Ho Ho Ho! Happy Holidays from Japan!

So its a bit late, but lets be real... I'm a terrible blogger, did you really expect a Holiday post before the holidays?! That'd just be silly!

We had a wonderful Christmas here in Tokyo. One highlight was having Dereck's sister spend 4 days with us, which is amazing since I had come to terms with not having Christmas with family until we move to the United States one day. But thanks to Melissa moving to Gunma to teach English, we had her join in on our mini family Christmas! She even brought along a friend who had nowhere to go for the holidays, and it was a grand American time. The girls are so easy to please- a couch?! English on TV?! not sleeping on the floor?! HEAT?! I think they would have been happy without any presents at all.

My parents celebrated Christmas on the 23rd to accommodate my brother and his wife's schedule.  We got to Skype with them on Christmas eve day, which was so much fun. We all opened our presents together and it really felt like we were all there together. We got a great haul (woohoo Table Top Catapult!) and are blessed with such thoughtful family members who know what we like, and stick to the Xmas list for the most part haha!

Thanks to the girls visiting, I had plenty of help to prepare for our Christmas eve party. We had over 30 people plus about 8 or 10 children all crammed into our tiny house to enjoy Uff-da Tacos (Dereck's grandmother's tradition). Seeing the skepticism of eating taco fixings on fry bread turn to surprise and delight after taking a bite will never get old. Dereck did a great job in the kitchen and everybody was well stuffed (and well hydrated... we still have so many leftover drinks we'll have to throw a 2nd party!).

Christmas day brought even more food and presents and by 3pm we were stuffed and the wrapping paper had all been thrown out. Our friends invited us over for Christmas day dinner and we had to go enjoy even more food and good company. The girls had to catch a train that evening to head back north so we rounded out our Christmas with some hugs and see ya laters.

It was one of the best Holidays I can remember. We are so blessed to have so many amazing friends here in Japan that really feel like family. I never imagined being able to feel so much love over the holidays while being an ocean away from most of our family, but life has a way of surprising you. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are able to ring in the new year joyfully!

Now, for some silly Holiday photos and dogs in costumes...

The Last Frontier

(I had this post written for a while, but lost the memory card with the pictures! I finally found it, so here you go!)

So I went on vacation. Yes, another vacation. It’s kind of a hobby of mine.  In fact, while traveling on this vacation I did vacation planning for another vacation. What a life. Anybody want to fund my vacation hobby? It gets expensive…

This time we didn’t go anywhere exotic or even anywhere in Asia. For the first time in 20 months, Dereck and I made a trip to see our family in Minnesota together (see previous blog post!).  I went once back in the fall of 2010 but Dereck couldn’t come with, so we were very excited to travel together. The reason was for his best friend’s wedding where he would be the Best Man.  So a trip to our “homeland” and going to a wedding- easy as pie, right?

Well not really, because August is the most expensive month of the year to fly in/out of Japan. Japanese children are on their summer school break and it seems to just raise ticket prices about double the normal cost… and when the normal cost of a round trip from Narita to Minneapolis is between $1200-1500, well the raise is significant. So just buying tickets and flying home wasn’t an option for us, after all, I’m not working full time and my husband isn’t an investment banker or something! Luckily we had a solution.

The Military has a program called Space-Available travel, or just Space-A for short. In a nutshell this is a “standby” style flying program where passengers are put on military aircraft that have room in addition to whatever other cargo they are carrying. The trouble is, the flights usually have about 24 hours of notice, and it feels like trying to win in Vegas to get a seat, so pre planning is just about impossible. IF you know me well, you can imagine just how terrible this is to me!  Dereck went on leave on a Wednesday and we finally were able to get a flight out of Japan on a Sunday. That’s 5 days of “stay-cation” around our house here hoping for a flight to leave. But it ended up working out because we were able to attend a few fun events on base (including a 80s themed birthday party and a birthday party at a mountaintop beergarden! Check it out!).

View of Tokyo from Mt Takao

80s Style!

Our flight was on a C-17 and brought us to Anchorage Alaska. We were excited for this because Dereck really likes Alaska and I had never been. Plus being that it’s a possibility for a future duty base, I’d like to check it out. We even have family (Dereck’s mother’s cousin) in the area so we had a place to stay while waiting for a domestic flight to Minnesota.  We booked a flight for 3 days later, when the price was cheaper, and so that allowed us a few days to site see in Alaska! 

