Ela's first OSC Outings

Back when I first arrived in Sasebo, my first ever OSC event was tomato picking on Oshima Island. I seriously considered not going because it was a really wet, nasty day. Upon arriving, I discovered the tomatos were in greenhouses and was very glad I had come along. They were, by the way, the very best tomatos EVER. So when the OSC invitation to go tomato picking came out this time, I knew I wanted to go, but wasn't sure I should with a child who wasn't yet two weeks old. It seemed like quite an undertaking. Luckily, Mom's here, and she said we should do it. Mom knows best! So we caravaned with a few other families out to Oshima Island and found the greenhouses on a much nicer day:

Mom picked the tomatos...

Ela and I looked for good ones to pick... okay, Ela didn't really look very hard...


After that, we all went for a nice lunch at a nearby hotel, then Mom and I struck out on our own for a park in the center of the island that turned out to have a lovely view from this lookout tower....

Ela slept through most of the trip and chose really convienent times to eat, so we deemed her first event a great success. The tomatos were again excellent. I'll be enjoying them for a few more days yet.

Then today OSC did a recycle shop trip. This one I really really wouldn't have done without Mom, but with her, it was a must. Recycle shopping, for those of you who don't know, is like thrift shopping in Japan. People donate the stuff they don't want anymore, and these shops sell the stuff. Only since this is stuff they would throw away otherwise, they call it recycling. You can get a lot of neat Japanese stuff for relatively good prices if you know where the recycle shops are. Today, we stopped by six of them, and found some nice things to add to our collections. We didn't, however, take pictures. Ela took the whole thing very well. She was awake for the first stop, then fell asleep and only woke up to be fed occasionally throughout the day. Another very successful event. So now when Mom goes home, hopefully I won't be too wussy to take Ela out on my own. It will be a lot more work, though...

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! It's almost the end of January 1st in Japan, but we've been enjoying a rare day at home together just relaxing before the rush picks back up in a few days, so I haven't been thinking much about the blog.
We celebrated New Year's Eve with a nice dinner at the restaurant on base (all the Japanese places were closed for the holiday, which is more family-oriented here). We followed that with... sleep. This whole staying up till midnight thing just didn't make a lot of sense to either of us this year. We weren't going to any parties, and we couldn't find a single good reason to stay awake past about 10, so we went to bed. And it was wonderful.
When I first arrived in Japan, one of my friends told me that it snows twice a year in Sasebo: once on New Year's and once in Februaryish. I have been mildly skeptical about how accurate that could possibly be. Last New Years, we were on a ship somewhere near New Zealand (and loving it), so I was not around to confirm the rumor, but I did hear that it snowed some, so this year I was even more curious. Last night it wasn't cold enough to snow and the forecast was predicting that it would stay in the upper 30's so I went to bed thinking the rumor had been debunked.
Then I woke up this morning to the sound of precipitation hitting our window. I looked out and sure enough: snow. Nice pretty little flakes flew cheerfully around all morning and then promptly melted when they hit much of anything. It was a very pretty way to start the year. So may be it does snow every New Year's in Sasebo... we won't be around next year to have a retest, but I'll be watching the clouds in February.
We spent most of today just holed up inside enjoying a day off, as I mentioned. It's not often that both of us are actually in the house for more than a few hours in the evening. The Japanese people have big sales starting today, and I was advised by concerned students not to visit any shopping areas because it would be like Black Friday is in America and I might get hurt (they are all deeply concerned about my every move since I'm a bit bigger than the average Japanese pregnant lady). Tomorrow the sales will continue, and my students feel it might be safe to check them out then, but they still advise against it on the whole. It's a good thing I'm not much of a shopper anyway. I have heard from others, though, that it's really kind of fun to go out and see all of the locals going crazy over the sales, so we'll see what happens.
In the mean time, I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving with JAFCO

Yes, I know, I'm a little behind, here, but soon I'll be back in the right season, I promise.
Anyway, JAFCO, the company I work for, had a party to celebrate Thanksgiving in an effort to give the students a chance to speak English somewhere other than the classroom... also to allow them to try turkey, since it's not a common dish in Japan and most had never had it before. The planning process was quite something. They ordered food from two places on base, plus making some things at home. We had around 35 lbs of Turkey (25ish were baked traditionally, and 10ish fried cajun style from Popeyes), 10ish lbs of ham, mashed potatoes (three different kinds, actually), stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, red beans and rice, bread, pie (pumpkin, apple, and peach), and some Japanese goodies for the foreigners who showed up. Here's a picture of the spread:

The students brought supplies and made fresh tempura while they were there. Okambo San and Yamaguchi San were responsible for making salad and grating daikon (Japanese radish) for the tempura:

Kumano San was one of our tempura friers. It was nice and fresh.

The party was a lot of fun. The food was good, and it was nice to see a bunch of my students in a non-class setting. Probably the most fun, though, was watching the students try to figure out what all that American stuff was. I was repeatedly asked what stuffing is (thankfully, I'd consulted our Family Cookbook and knew most of the basic ingredients), and no one was quite sure what to do with gravy until a nearby American would take a scoop and drench their whole plate.
But the funniest, to me, was cranberry sauce. I have to start by saying I love the stuff. Zack doesn't eat it, so since it arrived in our commisary, I've been buying a can or two at a time and then eating it straight from the can over the course of several days. To me, the appropriate way to eat cranberry sauce is plain, with a spoon or fork. The Japanese people would not believe that this was a good plan. Here's what they did with it:

Apparently, it makes decent jelly. Who knew?
On a side note, JAFCO also had a Christmas party for which they ordered a lot of American food (and I forgot to bring my camera). They decided to forgo the cranberry the second time around. :-)

