Our first few days in Japan...

Our first few days in Japan...

Some cherry blossoms or sakura, on the Naval Base.

After four hours waiting in the airport, a two hour delayed flight and ten hours in the air we finally arrived to Japan around two o'clock in the afternoon. By the time we made it through customs, and loaded up the bus it was after three. The twenty-eight mile drive to our base, Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi was over two hours long. Traffic moves relatively slow, and there are a lot of stoplights. Here are some photos taken from the bus ride, our first glances of our new home.

                                  

                                                                             

We were luckily greeted by sunshine and a clear day. This a view of some mountains off the road. There were a lot of car dealerships, McDonalds,  7/11 minimarts, and this KFC.

                                                                                                                                                                     

 

Generally everything is very condensed. When we were landing, we could see Tokyo and the surrounding areas out each side of the plane. I have NEVER seen so much super condensed city in my life. The buildings stretch from the mountains to the sea...in 3 directions, and there are many seperate area of skyscrapers. Houses are about as close to eachother as possible, small and large yards are a luxury. People have gardens shoved anywhere they can.

 Once we arrived on base, it was around 5 p.m. Exhaustion and delerium (a.k.a. Super-bitchiness, a.k.a. my inner pitbull) had set in for me, since I hadn't slept at all the night before we left. When we were unexpectedly met by Marcus's division officers, I proceeded to make an ass of myself. They wanted to make pleasantries, and talk business in the Lobby. I was in no mood for political pleansantries, I just wanted to get my family settled in our private room and find caffeine. The airplane had only served crappy instant coffee granules- which I wanted no part of at the time...after grabbing some food on base, we managed to stay up until just after dark.

After a good night's rest, we were all wide awake up at 2:30 am. Yay...jetlag is fun. For a few days you feel like you can function after waking up at 2:30, but by 2 p.m....you just want to crash. So we made sure to take an afternoon nap each day (at least the boys did, I couldn't nap for anything). I tried to write my blog during these times, which was very slow-going and just not productive in any way as I could hardly focus.

Marcus had run into a friend from highschool (it's a small world afterall), the very first night as we were walking to the base food court. So he invited us to dinner out in town the next day. We were fully expecting some sushi, or ramen noodles to chow down on. When he picked us up in his car, he asked if we liked pasta, and well of course- doesn't everyone? It turns out he's no so keen on the whole sushi thing, so he took us to a place he likes called Spagetti Goemon.

Outside view of Spagetti Goemon

Though it wasn't what we expected our first real meal in Japan to be, it was really amazing. My pasta was probably the BEST pasta, I've ever had. It was simple and amazing, spagetti (cooked perfectly al dente), broccoli, shrimp, and sundried tomatoes topped with olive oil, garlic and seasoned to perfection.

These fun plastic food displays greet you in many restaurants in Japan. This is initially how we chose our food.

The menu, they didn't have an English menu, but it has great detailed pictures.

The Kid's meal was a rice dish with pasta sauce and cheese, some OJ (oranji juzu),
also a small cake, and some custard. Quite tasty.

Ben "using" his chopsticks, or hashi.



          It was a great way to finish our first 24 hours in Japan. The next few days were somewhat low-key. We stayed on base checking in to different departments, and trying to coax our bodies into functioning through the temporal change. We got a house assignment right away, and will be able to move into it on Thursday ( 3/22). For now, we have decided not to buy a car to save money. Though cars are very inexpensive (avg. $2000), insurance can cost up to $1000 per month. Everything we need is within walking (or biking) distance whether on, or off base so we see no need to have a car. The train station is only about 2 km from our home.

New apartment, 8th floor on the right.
(Earthquakes are gonna be fun up there!)

         Unfortunately we won't be allowed to have a dog in this housing, so Frankie will be staying in Chicago for the next three years. I can't even explain how sad this makes me, my main goal as a wife and mother is to do whatever I can to keep my entire family together, pets included, splitting it up in any way is weight I don't like to bear. I'm not much for crying, but just thinking about not seeing my "first born" really hurts. I know he is being well loved and cared for by my wonderful Big Sister, but it's still very hard on us. I guess, this is what we do for our Country though...this year really feels like a year of sacrifices. Hopefully the gods will be apeased...

I mean, look at that face!!

                                                                     

Last few months in the U.S.

It has been far too long since my last post. Life has either too boring to write about, or I have been too busy to write. However, I have decided to lump our last few months in America together in a photo journal or sorts.  