The flight was fun and a new experience for me. Not the most comfortable seats but we had tons of leg room and I even got to stretch out on the floor of the plane and take a nap (we were up EARLY for this flight). The seats are positioned around the outside walls facing in, and then in the middle facing out. It basically creates a big circle around the inner seats which all the kids found and decided to run laps halfway through the flight. It was pretty entertaining and the plane was so loud that it didn’t even bother me. I’m just thankful for the earplugs they gave us! 

View of the passengers relaxing on the flight

We landed in Alaska after about a 7 hour flight. The jet lag was pretty bad, we landed at 2:30am but we felt like it was 7:30pm, but we survived. The weather in Alaska was rainy and cold, but the beauty of the place still showed its face once the sun came up. We decided to find a 24hr diner to eat at since we were starving and then get a hold of Dereck’s family in the morning. The diner we went to was called Leroy’s Family Restaurant and we loved it. They let us sit there for hours, order a GIANT American style breakfast, and relax and watch their TV until morning. Then Dereck’s cousin Dede came to get us and we went to her house to meet her husband and two boys, Elliot and Gus. 

After quick nap, Dereck decided to show me downtown Anchorage. We went to a cute market that sold handmade gifts and food, then did some other window shopping. We ate dinner at a great place that overlooked the water and had its own beer brewed on site. It was really good, and I’m sad I don’t remember the name of it. I was surprised by the city because there are no skyscrapers, no loud trains, and no traffic.

Me and my bear friend in Anchorage

Pretty much the opposite of Tokyo! We made it an early night since we were so tired but were looking forward to the next day. We planned to go walk along a lake near their mountainside home, then take a boat tour to see a glacier.  

Sadly, the next day brought rain, rain, and more rain. Our lake walk was canceled in the morning, so instead we made a yummy breakfast and just relaxed around the house. Around lunchtime we went to the best pizza place in the world, called Moose’s Tooth, with Dede, the boys, and Dede’s mother. I was able to order a cheeseless pizza and it was soooooooo good. (Darn you lactose intolerance!) After lunch we made the drive down to the glacier. It was the most beautiful drive and I was staring out the windows the whole time. Sadly, it wasn’t time for the whales to be seen but I could only imagine how awesome it would be to see them.  By the time we got to Portage Glacier the rain had stopped. I was still freezing in the 50 degree weather, since I stupidly didn’t pack for Alaska at all and only had a sweatshirt and a small summer jacket with me, but the cool air matched the scenery.  The boat ride was on the lake the glacier had carved out over the past 100 years and then we got to see the glacier. It was awesome and something I had never thought I would see.

Portage Glacier

Us on the boat ride

That night we went to a kid-free dinner with Dede and her husband Richard at their favorite steakhouse downtown. It was delicious and a lot of fun to joke around and meet new family.  Though it was a short visit, I feel like I know them well and really enjoyed my time with them. Thanks Dede and Richard!

The next morning we got on a flight to Minnesota to start the rest of our vacation. I wish we had more time in Alaska but I’m sure we’ll go back again someday, or even get a chance to live there (hopefully!)

Minnesota Schedule...

This August, after a few days in Alaska (post to come... I just am still looking for the memory card with the pictures on it!), we boarded plane to Minnesota to see our family and finally make it to Dereck's best friend's wedding! We did SO much in the two weeks we were there, I can't begin to write about it all. So I decided to let a schedule, some small descriptions, and pictures do my storytelling.

Day 1: Arrived in MN, picked up by my brother and sister in law, ate too many chips at the Mexican restaurant, saw the bro's new house, and finally had some cocktails and told stories til it was too late and we went to bed!

Day 2: Picked up at my brother's by the moms! Dereck's mom and mine made the 2 hr drive together to bring us back to our hometown. I am so grateful our moms get along so well! We enjoyed a lunch at the in-laws (hormone free, grass fed, locally raised beef hamburgers!), then later a dinner with the families complete with Alaska halibut.

Day 3: Picked up my friend Maria and went to the city to go shopping! Dereck headed up to Fargo for the bachelor party with some friends, so I had the day to shop (horray for USA stores!!). Came back home, saw Maria's husband and kids (and my Godson!), then back to my house for dinner with my parents.