The First Japanese Doctor Visit

This morning Zack and I went to the Japanese doctor for the first time. I had heard all kinds of things about the Ladies Clinic where American women go to have their babies, primarily good. Now I am beginning to understand what all the fuss is about. The outside of the building looked more like a nice business establishment or a hotel than a doctor's office and the lobby was more of the same.
In the grand tradition of Japanese buildings, we had to take our shoes off in the entryway. They had slippers waiting in a glass shelving unit just inside (I'm told they're heated in the winter). Just inside the door, a sign (in English) informed us of the locations of the examining rooms, "wards" and delivery rooms. There's also a "shampoo room" on the 4th floor, but we only saw the first floor today (I'm told they'll give us a tour eventually). The woman at the front desk, dressed in a cute pink nurse's uniform (think 1940's movies) like all the ladies who worked there, asked for our name, took our referral, and then directed us to the lobby. The lobby was filled with comfy chairs and sofas and a rack full of baby magazines. There was a carpeted spiral staircase in the middle of the lobby, wrapped around a pillar that had been painted to look like it was marble. On the second floor, I could see a baby grand piano. There was tinkly musicbox style music playing all kinds of songs from old 80's loves songs to Disney.
The first appointment at this clinic is always a walk in. We could only tell them what day and morning or afternoon, so we arrived about the time they opened and sat for about an hour and a half before our name was called. In the mean time, we looked at baby magazines in Japanese and watched all the other pregnant ladies wandering to and from the bathroom. It was a busy place! Finally, though, our name was called and we went into a separate waiting room that faced the examining rooms.
Not long after that, the doctor himself walked through and assured us he'd be back to check on us in a few minutes. The nurses escorted us into the examining room and found a seat for Zack (they all seemed to find his leg mildly amusing, but were very considerate of the situation). The room attached to the front desk and had dolls on the wall of various sizes, labeled with the number of weeks. So we found the 20 week doll and determined how big our baby is.
Soon thereafter, the doctor returned and appologized for the long wait. Apparently, a woman had gone into labor that morning, so he was a bit held up checking on her regularly. He got our full names (the referal had only my first and last name, not Zack's at all) and where we were from. He then checked my record to reaffirm that I have no potential complications.
Then it was ultrasound time. The nurses helped Zack position himself standing behind my head so that he could see a screen that was pointed at us. The doctor had his own screen to look at (a vast improvement from the tiny ultrasound machine in the medical building on base). He showed us the baby's head, spine, and heartbeat, as well as measuring everything to make sure the baby was growing on track. Baby measured exactly right for 20 weeks, and the doctor deamed things to be going just as smoothly as ever. He even pulled the 20 week doll off the wall to show us where the baby was sitting and how Baby is positioned (head down) in there. Then the doctor said "I can see if it's a boy or a girl person if you want to know." We, of course, wanted to know, and he told us "80% Girl." So it's a girl! ... probably. She had been very wiggly during the ultrasound process, and it was really fun to watch and to find out. It was also Zack's first ultrasound experience since he hasn't been around for the other appointments, so that was pretty awesome too.
When everything was done, the doctor gave us a tiny little photo album with three pictures from the ultrasound AND a video of the whole thing (which I've been good and not watched yet)! We're supposed to bring both back for each visit and he'll add to them. I think this is super cool. Next time, he says we'll be doing a 3-D ultrasound (which I've heard is actually a little creepy), and he can confirm then that it really is a girl. Somehow, even if he's not 100% sure, that one little piece of information makes the whole thing just a little more real. Zack says that for him, knowing it's a girl tells him a little more about what kind of parents we'll need to be because it's different depending on whether you have girls or boys and which one is oldest and all that. He said it reminded him a little of when Alisa told him that she was having a girl and he was going to be a big brother. For me, it gives a bit more personality to the little being that's been wiggling around for awhile now (it seems like she's in constant motion, but mostly during the day) and affecting everything from what I wear to what I eat to where I go and when.
So the doctor eyed me and decided I wasn't overweight (this is the first appointment where they didn't weigh me or take my blood pressure). He then announced that he'd like to see me once a month for now. He said that next time they'd do the 3-D ultrasound and some bloodwork. He gave me a paper to take back to the Navy medical and reminded me to bring back the video and picture book next time. The ladies at the reception desk helped us set up our appointment and appologized in advance, saying that the times were not especially set in stone because of the occasional woman going into labor or there being a lot of walk ins or something. Our start time is a 15 minute window, and she said that if it looked like it'd be a long time when we arrived, they'd give us a more accurate time if it was going to be a long wait.
Back home, I told Dory that not only is she no longer "my baby" she's also not the only "my girl" in the house anymore. She just wagged her tail and tried to lick my face. She could tell we were totally excited and so she just wanted to be involved.
To celebrate, we went to a picnic hosted by Zack's ship that just happened to be today and Zack told everyone all about the ultrasound. Then this evening I made ginger chicken, and incidentally discovered that I still can't eat chicken. The sauce was yummy on my rice and broccoli, though. At least I can eat a little beef again. I swear our girl is aiming to be a vegetarian. :-)

Ripple effect

We've survived our first week of life with crutches quite well, I'd say. The whole driving to base every morning thing is a bit annoying, but I only had to wake up early for it once, so not so bad. (I am not a morning person. Not even a little, so how early I have to wake up on the average morning can really change how I view a week.)
We've been watching a lot of American news coverage this week as well, using the lovely internet connection. We watched more debates, but we've also been following the economic issues pretty closely. For Zack, the measure of just how bad things are getting is the stock market. For me, a much more real messure is the exchange rate.
For those of you who don't know, I get paid for most of my classes in yen. I don't spend as much yen as I earn, which led to the formation of the "Bank of Anne" this summer when we had visitors. All summer long, my exchange rate at the bank of Anne was 105 yen to the US dollar most of the time. Sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower. And in general, I follow what the rate is at real banks (particularly on base) because I figure eventually I'll have to trade some of my earnings back and I might as well trade while the trading's good. So this number means something more real to me than the stock market numbers probably ever will.
When we arrived in Japan, the exchange rate was hanging around 120 yen to the USD. It's dropped pretty steadily since then, but only once in the year we've been here has it hit 100. All summer, as I mentioned, it was right around 105 (probably a little lower, since the Bank of Anne tended to round up a few yen). It was still around 105 when we left for Yokusuka. In the last four days it's gone from 1o3 to 101 to 100 to 97, which is today's rate. That's the lowest I've seen it since we've been here. And at 3:00 every weekday, the rate changes, so I'm very curious to see what will happen today as we approach the weekend. The last time I really followed it this closely was before I was earning any yen. I'm really just wondering how low it will go (and on a more selfish note, at what point I should go ahead and trade over). It's not often that money holds my attention like this.
Anyway, I'm also back into the marvelous world of cooking again. I still don't feel well enough to grill a lot of meat plain. Zack made himself some steak last night that I find myself avoiding in the fridge today, but I made chili and even did some pork chops not too long ago. I consider this a major victory.
My problem now is that Zack's been home so long, I'm ready to eat a lot of foods that he doesn't generally like. In the past, due to our "long distance marriage", I would patiently wait until his ship left (which was never more than a week away), and then cook whatever it was that I knew he wouldn't like. Now with his leg broken, I'm gradually realizing that this particular method of keeping everyone happy at meal time will not work out so well in the long run. So today I'm making split pea soup from a recipe I got out of a crock pot recipe magazine and fell in love with. Aside from the peas, it has onion, sweet potato and spinach in it. It's vegetarian with an "option" to add ham that I've never used. Zack's got leftover steak from last night, so I'm confident he won't starve, and for now that'll work just fine. If I'm lucky, he'll even try some, and may be I can add it to the normal meal circuit... but I doubt it. Oh well. I'm just glad to be cooking again!
One week to the doctor's appointment where we might find out if Baby is a boy or a girl, so stay tuned...