My Big Sister Amie came for a long weekend visit in early February. We had fun checking out some art galleries in Seattle on the first night she arrived. 

The following day we showed Amie and her friend Cameo some of our our favorite spots around the Bellingham area. We started off our day with a sampling of donuts, including the incredible Buttermilk Bar (pictured below) from Rocket Donuts. I have to say, I have never been a big fan of ANY kind of donut- but this thing (especially when warm from a hot vat of grease) was a whole new eating experience for me. It is basically a log of fried buttermilk biscuit that is glazed while still hot, so the sweet glaze soaks into the crispy outside of the plain dough. Not too sweet + not too dense of a dough = Perfection. The weirdest thing, is that regular buttermilk biscuits are one of the few foods I will not touch. However, in this form, and with a nice cup of hot coffee I found joy....until the carb crash arrived a few hours later!

             
These shots are from a particularly gorgeous evening sunset at the Bellingham waterfront overlooking the Lummi Island, the Lummi Peninsula, and Orcas Island.

Marcus and Ben throwing stones at the shoreline.

The next day it was on to Vancouver, B.C. to check out ScienceWorld and eat some food!

NERDY RANT ALERT!!: They had a seriously awesome, and scientifically accurate exhibit on dinosaurs! Alas, velociraptor (above R) will never be as cool to me with his down feathers. Fact: It is now known that young raptors (yes, even ferocious T-Rex) had those fuzzy down feathers. Much like their modern day bird ancestors, they lost their down once they developed the ability to regulate their body temperatures, as these dinos were indeed endothermic, or warm-blooded creatures. I recall a day when all dinosaurs were thought to be cold-blooded reptiles...I'm still getting over the fact that birds are now classified as reptiles.

So, in loo of velociraptors spoiled reputation (at least in my eyes) I found a new favorite dinosaur called Gigantoraptor...unfortunately it's large size didn't allow for a good photo oppurtunity. Imagine giant talons, the body of T-Rex, except turn the tiny arms into tiny wings, add a goose-like long neck, and the head/beak of a parrot...you catch my drift. What a wacky combination of features, what's not to love!? We also had fun with the other various interactive scientific exhibits like playing in a Medieval themed Lego land, and all sorts of kinetic body tests.

After developing all those new neurons from all the Sciency stuff in the museum, it was time to find something to eat! Using Cameo's chef expertiseWe decided on some Japanese food, since Vancouver has the best Japanese outside of Japan. We started with Ramen at some place (I forgot the name), the BEST place in town for very authentic Ramen.

Spicy garlic ramen (note the heaping scoop of raw garlic)

 For those of you not familar with Ramen (no, not the dry pouch of noodles with the packet of powdered saltiness), it's noodles (good ones are made fresh daily by hand), with different flavors of  slow simmered pork broth (Miso, soy sauce or salt as the main flavoring), fatty tender slices of pork, garlic, and a slew of other possible toppings. If you want it rich, they will sprinkle it with melted pork fat...it's rediculously satisfying and warming on a cold rainy night, but I'd even eat a small serving for breakfast if I could. 

Overall, I had a great time visiting with my sister and her pal, Cameo. I was especially sad to see my sister go this time, but I know without a doubt she will visit us in Japan! The pace of life took a slow turn after they left, I wound up fighting some bronchitis for nearly 10 days...

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Sleepy Grizzlies.

After we packed out of our Apartment in Bellingham at the end of  February, we headed down southeast of Seattle to stay with my in-laws for our last few weeks in Washington. We spent time seeing and doing a last few things we hadn't had the chance to do before. One weekend we went to Northwest Trek, a wildlife viewing park.

Northwest Trek, start of the Tram tour.

Trams...

                            Cuddly Beavers...so cute!

This park got the good 'ol Benjamin stamp of approval, it was really cool. We got to see every kind of animal they had, nobody was hiding not even the moose!


The following weekend, I was determined to go to the top of the Space Needle, which in 8 total years in the Seattle area I had never done...so...

We did it, despite the general cloudiness of Seattle weather. It was worth it though, really great views of the entire city and beyond. I can't even imagine how amazing the view must be on a clear day. We also took Ben to the Seattle Children's museum. Overall, it was a great day. The perfect end to the best five years of our lives. In the last five years Washington state has found a true place in my heart. Most of my significant memories take place in the shadows of  the mountains, evergreen trees and cloudy skies of Western Washington. It's where I met my the love of my life, had my child, and went to college...It feels like home to me. I hope to return there after our adventures abroad. 

