I just experienced the most amazing fireworks display I’ve ever seen. It was a performance really, not a display. It was like a dance, choreographed to a number of different songs, varying from Bocelli to Lady Gaga . I got off work around 6, jumped on the train, and when I got to Zushi station, the line to get out was backed up to the door of the train! Trying to get home to Jaime’s, the streets were blocked off with vendors all along the sides selling yakitori and chu-his. It was worse than 4th of July! I made my way through the crowd towards the beach, past the local police waving their red and blue glowing batons, and finally got home so I could eat dinner. A few minutes later I heard the fireworks and I ran out the door and they were right there! I walked along the canal down to the beach, but I didn’t make it far because people were everywhere, I couldn’t even see sand! The city had set up two huge barges in the center of the inlet and they both were lighting off fireworks to the beat of the music blaring through the speakers spread along the beach. The colors and style of each firework matched the songs playing, everything from “Bad Romance” to “Time to Say Goodbye.” It was amazing! And the fireworks themselves were the coolest ones I’ve ever seen. It totally made my day.
Tomorrow is Friday! I think I am totally crazy because read what I’m about to do. Wei and I are going with two guys from our ship to climb Mount Fuji tomorrow. We are taking the train tomorrow evening and arriving at the mountain around 8 o’clock. Then, we are climbing in the dark all night long so we can reach the top and see the sunrise. What am I thinking! And then we climb back down, take the train home, and go to sleep. On Sunday, I plan on spending the whole day at a hot springs resort to recover. The resort we are going to has pools with sake, coffee, green tea, and wine flavors. And it has one pool with the fish that eat the dead skin off your feet. It should be an exciting weekend if I survive the climb. Tomorrow I’m waking up extra early again to do command PT! So much for sleep….
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The Definition of Awkward
I use to have this theory that being awkward was a choice. A person can either go with the flow of life, or they can sit there and say, “This is awkward” and dwell on the uncomfortable situation. I take it all back. Our life in Japan is the definition of awkward. And I’m speaking for myself, Wei, Ellyn, and every other lowly Ensign out here trying to find her way. I can’t tell you how often we use this word in conversation when describing our everyday lives. And the three of us girls do spend a lot of time together between the 20 minute walk to the train station every morning and evening from Jaime’s house, the 10 minute train ride, and the 20 minute walk to base. Then, starting this week we have Baby SWOS together and then we go shopping, come home, make dinner, and go to bed. It’s an unbelievably exhilarating routine. But back to being awkward. First of all, Japan’s humidity is worse than anything I have experience in my life which is saying a lot considering I come from Annapolis, MD, the Mid-Atlantic, where everyday humidity is at 100%. Walking into work, or from school to the ship, I am soaked in sweat, and I feel a little awkward with beads of sweat dripping down my face and my shirt obviously wet as I request permission to come aboard. The best is when you are carrying an absurd amount of things in your hands and you have to salute the flag and show your ID, while balancing everything in one hand and looking completely ridiculous. Next, we have to stand watch. But it isn’t a real watch because we aren’t qualified, it’s called “under instruction,” so we stand there, awkwardly, not really having a purpose other than to observe, ask questions, and learn. Somehow I seem to always be standing in the wrong place as people are moving around me and trying to get things done. And I think, do I salute, what do I say, am I doing this right? Then, there is the fact we are in SRA, our ship is tied up to the pier and covered in scaffolding. Every day I wear a helmet and somehow I lucked out and got some really cool protective eye wear that for some reason reminds me of plebe chem class. Maybe it’s because my goggles are huge and green. So picture me wearing that around all day and what do you think? Awkward. Oh, and don’t let me forget to mention the fact that I am an American living in a foreign country. That means that just about everything I do out in town is uncomfortable…and awkward. Try figuring out what kind of seaweed to buy at the grocery store, or what kind of fish is in the sushi on your plate, or how to get on the right train, or how to cut food with chopsticks, or what “Crunky Nude Balls” are. (They are actually delicious crunchy, chocolate things that kind of taste like crispy M&M’s, don’t worry, I’m sending some home.)When taking the train, I would say it’s awkward to be the lonely white girl staring at the train map for a good 15 minutes, sweating, and then getting on the wrong train and trying to act like everything is just fine. Also, the Japanese are the most polite people in the world and kindly greet you whenever you walk into a store and I just stare blankly, feeling totally rude. I’m working on my Japanese, right now I can introduce myself and say thank you. The last thing I can think of right now is another watch everyone stands at one point and that is shore patrol. Your job is to where your uniform out in the Honch (the bar streets) from 6 pm until midnight or 2 am. You job is pretty much to stalk people and make sure they stay out of trouble. Literally, after walking in circles for hours, you know who is out, who they are with, what ship they are on, how drunk they are…it’s really entertaining to say the least.