Day 4: Got a haircut by my favorite stylist, lunch with my mom, then drove 2.5 hours up to Fargo for the rehearsal dinner. Caught up with old friends and met new members of the wedding party. After the rehearsal we went to the largest Scheels sporting goods store (complete with ferris wheel!). Decided to look for flights back to Japan one last time, in a hopeless attempt to not have to Space-A all the way home, and found great deals! We booked our tickets and got 2 more days in Minnesota :-)

Day 5:  Morning workout and coffee with a high school friend, then WEDDING!!!!!!!!! (beautiful Bride, beautiful weather, and beautiful Wedding!)

Day 6: Slept in, attended gift opening, then drove 5 hours across the state to my Parent's cabin in North Eastern MN. Enjoyed a bbq with some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Day 7: Enjoyed a morning at the cabin going for a nature walk and having some mother/daughter and father in law/son in law time. Saw my aunt and her grandkids (cousin's kids!), then went fishing (caught fish!). Then we went to my uncle's lake house and went on a boatride and talked with more cousins! Finished the night by "camping" in the pop-up during a beautiful night.

Day 8: Ate fish for breakfast (hubby went out early that morning and caught more! yay!), then packed up and drove back to our hometown....

The next few days all kinda mash together but they include more family dinners, visiting with friends, shopping!, visiting with Dereck's extended family, meeting new babies, having a Friday night out at the local bar (and a 2 am meal at the Perkins!) and just having a non-stop awesome hometown time with people we love. One highlight was a Family BBQ planned by Dereck's parents that had all of his Mother's side of the family in attendance. We felt pretty special! Through all that, we even had some time to reflect on our beautiful surroundings... well, we at least had time to see the Dam!

Day 12: Drove down to the twin cities with my parents and met my brother and sister in law and aunt/uncle for lunch! It was so much fun. Then my brother drove us to my friend Gen's house where I got to see my 2nd Godson.

Then we met up with some more friends and saw a Twins Game at Target field. We played the Yankees (boo!) but won! (yay!). A few hours downtown to celebrate then back to Gen's for 4 hours of sleep before our flight...

Day 13: Gen brought us to the airport bright and early (or DARK and early... it was really early) and we flew to California. We spent some time in the LAX USO before Dereck's friends came to pick us up for lunch. The same friends that just got married a week earlier! It was fun to see them one last time before leaving. Finally, we boarded our flight to Japan and arrived here on Day 14.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it... which is nothing compared to actually living it!!! It was fantastic and perfect and just completely wonderful. I love my country, my state, my family, my friends, and just everything about being back! I am so extremely blessed!

We are Family!

I am so so so so happy. Why? Well because I finally have family in the same timezone. Actually, in the same country. I can't go as far to say the same prefecture, but I guess I'll have to deal with that! Dereck's wonderful, awesome, and super fun sister Melissa moved to Japan the last week in July. She will be teaching English in a small mountain town about 3 hours away from us through the JET (Japanese Exchange Teacher) program. It was so amazing to see her in my country, in my Tokyo, and to know that saying goodbye didn't mean not seeing her for another year or more.

Melissa is a recent college grad who lived her whole junior and half her senior year in China. Dereck visited her last December but I hadn't seen her in... well.. just about forever. During her orientation for work she was in Tokyo for a few days and we got to have dinner and she even had time to see our house and a bit of the base. We hope to see each other once a month or so at least until the snow flies and travel might be more difficult in her mountain town. Upside to that is that she's near some a-maz-ing snowboarding and I hope to be there a few times this season too!

So that's my happiness. It might seem small, especially if you have always lived near your family, but for living the last 1.5 years thousands of miles from my loved ones, this is such a blessing. I'm already looking forward to Christmas... :-)

