Cherry Blossom Festival 2009

On Saturday was the Atsugi Base Cherry Blossom Festival. I knew there would be big crowds, but I wasn't expecting the 20,000 people that came to base. Glenn and I were up early to set up VAW-115's tables. We sold Hawkeye t-shirts, coins, zippos, DVDs, patches and all sorts of embroidered things. The Japanese eat this stuff up! They were taking pictures and dressing up in flight gear and spending SO much money on Navy gear. VAW-115 isn't quite as flashy as the jet squadrons, but we made around $7000 in 6 hours, the other jet squadrons made $15,000. It is a good money maker for the Officer's Mess!There was live entertainment, food booths and then the static display of all of the aircraft. Here is the mighty Hawkeye behind our booth.

Cherry Blossom Festival is an open gate event though so anyone from the Japanese community can come on base and see what all the mystery is behind the gates. It is a great friendship event. I had a few of my English students come on base too.
The Japanese loved to take pictures with the pilots and even got several autographs. I think they were feeling like celebreties! Here is Glenn with a Japanese boy.

Our Super Fan (a loyal Japanese friend of the squadron that comes to every event) brought his scooter for pictures as well. Notice the Liberty Bell paint job?

Even I got in to the fun. Here I am in some of the flight gear. I never got to do Lady Chick day in Kingsville so I'm making up for it now I guess :)We were exhausted after the long day, but still made it to dinner with our super fan and the O'Club for some karaoke! I'm looking forward to next year's festival!

PS. Notice no pictures of actual Cherry Blossoms? That's because they hadn't started blooming yet!

More friends to Japan!

I just found out this morning, that we have more friends moving out here. Cassie and Kyle Jones and their sweet baby girl, Haley, will be joining VFA-115 in Lamoore. This is the squadron that will be replacing VFA-192 at the end of the year. So when Laura and Annie leave Japan, Cassie will be arriving!

It's pretty crazy what a small world naval aviation can be. It's always nice to have more friends in a foreign country.

See you in 8 months, Cassie and Kyle!
Here is me, Christene, Cassie and Shannon when I left Norfolk last September.

Lost

Last night I had a class in Machida (a town about 10 miles away that takes an hour to get there). Made it there with no problem. I had a second class 45 minutes after this class ended. I had my directions and was pretty sure I knew how to get there.

Wrong.

I only had to make 4 turns from the made road to get to my new class, but 75 minutes later, I finally made it there. Ugh. I drove the wrong way for 30 minutes on one road and had to turn around and drive the 30 minutes back to where I started.

Apparently I need to get a map of the area and not just my little sketches I made. A bigger picture is going to be necessary. At least I had the phone number of my student and she is the sweetest lady in the world. Even she doesn't drive in Japan. They used to live in North Carolina and she would drive there, but she won't drive here. She says the roads are too narrow.

I guess the more often I get lost though, the sooner I will figure out my way around.

English Classes

I think my schedule is finally full with English classes. I only teach 3 days a week, which I'm pretty happy with because it makes taking time off much easier. Much fewer classes to reschedule/cancel.

This is what my class load looks like so far:

Monday:
12:30-1:30 Toshiko
2:00-3:00 Yumiko and Yuko
4:00-5:00 Yuki and Miyuu (2x a month)

Tuesday
4:00-5:00 Yumi and Mitsuru
6:30-8:00 Keido and wife, and Ameriko

Wednesday
9:30-10:30 Mayumi's friend (3x a month)
1:00-3:45 Machida Community Center Class (3x a month)
4:30-5:30 Keiko (2x a month)

Random Days
10:00-11:00 Masayo (2x a month)

I'm pretty happy with it so far. It still leaves time for babysitting and running errands during the day. Or cleaning the bathroom like today. Good times.

This weekend is the Cherry Blossom Festival on base. They open up the base to anyone that wants to come. I'm excited to see the flowers in bloom and hopefully it will happen this week. Glenn has been pretty busy coordinating things for his squadron so I hope everything comes together. He might be making a trip to Korea one of these days to get a few last things. That seems really crazy to me, to just "run to Korea", but things are crazy cheap there so it makes sense.

Have a good week everyone!

Japanese Traffic

If you can tell me what the heck this sign means, then you deserve a prize. I could probably figure it out soon enough, but now when crusing by at 100 kph. It's super helpful when the signs are all in kanji too. We typically use "pictures" to remember what the signs mean. For example, Yamato train station is near by. We remember the kanji for Yamato, 大和, as "Big Night Out". See the lady in the party dress and a man in a tux looking in a mirror?

Short Do.

Here's my new short hair do. People were asking to see pics so here you go!

And the back...

I'm going to be an aunt again!

I figure since Laura sent out an email to the family, it is now ok for me to post it on my blog- my brother, Adam, and his wife, Laura, are going to have another baby! My nephew Connor is going to be a big brother! I can't wait! I talked to Connor on the webcam this weekend and he says that he wants a little sister. I hope he gets his wish! We'll have another baby Lawson in early November...

