Some Common Questions...

To tackle some of the common questions we get...

What is the food like?

There are a variety of Japanese restaurants - noodles, sushi, bowls, grill-your-own, etc. We have tried a few sushi places, and I think my favorite is the sushi-go-round near our house. Little plates of food go by your table on a conveyor belt and you just pick what you like (can I get one of those installed in my house?). At the end of your meal, the waitress counts up the number of plates you have in order to calculate your bill. Otherwise, we eat often at the little mom 'n pop noodle shop across the street - this is where Erik gets huge bowls of Ramen and I get heaping portions of chuhan (fried rice) - definitely a Chinese cuisine influence. Besides Japanese food, we can easily find Italian and Indian restaurants to mix things up a bit.

We primarily shop at the commissary on base (grocery store), so our everyday meals at home aren't really any different than what we had in the States. I am getting more comfortable shopping out in town for vegetables, fruit, and trying random new things - we have plenty of stores within walking distance.


What do you do all day?

Given Erik is gone about 9 months out of the year, I find I have a lot of extra time on my hands to kill. I am blessed to still keep a part time position with my company in Maryland that I have worked at for several years - so usually I wake up and do a few hours of work on the computer. Then its usually to base to run errands such as going to the library, the gym, checking the mail, etc.

I also teach some "English" classes - this is very common for the spouses over here. There are plenty of locals who want to learn more of the language or hone their skills by simply having a conversation. You can get anywhere between 5000 yen to 7500 yen for an hour (tax free!), so its not too shabby. Thats about $50-$75 an hour.

Other than that, there are plenty of day trips and activities to keep busy. I have met some great friends here, both from base and also some local gals - we know how to have a good time, whether its hanging out with lots of wine or going to the karaoke bar. So although some days are a snooze, overall you can be as busy as you want to.


What is Japanese TV like?

Erik and I actually don't have any Japanese cable, but some folks out in town do subscribe. They have things like soap operas, food eating contests, gameshows, etc. I think its pretty unique and interesting - but kinda' like how I never understood Monty Python/ British humor all the way, its the same with Japanese humor. Did you ever see the movie Lost in Translation? The scene where Bill Murray is being interviewed on that talk show? Its exactly like that.

We do have a satellite at our house, provided by base. This gives us AFN - the american forces network. There are about 10 channels and its a variety of shows that we would get in the States, minus the 200+ plus channels that it seems everyone has these days. We get plenty of sports, shows from the major channels such as ABC, Fox, NBC, and a few from the Food Network and HGTV once in a while. For live shows such as The Daily Show or Dancing with the Stars, for example, they are simply on a one day delay.


Thats all I got for now!

The Japanese Office (SNL)

I'm probably behind on this, but I just watched the SNL Digital Short: The Japanese Office and found it to be hee-larious. I spent 15 minutes wading through sites to find one that would offer a high quality stream to us poor unfortunate souls outside the US. Damn you country codes!

Enjoy…

The Joy of Navy Paperwork

I quote a wise individual when saying "You can't do dick here on your first try". It sums it up quite nicely – you think you have all the forms and signatures and stamps and first borns you need and you are in the right building. Perhaps you even carry a faint smile on your face as you enter the office. Today, my friends, is the day you will beat the system.

And then the appointed individual tells you those are the wrong forms, someone else needs to sign them, they wanted your first born girl, not boy, and you need to go to another department which is only open on 9a-2p on Tuesdays. And its 2:05p on a Tuesday when they tell you this.

When you arrive at 9:03a the following Tuesday, Sailor Sally is taking her sweet time opening up the office and is telling all her co-workers about [enter: super d-u-m reality show here] from the night before. "It was crazy, ya'll! That guy from that one episode of that one show that lasted one year in 1996 was voted off!" She may glance at you once or twice while you wait, but otherwise she's on her own time. Finally she takes a look at the stuff and says their department can't do anything without a stamp from the original office you were at. "You need to go back to the other office, ma'am."

She delivers the news with an expression and tone that implies you are – quite simply – retarded.

The Okonomiyaki Experience (aka Okonomi-whodat?)

A couple weeks ago, Erik and I went to an okonomiyaki restaurant (pronounced oko-nomee-ahkee). Essentially it means "grill what you like". It's like a pancake batter with anything you want mixed in and then you grill it on your table. And it's not Aunt Jemima stuff: There are no blueberries or chocolate chips. Syrup and whip cream are but a dream.

Common items to mix in are cabbage, shrimp, corn, octopus, rib meat, etc. There is an exponential amount of combos displayed in the huge picture menu. It has about 20 pages, with a cartoon raccoon-dog to guide you along the way. A bit overwhelmed, I picked one that appears to be veggies and shrimp – it's just too hard to differentiate what type of meat you are getting from the small photos. Erik of course picks the one that appears to have the most amount of meat.