The New Routine

We are back in Sasebo, Dory is home, and we are attempting to readjust to yet another definition of "normal life." This is the version where Zack is not allowed to move from a chair unless absolutely necessary. It wasn't so bad when we were living in a hotel room because there was no where for him to go. Now he's trying to do dishes, or cook, or work on laundry or do a lot of things that kind of require him to at least stand up. It's hard work keeping him in a chair! He says it's good practice for chasing around kids, but at least kids can go from the kitchen to the living room without fear of messing up their little legs.
Zack has physical therapy four days a week, and his ship wants him to come in after that each day and work from a building on the peer. We're still sorting out how to best do this without me spending the day driving him around. (They also would like for him to come in BEFORE his therapy, but that would require me to get up at the crack of dawn, and he'd only really get in an hour of work before he'd have to leave again, so it's probably not worth it.) In the end, I'm hoping that I can just drop him off at PT in the mornings, and pick him up when he's ready to come home at night. This would work out fine for the most part, with only a night or two a week where it could get hairy because my primary teaching time is also primary coming-home time. We'll see. We're still sorting out the details.
Also, while we were away, the land lady contacted us to ask if she could install a rail in our stairway. We had never asked for one, though we've both fallen on the stairs at least once (Zack broke a toe that way earlier this year), so we jumped at the remarkably good timing of it. As I type, two men are installing our new hand rail on the stairs, which will bring reassurance to both of us and make Zack's crutches on the stairs a little bit safer (though I'd still be happier if he'd sit when he went down them since he's lost his balance a few times doing that).
Dory is terrified of the crutches, by the way. They make a loud noise on our hardwood floors and Zack has a tendency to tease her a little with them. She hides from them obsessively, and won't go near Zack if he's within arms reach of them. This has led to all kinds of new Dory-tormenting games, poor dear. On the plus side, if I have to take Zack from PT to work every day, I will probably bring Dory with me and the two of us can take a walk while we're waiting for him. That's what we did yesterday, and it was good times for both of us.
Also, the weather is finally cooling off so that walking outside sounds like a good idea rather than a special form of torture. It's still warm in the sun, but the breeze is very cool. We haven't turned on any air since we've been home, and we actually have to close some of the windows at night or it gets too cold. Yay! I know Zack hates the bitter cold parts of the year, but I actually look forward to it after the nasty summer heat.
Hopefully later this month I'll be able to do a little more adventuring and we'll have something less painful to write about. :-)

My mini-vacation

So this week was actually relatively slow, which was nice for me. Monday and Tuesday I had no classes and one of my Wednesday classes was also canceled for Obon. Obon is a buddist festival held in the summer in Japan celebrating the ancestors. It's vaguely equivalent to Halloween in the States, minus the candy and costumes, plus fireworks and lanterns. The Japanese believe that their ancestors can come back and pay a visit during obon, so they set out lanterns to help them find their way home, and have festivals to celebrate. On the 15th in Sasebo, they parade around with floats in honor of relatives who have passed away, setting off firecrackers. They also buy paper lanterns (biodegradable and not dangerous to water life) on which they write messages to their loved ones in the beyond. These they float down the river and out to the ocean in the evening, which is really a lovely sight. This year, though, I was invited to hang out at the pool all afternoon, and I went because I was promised the opportunity to "test drive" other people's kids. Luckily, it was cloudy and not so hot, but by evening I was ready to sit quietly inside and comfort my dog when the firecrackers went off. So I had a relatively uneventful birthday, with some nice socializing followed by a whole lot of doing nothing. The baby even let me eat a slice of pepperoni pizza.
Zack worked most of the weekend, but after dinner Sunday night expressed interest again in putting together the crib (he's totally nesting and it's really cute). So before I left for my Sunday night class, I helped him get started on the rather tricky task of determining which instructions where already followed by the former owners of the crib (since they didn't totally dismantle every single screw) and which needed to be done still. As I worked, I commented that I thought we should move our rocker into the baby's room eventually and replace it with the futon in front of our TV. Zack also noted that the crib was rather dirty and nasty looking and considered the idea of refinishing it before the baby comes (which assumes that we'll be able to find baby-safe finish somewhere on base). When I left, he was just starting to put all the sides together.
When I got home, the crib was together, the rocker was upstairs and the futon was down. I was super impressed. Zack also had cleaned the crib, and though he didn't mention refinishing it again, I'm not sure he's entirely ruled out the idea. We had been joking about testing the crib using the ultimate pretend baby: Dory. So I asked Zack if he had put her in it. He didn't answer right away, but he shot me a mischevious smile, which told me everything I needed to know. Apparently, Dory did not like the crib. She thought she was in trouble or something. When I tried to repeat the experiment later that evening, she ran away. She still goes into what we not always call the "baby's room" every day though to sniff around. Clearly, she knows that something is up, she just isn't sure what. In the mean time, she's sticking close and investigating cautiously.
And today I had another doctor's appointment. This one was much shorter. It was determined that I'm doing what I should and the baby is too. It has a lovely heartbeat that can, so far, only be seen on ultrasound, not heard with the doppler thingy. Everything's growing just like it should, so we'll just keep plugging along until the next appointment next month. Oddly enough, my doctor will be moving (PSCing as the navy calls it) within the next month, so I will more than likely see a new doctor for the next 1-2 visits before being referred to the Japanese doctor who won't see me until 20 weeks. So this will be a three doctor minimum process.
This week we have the OSC kickoff meeting, which will mostly be an exercise in cheerleading about how great the club is and why everyone should join again this year. So there will probably not be much to report. I am, however, collecting a set of Japanese advice to pregnant women that I will post soon. Then I swear I'll get back to talking about something else... really... may be...

Back to normal...

So life has returned, more or less, to normal (whatever that is). However, there are a few cute pictures to share. These are from my most recent trip to the biopark, also known as "the visit where we discovered that all monkies are dirty little thieves:

There's a baby kangarooin that pouch.


For the record: there was nothing in that cup. Some other tourists gave it to us because the monkies really are curious about what (edible) might be in there. They also were curious about the contents of Alisa's purse, and abducted some tissues to investigate. When the monkey found that the tissues were not food, he proceeded to drop them on us one at a time (tasting each one first, just in case) from the safety of a very tall tree.

