More pictures

Here are a few shots from our most recent camping trip here in Japan. Looks pretty much like camping in the States.


lily camping 


Our camp site 

This is a picture of our fire pit. Notice how the bundle of wood has not been separated, the guys spent about an hour trying to light this bundle of wood.


fire pit 

See the fire, that is not from our campsite.


fire 

Enough of the camping, actually I wish I had taken more photos, this was a lovely camping trip. We were having so much fun we forgot to snap pictures. On to Lily's birthday party. Daddy and Mandy felt Lily did not open her gifts quickly enough. Each time she opened a present she would want to play with the toy or book instead of immediately going on to the next present. So Daddy and Mandy were there to keep her on track.


birthday presents 


Daddy and Lily 


A Bob the Builder Tool box, Bob is our friend. 


There she is opening a gift 

Lily enjoyed her gluten-Free, Egg-Free, Corn-Free - birthday cake.


cake 


Mandy and Lily and the cake 

I know how jealous you all are reading this and looking at all my white walls. I know how much you wished you could live in military housing. That wraps up the birthday party, now on to the Disney photos. I have another roll of Disney photos, I just don't know where it is. You see the roll of film I thought was the Disney photos, that I took to be developed, happened to be a roll of film from February 2003, while we were moving from Italy to Japan and visiting our families in the States along the way. Maybe I will find the Disney photos in a couple of years? Until the here are the few photos I do have of our trip to Disney Sea in Tokyo.


With Mickey Mouse 


with Minnie Mouse 

Tokyo Disney Sea is very much like Disneyland with a European backdrop. It is not a water park. The rides are very similar, just a bit different. There are boat rides, like the Pirates of the Caribbean, that instead have a Middle Eastern Aladdin type theme. There are fast rides, like space mountain, with a Indiana Jones type theme. It was a blast and while Tokyo Disneyland which is right next door, was incredibly crowded Disney Sea was not at all crowded and we enjoyed the leisurely pace of the day.


Mandy 


Fountain 


Rest Stop on the way to Tokyo 


Rest Stop 


Lily wants to get out of her car seat right now, she is putting on her shoes and ready to go. 


Lily enjoying the ride to Tokyo 


Daddy enjoying the ride to Tokyo 

Summer

This summer we have had only a handful of days where the temperature has gotten above 80 degrees. I savor those days. The warmth against my skin, the sunshine, the breeze. I let myself breath in the summer. One such day happened on Lily's birthday.




On a hot summer's day we like to avoid cooking as we have no a/c, we invariably find ourselves at the Japanese grocery store, Universe, buying cool cocoa drinks.




We like to buy the already prepared ready to eat food at Universe. A great inexpensive way to try a little bit of a big variety of Japanese foods.




Universe is always very crowded, but especially on a hot Sunday afternoon.




Mandy's favorite Chicken.




My favorite Sushi.




Lily's favorite Tofu.




Jeff's favorite fish. Ha! Just kidding. I just think this fish is funny looking so I snapped a picture. Boy did I look silly walking around a crowded grocery store with a camera. But, I always wanted to blog pictures of Universe. I will always and forever love, love, love - Universe.




Some more interesting stuff in the fish section. We live three miles from the Pacific Ocean and only about 15 minutes from a major fishing port, so we have tons of fish. Someday I will take pictures of the Hachinohe Fish Market, that is a site, including a lot of live things I have never seen before. Too bad we do not have smell-o-vision for the fish market.




The produce section, aren't those carrots fat? They are really good too. Funny thing is that in an American produce section one must find the perfect piece of fruit or veggies, in a Japanese produce section everything on the shelf is perfectly ripe, nothing is moldy, mushy or not quite rip, it is all perfect. I love that, because I am horrid at taking the time to find the right produce and always end up with moldy grapes.




Next time you come to visit me in Japan look for the big orange U. U is for Universe, my favorite store. I wish they would pay me some money for this endorsement. Really I am just thankful for the experience. Mmm.




Can't forget the liquor isle.




Or the magazines.




More photos later. Lily is waking up from her nap. I hope you enjoyed the tour of a summer day in Misawa Japan. Swimming pool - grocery store - and lots of napping.