I just had to share some of these things with you all to give you a sense of just how funny I find this life out here sometimes. I just have to laugh at how ridiculous and out of place I feel every once in a while. The best part is that all of us feel the same way.
And to follow up on the last entry, I am not getting that apartment. I found one in Zushi, a 15 minute walk from the beach and Jaime’s. It’s also right near the train station, so it’s really convenient. The one problem is that I won’t be able to have a dryer, but I think I’ll live. At least I will feel like I’m saving the environment.
I just had to share some of these things with you all to give you a sense of just how funny I find this life out here sometimes. I just have to laugh at how ridiculous and out of place I feel every once in a while. The best part is that all of us feel the same way.
And to follow up on the last entry, I am not getting that apartment. I found one in Zushi, a 15 minute walk from the beach and Jaime’s. It’s also right near the train station, so it’s really convenient. The one problem is that I won’t be able to have a dryer, but I think I’ll live. At least I will feel like I’m saving the environment.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Follow the Signs
Wei and I just made gyuoza which I would call jiaozi in Chinese and I keep getting really confused. They are the dumplings you fry in a pan and they are absolutely delicious. Today marks the second day of our mad house hunting spree but guess what! We both found places we like. Yesterday we looked at 5 places, yes 5. The realtor picked us up on base and showed us a couple places and then dropped us off at her friend's office, who then proceeded to drive us around to another 3 places. Wei picked an adorable little Japanese house, located right up the hill from the train station, next to a shrine, with a rock garden in the back. I hadn't fallen in love with anything yet. Our trip had been so long, I had to sit down and eat my snacks Wei had packed me for the day. If you don’t know what a bento is, google it. Japanese mothers spend hours every day making tiny faces out of hard boiled eggs, rice, and various other things for their children’s lunch. Wei is becoming one of these Japanese mothers, but for me it’s great! Go to any store and you can find what looks like a cookie cutter, but is used to shape rice or bread. And the tools get smaller to crate little faces for the bear shaped rice balls. It’s a little crazy, but fun.
So today, after a long and hot day at work wearing hard hats and hearing protection to block out the jackhammer on the other side of the wall of my office, we jumped in another car again to see apartments. I could have told the man to turn around when we pulled into the ugly, brown set of apartments, but I made myself get out of the car and look around. The poor guy wanted to show us about 5 apartments spread throughout the complex, but we had to stop him about half way through because I hated all of them. By then I was frustrated and decided I wanted a house. So he took us way up another hill to an awesome house with really high ceilings and an attic. Two problems: the house next door looked like a jail and the master bedroom window looked out over a graveyard. On the way back, he mentioned he had another place very close to base that had opened up today. As he described it, I knew exactly where he was talking about. It was the same apartment a guy on my ship had who is leaving in the next few days. I had been up once before when Ellyn and I first started looking around because I had heard it was nice. I asked the man to take me back once more, so he got the key and we went up. It has a great kitchen with glass cabinet doors, a bedroom, study room, large living room, and tatami room (Japanese floor made of rice straw). It also has a small balcony overlooking the “Honch” where everyone goes out drinking, but oh well. I still loved it when we went back, despite the fact that it goes against everything I wanted in a house, a cute little place by the beach with a garden. I had to face the reality that I am not in San Diego and that part of my life will have to wait. The man also told me that someone had planned on visiting the place this morning, but had canceled. So all the signs seem to point in the right direction. I think I have found my new apartment!
Tired, but excited, Wei and I began out trek back to Zushi, but had to stop again and eat our snack of rice and tofu. We then took the train back and made dinner. This morning we had out first Command PT, where the entire ship comes in early at 6 am to work out together. The work out consists of arm circles, jogging, and other random exercises I never knew existed, they say just to remember it is meant to be a bonding experience more than anything else. We had to wake up at 4:30 am to get there on time, which might be a reason why we want to live a little closer!
Tomorrow we take our test for our Japanese driver's license. I'm not sure how I'm going to do driving on the opposite side of the road....and it's not like I've had any time to practice.
So today, after a long and hot day at work wearing hard hats and hearing protection to block out the jackhammer on the other side of the wall of my office, we jumped in another car again to see apartments. I could have told the man to turn around when we pulled into the ugly, brown set of apartments, but I made myself get out of the car and look around. The poor guy wanted to show us about 5 apartments spread throughout the complex, but we had to stop him about half way through because I hated all of them. By then I was frustrated and decided I wanted a house. So he took us way up another hill to an awesome house with really high ceilings and an attic. Two problems: the house next door looked like a jail and the master bedroom window looked out over a graveyard. On the way back, he mentioned he had another place very close to base that had opened up today. As he described it, I knew exactly where he was talking about. It was the same apartment a guy on my ship had who is leaving in the next few days. I had been up once before when Ellyn and I first started looking around because I had heard it was nice. I asked the man to take me back once more, so he got the key and we went up. It has a great kitchen with glass cabinet doors, a bedroom, study room, large living room, and tatami room (Japanese floor made of rice straw). It also has a small balcony overlooking the “Honch” where everyone goes out drinking, but oh well. I still loved it when we went back, despite the fact that it goes against everything I wanted in a house, a cute little place by the beach with a garden. I had to face the reality that I am not in San Diego and that part of my life will have to wait. The man also told me that someone had planned on visiting the place this morning, but had canceled. So all the signs seem to point in the right direction. I think I have found my new apartment!