So there ends the traveling pictures for this visit. But stay tuned: OSC (Officer's Spoused Club) and ILC (International Ladies Club) start back up next month, and there is definetely a visit to a limestone cave in the plans. (I'm OSC vice president now, which means I know where we're going much earlier in advance.)
Back in the real world, I've been working hard lately on a rather unpleasant assignment for my first ESL course for grad school. It's a timeline of policies relating to educating English Language Learners, or more accurately, two timelines that say more or less the same thing. It involves reading the chapter and then typing the whole thing into a chart the teacher provided, then looking online endlessly for more policies that may not have been mentioned in the book. I can see how knowing some educational policy is good, but this is a bit crazy. Luckily, it's also finished now. I'm worried about it though, because my grade in the class is not as high right now as I'd like it to be. I've been experiencing a strange lack of motivation... can't imagine why...
It's August, so it's HOT HOT HOT. Zack think's it's dryer than it was last year too (water shortages here we come). So I spend a lot of time just hiding in whichever room happens to be air conditioned. The base has been posting "black flag" warnings every single day. Black flag means no outside PT allowed because it's too hot. I don't think it's gotten over 100 yet, but it really is pretty miserable out there. The heat doesn't really seem to phase the Japanese people, who simply put on hats and use parasols and procede to throw all kinds of lovely festivals in August.
Dory especially hates August because August is the month of fireworks and thunderstorms in this country, and she hates the big booms. There were fireworks shows on the second and third, during the annual Sasebo seaside festival (I went last year and it was a lot like a fair in the states minus the rides, so I skipped it this year.) Then there have been a few thunder storms (more thunder than rain), so she's acquired a fear of going outside, and only will go to the park with extreme coaxing. When we get there, she does what she has to do and runs home as if she's certain something terrible is lurking on the other side of the grass. This suits me just fine at the moment because, as I may have mentioned, it really freaking HOT, so I don't want to be outside anyway.
I have invested (finally) in a parasol. I used to scoff at the idea that a flimsy piece of fabric could keep a person cooler. Then I went to China and got heat sick three days in a row. On the fourth day I used an umbrella and still felt super hot, but didn't end up sick, so that convinced me. Now I take my parasol with me even when I'm just going to the park (which is about the only place I go outside lately). One time I went down without it, and a little old lady in the park commented on the heat, then motioned at her head (she had a parasol) and looked worried for me, indicating that it was far to hot to go anywhere with out at least a hat. I was amused. I'm more diligent about the parasol now.
Other than being hot all the time, though, I'm really feeling pretty good. I just can't eat the way I would choose to. The baby is mostly vegetarian. I can eat the occasional meat if it's cleverly hidden in something like a lasagna or Mexican food (the baby loves anything Mexican, just like Zack). But mostly I'm eating carrots, watermelon, and crackers. Cereal is good too, and milk products are okay. Full meals, however, are a no go, and forget cooking, too. Poor Zack hasn't had a decent meal at home for like a month now. I don't know if I feel more sorry for him for the lack of good food or for me since I really do like to cook and it's just not happening now.
Zack, however, has turned into super husband. He's always been great around the house, but he's gone into overdrive lately. This weekend he swept all the floors, did the dishes, did all the laundry, and organized the desk while I worked on school work from the safety of the airconditioning and told him how nice he was repeatedly. Any time he came by, he'd grab my glass of water and refill it. It was really really sweet. He's also learned to cook steak that he assures me is delicious. So that's good.
The biggest challenge digestively so far (other than the fish market) was last night. I taught an 8:00 to 9:00 class, and last week I had told them that my birthday is coming up. One of my bosses, Mike, also has a birthday this week, so one of my students announced that she was going to make a pizza and bring it to class to celebrate. I had intended to not eat much before hand, but I forgot all about it until I arrived at class and Mike reminded me. I was not feeling especially super anyway, but I was determined to eat it, since she was making it by hand, and I just hoped that it was 1) small, so I'd only have to eat a small piece and 2) relatively topping-free. No such luck. The pizza was a 12 x 9 inch (or so) masterpiece with homemade crust topped with corn, onion, mushroom, shrimp, ham, and bacon as well as the usual cheese and sauce. We split it four ways, giving me a rather large piece to pick at. Mike knows I'm pregnant, but I'm holding off on telling my students. Luckily, this girl was very kind and told me that if I didn't like any toppings I should just pick them off, so I did a good bit of "picking off" toppings and ate mostly crust. (The crust was excellent.) I managed to keep it down and teach a lesson, then I came home, drank some ginger ale (my new favorite cure for most tummy issues), watched Zack work for awhile and crashed into bed feeling pretty icky. It was very frustrating.
Other than those occasional frustrations, though, things really are going quite well. We made our first baby purchase about two weeks ago: a crib. We were seriously considering not getting one until our next move, but several expert Moms said we would regret it, and this one was five bucks at the thrift shop on base, so we figure we can use it here then redonate it if we don't especially like it. Also, one of my friends here told me she has the exact same crib and it's excellent. She also volunteered to help us put it together and/or help me check to make sure there weren't any loose screws or anything before we actually put a child in it. She's very nice like that. So it's sitting, dismantled, in our spare room. Zack is talking about putting it together the next time he's home on a weekend.
So we're plugging along. Upcoming events you might see a post about include (but are not limited to) Obon this week, a doctor's appointment and an OSC meeting the week after that.

One minor crisis averted...

I swear the minute Zack leaves things around here go to pieces. Or may be they don't, but I just notice the loss of someone to worry at. Either way, things have gone a little crazy here in the last week or so. For one thing, I've started a new class for my degree. It's the last one in a series that is essentially designed for us to create these things called Action Research Projects. It's what we do instead of writing a thesis. We pick a problem we notice at our work setting, research solutions, and then pick one to try out, sort of, except we're not required to actually try it out if we can't for whatever reason (in my case because I'm not teaching enough classes). Instead we make up data and go through the motions of writing the 30ish page report. At first, I thought this final class wouldn't be nearly as bad as the last one (which was a nightmare that I coincidentally went through the last time Zack left). For one thing, this time we only have one more chapter left to write, whereas last time we had four chapters to write in the same amount of time. Also, upon first glance, the teacher seemed pretty cool. Now, though, I have my doubts. We had to resubmit our first four chapters and he's torn all the other students' papers to shreds and hasn't given me any feedback at all (we're having technical difficulty). So I'm living in absolute terror of what he'll have to say.
To complicate matters further, I'll be out of town for a solid week of this class sightseeing with my in-laws. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally excited about the trip and seeing them, but it will make editing my paper a bit more complicated. Plus there's the small matter of cleaning the house and packing and all that, which brings me to the minor crisis.
It occurred to me Sunday (when the kennel is closed) that I hadn't reserved a kennel space for Dory while I'm gone (I was hoping Zack would be home) at the kennel on base. So Monday I went in to get my space, and of course they're all booked up. I should have expected this since American school is out and it's prime traveling time for Navy-folk (many of the other ships just got home, so people are going on vacation). The kennel people gave me names and numbers for three Japanese kennels and wished me luck, and I was not looking forward to calling them myself and trying to sort out the details in broken Janglish. Instead, I planned to take the numbers to my Japanese class tonight and get my tutor to translate for me.
Then on the way to class I passed a dog-related store, just like I do every week, and it occurred to me that there are also dogs in there every week, and that it's nice to know where to take the dog when you're ready to leave on vacation. So I walked in and successfully asked them if they have kennel services. (This was a major success for me.) They do, but only for small dogs (which is good since Dory's nice and small). Not only do they have the services, they cost 10ish dollars less per day than the kennel on base. All the kennel spaces were visible from the front desk, and everything looked pretty good, so I successfully booked Dory's stay at a kennel not two blocks from my house without using English or a translator. I'm very proud of myself.
So that's one issue down, two or three hundred more to sort out. I can do this...

