Play ball!!

Yesterday John and I took my family to Tokyo to catch a Yomiuri Giants baseball game. Baseball is bigger in Japan then it is in the US and the cheering at a Japanese baseball game is way more spirited than at US games.

When your team is a bat, a cheering section (that includes a live brass band and cheerleaders) leads the stadium in various types of cheers. Fans carry baseball bat shaped drum sticks and beat them together in time with the cheers.

When your team is playing the outfield, the home cheering section remains quiet and the away team's cheering section starts with their chants and brass band. I would compare it to sitting at a European soccer game, but watching baseball.

The teams have many American players as the US often recruits players from the Japanese leagues. So when they come across an American last name like Fields, the chant becomes Feedosu.

Food is different as well. Below is a picture of a bento box I had at the ball park. I also had a cheesy hotdog and some sho-chu, a barley alcohol.

Also, fans can sit behind the last row of stands and watch the game. Many people tape paper to the floor and then watch the game from their paper mat (picture below).






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Shrines in Kamakura

Some pictures of the beautiful shrines we saw in the city of Kamakura.












































- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hello, hello, hello!

Alrighty, we have our good computer set up now and I have so many pictures and stories to share!! I can't wait. Today was the Summer Festival in Ikego so we got to see a parade of the Buddhist variety as we were on our way to visit Wylee. It was pretty neat.

My family gets here at 5pm tonight and they're going to help us with the unpacking. John and I have already made a dent, but there's still a lot of stuff that needs to be done. Our house looks horrible, but with 5 people helping to unpack, it should go fast and we'll have a cozy home in no time.

On that note, I think I'm going to take a blog break for just a few days and then I'll be back and blogging in full force. I'm excited to finally have my life back and after my family leaves, I can't wait to settle into a routine.

Our stuff is HERE!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tropical Storm 08W (Ma-on)

The typhoon has been downgraded to tropical storm. The good news is that Yokosuka will take a brunt of the storm sometime tonight into tomorrow. I've closed all of our storm windows, which might be overkill according to our Japanese neighbors who have none of their storm windows drawn.....but with winds gusting up to 55mph, I don't want to take the chance that some wayward branch is going to come flying through one of our balcony windows while we sleep.

Tropical Storm 08W (Ma-on), # 20 - Pacific Storm Tracker - Stripes

Typhoon!!

There's a big typhoon on the way! It's supposed to be in Yokosuka on Thursday night and then clear up this weekend. I'll keep you guys updated. They're rumoring a base closure.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The lack of drive thrus...

John and I have both dropped weight since arriving in Japan. I think this is almost 98% due to the lack of drive thru's and a lack of food delivery options. We're not unique. Lots of people report a significant weight loss after living in Japan.

Drive thru's are very much a US concept. In order to fit food into our crazy schedules, we have become dependent on the drive thrus. I'm certainly not exempt. After a hard 8 hour work day, it was often easier to pick up food on the way home than make it. In San Diego, we had no lack of options within five minutes of us....all equally terrible for you. Aside from the McDonald's and Taco Bell on the US base, I haven't seen any drive thrus. Japan has it's fair share of fast food options, but you have to park and go inside to order. This is a deterrent to me because I could (and often did) go to drive thrus in my PJ's.

In addition to drive thrus we had many delivery options available to us in San Diego. Our neighborhood in Japan does have pizza delivery, but the pizza costs about $40 and their large is the size of a US medium. Since I don't usually pay $40 for pizza, that's out of the question.

I find myself cooking much more at home. I make breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the weekends and lunch and dinner on the weekdays. It's easier to be a little more health conscious when I actually have some sort of input into what I'm cooking.

Don't get me wrong. Whenever we happen to be on the US base at dinnertime, I always try to talk John into stopping at the McD's drive thru. I'm no saint when it comes to diet. I just find it interesting that cutting out delivery and fast food can be such a significant source of weight loss....even when you think you're ordering healthier options (like skipping the fries).

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Enoshima!

For my birthday yesterday, John and his friends took me to Enoshima beach. It's about an hour from Yokosuka by train. There's a closer beach to is called Zushi, but every American from base goes there on a nice day. We got out to a more local beach area and had a fantastic time.

First, you can go lay directly on the sand and rent almost anything you need for you beach day (chairs, umbrellas, rafts, etc) or you can rent a spot in one of the beach houses. Beach house is a misnomer because they're more like large cabana bars and eateries with lounging patios in the back of the establishment. We rented a chair and umbrella at a beach house for 1500 yen per person and it included a locker to put our stuff in, access to a shower facility, and free cold water all day. 1500 yen is about $20 and seems like a good deal for an all day cabana chair rental.



Our group eating at the beach house called On The Blue.



Picture of the back patio of the beach house.



View from my chair.



Another beach house close to ours.



The beach



On the beach.