A Night at the Ballet

I've always been a fan of ballet. My parents put me in ballet as a child, but I was also in figure skating which as a young girl, I found MUCH more fun (I could skate fast, be less disciplined, and wear more sequins!) but after 12 years of skating, I eventually made the transition to ballet during high school. I danced for a few years with my local ballet school and really loved it. I knew that my skill wasn't enough to get me anywhere professionally, so I did the smart thing and went to college and got a degree in aerospace engineering. Sadly, my school was small and specialized so they didn't offer an elective dance courses to take between my Thermodynamics or Aircraft Structures courses. I let dance out of my life for 4 whole years. Theater held me over for a bit, but after graduation I eventually found a studio to dance in again, now that I had extra money and time (both of which I had little of during college!) I enjoyed it a lot and even managed to find a new studio after moving from FL to TX about a year later. I even performed The Nutcracker that year as an adult party guest, the Rat King, and the funny lady with the big dress with all the little kids underneath (she's called different things!) It was so much fun, but after getting married and moving around a few times, eventually overseas, I thought I was done. The base rec center didn't offer adult classes so I gave up. About 10 months after moving to Japan I finally did a search and found a studio near me. The instructor speaks enough English for us to communicate and this February I started dancing again! I'm the only non-Japanese student but all the other ladies are so nice, the language barrier isn't an issue. Ballet terms are in French so I understand those! (side note: I also started teaching English to the children of some of the ladies!) I love it the classes, but they are tough. It'd been 2 years since that Nutcracker in Texas and I was feeling it. Its been 6 months now since I've been going and I'm seeing myself improve, and I'm just as much in love with the art form as ever.

I also realized that for the first time in my life I live in a huge metropolis that has a lot of appreciation for the arts. A few weeks ago my husband and I went to see the Tokyo National Ballet perform Romeo & Juliet. With the live orchestra (Tokyo Philharmonic) and professional dancers, it was one of the best show's I've seen. It blew all of the amateur shows I've seen and been in right out of the water. I was officially hooked to seeing these talented artists/athletes live. After the show I started looking through this big packet of advertisements they gave us at the venue. All was in Japanese but some logos are in English and things like Dates are pretty easy to understand. Flipping thru ad aver ad, I saw it.... American Ballet Theater Tokyo Tour. July, 2011. OMG! OMG! I had to go!

My husband would be gone for work so I put out the call to my girlfriends. Three enthusiastically replied and we dished out our Yen and bought tickets to the opening night Gala performance. I was going to see 7 separate dances performed by the principles and soloists of one of the best ballet companies in the world. Two of my favorites since I was young (mainly from seeing them perform in the movie Center Stage) were coming and I was going to see them! Sascha Radetsky and Julie Kent. Live. In Tokyo. Wow.

The night was everything I thought it would be! We all got dressed up and took the train into Ueno. The theater was really cool and though we were in the "cheap seats" (if you call $125/ticket cheap!) but could see the stage and dancers so well. The acoustics were amazing. The musicians were flawless. The ballerinas were beautiful. The danseurs (male "ballerinas") were athletic and handsome. The choreography was magnificent.  It was all just magical.  I couldn't take my eyes off the stage for a moment during each dance.. from a group performance, a trio, a romantic pas de deux... dance after dance I was amazed. It truly was a dream come true. The Tokyo National Ballet performance was good, amazing even... but this was something more. This was the best of the best, showcased especially for one night in Tokyo. Its like the All-Star game of ballet! The other ladies I brought loved it too. They are all hooked and want to be my dates again in the future. I doubt I'll ever have a chance to see ABT perform like that ever again, but I am making it a point to see as many shows as I can while I live in this city. 

A Mostly English poster of ABT's Don Quixote

ABT poster for Romeo & Juliet in Japanese

A signed shirt by Julie Kent displayed in the lobby. I think its being auctioned for Tsunami Relief

4 Months Later...

So it’s come to my attention, thanks to my wonderfully attentive mother, that I have not updated my blog in months. I have absolutely no excuse.  I think that once it kinda got out of habit, I just forgot about doing so. Then I got so far behind that I worried that I couldn’t catch up so I figured “why bother”? But my mom at least enjoys reading my posts and maybe a few others out there do too, so let’s see if July can’t be the start of something special- updating regularly! I’ll try for at least two posts a month… that’s a good goal.