They heat up the grill on your table when you first sit down – by the time they bring your food in its little mixing bowl, the grill is hot and ready to go. Be careful. The grill is very hot. Like, "Umm, wow, I can't believe that small children eat at this restaurant" hot.

So you mix up your goo in its bowl and drop it on the grill. And then you wait. Once you have grilled it and flipped it and waited in anticipation, you find the pancake itself is just "okay." Nothing more, nothing less: Just okay. There aren't any seasonings in the batter or on the mix-ins so it's rather bland when you eat it as-is. That's why they give you a huge squeeze bottle of mayo and a box of fish flakes to sprinkle on top. The Japanese absolutely love mayonnaise, in a take-it-behind-the-school-and-get-it-pregnant kind of way. Erik and I found solace in a nearby jar of soy sauce that we used for dipping.

If visiting, be prepared to eat at an okonomiyaki joint with us. Not for the taste, but for the novelty...

Thoughts on Japan...

I am often asked about how life in Japan is going. Life in Japan is actually great – it's pretty neat to live in a different culture and the people are all nice. I can get over any of the oddball pet peeves because the experience in its totality makes up for inconveniences. Strolling through miles of "sakura" (cherry blossoms) on a spring day will enlighten the darkest of any. A couple fun points:

• Its fun to surprise the locals when they see a "gaijin" (foreigner) say something in Japanese. Actually, they are probably surprised because I am saying something totally off point (i.e. "Your melons are nice" instead of an intended "Nice to meet you").
• Bowing often (for hello, hi, thank you, nice to meet you, your welcome, bowing when you don't know why you are bowing) works out the lower back and preemptively targets any forming muffin top.
• Everyone in uniform is just plain cute – even the old dudes who carry the orange traffic signals. Sure, you probably moonlight by tweaking women's bums on crowded trains, but you sure do look cute in that little blue jumper number you've got on. And a reflective sash?! Piece de resistance!
• The use of cartoons and animated characters to explain everything is just plain endearing. There is nothing like a smiley aluminum can to remind you to recycle or a frowning barrel of oil to remind you to not light a cigarette nearby. All warnings should be delivered with a cartoon.
• The nearby lights of the tennis court and the repeated shouts of "hai!" are quite bright and loud at 10pm, yes, but the super watt 5000 bulbs make for good reading light while lying in bed.

Well, that's the start of a list that will grow over the next couple years. That's not to say I don't have pet peeves of living here, too, but that is for another list for another time. Overall, its gravy and I'm looking forward to learning more…

It All Works out in the End

We are at the age where we see many of our friends and peers getting married. My heart immediately goes out to any bride in their planning stages. Except for the ones on those reality TV shows like “Platinum Weddings” and “Bridezilla”. It’s awfully difficult to watch train wrecks like that. I digress.

However, I admit when the wedding bug caught me, I spent countless hours online researching every little aspect of our wedding. I would get upset if TheKnot.com hadn’t updated any of its pages within the last several hours – I need new ideas and new info! More info! Had I not transitioned to part time at work as the wedding planning progressed, I would have docked my own pay for time spent on online.

Admittedly, I had always thought of a spring outdoor wedding in my head, with acoustic guitars serenading guests as they wait in the garden. I had to take a detour from my original vision when we learned that Erik was soon leaving for Japan in the summer of 2007. That left us with a prompt decision for a holiday wedding – the only time we knew he would be back in the States for sure.

Lessons learned:

• Have plenty of good food.
• Have plenty of good drink. Even regular drink will do. Trying to create a special signature drink for your wedding? Guess what, no one will talk about it the next day. Save yourself the time and money.
• Let your bridesmaids pick whatever they want to wear – pick a color and let them have it.
• The seating chart is just for dinner.
• If something ends up costing an extra couple dollars than expected, it’s worth it to have the decision done and over with.
• Remember that half the people don’t even eat their slice of cake.
• Let your friends and family dote their love upon you – it’s what they want to do. They wouldn’t be there if they didn’t want to be there.

It worked out in the end for us: Having harped for years that the New Years holiday always fell towards being anticlimactic, we now have a reason for a second kiss at midnight as we celebrate our anniversary. Also, the one-stop-shop of having the ceremony and reception at a hotel ensured that our guests were well taken care of for the winter’s night. That meant drinking and dancing was even more abundant. What we once feared was settling for boring and basic was indeed a magical night for us.

So for all the brides in planning, know this one sure thing: Everything will turn out just fine.