Some beach houses were Japanese style with outdoor tatami mats laid down instead of beach chairs. I wouldn't know how to use these as the tatami mats were very close together and I don't know how etiquette dictates one lays down an a tatami mat without touching a stranger.

All in all it was a very good day. I laid in the shade under an umbrella all day so I avoided any sunburns.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Earthquake!

The earthquake left my carbon monoxide detector in the sink! It fell from the wall above the sink.

We just experienced a fairly violent feeling earthquake. I was on the second floor of my house so it felt a little worse than it actually was. The second floor of our house has a lot of loose window panes that shake with the wind and shake even worse with an earthquake!

We're all okay though and there's been no tsunami warning issued.



In other news, we're going to the beach tomorrow for my birthday!! John and I went to a Japanese store to buy our bathing suits since we don't have our clothes yet and didn't pack bathing suits. The America base is completely sold out of bathing suits.

In this Japanese store, all women's bathing suits came in one size, a Japanese M, which you would think stands for medium, but no. It's probably the equivalent of a US size 3 or 1. Luckily I fit into the one I chose although it's a wee bit small.

We're going to a resort area away from the main base and it's supposed to be beautiful! I plan to take lots of pictures.

That's all from this side of the world for now!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

About my job!

As I've mentioned I got a little part time job to help get me out of the house and add some money to our savings account. Usually John deploys so we're used to having our own alone time. This job also helps us from getting on each other's nerves because as anyone who knows me really well can tell you, I tend to take joy in annoying my loved ones. It's strange, but it's how I say I care.

I work for the base movie theater. There are two movie theaters on Yokosuka base and I work at either one on any given day. Each theater only has one screen and shows 2 movies on weeknights and 3 on weekends.

I work about 2-4 days a week and can ask off whenever I want because I'm not a full time employee so I don't get the benefits of a full time employee (such as paid time off).

I supervise the snack bar staff and ticket sellers and I handle any customer complaints which are usually few and far between. The action happens at the beginning of the movie when people are checking in, buying food, and settling down. After the patrons simmer down, I can sit back in the theater's lounge area, watch the movie and eat popcorn and hotdogs.

After such an incredibly stressful and overworked job in San Diego, it feels good to have a job where not much happens during a regular shift. It's also nice to go home and not even be thinking about work.

I think my favorite part is learning Japanese from my young co-workers and watching parents interact with their bilingual children in Japanese. It's amazing how much Japanese I can pick up when I listen to children joking around with each other.

In other news our household goods arrived from the US yesterday! Our stuff should clear customs on Tuesday and then be delivered to our home sometime after that. FINALLY!!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Throwing Away a Drink Cup

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Our first bill! Sort of...

First let me preface this post by saying that the Japanese postal service is different than the US postal service. You don't get mail everyday here and the postal service won't come to your house everyday unless you have mail. In some regards it's more like FedEx or UPS, only visiting when you have a package.

The junk mail fliers are put in your mailbox by employees of the companies themselves. The water, electric, and gas bill are put in your mailbox by the companies themselves as well. A lady comes around, takes a reading, and prints your bill right there from a portable printer.

The above picture is our first water bill. Sort of. All bills are done in two parts. First, the notify you of the amount you will owe. In our case it's 5,314 yen or roughly $65. In a few days we will receive another water bill with a bar code. This is how we know it's time to pay.

We take the barcoded bill up to 7-11 and they will scan it for us and we can pay right there. Remember, 7-11's are very different here than in the US.

Our household stuff should arrive on shore today. Not sure how much longer after that until we receive it. I hope it's within the next week.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Update!

I know I haven't been posting much lately, but we still don't have our household goods. We're living in a half set up house consisting of the things we've bought while we are here. We walk a fine line between buying something we already have vs waiting for our shipment to arrive. Our goods should get here on July 13th and then from there I don't know how long it takes them to be delivered. Hopefully only a week or so....then when I get my items I can blog to my hearts content because I'll have a super fast computer to help me upload video.

Not much has been going on lately. I'm getting more comfortable driving these past several days. I've been forcing myself to drive to work (as opposed to taking a cab or biking) and it does get easier. The hardest part is trying to figure out how much room I have on the left side of my car because I'm not used to paying attention to the width of my car on that side. Luckily the Japanese are courteous drivers and tend to give people room on the road who display the "new driver" sticker.

Work has been going well so far. I can't belive I'm getting paid $500 every two weeks to do this job. I just stand around and if someone complains, I refund their money or offer them a free movie ticket. I get to manage people too and that's coming a little hard to me as I've never had to tell people what to do in a work situation. I work every other day so I have plenty of flexibility in my schedule.

John and I continue to take our Japanese language course. I wish it was more often than once a week as I feel like I learn a lot in the class and then forget it as soon as I'm out the door. Luckily a lot of the high school kids at the theatre speak fluent Japanese and are willing to listen to me stumble along and help me out.

