Finding My Way...

Howling Winds

The winds are incredible today.  All lastnight I heard it rushing past my window.  The neighbor's wind chimes were working overtime.  Every once in a while I heard a tree limb fall, or someone's recycling bin go rolling down the street like a suburban tumbleweed.  I woke this morning to find my bin in the backyard against the grill.  Emily's hula hoops and toboggan has been loosened from their spot between the deck and the house, and were strewn across the yard.

All of this wind brought me right back to Japan, with the frequent Typhoon warnings.  The warning levels were from 1 to 5, with 1 being more of a "button your sweater" warning and 5 being a "tie down the patio table" sort of warning.  Our Japanese home had metal storm shutters on the larger windows that we rolled down.  It made the house so dark.  And they rattled in the wind something fierce, insuring that you would not sleep restfully that night.  What always amazed me about the storms though, was that the wind was so strong, it would seemingly blow all of the clouds away in the night, and the next morning you would wake to clear, blue skies and bright sun.  Beautiful weather to clean up in.

Sayonara Japan

It's done.  We have officially moved away from Japan.  New posts will be scarce for about two weeks.  Happy Fourth of July to all, and tune in mid-July for house hunting anecdotes.  I'll start with the crack they must be on at the bank for the amount they pre-approved us for.

10 Day Countdown

Ten days from today we will be leaving Japan for good.  I am happy, and I am ready to begin something new.  I have been thinking a little bit about the things I will miss from Japan when we are gone.  Some have been mentioned before in this blog, like the Cherry Blossoms.  I think what I will miss the most is the safety I feel here.  When we are stateside and Barry travels or we are apart, I have the worst time sleeping.  I am very fearful.  But when we are overseas, the peace that comes from being behind a gate, guarded by soldiers/sailors/Marines is unmatched.  Em can go to the bathroom alone in a restaurant on base and I don't have to worry about what creep might be lurking in there.  I can let her take the elevator in our building to the second floor to return something to her friend and come back without worrying she will end up on a milk carton.  I will miss that peace of mind tremendously.

There are other creature comforts I will miss.  I will miss my favorite restaurants.  Like Thirteen Frogs (my favorite, a yakiniku restaurant), the crepe stand in the mall where I like to get a strawberry/chocolate/fresh whipped cream crepe wrapped up like an ice cream cone.  I will miss the 100 yen store, and the great finds at the Japanese version of a dollar store, especially the 5 story Daiso in Machida.  I will miss my Nissan Serena.  It's a cute little red minivan with a middle seat that swings around to face the side or the back seat.  It has curtains in all the windows to close on a sunny day to help keep the car cooler.  I will miss having a half dozen playgrounds with updated equipment in walking distance, plus the middle school track nearby to ride bikes around after school with friends.

The school was a tremendous blessing this year that I will miss next year.  Most parents walked their kindergarteners to school, and I knew most of the parents in the class.  Emily's teacher welcomed my offers to volunteer in the classroom, and all of the children knew me and greeted me with enthusiasm all over base ("Hi Emily's Mom!").  I knew each one of them by name also, and they were a wonderful group of kids.

Of course I will miss the exotic travel opportunities.  It's so much easier to plan a week in Hong Kong from Japan than from the States.  And if I don't want to go far, there is so much of my host country to explore and see.  I will miss the ease and affordability of a trip to Tokyo Disneyland.  I will miss the view from the 76th floor of Landmark Tower in Yokohama, and the huge ferris wheel nearby.  I will take fond memories of the Hagoita Ichi at Sensoji Temple just before the New Years celebration.

Despite all I will miss, I am very excited to move back to the US and start the next chapter of our lives.

Bells and Whistles

There is something reassuring about the precision of a military base.  You almost don't need a watch around this place.

At 7:25 the first school "bell" rings.  It's actually the tune "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from Mary Poppins.  I kiss Em goodbye and begin to walk back home.  As I cross the elementary school playground after chatting up a friend the 7:30 rendition of Chim Chimney sounds and the safety patrols jog in to get to class.  Anyone still walking to school steps it up a little.  As Chim Chimney fades out I hear the 7:30 siren down at the pier marking report time for some sailors and contractors.  As I am opening windows in my apartment, the 7:45 siren sounds. 

At 8:00 am anyone in ear shot of the pier, front gate, and hospital will come to a halt as the colors are raised and the anthem played through loudspeakers.  Cars stop on the roads.  People stop walking, turn to face the nearest flag they can see.  Sailors salute, civilians put their hand over their heart and respect is paid to the US Flag.  When I get really fed up with the attitude of some of the people on this base, I try to take a walk down near the front end of the base near 8am.  It reassures me that there is a great respect for something here. 

More sirens mid-day to mark lunch breaks.  Keeps the highschoolers on their toes too, making sure they hustle back to class on time.  Hearing that noon siren makes me happy, it means all the kids have cleared out of the various eateries on base, and I can have lunch in relative peace.