I mean, look at these guys! How could you not love that!

On our way back to Westlake Center on the Monorail.

 

 

Winter Hit, and then Reality...

Last week the Seattle area was pounded by a snow storm that started on Monday and didn't end until Thursday for most people (unless you had no power). We were visiting family down south and left for a trip to Ikea and then home to Bellingham after. We drove the nearly 3 hour drive home, snow falling and pretty good road conditions. Once we got up north the road conditions worsened along with the snow, and I pretty much knew we weren't going anywhere for a few days. We got around 10 inches and by Tuesday morning the snow stopped for the most part...but man did it get cold. The temperature got down to 0, and stayed around 10-18 degrees F for a few days which is NOT normal for Washington. Luckily we had no wind, or precipitation and plenty of firewood to stay warm inside. We were just hanging out at home meanwhile from about 5 miles south of us the whole Seattle area  to Portland is getting hit hard by a winter storm. By Wednesday Marcus and I were a bit stir-crazy, and since Benjamin had stayed with Nana and Papa down south, we went for a  hike through the snowy arboretum across the street from our condo building.

As you can see, the woods were just gorgeous all covered in snow. At least we had snow around for a few days before it warmed back up and the rain came back... by Saturday morning, you woudn't have known it had snowed at all. Back to 45 degrees and then it was flood warning time...


















No bad flooding occured, we did see some farm fields up in the valley that were a bit waterlogged, but nothing serious as far as we saw...so far.

Overlooking Bellingham Bay at the lookout tower in the Arboretum

THEN Saturday evening, we FINALLY got the official word on our move...

The countdown has officially begun...We have only 39 days until we depart for Japan. On March 5, we will board our flight to Narita International Airport and won't return to the U.S. for almost 3 years. We will be living between Yokohama and Mt. Fuji ( the world's most symmetrical mountain, actually a volcano, called  Fuji-san.) You can see this on the map below in the turquoise region called Kanto. Sendai is where the tsunami and pending nuclear disasters occurred (are still occuring?). We will be a good distance from there, however earthquakes will become a normal part of life for us (I will be electing to store all of my prized possessions in the U.S. for this reason!).

Though initially I was quite jolted by the surprising news that we were to move there, I am starting to look forward to the experience. Everyone we've spoken with that has lived there absolutely loves Japan, so that is always great and actually quite a rare thing to hear from other military families. Normally everything you hear about a duty station is negative. Overall, Japan is a gorgeous country with meaningful customs, an intriguing culture, and of course fresh fish! The population is huge at 130 million people on a landmass the size of  California, the habitable area of which is only the size of South Carolina! It is this reason that the need for personal space ( like uh, a personal bubble, one that I am very accustomed to having) has been effectively removed from society. Honestly, I think this is one of the only things I'm really gonna have a hard time with, that and the language barrier...ok maybe there's a few more things. The toilets....??...

The traditional style
(careful not to get your pants!)



or the modern style?

 





Really though as confusing or challenging as it is, at least I'm moving to country that has flushable toilets available...







I'll take it one day, and one challenge at a time....that's all I can do...and keep toilet paper in my bag...

 I have had a looming feeling of holding onto and soaking up every little piece of home that I can for the last few months, but lately that nostalgia is starting to fade. The reality is starting to hit hard, and it hurts, but only a little. I'll live. The Japanese people strive to live without fear, this is something I'm hoping to conquer as well!

Whatcom Falls, Fish, and Bald Eagles

One day we decided to check out another of many parks we haven't made it to in Bellingham, so we drove about 10 minutes to Whatcom Falls Park and were quite surprised at it's offerings. As soon as I opened the car door, I heard the rushing of a waterfall which to our surprise was about 50 yards from where we were. Around a short path, the first thing that struck me was the gorgeous moss and fern covered stone bridge, and then the waterfall off to the right. This park was just gorgeous and full of hiking trails. We didn't go on a hike due to the rather cold and rainy weather, but we did explore the trail and trout hatchery that run along side the river.

*One thing we seem to keep encountering in our Pacific Northwest environment is the vitality of local fish populations. Salmon and trout populations are the staple of the PNW food chain. They feed both omnivores and carnivores throughout the fall and winter, as each fish species has different spawning route and time. Fish carcasses that have been moved by animals even fertilize the soil up to several hundred yards into the forests. Over fishing is definite threat to many animal populations throughout the region. There used to be nearly 90 Orca whales living in the waters of the Puget Sound and now there are under 80. This is also due to several factors, including boat noise and traffic, pollution and decreased food sources. Unless something is done to aid the recovery of salmon populations, many species, and industries will be affected.* Great article on Orca's in the Puget Sound:  http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Animals/Archives/2006/Orcas-on-the-Edge.aspx

                                            Marcus and Ben observing a pool of trout fry.