May in Review Part 1

So this month has flown by what with visitors and work and more visitors and more work and school. Here's a quick review of some of the more interesting bits.


In the time between when my parents left and our next group of visitors came by, I went to an ILC (Interenational Lady's Club) event where we visited a shrine in Sasebo that is drowning in Wisteria:



Then it was Golden Week (a series of Japanese Holidays that lead the natives to take a week off and have major sales), so Zack and I went to Arita for China shopping. This year we brought a camera, so imagine miles and miles of this:



Golden Week includes a day called either Boy's Day or Children's Day depending on how politically correct the speaker is. The park by our house had a little party in honor of kids that day:



Then there was the change of command ceremony for the ship...

Followed immediately by a renewal of vows ceremony for the new CO, which meant even more men in choker white uniforms...

And that was all before the second week of May was over! After that our friends Emily and Michael arrived, and we did a bunch of sight seeing... more pictures to follow...

Life as Usual (for now)

Now that the blog is (more or less) caught up with recent events, I thought I'd give you all a post about exactly what it is I do all day when I'm NOT sightseeing. I promise I'll go back to the more diverse posts after this one. My work week begins on Tuesday because JAFCO classes tend to meet outside of normal working hours, so my bosses decided that Monday would be their one day off a week. Also, University of Phoenix starts all their classes on Tuesdays, so Monday is the last day of the week there, too. As a result, Tuesday is the new Monday. So that's where I'll start.
On Tuesdays, I try to get up early enough to do some exercise at home before my first class of the week. Since class begins at 10:30, this means waking up by about 7:30. (For me, that's on the early side.) After exercise (if I get up), I get showered and dressed and then open up our kitchen table and add the leaves so that it will hold six or seven people. My Tuesday morning class is a private class consisting of six women who have been taking English together for probably about as long as I've been alive. They come over, I give them tea and they talk. I help with vocabulary and grammar issues. After an hour, they pay me. It's a nice gig. :-)
After class, I generally eat lunch, then head over to base to run errands. Tuesday is a good day for grocery shopping because the store on base is closed on Wednesday, so if you need something, you better get it ahead of time. My next appointment is 2:30 to 3:30 at the JAFCO central classroom where I teach a (much more intense) adult class. JAFCO's curriculum focuses on basics in pronunciation and vocabulary, so teaching these classes involves a lot of repeating words that start with F, L, R, Th, V or W with extremely exagerated pronunciation. Then I go home and try to get some University work done. Since Tuesday is the first day of the school week, I try to do the reading for the week, so I can be prepared to discuss for the rest of the week. Depending on the length of the chapters, I generally get through most of it. Tuesday evenings, I go to Japanese class from 6:00-7:30. As a result, I tend to make and eat dinner early. I generally come home from that wiped out, and if Zack is home we watch some TV until it's bedtime.
Wednesday morning is much less rushed, so I get up and generally try to go to the gym. (It's free on base, so why not?) When I get home, I go straight into school work. Usually Wednesday I write up my required discussion responses so that I don't have to worry about them later. My first actual appointment for the day is at 4:00 when I teach another JAFCO class at the central classroom. This one's a family class which means more children's songs and moving around, but the curriculum is essentially the same. Then I'm home again for dinner time and at 8:00, I go back to the classroom for an adult class.
Thursdays depend on the week. Twice a month I have the option of going to an event for either ILC or OSC. The rest of the time, I go to yoga at 11:00, so I spend the morning on school work, which at this point in the week generally consists of reading what other students have posted, responding, and researching whatever project will be due on Monday. At 3:00, I have a JAFCO adult class at my house. To get ready for that, I have to put a plastic green cover over my carpet (my bosses think it makes the room more cheerful) and get out little tables and the various visual aids that live at my house. I also have to get a CD ready to play the songs we listen to. After that class, I've got two hours to make and eat dinner before my 6:00 choir practice which runs either until 7:00 or 7:30 depending on how many people show up (usually, it's just me and may be one other person, so we finish quickly). When that's done, I head back to the JAFCO central classroom for another adult class at 8:00.
Friday morning I'm up bright an early to go to Nagasaki Junior College to teach my childcare English class from 9:00-10:30. This class is conversation based, so we do a lot of practicing using vocabulary that might come in handy when the students become preschool teachers or day care helpers. I always leave that place with a smile on my face. It's a great job. After that, the day is mine. I run errands on base or go home and work on school stuff. It's a very easy day for me. I like it when Zack's home these evenings because we generally have some time to play video games.
Saturday, on the other hand, is non-stop. I have my first JAFCO family class at my house at 11:00. After that, I get an hour to eat some lunch and make it to the central classroom for my 1:00 family class. I come home, try to spend some time with Zack (if he's around), and then head back to the central class at 6:00 for another class. When it's over, it makes sense to just hang around because my next adult class starts there at 8:00.
Sunday morning is church and then I get the day to finish up my University assignments. My only class for the day is at 8:00 pm. Then Monday is my day off. I got to the gym for a total body workout class and then yoga. Then I finish whatever didn't get done over the course of the week. And before I know it, it's Tuesday again!
Of course, Zack's schedule changes every day and every week and sometimes he's not home for months, but that's my general routine. JAFCO is still recruiting new students, so the goal is to have me working 40 hours a week for them by the end of July, but I have trouble imagining that. We'll see what happens.

Hanami!

One of the best features of spring in Japan is the cherry blossoms. To celebrate this delightful asspect of spring, the Japanese celebrate by having Hanami parties. Hana means flower, Mi is to look/see/watch. So Hanami is a flower viewing party. Hanami parties generally involve not only lovely blossoms, but food and alcohol. So they're basically picnics. JAFCO, the new company that I work for, threw a Hanami party while my folks were here, so we all got together and went. The day of the party turned out to be cold, but the blossoms were still incredible. Here we are eating:

After everyone was done eating, there were a few special presentations by various talented people. The gentleman in this picture is blackbelt in several martial arts. He demonstrated some moves with lots of different weapons while the lady in the picture did marvelous impromptu translations.

Then a woman whose mother teaches tea ceremony walked us through that process so that we could try the matcha (yummy!) and get a rough idea of how that works:

And of course the cherry blossoms were everywhere, so Zack and I took a few of our annual cherry blossom pictures. Here's the group picture for the year:

So a good time was had by all.

Kimonos

Every once in awhile since I've lived here in Japan, a thought will run through my head that on the surface seems completely natural, but upon further reflection reminds me that I am not in Kansas anymore (so to speak). Today, that thought was "The next time I wear a kimono, I'm going to take a taxi." In the moment, it made perfect sense. After all, driving in a kimono is not so easy. Walking in one isn't a whole lot better, so a taxi would be the appropriate way to go. Then I realized that it was pretty weird 1) that I knew all this and 2) that I had more than one chance to wear a kimono in my whole life. In the States, chances to wear traditional Japanese clothes to events other than Halloween happen almost never. Here, on average, it seems to happen once a year.

This year's occasion to wear a kimono was a going away party for one of the members of OSC. She's been here three years, and in three weeks she'll be gone. The theme of the party was going to be all things Japan. The invite asked us to wear "Something Japanese." I don't have a lot of somethings Japanese, but I do have the kimono I bought last year at a festival. The question was how would I get it on. So I asked the ladies in one of my classes if they could help. They knew the lady for whom the party was being given, and two of them agreed to come to my house on the day of the party to help me get dressed.

What's more, my new helpers insisted that I could not wear the kimono like I did last time: with a t-shirt underneath and no socks. No, ma'am. That would never do. Instead, they provided me with all the under-stuff necessary to wear it right. They did a test run last week with my clothes on underneath to make sure it all would fit, and today, I wore it for real. Here I am at the party with Skii, who rented her Kimono and got professionally dressed:

The thing about kimonos is they're not easy to wear. If you want to see what I mean, find a big bathrobe and try to move around without allowing it to flap open anywhere. You'll get the idea. Granted, a kimono is tied shut a great deal better than a bathrobe, but the same basic issues apply. There are no zippers or buttons, it's all tied on. Here is a picture of everything I was wearing in the picture you saw before (except the underwear):

There was the kimono, obi, and shoes, yes, but under the kimono is the white under-dress thingy which is like its own kimono, which is tied on with its own cord. then there are the two cords that go under the obi to hold the kimono together, then all the stuff required to make the obi look right. The red thing sitting up in the back goes in the front to keep the obi properly flat regardless of a woman's figure. And if you look closely, you'll see two of my face towels in the pile, and a rubber band. They wrapped the towels and a tiny little pillow in one of the ties to make the obi poof out right in the back. Don't ask me how it's all done, but it took about 20 minutes for two of them to put me all together.

And once everything's on, it's hard to keep it all together. The ladies at the party today asked me if I could breathe, and when I said yes they insisted that my kimono must not be on tight enough. I did find it impossible to sneeze for lack of breathing room, though. Then there's the small issue of sitting. The hard part isn't the actual sitting but the getting from standing to sitting and back without the bottom flapping open. "Keep your legs together." the Japanese ladies advised me, but it's easier said then done. And when you add the process of moving feet from one pedal to another in a car when you're driving it becomes really hard to retain some sense of modesty. (Hence the taxi thought.) Keep in mind, too, that part of wearing a kimono is having an obi tied elaborately in the back, making it impossible to lean back. It's really good for the posture, but not so good for the driving.

To make matters more complicated, the weather today was less than cooperative. It's really windy out there. I mean really windy. I mean I couldn't get my car door open after the party because the wind was gusting so hard and I needed one hand to keep my kimono shut. Wind and kimonos just don't mix.

All that said, I still had a great time dressing up today. I can see why ladies don't wear them often here, but it is very fun to be all decked out with the obi and the front arranged all nicely and all the little details. It feels rather exotic and I think it all looks great when it's done properly.

Opportunity Knocks

A few weeks ago, I went to a friend's house to help her with a cooking class for Japanese families. Cooking classes are apparently a big thing for women on base. Japanese women want to know what Americans cook, and how to do it, and they'll pay to see it first hand. This class was created by a group called the Japanese & American Friendly Circle, or JAFCO for short, which hopes to encourage friendly encounters between Japanese and Americans (as the title implies) and help kids get started on their English for school. The leader of JAFCO, a Japanese guy named Mike (no, really), was there and found out that I have the English degree and teach and what not, and expressed interest in hiring me as a teacher. I figured I could use a little more work, so he said he'd call me and we'd work out the details.
So a few days later, Mike called and asked if I could join him and another leader of JAFCO for dinner. We made arrangements, and I spent a few days being tickled by the fact that they were going to take me out to dinner to interview me for a part time teaching position. It's so not the kind of treatment I'd get in America. The dinner interview turned out to be an interview for one of two jobs. One was the part time job I expected, the other was full time!
The job will involve teaching very laid back and basic English classes in the afternoons for students and their parents (or grandparents). One class a week might be in my house, the rest will be at a classroom that JAFCO has rented and is in the process of decorating. If there is an interest, a few adult classes might be worked in eventually. In addition to teaching, I will also be responsible for coordinating among the American teachers to find out what's working and so on, which is pretty exciting. I would never get the chance to be a "department head" in the States at this point in my carreer, so I was really excited about the leadership opportunity. PLUS, Mike would like me to help design the curriculum for the classes! They have the first two months worked out, but they'll clearly need more, and they were looking for someone to work on it. My masters is in curriculum design (in part) so I'm totally psyched about the chance to actually try out the stuff I'm learning. And once we move back to the States, the opportunities to actually design a curriculum from the ground up will be few and far between.
So, to make a long story much shorter, I've officially taken the job as of today. I'll still be able to teach at the junior college and also my private class at my house, and I'll still be working on the masters, so I'm about to be crazy busy, but I'm so excited.
In other news, I woke up to snow on the mountains surround Sasebo this morning. It was wet, but not frozen, around the house. Since it didn't snow last year this time, I'm assuming that we're having an especially cold spring this year. Also, all the cars in Sasebo have recently gotten covered in yellow dusty stuff. I assumed that no one was washing their car because of the water shortage in town. (The water reserves are at 65% and holding this month. If they drop below like 50ish, they'll start having water hours.) I learned today that actually the yellow stuff is Mongolian sand that blows in this time every year. I don't know why I didn't notice it last year, but I thought it was interesting.