Not Calm dot com

What I was trying to say about feminism, I think that Jen at Not Calm dot com did much better than I ever could. I think that different women feel very differently about feminism. That even women who have the same goals and beliefs in changes they would like to see effected in America disagree about the means by which those changes should occur. That we as women tend to feel that women who chose to live their lives differently are disrespecting our own values and these women upset us so much we cannot see past their lifestyle choices and find commonality.

Undermining a woman's self image is quite prevelent in our society. How many women do you know that are happy with themselves? We don't think we are good enough as mothers. We don't think we are pretty enough. We don't think that we are practical enough for politics or business. So we attack each other. Women in the work force tell the stay at home moms that they are boring loosers causing men to look down on women. Women who stay at home look at working women and say they are destroying the fabric of America by abandoning their children or by undermining the value of family.

I believe that there exists women in the majority who do not fall into either catagory, who are the women who have the most power. Women who understand the necessity for women to have equality in the work place and in politics and also understand the necessity of family.

We the boring unsensational women who can see both sides of the issue of what it means to be a woman have the ability to be heard by even the most extremist of feminists and traditionalists. Because we can if we try see their perspective. I can listen to my working childless friends and see their perspective. I can listen to my traditional stay at home friends and see their perspective. Because I can hear and speak either language I have more of an opportunity to reach common ground.

I believe that we are in need of better education and healthcare for the poor in America. I believe that these two issues are primarily women's issues. That if we, the women of America, could come together on these issues, we could effect change, make America better. Instead we are trowing stones and the issues fall to the wayside. Sorry I will get off my soap box.

Nebuta Festival 2006

Our last summer in Japan and I finally went to the Nebuta Festival. This is the biggest festival of Aomori Prefecture held in the city of Aomori every summer. The summer of 2004 Mandy and Jeff went to the festival while Lily and I stayed home. I forgot to bring my camera so I am posting pictures of when Jeff and Mandy went in 2004. That year they were in the parade and this year we were all spectators. But, you get the picture. I am hoping some of our friends will email us some of their photos from this year otherwise, you will have to rely on my the images evoked from my words.

We gathered together, four car loads of people and drove up to Aomori. It was a little over an hour car ride. We parked the cars and walked about a mile to where the parade would be held. I have never really walked the streets of downtown Aomori before, just as the sun was setting. It is a lovely city. We crossed a bridge, over looking Mutsu bay, a port full of fancy yachts, a cruise ship, beautiful buildings, it is very lovely. We made it to the parade route and we engulfed in a sea of people. Most of the people were in their costumes getting ready to dance in the parade. We stopped at a hotel to use the bathrooms, the line for the ladies room was very long. We waited in line there for what seemed like forever, the men walking past us to their restroom and then leaving, while we waited and waited. Some things are international.

Our good friend who works with Jeff and her husband were our hosts. He works in downtown Aomori and has set out folding chairs in front of his office along the parade route, so we arrived at our designated location like royalty and had front row seats. Lily ended up sitting next to our friends and being entertained by others, I got the chance to sit next to Mandy and enjoy the parade. Jeff was standing behind us, cruising up and down the street, buying all kinds of delectable treats, like teriyaki beef on a stick etc.

The floats are of demons and warriors, beautifully made out of Japanese paper and lit up. The parade takes place just after the sun sets. The floats are hand carried by a group of people all around the float. As the float comes before a group of spectators along the route, the people carrying it turn around so you get to sit there and view all sides of the float, it also bows to you. They are incredible. Yet, on the last day of the festival all of the floats are pushed into the Sea and set on fire. So all the work and all the beauty is just for that moment and then gone forever. Every year new floats.