Tired, but excited, Wei and I began out trek back to Zushi, but had to stop again and eat our snack of rice and tofu. We then took the train back and made dinner. This morning we had out first Command PT, where the entire ship comes in early at 6 am to work out together. The work out consists of arm circles, jogging, and other random exercises I never knew existed, they say just to remember it is meant to be a bonding experience more than anything else. We had to wake up at 4:30 am to get there on time, which might be a reason why we want to live a little closer!
Tomorrow we take our test for our Japanese driver's license. I'm not sure how I'm going to do driving on the opposite side of the road....and it's not like I've had any time to practice.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Best day ever.
I don’t know what day it is.
I’m sitting painting my toes pink in Jaime’s room and sweating because the AC is broken upstairs. Today was one of the best days I’ve had in Japan. I’ve really only been in Japan a little over a week if you add up the days we weren’t underway, which is weird to think about. All new people stationed in Yokosuka are required to take an introductory course about living and working in Japan. It lasts all this week and guess what today was…field trip day! It really is designed to make sure every person makes it off base at least once while living in Japan, they literally take you step by step from where to buy a train ticket, how to order from a plastic menu, and most importantly which way to face when you squat over a Japanese toilet.
We got to go in a little later today because of the field trip so we woke up at 6 am instead of 5. Wei and I went for a run around Zushi and ended up at the beach where we did abs in the sand and then jumped in the water to rinse off. The beach was beautiful that time of morning and the sun was already high in the sky. Today was windy, so there were actual waves and a number of guys were out attempting to windsurf. I decided life would be a lot better and people would be much happier if work just started an hour later every day.
We thought about missing the trip and looking for houses today instead, but since it’s a Japanese holiday, of course no realtors were open. So we went to Kamakura. Kamakura is located just north of where I am staying in Zushi. It is home to a giant Buddha and a number of shrines and temples. We started walking down the crowded streets lined with shops full of little trinkets. Wei, Doug (another new Ensign on our ship), and I stuck together and carefully separated ourselves from the wandering group of foreigners. We found a great curry house for lunch. Wei and I are helping Doug expand his palate to include more than only chicken and potatoes. He actually liked the curry! Green tea rice balls covered in sweet bean paste, he did not find so appetizing. I think the bean paste grows on you.
Right after lunch it started raining. Luckily, the little shops have plenty of clear umbrellas to purchase! We walked aimlessly until we found signs pointing to a temple or shrine and then we just walked until we found it. We visited one temple which was so serene. Everything was so green. It was like a temple I would have pictured before with interesting trees and a gong and a knowing silence. A man was sitting down to sketch and I wanted to join him. We next walked about 2 km to another shrine on the side of a large, forested hill. We had to walk up a path lined with red gates and prayer flags. Remember that it was still raining pretty steadily. The entire experience was very surreal. I had never been to a Shinto shrine, but it was interesting to look at and so peaceful. Stairs made of stones led up to more shrines and paths up the hill. It was nice to just sit and listen to the rain falling on the trees in such a spiritual place.
We made our way down the hill and went searching for the Giant Buddha! After another 2 km, we found him towering over crowds of people from all over the globe. He sits cross legged and people walk up and say prayers in front of him. Another thing, before you enter a shrine, you must dip a cup in running water and rinse your hands and mouth before entering.
By the end we were tired and wet, but happy to have explored and gotten away from the stress of work and finding a house and everything else. We headed back to Zushi, but not before hitting up a 100 yen shop (Japan’s version of a dollar store)! I bought lots of delicious snacks I will be sending home! By delicious I mean everything from milk candy to dried octopus. Let’s just say it will be different. We then went to a grocery store and bought food for dinner. Wei has been cooking up delicious Japanese meals including tofu, soba, dumplings, and lots of little vegetables and fruits I can’t even name. But tonight Doug treated us by cooking up pineapple beef and rice! Yumm.
Let’s just say I ended today by taking a relaxing bath. We ate dinner at a reasonable hour tonight, about 6 pm and just didn’t know what to do with all the time we had! We’ve been leaving the ship every night between 5 and 6 pm. With such long hours, I can’t decide if I like being in port or underway better! Jk. Now that we are getting into some sort of routine, life is better.