We also had a big-ish earthquake yesterday morning. I didn't feel it right away because I was standing up, but I could see the cords to our appliances shaking as if an invisible breeze moved them. The earthquake lasted about a minute and there was apparently a tsunami warning further north from us.

Hopefully next week I can upload alll this video I took for you guys and show you our awesome halfway furnished house.

A job? A job!

First, my good friend Whitney posted a link for me in the comments section of my last post. She had heard something on NPR regarding the cultural smiling and Asia. In this transcript, they call it the "Asian Poker Face."

This makes me delighted because I KNEW I wasn't making this up. Smiling IS extremely cultural and unfortunately I might not ever break the habit of smiling to people I pass by on the streets. I mean, there's 28 years (almost 29) of culture instilled in me saying that if I don't smile I'm being rude and unfriendly and that's a really hard thing to push out of your mind and be comfortable with. You can read the link HERE.

Secondly, I got the part time job as the base movie theatre duty manager! My work will be rather dull and will involve watching over the high schoolers doing their jobs. After much thinking, I decided I did not want a full-time job. There's too much to do and see in Japan and I really need to keep my schedule open. Plus, I don't want the stress that comes with a full-time job. In San Diego, I was reeling from the workload and stress levels of my job. I feel like I'm just now making some sort of zen recovery from that life beating.

With that being said, the next time we live in the United States, I highly doubt John will still be in the Navy. Like I have said in earlier posts, John and I are starting to think of life after the Navy. He's paid the piper with nearly 8 years of service (maybe 10-13 by the time we return to the US) and being on a boat for 6-8 months at a time doesn't sound as appealing to him as it once did.

I get hounded a lot by military wives asking, "Why do you want a job in Japan? Just live of your husband's allowances!" While this is doable, I don't feel right not contributing to our savings. If I make $400-$500 every two weeks, that's money I can send directly into savings so that in the future we will have a cushion to help us adjust to life as civilians.

The great thing about my job is that I don't get paid time off. Why is this great? Because it means I can take off whenever I need to. I don't need to wait for leave and sick days to accumulate nor do I have to worry that I can only take 10 vacation days a year. If I need to have days off, I let them know and they make it happen as long as its not unreasonable (like asking for every weekend off ever).

Anyway, I'm pretty excited, I actually know the guy I'm replacing and he did this job while also being a full-time active duty military member. So, wish me luck! I go in tomorrow and fill out the paperwork!

The Truth About Culture Shock

I think there's some sort of misconception that culture shock applies to how different a country and a language are from your own. In truth, I think culture shock is an anxiety stemming from changing your entire frame of mind from one culture to another for an extended period of time.

I'm still not quite over my culture shock. Everyone I've talked to says it starts to fade at the 6-9 month mark.  I certainly hope so. It's becoming very annoying.

Not only am I at a child's level with the language, even the small things baffle me. For example, facial expressions are extremely cultural. Sometimes I can't tell if a Japanese person is tired or impatient or sick to their stomach. In the US, if you don't want to talk to a person you pass on the sidewalk, you can always flash them a really big smile to imply friendliness and good will. In the US, we smile for many reasons, not just because something amused us. Here in Japan, they may tell you "Good morning" without a hint of a smile. I find myself smiling big to the people I pass on the sidewalk only to have them stare at me straight faced and walk on by or give me a straight-faced "Good morning." It's not because they're being unfriendly, they're probably wondering what I've found that amuses me so much I have to suddenly break out into a big smile.

Driving culture is another thing that baffles me. The streets are very narrow in most places I've seen. Many businesses are built without parking lots. So, people will pull their cars over and be half in the street, half on the side of the road, put on their hazard lights, and then go in the store and go shopping. In the US, this would incite a flurry of middle-fingers and angry honking as we tried to edge our way around the car partially blocking the road. Here, they don't bat an eyelash and you are expected not to as well. They simply go around the person, driving in the other lane into head on traffic if they must and then go about their day. As for me, it terrifies me to have to pull around a car half blocking the road and edge myself into oncoming traffic.

I know I'll get used to it soon and it'll be all gravy. For now though, it's giving me some anxiety as I try to really adjust to life in Japan.

The stick broom

Our house came with this broom of sticks hanging in our carport. It looks like a witches broom with even twigs for the broom part. I drove past a place that made these the other day, which means there's some type of demand for them.

I figure they're used for one of two things (or both things): cleaning cobwebs out of corners as it's stickiness would grab the cobweb easily or sweeping leaves away from your patio and carport.

I decided to try the sweeping leaves idea and took down the broom and begin swiping leaves away from my patio area. The hard twigs screeched along the concrete making a sound akin to fingers on a chalkboard. So I immediately decided to cease my experiment.

We should be getting our household items in about two to two and a half weeks. We'll have our computer back along with our wireless router. I will be able to bring updates faster and more often just like I used to! I have a lot of videos for you guys, including a tour of my house. Hang in there and this blog will return to it's usual lively self.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone