Tokyo

Little Buddhas. Maya said they are for babies that have died. And they get dressed by a family who has lost a baby.




Shrine outside of Tokyo Tower




Really Pretty at night.




Our view down! Were were about halfway up - not all the way at the top - didn't feel like spending $24 for that.... Maya was tentative to stand on it! It was pretty intense. After this picture was taken, several Japanese school girls came up to us and stood in front of us. Finally one of them said "HELLO!" They were dying to practice their English! I was the first person they'd spoken to in English (outside their classroom). Yeah, I'm pretty popular.... ;)



Me and the Tower - whilst I act very Japanese and do the Peace-Sign for my picture.





Maya and I in front of the tower at night.



Last Thursday, Dave was flying until 10pm. So I arranged to take the train to Tokyo and meet the friend of a family friend - who is now my friend. Maya met me outside of the central gate at Kamata, about 1.5 hours from my home station, Zama. We had lunch - and talked for two hours! Well, there was a lot of drawing, spelling, looking up of words, in order to get around out language barrier. I taught her some new English, and she expanded my vocabulary of Japanese. We took the train to Downtown Tokyo, and walked around the Imperial Palace Gardens. Then we took the train to farther in to town and walked to Tokyo Tower. It is a model of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. We spent almost 6 hours together. It was a really wonderful afternoon evening. Maya is so friendly and warm. I already feel like I have known her for a long time. She and I are both looking forward to meeting up again soon.

Side note: I was very close to getting shoved in to the train by the men with pushing sticks... In case you haven't heard, rush hour in Tokyo is crazy. There are men stationed at each door to the car, usually with big sticks. They use the sticks to push passengers in to the train to make sure every car it to it's capacity. There are also Women Only cars because there are some perverts that enjoy being shoved so close to women and therefore grow wondering hands... As a result, most men use both hands to hold on to the rails so they cannot be accused of wondering hands.

My first English class

While in Japan, most wives teach English to Japanese students. Students can be anywhere from 3years old to 70 years old! Last Wednesday and this Wednesday I am subbing for one of the wives in my squadron for two of her classes. The first class is an hour and a half with a lead teacher and 6 women, aging 35-65. It is a beginner's class. It impresses me sooo much that they are looking to learn English! I got paid 4000 Yen ($40) to read aloud conversations from a book, and then practice it with each student, as well as asking what they did over their weekend. They are such sweet women, and think I'm very posh and a big gift to them. I had sooo much fun.

The second class is with Asami-san. He is about 45 years old and has been to America many times and goes to New York at least once a year. We talk for an hour about anything and everything. Last week, we talked about where I have lived, the Somali Pirate issue, Japan's emperor and his succession. And then he paid me 5000Yen ($50). What! Easiest money I've ever made.

Since we've been here, we feel like we've been hemorrhaging money. Between fronting money to pay for living in the Navy Lodge, fronting money to move in to Casa Jardin Room C... And then whenever we eat out, we have to withdraw Yen. Oiy, our bank cards are still steaming from all this use! So having classes that bring in Yen helps us from withdrawing from our own account. Living out on the economy we will be using more Yen than Dollars. For instance, last night I went to the Fish Store to pick up some salmon and lemons and a few fresh veggies. No cards accepted, so I had to fish through my yen purse and pray I had 1340 Yen ($13.40), which I did. Plus, the Yen is stronger than the dollar currently so every 5000Yen I earn, is saving us $3.

Just a list

A list of random things:
1. I almost died today driving Dave to work because someone came speeding around a blind corner on a sharp hill. And with pedestrians on either side the road is even more narrow. We all slammed our brakes and there was much "gomenasai" - "I'm sorry" or "I'm sorry, here's some money, don't be upset with me." Unfortunately, no money was involved, only across-the-street-bowing-while-in-the-car.

2. I discovered the "Fish Store" - so named for the Swordfish on the front, as it's Japanese name is not known to us "gaijin" - foreigners - does not accept cards - only cash. So i was forced to count out all my change... at least I had enough!

3. The chances are, if you need something on base, that location will be closed for an undisclosed reason/no reason. Hence why it's been a week and we still have no TV.

4 It will be very hard to go back to the states after being here for only 8 months! When we were setting up our internet: a) the English speaker called me at 8pm on a Thursday and b) was generally sorry to have to charge a cancellation fee if necessary. Genuinely sorry! For a $36 fee! In the states it would be $75-$100 and they would openly hope you'd be charged it...

5. I have learned the Zama Zag well enough to veer off it's narrow path, in an attempt to find alternate routes.

6. The girl who works at the front desk of the Navy Lodge was so excited to see me today. It made me feel very special. She asked for my phone number - awe :)

7. I really miss Sliderboo-san. He would have scared everyone here, but he always means well...

8. I CANNOT WAIT TO HAVE MY OWN COUCH AGAIN! This stick furniture sucks hardcore.

9. NPR Podcasts have saved my sanity. I have subscribed to Talk of the Nation, The Diane Rehms Show, Car Talk, and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. And the 5minute news of the day (the one that's played at the top of every hour). The only bummer is that Morning Edition and All Things Considered don't have podcasts - boo. But I realized last night that I can listen to Morning Edition while I cook dinner! Which is kind of like listening to All Things Considered while cooking, like i did in VA.

le sigh. How i love NPR. (Dave will laugh at me for this...)

Fuji Safari!

Last weekend, Dave and I drove to a place called Fuji-Safari! It was the most awesome place I've ever been! It was like a Jurassic Park, except no dinosaurs. That's about the only thing this place was missing, though! It is located at the base of Mt. Fuji, about 45 km away, but 2 hours by car due to traffic. We drove our car through the park, taking time to stop for pictures. Then we were able to park and do a petting-zoo type of experience. The interesting thing, apart from the fact that I was three feet from a full grown lion, was that there was also a House of Cats and a House of Dogs. It wasn't like the zoos in the states where house of cats means lions, cheetahs, and panthers. No, this was a house. Like a cottage. It was full of cats. Like house cats. Except each breed of house cat was labeled. The house had about 20 cats just hanging out. For 500Yen, or roughly $5, one can spend as much time as you'd like just hanging out with these house cats. The sad part was, they were so bombarded with human affection all the time that it no longer phased them. And they were super skinny. So between their lank bodies and their hatred of humans, I was thoroughly depressed after entering.