Tagata Fertility Festival

WARNING....The following post may not be suitable for children (although you may see children in some of the pictures, but that's just the Japanese for you)

So yesterday morning, bright and early, myself and 4 friends headed to Tagata, near Nagoya, about 4 hours away. We rented a van from the Autoport (free tolls with government vehicles! otherwise the tolls would have been $130 round trip, ugh!) and hit the road. On a side note, I love road trips with girls, because we always pack a ridiculous amount of snacks and drinks and always make an appropriate number of bathroom/shopping stops.

We got to Tagata around 11 am and once we got to the Fertility Shrine, we saw this and we knew we were in for a good time:Those are chocolate covered bananas, by the way. There was a wide array of appropriately shaped treats for the occassion:We ate, walked around the booths and the shrine, and also walked to a shrine close by where the parade was beginning. We were able to see much of the parade before it actually walked down the street. This wasn't just a bachlorette party gone bad, but actually a religious festival for those people hoping to increase their fertility. We saw several families being blessed by the priests in the shrine, but then there were the other several thousand of us just going "Oh my goodness, another penis." Good times.

Here was the piece de resistance, the portable shrine that is carried through the parade by twelve 42-year old men. Apparently, 42 is the age where men need...well...a purple fertility shrine.

Here we are from left to right: Nicole, me, Alba, Traci and in front: Gizelle.

And I guess while were at it, I might as well give you the full picture because words cannot really describe everything. Pictures are so much better:

Update: I had to take these pics down because Blogger sensored them. They were pretty funny though while they lasted :)

Laura gets here on Friday! & Happy Birthday Laura!

I'm very excited for Laura (left) to get here on Friday. This picture is from when we lived in Kingsville, TX. We have known the Moore's for 3 duty stations now. Since 2006. Can't wait for her to get here! Also, to the another Laura, Happy Birthday! Laura took this picture herself, so she can't be too upset with me. I can't wait to see you in July for your wedding!

Hakone

Glenn and I went on a sightseeing tour on Sunday to Hakone. Hakone is SW of Atsugi but still in the Kanagawa prefecture about 2 hours away.
This tour was jam-packed, and a little long, but we still enjoyed it. I think we would have enjoyed it even more if the weather had been nicer. Hakone is known for being a great place to view Mt. Fuji, but it was covered in clouds the whole time we were there. At least it didn't rain.
Our first stop on the tour was the Hakone Shrine. This shrine was very pretty because it is in a park and surrounded by gorgeous, tall trees. The shrine also had a long set of stairs that led down to a torii gate in the lake. Hakone is a region known for its volcanic activity and lake Ashi was formed by volcanic eruptions. Later in the day we took a boat ride from one end of the lake to the other. On a pirate-themed boat no less.
After the Hakone Shrine, we went to Owakudani Valley which was the last point of volcanic activity/explosion in Japan and still has boiling hot springs. This area is known for their black eggs. The legend says that if you eat one egg you will live an extra 7 years, 14 years if you eat two. The eggs are just hard boiled eggs, but they turn black because they are boiled in the hot springs (hydrogen sulfide + iron in eggs = black eggs). Glenn and I each ate 2 so we'll be living longer now! (The inside was still white and yellow, fyi).

After extending our lifetimes, we took the boat cruise to the other end of Lake Ashi and visited the Sekisyo Checkpoint and the Detached Palace Gardens. The checkpoint was established in 1619 and was the gateway to Edo (Tokyo) from Kyoto in order to keep travelers and imports under control. The place we visited was a replica of what stood in the same place hundreds of years ago. Here I am at the lookout tower, keeping an eye on things:
At this point of the tour, Glenn and I were ready to go home, but finally we visited the gardens. This garden used to be a summer vacation spot for the imperial family. Now it is owned by the Kanagawa prefecture. Again, this would have been much prettier and more enjoyable in warmer weather, but I still enjoyed getting to see it.

Maybe Glenn is sad the tour is over...

Busy Week

This week is going to be pretty busy, but I'm looking forward to making a dent into my Australia/Laura's wedding fund. I started a few new classes this week. I thought I would start next month, but the previous teacher got orders faster than they thought they would. They have to report to Australia by the end of next month. I thought moving overseas was tough, but moving from one foreign country to another? My head would be spinning.
So anyways. I now have 2-3 classes each Monday, 2 on Tuesdays and 2 on Wednesdays.
Today I'm babysitting for 24 hours as well. I slept at the Navy Lodge where a family is living right now and stayed with their 21 month old daughter. So I'm the full time babysitter today. It's fun, but interesting. She's a cutie though so it makes it easier. What is it with kids and cell phones though? She's obsessed.
We had Annie and Dave over for dinner last night. Annie just got to Japan yesterday. I'm sure her head is spinning still and will be for the next 9 months when they move to California.
Alrighty, well this is difficult to type with a toddler crawling all over me.
Happy Tuesday!

