Mr. Jun-ko gave this to me as a gift, I felt so blessed and touched that they would extend this kind gesture to me a stranger.   I look forward to eating it. 

"Watashi no enu wa friendly des" has opened a door for new friendships.  Because of this simple phrase, Jun ko has invited me and David back to her home.  A visit I look forward to!

The growing pains of using a Japanese kitchen

Moving to Japan has been such an eye opener.  Meaning, and I'm generalizing here, that we as Americans have way too much stuff in our life - space, possessions, clothes, etc.. and while that is not always a bad thing, do we really appreciate it or need all it? I have always wanted a big beautiful kitchen, you know the one with the stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, a kitchen bar with rustic, yet trendy stools that your friends and family can sit at while you're cooking a meal...*sigh*.. yeah, not happening here!

I have always enjoyed cooking and baking, but my greatest challenge was that it was just me.  If I tried all those scrumptious recipes who would eat them?  Me? I'd have and had a freezer full of leftovers. You see, I don't do cooking small portions well.  Living by myself and cooking for one was always easy.  I enjoy cooking and baking I also don't mind living off of chicken, rice, and green beans for dinner every night.  I'd simply change up my seasonings and vegetable.  Voila, a different dinner!

I grew up helping my mother cook for a family of six, or seven when my gram stayed with us during the winter months. It is ingrained in my mind that I must cook large meals.  Having been recently married, I must now cook for two,.  This has been a challenge because my husband is a meat and potatoes man.  He could eat some type of roast every night.  I don't mind that but my challenge was leftovers...it got very boring.

Before moving into our new house the kitchen consisted of a tiny counter top with sink, and a three- burner stove top with a fish oven.  What is a fish oven you ask?  It is an 8x12 inch broiler that sits under the stove top, that's it.  No big stainless steel oven for me!  Prior to moving in, David was able to procure a convection oven that is, in reality - a very fancy microwave!  It has the capabilities to bake, convect, and microwave all in one.  Sadly, it so small that I am unable to use my regular size pans for baking leaving me to use it for it's microwave capabilities.  This past Christmas I had the bright idea of making three different type of cookies - sugar cookies, peanut butter chocolate chip and, of course our family favorite, cinnamon stars.  Like a silly girl, falling back onto old habits, I doubled my recipes only to realize that my cookie sheets were too long and I had to rely on my pampered chef stoneware - bar plate.  Needless, to say I spent all weekend baking four to six cookies at a time.  Did I mention that I doubled my recipes?! 

How do I make those roasts that my husband adores so much?!  Two words - Crock. Pot.  It has been my life saver.  I have now mastered a roasted chicken with thyme and rosemary, beef roast, pork roast, chili, and bean soup.  In fact, I had two and gave one to a friend who is learning how to use hers as well.   What about the fish oven? Well, while I like eating fish, I'm not fond of cooking it. The fish oven  now acts as my own personal grill.  When David does not want to stand out in the cold and rain, he'll ask me to use my grill.  I can grill up a pretty mean pork chop, steak, and Italian sausage, not to mention roasting vegetables tossed with olive oil and garlic. And on occasion, toast.

I'm almost broken of cooking large portions as I am unable to house a freezer of meals or vegetables in my small refrigerator.  All leftovers are sent with David the next day for his lunch.  The lesson I can take away from moving here is take what you'll use, not what you think you'll need.  Although I've downsized and have a complete kitchen stored somewhere in permanent storage heaven, I now realize that I'm quite capable of cooking a very scrumptious meal with a crock pot, an iron skillet, a griddle, a saucepan and a fish oven. I challenge you to try that and let me know how it works out!

January 1, 2011

 This New Year's David and I did not ring in the new year.  Instead, we chose to rise early. Skip and Rei (Pronounced Leigh) invited David and I to go on a mystery bus tour with them. We were promised five stops to various tourist attractions around Japan.

Five a.m. came way too early, we caught the 6:40 train to meet our bus in Tachikawa at 7:30.  Our drive to the first stop took us along the Pacific coast, the view was gorgeous.  Unfortunately, the sun was coming up and I was unable to get a clear shot of the ocean, but it was a spectacular view.  David said it reminded him of taking Highway 1 along the California coast.  As we neared our destination we came to a town that was embedded into the coast with surfers catching their first surf of the new year.

Our bus stopped at the top of a hill in the Izu prefecture (compared to a state in the US) where we were to climb up 170 steps to the Shirahama Shrine,  famous for ensuring a long and everlasting love in your relationship!  There are actually 600 steps  that start at the coast...!
  

 Japanese, for the most part, do not celebrate Christmas.  They celebrate New Year's and it is a big production, one of their big traditions is to go to temple (a shrine) and pray for health and happiness for the new year.  Here is just a picture of the shrine. I hope that the link provided works, it also inclues more pictures from our trip. 

I'll not bore you with details of stops two through five. Rei explained that the japanese love their souvenirs, they feel compelled to buy a little trinket for all their loved ones when traveling about.  Along with shopping for souvenirs, Japanese also love food!  This was a definite factor when the tour company planned our trip.  Stop two was an all you can eat buffet where you can gorge yourself on every type of japanese food imaginable.  I must say, it was well thought out and thoroughly organized.  They have to make a killing, at any given time there were about 10 tour buses in the parking lot with about 40 people per bus, with the buses rolling in and out like an assembly line. Afterwards, you are invited to peruse their food and souvenir section.

Our first stop was the only significant attraction on this trip...stop 2 was lunch.  Stop 3 was a wasabi factory with a huge grocery store inside.  Stop 4 was a natural cold spring with, of course, a place to shop for souvenirs...by this time the four us we're just silly..because we realized  that this was just a shopping tour..Stop 5 was...a grocery store!  No really, it was! Here is where I thought this was interesting,we found a wasabi flavored Kit Kat.  I was not, however, ready to lay down $10 to try this tasty treat!

Overall, this day was not a bust.  I was hoping for Mt Fuji, even though I know it's closed this time of year. There are lakes there where one can visit during the winter.  The reason I was hoping was that each stop took us closer and closer to Mt Fuji...the view was almost surreal.  We seemed so close, but still far. In the end we had a wonderful time just riding, laughing and chatting with one another and I really cannot think of a better way to spend a day!