Thanksgiving in Misawa

In 1972, my father was serving his LDS Mission in Hakodate, Japan.  He and his companion took the ferry to Aomori and then the train to Misawa Air Base for Thanksgiving dinner.  This year we created our own Thanksgiving memory with the LDS Missionaries.  We had the missionaries from Hachinohe over for Thanksgiving dinner.  One of the Elders is from Osaka, Japan so this was his first Thanksgiving. I like to think that my dad is chuckling a little that we are repeating his history, 44 years later.  I am grateful for my eternal family.  I am grateful for my family that is with me here and the family that supports us from across the ocean.

Halloween on Misawa Air Base and Fall in Northern Japan

Halloween is my favorite holiday and so I have been anticipating seeing how it is done here in Misawa. We have enjoyed the last two years of Halloweens in Las Vegas at Nellis because the temperatures were in the 80's and base streets were full of kids.  It was one of the few times that I felt a sense of community at Nellis.  It was a lot colder here but people still came out in droves. I had to resort to the Utah trick of stuffing the kids costumes with under layers for warmth.

Bear- Werewolf, Bub- Pikachu, Pants- Rainbow Dash

Two crazy Death Eater from Harry Potter

We had the experience of watching the Japanese people trick or treat with us. Groups of Japanese nationals were sponsored in by military members and would lines up for candy at each door.  As Pants and I passed out candy, we got used to saying "konbanwa" (good evening.)  I had to laugh at their costumes.  I saw many boy witches with capes and hats, not a typical American boy choice.  They were not dressing up to be something, they just threw on any little play costume piece.   It is fun to see the cultural differences. The Japanese do not celebrate Halloween like we do, it is not a national holiday.  I am sure that this area has adopted it because of the base connection.  We enjoyed our night of candy and costume fun.

Chrysanthemum festival

We have also enjoyed seeing fall come to Japan.  We definitely did miss the changing colors and temperatures while we were living in Las Vegas.  We traveled to Hirosaki, Japan for the chrysanthemum festival and to see the beautiful leaves.

Chrysanthemum Festival

Look at all the color!

The costumes on the statues are made of chrysanthemums

My dad served part of his mission in the city of Hirosaki.  We have a map of Japan on the wall at our home.  We have labeled all the areas that he served in red, the areas that he visited in green, and the areas that we visit in blue. We have enjoyed seeing the overlap. So far we have been in the same places five times.  I think we have done pretty well crossing paths since we have only been here four months. I always find myself wondering if we are walking where he walked and seeing what he saw.  

Beautiful Japanese garden in Hirosaki

Fall Break

The kids and Josh have been out of work and school. It feels like the old Fall Break.  It is nice to have them all out together because sometimes their breaks do not coincide with his.  We had a busy and fun weekend starting with Wingman Day. Josh and I had the opportunity to present together at Wingman Day on Misawa Air Base.  We presented to the spouses only and we talked about building mental resiliency through the tools of breathing and yoga.  Josh talked about what he sees in therapy when people feel anxious and depressed and what is going on in the mind. I talked about how breathing tools and exercise can reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression.  Then I did a yoga class with the participants. Josh is great with power point presentations and I am very comfortable with yoga.  We have been wanting to collaborate our skills for a long time because we have recognized how they complement each other.  

The kids took part in International Day of Scouting.  We met at a hanger on base with Japanese scouts from the area.  They had a bit of ceremony, played games together, had lunch, and did swaps. They mixed all the kids up in the groups; boys, girls, all ages, Japanese, and American.  It was great way to interact and share with each other. Bear met a particular friend and they are going to be pen pals.  This is another unique thing that we get to do since we are in Japan. 

Josh and I attended the Air Force Ball.  It was a relief for Josh to just be a participant instead of organizing it like last year at Nellis Air Force Base.  The only problem was that he kept comparing this ball to his.  It is very different being in the entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas, and tiny rural Japan, Misawa.  I thought it was nice time but I am just always happy to have an excuse to get dressed up and dance.

We went to Oirase Gorge, a National Park Area in Japan.  I got really used to the National Parks around Las Vegas.  I learned to appreciate the beauty of the desert.  This beauty was completely different, green and moss covered, and waterfalls at every turn.  We had a great day exploring a new part of Northern Japan.