Daylight Savings

FYI, in Japan we don't have daylight savings so from the midwest we are now only 14 hours different. From the east coast, only 13.

So, add 2 hours and change it to am if pm or pm if am (if you are CST)!

Happy Monday an hour early!

Dear Credit Card Company

Dear Credit Card Companies,
While I understand that my telephone number is a Minnesota number and it seems so convenient for you to call, this number is not for you. This number is for my family and friends to reach me and for me to reach them. I also understand that my address is unusual and makes it difficult to determine where we are located. No city? No state? I know, it is confusing.

While all this is true, I have faith in your customer service reps to understand the simple logic:
AE - Armed forces in Europe, Africa, Canada and the middle east
AA - Armed forces America
AP - Armed forces Pacific

Now lets think about this briefly. My address is an FPO AP which means (refer to above) I am located in the Pacific. This does not include California (that would be AA) so that means I am located "far away". We won't even get in to specifics.

So what does this mean for you? It means, that that Minnesota number that looks so easy for you to call, IS NOT FOR YOU. Why is it not for you? Because unlike family and friends that know the number and more importantly, the TIME CHANGE, you do not. You do not take the time to 1) Read the notes that I know are there from the previous times you've called or 2) Determine what my address means and where I am located.

I do not appreciate phone calls at 3:30 in the morning when I stumble out of bed thinking that there is some sort of emergency back in the states when in fact you want to verify a charge I made the previous day. Did you even look at the charge? Yeah, that too was made IN JAPAN. Weird, since that is where I am too. And do you know what time it is in Japan?! 3:30 am!

I'm cranky when I get up at 3:30 am and I often yell at you, said customer service rep, but seriously?! It's 3:30 in the freaking morning. I should call you at home at 3:30 in the morning. It feels great, I promise. That's noon here, it's really no problem.

So in summary, I prefer to be contacted between the hours of 4:00 pm and 6:00 am CST and which would be 7:00 am to 9:00 pm (the following day) here. In other words, call me at the very end or very beginning of your day. It's really quite simple.

Thank you for your understanding,
Kelly

Booked

I booked an anniversary trip for Glenn and I to Kyoto and Hiroshima yesterday. We leave on the 9th of April and come home on the 13th and we'll spend two nights in each place. I'm very excited! It will be nice to get away and spend some time with each other away from the "fishbowl". I've been reading some travel books to find out all the sites we want to see. In a situation like this, I need my sister-in-law, Jen, with me. She is a very detailed planner/itinerary-maker. I need her assistance! I'm scoping places out though so when people come visit, we know good places to take them too!

Yay for Friday though! I'm so glad it is the weekend. I just wish this rainy weather would go away though. We had 2 nice days this week, every other day has been cold and rainy or snowy! Maybe this weekend. We will see...

Followers

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Thanks!

I'm headed to IKEA today with a couple friends after our Spouse's Club meeting. It is dangerous having an IKEA 30 minutes away (or 2 hours depending on traffic) but I am loving it! Glenn made me make a list though so I wouldn't buy too many things. It's just so hard though when everything to so cheap and cute. The main purpose of the trip is to replace one of our CLIPS frames that was in the dining room. The other night when Glenn was squeezing between the wall and our guest, he caught the edge of the glass. Let me tell you though, it didn't just break, it exploded! We had thousands of tiny little pieces of glass EVERYWHERE! Glenn had little tiny cuts all over his arms. Thank goodness we were done eating because glass was even all over the table. I know IKEA sells the CLIPS frames, but I cannot find them with the black mat on the website. I hope they still have them! You can kind of see the frames on the wall here. Cross your fingers for me!

Glenn is home!

Glenn got back from Guam on Sunday afternoon! Yay! He even had half the day off today so we got to sleep in together with Stella and enjoy at least part of the "weekend". So nice! Everyone else in the squadron got the day off but Glenn had to take a class that is conducted by CAG (commander of the air group? or something like that, aka all of the squadrons, not just ours), but I'll take a half day any day!

We also had two friends over for dinner last night as well. Dave Wrigley and Tyler Moore just moved here from Norfolk this week. Their wives will be here by the end of March! Yay! We've known both couples since Kingsville and we are excited for them to be in Japan! They'll both only be with the Golden Dragons in Japan until December of this year, but it will be fun to have them while we do. The Golden Dragons will be relocating to LeMoore, California at the end of the year.

What else is going on? Oh, I started a new English class today. Two women in their 40s. We meet every Monday afternoon for an hour. I pick them up off base and bring them to my house. Hopefully Stella will get used to them being in the house because right now she brings them every toy she owns before she settles down. It's pretty cute actually.

All for now. Enjoy your week!