                So what have I been doing since March when I last posted? Well I guess the easiest thing to do would just be a month by month recap with a picture here and there…

March: Well I posted about the earthquake that happened here on March 11^th.  I posted on March 12^th that I was okay and that was about it. Truly the next few weeks were quite a trying time here. Yokota became the hub for foreign military relief and there were US Marines and Army here, as well as search and rescue teams from Australia and a few other foreign countries. There was round the clock manning at my husband’s airlift squadron and the loaded up anything from water and blankets for the shelters, to gasoline for the generators. I helped volunteer with the Red Cross on base as much as I good, mainly working the midnight shifts providing hot coffee and snacks to the aircrew who was working ‘round the clock during the cold nights. You may have heard about people “evacuating” the country, but really it was determined to be a voluntary departure. Many people were scared about the unstable condition of the Fukushima Diaichi Nuclear plant and were panicked. Their military spouses had to work so much, they couldn’t be there to support their family members, and many relatives in the USA were freaked out by the sensationalized US news that they wanted their family stationed in Japan O-U-T! So the US military authorized a voluntary assisted departure (or VAD) from the country. Dependents that chose to take the VAD got a free flight out of the country to a “safe-haven” location of their choice and were allowed a free flight back once the military decided they could. I chose not to do this for many reasons. The main reason was I didn’t feel it was necessary. The schools on base were open, children were still here, and I knew that if we were in serious danger the military would get every kid off of this base asap. Also my husband was deployed and I have two dogs. It’d take a mandatory evacuation for me to put two dogs on a transpacific flight by myself so I really didn’t have an option as far as their care was concerned. Third, I felt like I could help. I’m child-free, able bodied, and willing to pitch in. It turned out to be really good that I stayed. A lot of dependents were also teachers and they chose to leave, which meant I got almost a constant gig subbing at the middle school for a few weeks. I was able to be there for the kids and give them some stability. It was fun and I got to make a bunch of extra money too. One major bummer of the whole thing was that my two girlfriends from college had to cancel their trip to Japan at the end of the month thanks to travel restrictions that were put in place. It really got me down, since I was missing my husband terribly and was really looking forward to their visit. But I stayed as busy as I could to keep my mind off it.

April:  Things around base had reached what we called a “new normal”. The VAD participants were gone and the relief schedule slowly went off 24hrs and back to somewhat regular days. The spouses that chose to stay had a lot of bonding time and we spent a lot of time together at dinners, coffees, and Friday girl’s nights since most husbands were working so much.  After about a month of post-quake life I was started to get a bit drained and needed a vacation. Since I had worked so much, I had made a lot of extra money. A friend of mine invited me to go along to Bali with her and some girlfriends. They already had the trip planned and booked, I just needed my tickets. I decided things were stable enough here to let go for a bit, and darn-it I deserved a vacation! So off I went!

Bali was pretty awesome. I went with a group of Teachers during their spring break, and I was about 15 years younger than most of them. It was a great time. 

Me and the ladies next to a rice paddie

The island was beautiful and the culture was very interesting. They had so many old temples, some built out in the water or on a cliff. 

Can you see the temple behind me on the clifftop?

This temple becomes an island at high-tide!

The food was delicious and I was very happy since I never got “bali-belly” from it. I pretty much enjoyed every single thing I ate!

A beautiful Balinese restaurant with spectacular food!

I enjoyed the centrally located city of Ubud where we stayed the last few days, and would recommend that as a location for anybody interested in going to Bali. My favorite was seeing the Balinese traditional dancing!

 Though it was a beautiful trip, Bali is still very much a 3^rd world country and it was hard to see so many poor people knowing that this is their life and I was there on vacation. I had a wonderful time but after Malaysia last summer and Indonesia this spring, I think I’m over the 3^rd world country vacations. I feel almost guilty having so much, but I also know that tourism gives people good jobs and is a very important income generator for these countries.  After spending time in both Malaysia and Indonesia I’m very happy that we give through Kiva, a foundation that gives loans to aspiring business owners, farmers, etc. in 3^rd world countries. So far I’ve helped fund a single mother farmer in South America, and now a woman who owns a fishing shop in the Philippines.  The best part is since you are giving a loan, they pay it back and you can re-lend the money to another person. It keeps on giving J  Okay, but enough about that! Here are a few  more pictures of my vacation to Bali.

May: I had been looking forward to May for months because I had a trip planned to California! About mid-month I flew in to LA and took an Amtrak down to San Diego.  The next day my mother flew in from Minnesota and we spent about a week together doing everything from walks on the beach, to the San Deigo Zoo, to eating Mexican food downtown, and even a day in wine country. We had an absolute blast together and it was a perfect vacation!  We both really fell in love with San Diego and I want to go back again one day with my husband and our future children.