On Holiday

Monday was another busy and strange day for me. Several exciting and less-than-exciting things were happening all at once. The most importnat less-than-exciting thing was the fact that my car is in the shop, forcing me to walk or hitch rides from friends any time I want to go anywhere. My car had a slight run-in with the concrete wall outside my house. I was the driver, and I spent a long time feeling extremely foolish, but then every person who's heard the story and knows what my driveway looks like reacted with "oh! That was bound to happen eventually..." So I'm getting over it, and now so is the car. The nice (American) man who was recommended by the many people on base who have had similar issues said it would take 3-4 days to fix. Today is day 7. Granted, two of those days were holidays, but still... I wish I could have found someone Japanese to fix it...
Not having the car was not a big deal for the first five days. The only place I had to go was base, and I walk that sometimes just for the fun of it. Other than having to carry groceries home, it didn't really have much effect on my life. But Monday, I had a Family Readiness Group meeting to go to in Hario housing, which is a solid 30 minute drive from my house. Not having a car was not such a good thing. I woke up very irritated at my unfortunate postion. Luckily, I have some very patient friends, and I was able to catch a ride for that, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Monday was a Japanese holiday. According to my handy list of Japanese holidays, it's commemorating the day that, according to historical records, the first Japanese emperor was crowned. As a result, the main shopping center in town, lovingly referred to as the Ginza by the Americans, was jam packed with people when I arrived there on my way to base Monday morning. The Ginza is a pedestrian only street in the middle of town with any type of shop you might desire. It runs for several blocks. I managed to arrive just in time to see a parade go by. It was the biggest display of Japanese nationalism I've seen in my year here. There was a marching band playing an upbeat, marchy version of the national anthem (which sounds really weird because the normal version is slow and mellow sounding), followed by a whole bunch of people who presumably represented various civic groups carrying paper flags. As I walked, I ran into a major gap in the parade. Further along, I discovered the reason for this gap: the parade was stopping at the cross walk and only proceeded when the pedestrian light was green. It made me laugh because no procession like that in the states would just stop for a light.
Anyway, if off base was a little festive, then on base was an all out party. Sasebo is currently being visited by a big ship that is apparently coming from the middle east somewhere. By big ship, I mean that it probably doubles the number of Americans in Sasebo for the time that it's here. It arrived on Monday morning. The last time this happened, I'd been living here for all of a week, and didn't understand what base is normally like. Now that I do understand what base is normally like, I can understand why the "locals" avoid base when there's a big ship in. See, the normal population of Americans here has been carefully trained to behave significantly better than the average American. We've adopted Japanese standards of politeness... almost. Most of the Japanese people we meet here base their entire opinion of Americans on us, and we want them to like us, so we play nice. When a big ship comes in, the base is flooded with not ordinary Americans, but sailors, and there's a reason sailors have the reputation they have. Some of the sailors will probably be delightful guests, but the sheer number of them makes it almost guaranteed that there will be an "incident" between an American and a Japanese person before they leave. Plus, they hang out all over base, and make it a signficantly less pleasant place to be. Also, security closes off several main streets, so driving on base becomes quite a hassle, too. So the rest of us quietly hide and wait for it to be over.
Unfortunately, I had to be on base, so I braved the crowds to get my groceries and found myself leaving base again behind a group of newcomers set on finding downtown. They were the more stereotypical sailors and I really felt uncomfortable being anywhere near them. Right as we exited base, a big black bus came by with speakers on the top. The speakers were blaring the Imperial March from Star Wars. I felt the urge to crawl into the pavement. I can't say for sure, but I'm fairly confident that the truck was a response to the ship that came in. Why? Well, Japanese people are not exactly fond of nuclear power for the most part (and can you really blame them?). I'm not sure about the ship that's currently visiting, but most of the big ships in the US Navy are nuclear powered, and it bugs the heck out of Japanese people when they're visited by those ships. So I'm guessing that the truck was a protest to that. What was really mortifying was the way the sailors reacted to this truck, as if it was privately owned and some weird quirk of Japanese society. They took pictures while shouting obseneties and jokes at each other. Hence my mortification.
On the way home, I passed a gathering that was either in honor of the Japanese holiday or another protest about the ship (it's really hard to tell since protests aren't really that loud or angry here for the most part). I also pondered just how nice it was that I didn't have a car today. If I had, I would have missed all the excitement.

Japanese Repairmen

So were two things around the house that needed fixing beyond our repair. First, paper in one of the doors on our tatami room was ripped. I would have continued to ignore this, but we also had a major crack in a glass sliding door in the room where I spend most of time, and it's cold in there without extra leakage. As a result, I reluctantly visited my bill paying service (they take care of pretty much anything related to the house that might involve talking to a Japanese person) to get a repair guy. I was prepared for a hassle. I forgot I was in Japan.
The lady at the bill pay service patiently listened to my concerns then called the repair service. They said they could fix both doors on Saturday, but they'd like to come see the glass one to figure out what needed to be done. They promised to stop by sometime after two yesterday. So I figured it would be late afternoon. I forgot I was in Japan.
At 3:00 a kind Japanese repair man was standing on my doorway. He spoke zero English. If I was in America and didn't speak English, a repair guy who spoke only English would pretty much be useless to me, but I'm in Japan. So I grabbed Dory, answered the door, and said "Chotto mate kudasai" which means "just a moment." I meant "I'll be back in a second after I put my insane dog somewhere where she can't kill you." He thought I meant "stay here until I get back." So when I arrived downstairs again, he was patiently waiting in my entryway. I appologized immediately. He took his shoes off and came in to check out the various damages.
The repair guy spent some time measuring the glass door, and actually appologized when he needed help holding the measuring tape. Then I showed him to the tatami room to check out the paper door and left him entirely alone without the slightest concern for my belongings in there. When he returned, he had a question. I appologized for having no clue what the question was, at which point he appologized to me and reverted to sign language. He had the materials with him to fix the paper door, which he proceeded to do for free. So the same day I expressed concern about the door, it was fixed. I love Japan.
Next my new best friend wanted to let me know when he'd be back to fix the other door. He went nice and slow and we successfully agreed that he could come back the next day (no, really) after 3:00 (because I wouldn't be home until then). I am very proud that I could get all that in Japanese. I even learned a new word (after) in the process. I tried to ask him how much it would cost and met with less luck, but he didn't seem concerned about getting paid (no, really) so I didn't let that worry me.
So today my bill service company called to ask me if it was okay if the repair guy came at 3:00. (Remember, originally the company had told me the earliest this would happen was Saturday.) Apparently he called them to make sure we were clear. He also gave them an estimate, and I arranged for them to pay that bill too. I told them after 3:00 would be fine, and they called back to say he'd be here at 4:00 and the repair would take about an hour. Then I forgot I was in Japan again and began to worry. In America, 4:00 in repair man time is 5:00 or 6:00 and one hour is two. Since I had to leave the house again at 5:30, that was a little unsettling. Thankfully, I didn't cancel. At 4:01, my favorite repairman was back. He indicated that he just needed me to unlock the glass door in question, so I did that. The one hour repair job took 20 minutes.
I absolutely love Japan.