Behind each float is a set of enormous drums. Three or four drums being beat to the rhythm of the Nebuta festival, the whole festival has this rhythm, it is loud and it enters your being. Behind the drums are a dozen or so bamboo flautist, playing the tune of the festival. Behind the flutes are the dancers. They are corralled into a pen, surrounded by a long post in front, ropes along the sides and another post behind them. Sometimes there are dozens sometimes it looked like hundreds of dancers in a section. They have a chant, and a dance, that they all do together, sometimes the crowd joins them. Little Lily was enjoying this so much she was dancing the entire parade. This set up, float, drums, flutes, dancers is then repeated and repeated it seemed like more than 20 by my estimation. So I sat in the cool evening breeze and was amazingly entertained. I will so miss Japan.

I know I make it sound like I am leaving tomorrow, we don't leave until the end of March, I just like to draw it out and savor the goodbyes. Hopefully I will get some more pictures of the festival for you, otherwise go to the link above and see the official website of the Nebuta Festival in English.

Book Club: bookwormsrus

I have just joined my very first book club. I would love it if you would join as well. We are getting started Sept. 1st.

Go to www.xanga.com/bookwormsrus

You will have to create a Xanga account and subscribe to the bookwormsrus book club page. It is FREE.

Journey through the daffodils

The other day Lily and I were walking to our car along a narrow sidewalk. We had just been to the pharmacy to refill my allergy meds. We were meandering at a Lily pace. Behind me a young man was walking at a grown up pace. His quick footsteps came up behind us so fast and he had to abruptly halt, I could feel the swoosh of his sudden appearance. He couldn't slow down and couldn't pass us so he started to shuffle behind us from one foot to the other. He was brushing up against me, pacing back and forth trying to find an opening to get around us. I was walking right next to Lily and I stopped walking in order to let her get a few steps ahead of me. Then I could step behind her and let him pass. When I stopped Lily stopped. I tried to get behind her but the man was so close to me from behind that I couldn't slip behind her. I tried taking her hand and scootching her forward a bit, but she hates to have her hand taken and resisted. I tried stepping to the other side to get out of his way, but as I stepped this way, Lily would step that way, etc. So there I was dancing with a young man and Lily on the sidewalk. I turned and looked him in the eye and said, "excuse me". I picked up Lily and stepped out of his way to let him pass. He gave me a dirty look and rushed past us. The whole encounter lasted less than a minute. I know a whole minute is a long time for busy grown up type persons but geezzz.

I should have held my ground and made him meander behind us along the sidewalk until we got to our car, but his urgent shuffle was driving me crazy. Sometimes I miss the rush in life. Ever since Lily was born I have been forced to slow it all down. It takes us about 15 minutes to walk the 100 yards to the playground. We have to stop and pick the yellow flowers, stop and talk about the grass, we have to hop on one foot and then the other, pick up sticks... For the most part I like this pace of life. It is quite new for me to be a stop and smell the roses type of person. And every once in awhile I miss the urgency and thrill of a speedy existence. Mostly I like it better this way.

What about you? Are you a tailgater? In the car or walking? Do you like to get where you are going as quickly as possible or do you like to enjoy the walk? What is the priority, destination or journey?

Dream sheet

The list of overseas assignments available came out today. For Jeff, there was nothing.

There were two assignments available for a Tech Sgt in May:

Turkey & Portugal

There is a possibility that they would give him one of these positions, Jeff is one rank higher than Tech Sgt, but it is within the realm of possibility so he is going to put those on his dream sheet.

There are two assignments available for a Tech Sgt in February:

*Alaska and *Hawaii

We are scheduled to leave here in March, and asking to leave early is usually answered with a big fat no. Still there is a slight to slim possibility that they would let Jeff do a job slated for a Tech Sgt a month before we are scheduled to leave. So he will put those on the dream sheet too. In order to sweeten the deal and make ourselves more attractive we will ask for an extended long assignment, which is four years.

Finally there are two positions available working at the US embassy in New Delhi, India. One for Tech Sgt and one for Master Sgt. Those positions are outside of Jeff's career field and require special permission. To get one of those positions is hard, but he is applying for both just in case. The India assignments are for two years and yes the family can come.

Otherwise, if everyone says no to us, which is the most likely circumstance we will be returning to the US. Where in the US, that list comes out in October.

So: Portugal, Turkey, Hawaii, Alaska, India, or somewhere in the US.

* the military treats Hawaii and Alaska like overseas assignments