Me at the beach!

At the famous SD Zoo!

Mom and I at a beautiful winery in Temecula, CA

I got to see an old friend from College whose husband is stationed there with the Navy, and then after my mom went back to MN my friend Will flew to San Diego to meet up with me. We went to a Padres game and had a blast exploring the town on foot. We seriously walked a few miles a day I think!

Will and I cheering on the Padres

 I finally took the train back up to LA and got to visit a few more good friends from college, Brian and Liz. I hadn’t seen either of them since my wedding 2 years before so it was fun to catch up. Liz was supposed to visit me in Japan in March, so I was especially excited to get to see her even after her trip was canceled. Brian and I enjoyed seeing the Hollywood walk of fame and the Chinese theater, then Liz brought me to her house out in Palmdale and I got to see some awesome California desert...

Can you see the Hollywood sign way back there???

Liz and me

 It was a fun trip but I eventually had to get back to Japan because in just a few weeks my husband would be home from Kuwait! I spent the last few weeks staying busy working, and then celebrating my birthday. It was the 3rd year in a row that my husband has been gone, but thanks to wonderful friends it was a great day! I had TWO homemade birthday cakes and my friend Jenn even made me a pinata in the shape of a steak with her kids. Its funny because I usually don't eat meat (except those amazing ribs in Bali...)

With Cake #1

Wearing my "fruit hat" and holding my pinata!

June:  My husband had been deployed to Kuwait since early February and due to come home in June, so I was very excited all month! The days dragged by at a snail’s pace leading up to his arrival but after the craziness of all that happened here while he was away, I knew the reunion would be amazing… and I was right! The anticipation of waiting out at the flight line for his plane to land was excruciating, but then seeing him walking towards me and finally holding him again was the most amazing thing in the world.

Spouses waiting for them to get out of the plane...

Reunited!

He was allowed two weeks off of work upon his return, so we took advantage of that by spending some quality time together. We made a two-day trip to Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea which was a lot of fun. The summer weather was perfect (not too hot!) and we really had fun comparing TokyoDisney to Disneyworld in Florida. DisneySea is only in Japan so that was a totally new experience for us, but it was a ton of fun.

Cinderella Castle at Tokyo Disneyland

Enjoying acting "Goofy" at DisneySea

We also spent a weekend at the Military hotel in Downtown Tokyo. Our weekend involved a fancy Japanese Hibachi grill dinner, seeing the Tokyo National Ballet perform Romeo & Juliet, then meeting up with friends and attending a “Beatles Night” at the hotel, complete with a spectacular Japanese Beatles cover band and Beatles themed decorations, and finally to finish out the weekend we saw Blue Man Group in Roponngi, The only downside of the whole weekend was that I had the flu! It totally sucked but I tried to be a good sport and had as much fun as I could have in the state I was in. Luckily I had an amazing husband home to take care of me!

A poster for the ballet!

Dereck and I in our "John Lennon" glasses

The cover band was SO awesome!

The ladies posing! Me, Chelsea, and Melissa (our husbands were all deployed together)

The group being "serious" at the Blue Man Group Show

We also enjoyed his time off by spending time at home with the dogs, lounging around and doing nothing together. It was perfect.  He had to go back to work for one day before the holiday weekend for the 4^th of July…

July: We helped our friends Rob and Suzanne celebrate their wedding day on July 2^nd and then enjoyed some bbq with the neighbors on the 4^th. The 5^th was a sad day because it Dereck got sent on a work trip for 3 weeks, but it’s a pretty cool trip with a lot of neat flying for him, so I’m trying to have a good attitude! It’s just so soon for him to leave again, but I guess that’s the life of the pilot’s wife. The rest of July has just been battling with the heat and working a lot teaching English off base. The Japanese junior high school I work at is about 90 degrees in each classroom so it really wears you out at the end of a few classes! Luckily I can hang out at the pool near my house with some friends during the afternoons to cool off. Now I’m spending the rest of my month waiting for my husband to return again and anticipating our trip to the USA in August!

Thanks for bearing with me and my terrible slacking on posting!!! I hope you’ve enjoyed reliving the last few months with me, because it was actually pretty fun to write this up and remember the moments myself! I promise to TRY to be better….