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….