Week One...

Hello Friends! I have officially been here for over a week and I thought I would blog a week at a time. There are tons of pictures this week...but hopefully I don't bore you with my explanations of each one. I am now looking forward to students coming to school Monday even though I won't have my pull out classes for about 3 weeks. I am also officially on the hunt for a house. I am hoping to get something near the beach and with views of Mt. Fuji. Now that I have been out and about here I am loving it more and more. It's super safe and the Japanese seem thrilled to have us Americans here. The most difficult things to deal with are the differences in languages and the fact that everything is written in Kanji, which of course I have no idea how to read. Anyway, I miss you all dearly and look forward to comments, emails, and skype calls.

I am living below in the Navy Lodge which is just a glorified hotel.

These are some pictures of the Bay of Japan which surrounds the base.

This is a traditional Japanese cemetery...It is pretty interesting because each one has a place for incense and these yard stick looking things behind the headstone. It really is a beautiful and peaceful place.

All the man hole covers are decorated like this one...the fire hydrants are all underground and have cute red fire trucks on them. It makes me happy just to look for new ones.

In Japan there is the "beach season" in July and August where there are lifeguards and all the people come to the beach. Once beach season is over, even if it's beautiful outside, most don't go to the beaches.

I went to a Japanese hanabi festival Thursday night with some new friends. Hanabi means fire flower AKA fireworks. These went for 45 minutes straight and were the biggest and best fireworks I have ever seen! They even had ones that looked like cartoon characters, Hello Kitty, and smiley faces. I would guess that about 10,000 people came from all over to see these...there were people packed everywhere.

Okay...funny story. I went to a BBQ before the hanabi festival and ate and drank entirely too much...imagine that. I rode the train home for the first time and then had about a half mile walk back to base from the train station. Along the way I start to get serious stomach cramps and start to panic because I don't know where the nearest restroom is located. Finally, I see one that is open air style, so I frantically run inside, open the door to a stall and see this (picture below). After a split second of panic, I close the door, fling off my shoes, schuck my pants and undies, and struggle to get in position only to give up and plop myself on the ground to take care of business. It was embarrassing, humbling, and absolutely disgusting all at the same time.

On Friday night I went back to the town of Zushi to hang out on the beach and have a few cocktails. It was interesting that the Japanese build beach "shacks" for each season with bars, stages, kitchens, etc. They serve meals, have live entertainment, and are just a great time. We sat out front and mingled while the waves crashed in front of us. It's crazy, because when beach season is over they dismantle the "shacks" and wait until the next year to put them back up.

These are some pictures of Mt. Fuji seen from the beach in Zushi. Beaches and mountains...This place is amazing!

Udon noodles was one dinner course.

I also had tempura which is fried stuff...this one included shrimp, fish, squid body, okra, and a pumpkin slice. The bowl had rice on the bottom with a layer of thin egg (that's the yellow). On the top was crab meat with a dab of wasabi and salmon eggs. Actually that one was my favorite...It was delicious!

I decided to try an iced green tea latte and got this...it was interesting and actually tasted grassy if that's possible. Good but different and not one of my favorites thus far.

Only in Japan would a man that looks like this be a teenage singing sensation...he's on like every street corner. Hottie!

This was a lunch at a fantastic Italian restaurant called Tomato & Garlic. This is my favorite salad...lettuce, oil and spices, tuna, and calamari rings. Seriously, delicious!

Ooohhh...another fantastic find. A bloody mary with tomato juice, Paraiso, and cranberry juice. The flavors were fantastic! My friend had one with lychee and it was wonderful too!

Here's to another fantastic week...Cheers!

1st Weekend in Japan

I had a relaxing weekend trying not to worry about my "to do" list. On Saturday I went with a new friend off base to Yokosuka to get some "real food" since the main attraction near the navy lodge is Chilis. So, we walked until we saw an interesting place and decided to take a chance. I wish I could tell you the name of it, but I am not yet fluent in Japanese symbols. It was interesting to walk in and take off my shoes immediately so that the hostess could place them in a locker for me. Then we went to our booth which was sunken with strips of fabric separating us from the rest of the diners. The menu was in Japanese, so we did a lot of pointing and of course asking if it had pork. We ended up with our first course which was a salad with squid, cabbage and seaweed. It was very good, but I am still a bit squeamish about tentacles. Then we had a dish with chicken, stewed tomatoes, and small mushrooms. It was by far my favorite! It tasted like tomato soup with the richness of the mushroom. We also had a chicken dish that reminded me of Chinese food...a bit gummy with sugar sauce. It was good, but not comparable to the first dish. Next was a platter of sashimi (raw fish and stuff). I enjoyed the taste of most things, but I found the nori (seaweed) to be pretty tough and salty. Included was caviar, which was like little gel balls that burst in your mouth with a fishy taste. It was pretty good too. After a couple different tries, I thought I would play it safe with a shrimp....eeeeewwwww. It was the most disgusting thing on the plate and actually made me gag for real style. It was quite embarrassing! Thank goodness I was washing it down with a Japanese style beer which was also delicious! Then I tried some fish that looked like anchovy and it was delicious! The final masterpiece of the platter was a shrimp head...eye balls and all...which I sucked the goo out of. It was the tastiest thing I had all night. I even got the lady I was with to try some and she doesn't even like fish...she liked it too! So, I am hoping to include some photos...and am hoping that if it doesn't work, Jessi will help me later on. On Sunday I recooperated from the shrimp with a trip back into town to a Japanese bakery. Not surprisingly many of the items reminded me of food that I have eaten in Hawaii. I thoroughly enjoyed Mochi balls, rolls with sweet bean paste and whipping, and a sweet potato muffin...all of which were split among three people, but delicious none the less. Now is when I advocate for skype, the most amazing creation yet. I have had the chance to chat with Mom, Sarah, and Jason and it's amazing that we can see each other and chat too! Now, all of you need to get on and create a name and account (no credit card needed). It just takes a minute or two and is free to talk to me! Who could ask for more?!

En route to my tummy...

Getting acquainted with Mr. Shrimp before I suck his brains out.

Chicken & Shrimp Fritters seasoned with a spicy bean paste sauce.

Our Sashimi Platter

Chicken & Mushrooms in a Tomato Sauce

Eating family style to get the most bang for our yen.

The "Salad" Course with the squid on the right and other meat with seaweed on the left.

After about 24 hours of traveling, I arrived in Narita, Japan last night (Thursday) and headed to Yokosuka on a shuttle bus. After the 2 hour long ride I was wiped out. It was interesting to awake this morning a little after 6 with sounds of Navy men clomping around running and marching while their commanding officer shouted the cheers..."We're in the Navy. Couldn't be prouder...." You get the idea. I spent the day running random errands, visiting my new school and classroom, and just meeting new people. The funniest part of my day was checking out the new gym. It's state of the art, new and beautiful! The greatest feature...you can check out workout clothing and shoes. Let me just have a shirt and shorts size medium and a 9.5 shoe please. Oh, and I'll be done depositing my sweat in about an hour, so I will return those then. Thanks! Eeeewwww, gross!

And the journey begins.....

It's Wednesday, August 18, 2010. I am on my way to live & teach in Japan. More to come....stay tuned!