New Year, New Duties

This year Pants started Kindergarten.  I have entered the realm of kids gone all day.  I do not believe this gives me any more time in my day. It just allows me to spread my time out differently and take on other responsibilities that I was not willing to do when she was still at home with me.  For instance, I have agreed to be the Key Spouse for Josh's squadron, MDOS. I am the go between from the commander and the spouses.  The military members sometimes get tunnel vision into the mission and I am the link to let everyone at home know what is going on. I will make sure needs are being met to the spouses if an issue arises. I feel it is a lot like visiting teaching among the military.  It means a lot of meetings for me though.  I meet with the commanders spouses and other Key Spouses in the Med Group, I meet with the commander of MDOS, and I attend other meetings that need a link like the Officers Spouses Club.

I am also looking at making myself a home based business for private yoga sessions.  Since Misawa Air Base is in a foreign country, the ability to work off base is difficult.  I do teach four yoga classes on base but this is half of what I taught in Las Vegas as I was able to work off base as well.  I am in the process of applying and obtaining signatures from organizations on base to approve my business, "Yoga Traveler."  In short, I am home alone but I am still never alone and I am just as busy as before.  This time I just do not have a little pal along my side. I keep waiting to be able to slow down and notice that I have no kids around.

One last wave at mom

15th Anniversary Celebration at Matsushima Bay, Japan

Josh and I had our 15th wedding Anniversary this month and since it was a big number and we live in an amazing place, we took a little overnighter.  We had the help of great neighbors to watch our kids for the night so we will be returning the favor.  We drove down to Matsushima Bay.  It is by Sendai so a four hour drive from Misawa. It was the first time we had taken a toll road in Japan and we had no idea how expensive it would be.  We realized that we did not have enough yen to make it back to Misawa.  We are still figuring out how much yen to take with us on outings.  When we arrived at our hotel (beautiful and overlooking the bay) we tried to explain that we needed more yen.  They spoke little English so we did the best we could with google translate.  One of the hotel employees drove us to a bank where we discovered that we would not be able to withdrawal yen with our American cards.  I knew this but did not know how to explain what we needed.  She then took us to a 7/11 where there was an ATM that worked with American cards. We were extremely grateful, humbled by the language barrier, and impressed by the service that we received for the hotel as we searched for a way to get yen.

The Matsushima Century Hotel was beautiful.  They provided us with robes and we had beds and cushions in case we wanted to sleep Japanese style. We had slippers at the entry for the room, slippers for the bathroom, and slippers for the veranda.  Patrons would walk around the hotel in their robes and slippers. It was a great mix of class and comfort.  We loved the view of the bay from our room and the walking distance to the sights.  We were served a seven course dinner with buffet and a buffet breakfast.  We felt very pampered.

Beautiful view outside our veranda

There was a lot to explore in the bay. We went across the Fukuurabashi bridge to Fukuurajima island.  It felt tropical and sometimes the trees were so heavy that it was dark under the canopy.

We took a ferry boat in the bay which took us around to the interesting islands (jima).  We learned that Matsushima bay is one of the three most photographed areas of Japan.

The city had a lot of sights to see in walking distance.  We went to the Matsushima Retro Gallery.  Most of the old toys meant nothing to us but we were interested in the pictures of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Matsushima in 2011.  We went to the Godaido temple, and the caves leading to the Zuiganji Temple.  We enjoyed seeing a mix of the old and the new in this interesting town.

Carvings in the rock wall leading to the temple

Josh loved this little dragon carving

Godaido Temple

Misawa Japanese LDS Branch

Today was the Misawa Air Base Air Show.  The base was open to the entire community and it was packed on the flight line with Japanese civilians.  It did not feel like a typical Sunday as Josh had to work during the day. Since our Misawa Military LDS ward is all military affiliated, they actually had a sacrament meeting at 5:30pm tonight as all the military members would be working through our normal church time.  It is hard to hold church with half of the congregation missing.  The kids and I went to the air show for a while because Bear was selling cakes with her Junior Girl Scout troop.

We are sitting in some sort of Japanese military vehicle.  It was cool to see all the military members from Navy, Air Force, and Japanese Air Defense Force out in full uniform.