                                  Some big guys (over 14")  Not sure, but I think they are steelhead trout.

A kiss for mommy!

                                                       
Back to that lesson about the salmon...Five years ago when we first moved to Washington I had read about a gathering of eagles in Northwest Washington. It is the largest gathering of Bald eagles in the lower 48 states. Each year as the Chum salmon spawn from November through February over 750 bald eagles gather along the rivers and feast on the weak and vulnerable fish. I unofficially had this on my list of things to do one day, and quite by chance I got the opportunity to witness this gathering of the bird that symbolizes our nation. On our way up to Mt. Baker (previous post) I had seen a massive grouping of trees full of bald eagles from the road. Their white heads and large size stood out in the bare trees they were perched in. Usually, I'll see a single eagle at a distance, but this time there were nearly a dozen in each tree! This sighting reminded me of the "gathering" and I knew we had to find a good spot to view them the next chance we got. So the following weekend we went in search. I found an eagle park in the area that proved disappointing as there were only few eagles which were very far away, so we decided to just drive towards the stretch of highway where I had seen them. My husband, the great navigator that he is took a random turn that led us up to a small bridge over the Nooksack river in a rural area....Bazinga! There they were, perched in the trees, on tree stumps in the shoals, and flying above and below. Amazing! I'm not particularly patriotic, but when it comes to seeing a natural spectacle like this, it's just really cool.  After all bald eagles were chosen as the symbol of America for their strength, beauty and longevity which is more evident when you see a grouping such as this.

I have since gone back to show some family members, and plan on visiting again in early February though the numbers of eagles is declining with the fish. Unfortunately none of my pictures are even close to good. I need a MUCH better zoom capability on my camera, but nonetheless here are some of them.

Though our time in Washington is getting short for now, we keep getting opportunities to experience the things we haven't in nearly five years of living here. With each new experience, Marcus and I agree, we are falling more in love with this place than anywhere we have been before. Maybe it's what happens when you have open eyes, or maybe we belong here. Only time will tell...

Interested in some Bald Eagle Fun Facts?:  http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle-facts.html

Here are some great photos from the same area: http://exoticfarm.net/?p=5261

Snow Day

We spent the last two weekends further exploring the area around Bellingham, mostly along the Mt.Baker Hwy. Ths road just keeps pulling us in that direction. Two weekends ago we had some friends come up to visit us for a few days, they wanted to see the Nooksack River (from previous post) so we decided to head back up that way and also to continue in our search for snow. Since we had finally gotten some precipitation there was even a little snow on the ground down at the trailhead by the river. After a nice chilly walk along the river, we headed up the Mountain. The farther we drove, the more snow we encountered and before we knew it we were driving in what Ben described as being "inside a snow globe". As we drove I caught glances of gorgeous landscapes from in between thick rows of snow covered evergreens and coudn't wait to stop and feel the snow.

We stopped at a pullout along the road where I took this shot and fired off a few snow balls. I felt like I was inside of a Bob Ross winter landscape masterpiece the whole day!

After we made our way up the mountain some more, we found a place to see the jagged summit of some other mountain.

At this point the road was getting very windy, and there was a ton of traffic coming down from the ski resort up the way, so we decided to turn around and stop at the snow park to take a walk. The parking lot was so full of snow we were afraid to stop the cars, but we eventually found a good spot across the street and took a walk in several inches of snow to the campground. We walked along a trail for about a half mile and then came back to the river...it is one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen!

Ben made a friend along the trail.

The view along the River from the campground.

If you look to the left.

and to the right. Really, these pictures hardly give the view justice.

We all hung around with a sense of wonderment for a while, and tried not to laugh to hard at Rachel and Shawna falling down everywhere. Next time, we'll have to wear proper snow gear. My chuck's were't the best snow boots...but it was totally worth having cold toes!

            Also, we had the rare occasion where someone wlse was around to take a few family shots!

Overall, it was a great day...the best in a long time. There's something truly magical about being outside enjoying the immense beauty of the natural world. It makes you feel connected to the earth. That is a feeling we aren't always too connected to in this modern world of ours and would all be better off with.