Japanese Performing Arts

October 26-28:

Wow, what a weekend it was in Sasebo. I barely got home at all. On Saturday, I went on a tour with FIS (Friendship International Society), the group who sponsors my Japanese lessons. We visited Hirado, then wandered to the next island over, famous for a giant statue of Budda:

And also for a scenic road/trail called the Kawachi Pass:

Though the pictures pretty much speak for themselves, it was very much like being in Scotland again. We had a picnic in the pass, which was lovely, then went on to a small town to take in a local festival.
Our guide, a native of the town we were visiting, said that the festival was a local harvest celebration, held every year to thank the sea god for all the fish they had caught. Usually, there's a Kabuki play involved, but this year, it was "just" some traditional Japanese dance:

We were also told that the dancing was all done by local ladies. I thought it was quite good. Definetely worth the trip.
Also, in Sasebo this weekend was a festival called Yosakoi. The Navy ladies have been getting excited about this festival since early September. Yosakoi, as they described it, is a dance festival. Tons of dancing groups come to town and they (you guessed it) peform dances all over town. While all this is accurate, it doesn't really do the festival justice. It's a very difficult thing to describe, but I'll start with what I know: marching band (sorry for those of you who aren't band geeks). Think of it like a band competition at a high school: there's people in funny outfits wandering around, there's a big arena where people are performing, and lots of other people running around helping get the uniformed people where they're going. Now make the high school a whole city, add two more arenas, and close off a few roads for good measure. Have the uniformed folks running from stage to stage and dancing on the closed roads in between. You'll be getting closer to what Yosakoi is like now. Here's a picture of the main stage from above:

In my head, I had imagined that the dancing would be of a relatively modern sort based on what I see kids doing in parks occasionally. I had also figured the dancers would be college/high school aged. In fact, while some of the music had a modern spin to it, and the moves reflected that, mostly it was a more traditional form of dance, I would say. Also, the dancers ranged in age from just old enough to walk to old enough to be grandparents. Here are some of the pictures, but they don't really do the thing justice. It was a really cool weekend.

Soon to come: Halloween pictures from three parties (more than I've ever been to in one year in the States), and pictures of Dory in her Halloween costume.

Reasons they're not up yet: Grad school, grad school, substitute teaching, grad school, a speech contest, nanowrimo, and grad school. Stay tuned...

Cruisin...

Well time just has been flying along. I'm working on my ARP for my master's degree, lesson planning on the fly, and singing a lot recently, too. I joined the choir at church awhile back, and they invited me to join a Christmas Caroling group for the holiday season. Who doesn't like to sing Christmas carols, right?
And just because I had discovered that I'm now officially home only two nights a week on average, the ship's family readiness group was in desparate need of a President, so now I'm doing that too. (It was either me, or the whole thing would fall apart, apparently.) I know that the family readiness group is supposed to support the families, and that ours is clearly not terribly active, but that's about it. How we go about supporting families? No idea. Luckily, the current ombudsman used to be FRG President, and she's happy to help... or basically just tell me what to do... which is what I really need anyway, so I'll be helping to raise money for and plan a Christmas party on top of everything else. I wonder if it's my job to contact Santa...
As a reward for burying myself in random projects, I got great news from Zack last night. We officially have permission to take our Christmas vacation: a Cruise through New Zealand and Austrailia. I'm super excited, and now I get to plan all of that, too. So far, I have the cruise booked and Dory's trip to the kennel: she got the last kennel spot available for the dates, so we found out just in time.
The funny thing is the more I find that I "have to" do, the more I find myself capable of getting done. Granted, I have been resorting to planning lessons in the morning on my way to school (which I NEVER could have done in the States) from time to time, but I get a lot accomplished in the average day now, so life is good.

General News

So this week I started teaching daily. I'm subbing for another teacher at the Junior College until November, so suddenly my mornings are gone. I can't figure out how I used to teach full time and still have energy to walk the dog at the end of the day. Good thing Dory still refuses to take walks here. I think she's afraid the house will disappear or something.
Zack is gone again. He called me a few days ago with two important pieces of information: 1. He passed a major inspection with flying colors thereby winning the approval of his CO for at least another 24 hours, which is a major major major relief because this was causing a lot of stress. I don't claim to understand all the details, but I know that their ship now qualifies again for the Blue E, which is a big award for a ship. So go Zack! 2. He was on his way into Disney Tokyo. I promptly went to MWR and signed up for two trips in November to make myself feel better.
Other than that, life proceeds quite normally. It's FINALLY starting to cool off, so I'm not using the AC so much. I'm almost done with another class for my graduate degree, and I've also teach two private classes a week now, one of which is in my house, which means I suddenly feel required to keep the dust out of my downstairs. This could be a full time job all by itself. So the time is going quickly. I'm not entirely sure where my September went, but I'm pretty sure October will go much the same way.

Camera Eye's View

I finally got around to uploading pictures from my super cool brand new camera today and I realized I had pictures of several things that I never mentioned in writing. So here's what the camera says I've done:



This is the hotel that is located near Hario housing where Zack and I went to get this lovely foot massage.

ILC had it's first meeting of this year. ILC stands for International Ladies Club, or may be International Lady's Club, either way I'm officially a member now. It consists of five other clubs: four Japanese groups and Officer's Spouse's Club, to which I also belong. Each club hosts two meetings a year and then they take two months off. This meeting was hosted by one of the Japanese groups, who taught us to tie furoshiki (pronounced fu-row-shkey), which are basically decorative scarves. They can be made into hats or bags, as modeled by the lovely woman in the picture, and are also often used as wrapping when Japanese people give gifts, and to wrap up lunch to take to work or school. I got one as a door prize, so I'll have to practice.

Then there are a few shots of Dory destroying a toy I bought her. The only toy she still owns is the first one I ever got her. She's destroyed everything else I've bought her, and monkey ball is also loosing all resemblance to either a monkey or a ball lately. So I bought her a new one hoping to replace the old guy, but it wasn't constructed like the old one, and in literally an hour (I timed her), it looked like this: There's a reason Zack calls her Ripper. The thing in front is the rattle that used to be in the toy's head. By the end of that day, she had pulled out all of the legs and unraveled them and even gone so far as to attempt to take the fuzz off the tenis ball part. I guess the toy hunt is still on. At least she liked it, right?

Anyway, the rest of the pictures are of a trip to Kumamoto I took which deserves it's own post, so there will be more coming soon, I promise.