There are more sirens in the evening.  Time to close shop, time to join the mass of people heading for the gate.  Time to sit in your car next to the guy listening to music so loud you wonder how he can still hear.  Time to inch towards the front gate watching the Japanese contractors ride by on their bikes with base-required helmets that will be pulled off as soon as they go out that front gate.

At 5pm we freeze again.  The colors come down, more music is played, the day is done.  The music ends, the bugle is heard, marking the moment that life can go on moving.  Life needs to keep moving, but sometimes it's great to stop in your tracks, cover your heart and show respect for something so much bigger than your single life.

Sayonara Sakura...

The Cherry Blossoms are nearly gone.  When the festival on base was held the 3rd, they hadn't really begun to bloom yet.  Here is it the 18th, and they are already gone.  Sunday morning I was anxious to try out my new Nikon and I took some pictures of the rapidly disappearing cherry blossoms.  Right after they burst into bloom we had three days of heavy rains and winds, and it was more than those little, pink Sakura could withstand.  Add the fleeting Sakura season to the list of things of I will miss about Japan.  Washington, DC does have it's Cherry Blossoms around the Tidal Basin, but it is simply not the same.  The Americans just don't revel in this delicately beautiful sign of spring like the Japanese.  So Sayonara Sakura, you fall from the trees for the final time during our time here in Japan.

CV-63

I was able to arrange a tour of the USS Kitty Hawk while my father-in-law is here visiting.  The Kitty Hawk is not only the oldest carrier in the Navy, the only non-nuclear carrier in operation, but it is flat out the oldest operating ship of any kind in the US Navy, commissioned in the early 1960's.

It's hard to fully comprehend the enormity of an aircraft carrier.  I have driven past the Kitty Hawk about a hundred times, both at the pier and when it was in dry dock for a time.  I watched it return from deployment for Operation Iraqi Freedom.  It started as a small form on the horizon, and sailed in to fill your view with steel and gray paint.  I was excited to arrange this tour, I hoped to get more of feel for the size of the carrier from a walk around. 

Not even close.

We spent about two hours on the ship, moving at a brisk pace, and I still think we saw MAYBE 10% of the ship.  We saw the main cargo hold, the forecastle (pronounced fock-sle), a ward room, then we headed up to the flight deck.  We walked all over the top of the ship.  We saw the catapults for the fighters, learned about afterburner shields, and went up to Vulture's Row (a great place to observe the flight deck).  Then we went up to the bridge and saw where the captain and navigator sit.  We must have climbed and descended about two dozen ladders and the tops of my thighs burned by the end!

My fascination with the aircraft carrier, and the Kitty Hawk in particular continues, fueled by this fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime visit.

Doing the Tourist Thing...

My father-in-law is coming to visit later this week.  He will be here for a week and a half.  He is here more to see us than Japan, though we hope to treat him to some of the local sites.  I am hoping that one of the Saturdays he is here we can go Meiji Shrine.  The last time we went was a Saturday in November.  Meiji-Jingu Shrine in Tokyo is an auspicious place to be married in Japan.  On any Saturday there are wedding parties, like the one pictured here, just lined up to go one right after another through the ceremony.  I was too shy to get any closer for better photos.  It's one of the few times I wished I had a digital SLR with a telephoto.  I will have to get some fresh film for the Nikon and take it with us this time.

The Cherry Blossoms are beginning to bloom.  It's the most beautiful weeks of the entire year here in Japan.  They pass far too soon.  Shortly after they bloom, the wind blows the blossoms off the trees, and it's like a pale pink snow on the ground.  You can sit under one of these trees and get covered!  And that is the favorite activity of the Japanese during the time the Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) are in bloom is to sit outside under these trees and picnic.  It is funny to me to see crowds of Japanese ladies sitting in the parks eating, drinking beer, singing, and hanging out.  I look forward to some of the photos I can take in Ueno Park this coming week.

Of course we will need to make another (maybe our final?) pilgrimage to Tokyo Disneyland.  We hope to finally visit Disney Sea also.  I have so many photographs from that place they will need their own album.  This will be our fifth visit to the park.  There is another addition to my list I am working on this week.  My list of things I will miss about Japan when I leave.  I will miss having something as magical as Tokyo Disneyland so affordable and so close to me.

High Winds, High Seas

It was a treat to feel warm sun on my face yesterday.  We went to the playground, and I wanted to get some pictures of her face, but she needs a haircut.  I can't get a good photograph if I can't see her eyes.

It's a good thing I savored that sunshine yesterday, because it changed overnight.  Along with the rain are winds strong enough for a small craft warning through the rest of today.  On the way to school we saw the white caps pounding the seawall.  That reminded me that when we move there will be a few things from here I will miss.  One is living so close to the water.  I am setting a goal for this week to add at least four other things to that list.