I was asked by one of the LDS missionaries to sing in a quartet for the Japanese LDS Branch.  I took the kids along because Josh was working and because I thought it was cool to attend a meeting held in Japanese.  The people were few in numbers, about 15, and they were so friendly.  Many of them shook our hands and greeted us.  We picked out a few words but mostly did not know anything that was being said.  The spirit of the Sacrament meeting was the same though and I loved singing in Japanese.  Any time I am able to interact with the Japanese people, I think of my father, and I can tell how it was easy for him to grow to love them and serve them.  I wish he could have helped me with my pronunciation, but I feel grateful that I know a little of the language that became second nature to him.  I hope that my kids will come to appreciate that our church is the same all around the world, only that the language changes.

ITT Tour- Tanbo Art and Kokeshi Painting

One of the great things about living in Misawa Japan is that every time we leave the base, we are in for a great adventure in Japan.  The military ITT office at Misawa plans day and over night tours every weekend so that we can explore Japan.  We are going to try to take advantage of these tours once a month.  Today we boarded the bus and traveled to Tsugaru Kokeshi Hall in Aomori.  There we toured the museum of the Kokeshi dolls.  Each prefecture in Japan has a little different style.  Then we were able to paint our own dolls with the guidance of an accomplished artist.

I asked the professional to write my name in Katakana on my doll.  

The kids are enjoying the foot onsen at the Tsugaru Kokeshi Hall

Our next stop on the tour was to Inkadate Town to see the Tanbo Art fields.  The fields are planted with 12 different types of rice that grow into a picture.  It was pretty amazing to see.

Famous Japanese General

Godzilla

Castle in Inakadate that now serves as the City Hall.  The rice fields are to the right of the castle.

Our last stop was to Seibien to see a Japanese garden and Japanese Hybrid house.  The gardens and house inspired the animation for the Studio Ghibli film, The Secret World of Arrietty. 

Bear commented that we were looking at more green in this one garden than we saw the whole time we were in Las Vegas.  What a switch of culture, climate, language, food, and everything for us!

We survived our first Typhoon

Yesterday we were notified by the base that we would be hit by a Typhoon through the evening.  The non-essential employees were sent home at 1300, the kids after school activities were cancelled, and most of the base was closed down by 1600.  We were also notified that personnel did not have to go to work the next morning until 900 and the kids would not be expected to school until 1030. At the time, it seemed like a lot of "bluster."  I would be proven wrong.  Josh was able to come home and secure our outside items as much as we could.

Around 1700 the weather got really bad.  The wind and rain was driving against in the back of the house and it was very dark.  The kids were scared and Bub instituted some calming yoga.  My boy!!

Around 2000 we heard a terrible crashing.  I yelled to look outside and we could not see our shed. The top was completely gone.  Josh and I bundled up and ran out to find the shed on it's top laying in the neighbor's backyard.

We started grabbing our things and moving them to the back door.  The rain was moving so fast and it was so loud with the lightening and thunder.  It was really unsafe actually but we did not know if our stuff would be picked up and blown away either.  I felt like we were in a movie set, where the actors have to yell to each other over the storm. We came inside sopping to the bone.  The rain and wind died down around midnight.

Our things are piled up against our back door.  On the Right is the remains of our neighbor's shade screen half in our yard.

We woke to a bright and sunny day.  The storm was gone leaving lots of destruction in it's wake. Trees were down, trampolines bent, fences bent, debris all over the ground.  The kids in the circle went to work gathering fallen branches.  They felt very productive and helpful.  Josh and our neighbor broke down the shed and put it out for the trash.  The bottom is all that is left.  Now we need to figure out how to store our things.  I am not sure what we will do without the shed and I hesitate to buy another that may blow away in the next storm.  It was amazing to see the work crews this morning all over base chopping up falling trees, and hauling away debris.  I appreciated the late start to work and school in hindsight.  Score- Typhoon 1, Turner Shed 0.

Pile of trees gathered by the circle kids

Remains of our shed, the floor.  You can see the shed top in our neighbor's yard.  Their new blue wood shed survived the storm.

Felled tree in our circle.  It is laying across three yards and has crushed the fence underneath.