I’m sitting painting my toes pink in Jaime’s room and sweating because the AC is broken upstairs. Today was one of the best days I’ve had in Japan. I’ve really only been in Japan a little over a week if you add up the days we weren’t underway, which is weird to think about. All new people stationed in Yokosuka are required to take an introductory course about living and working in Japan. It lasts all this week and guess what today was…field trip day! It really is designed to make sure every person makes it off base at least once while living in Japan, they literally take you step by step from where to buy a train ticket, how to order from a plastic menu, and most importantly which way to face when you squat over a Japanese toilet.
We got to go in a little later today because of the field trip so we woke up at 6 am instead of 5. Wei and I went for a run around Zushi and ended up at the beach where we did abs in the sand and then jumped in the water to rinse off. The beach was beautiful that time of morning and the sun was already high in the sky. Today was windy, so there were actual waves and a number of guys were out attempting to windsurf. I decided life would be a lot better and people would be much happier if work just started an hour later every day.
We thought about missing the trip and looking for houses today instead, but since it’s a Japanese holiday, of course no realtors were open. So we went to Kamakura. Kamakura is located just north of where I am staying in Zushi. It is home to a giant Buddha and a number of shrines and temples. We started walking down the crowded streets lined with shops full of little trinkets. Wei, Doug (another new Ensign on our ship), and I stuck together and carefully separated ourselves from the wandering group of foreigners. We found a great curry house for lunch. Wei and I are helping Doug expand his palate to include more than only chicken and potatoes. He actually liked the curry! Green tea rice balls covered in sweet bean paste, he did not find so appetizing. I think the bean paste grows on you.
Right after lunch it started raining. Luckily, the little shops have plenty of clear umbrellas to purchase! We walked aimlessly until we found signs pointing to a temple or shrine and then we just walked until we found it. We visited one temple which was so serene. Everything was so green. It was like a temple I would have pictured before with interesting trees and a gong and a knowing silence. A man was sitting down to sketch and I wanted to join him. We next walked about 2 km to another shrine on the side of a large, forested hill. We had to walk up a path lined with red gates and prayer flags. Remember that it was still raining pretty steadily. The entire experience was very surreal. I had never been to a Shinto shrine, but it was interesting to look at and so peaceful. Stairs made of stones led up to more shrines and paths up the hill. It was nice to just sit and listen to the rain falling on the trees in such a spiritual place.
We made our way down the hill and went searching for the Giant Buddha! After another 2 km, we found him towering over crowds of people from all over the globe. He sits cross legged and people walk up and say prayers in front of him. Another thing, before you enter a shrine, you must dip a cup in running water and rinse your hands and mouth before entering.
By the end we were tired and wet, but happy to have explored and gotten away from the stress of work and finding a house and everything else. We headed back to Zushi, but not before hitting up a 100 yen shop (Japan’s version of a dollar store)! I bought lots of delicious snacks I will be sending home! By delicious I mean everything from milk candy to dried octopus. Let’s just say it will be different. We then went to a grocery store and bought food for dinner. Wei has been cooking up delicious Japanese meals including tofu, soba, dumplings, and lots of little vegetables and fruits I can’t even name. But tonight Doug treated us by cooking up pineapple beef and rice! Yumm.
Let’s just say I ended today by taking a relaxing bath. We ate dinner at a reasonable hour tonight, about 6 pm and just didn’t know what to do with all the time we had! We’ve been leaving the ship every night between 5 and 6 pm. With such long hours, I can’t decide if I like being in port or underway better! Jk. Now that we are getting into some sort of routine, life is better.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Life on Land
So can I just start by saying that I’m awake with the sun at 6 am on a Sunday, sitting in Jaime’s house and eating yogurt covered raisins. What is wrong with me! I think my body is in total shock when it comes to maintaining a normal routine. I think I am incapable of sleeping for a full 8 hours thanks to the crazy schedule at sea. Wei and I are staying at Jaime’s, maybe sometime this week we will actually have the time to find our own places. As of right now, we have no idea how long we will be in port, if we are going to school or another ship, everything is up in the air. If I’ve learned anything yet, it’s don’t trust what anyone tells you about the schedule until the time actually comes.
Let me go back to when we arrived back in port. Wei and I were so excited to get off the ship, sleep in a real bed, eat a good dinner, do everything we couldn’t while at sea. We packed up way too much stuff to take off the ship and then make our attempt to find Jaime’s house in Zushi via the train. Everyone I talked to, let me clarify that was mostly men, told me the train station was right past the mall that’s located next to base. So we walk for 20 minutes with all our bags until we get to the mall and start looking for the train station. I look to the left, see a train, and think, oh that must be it! We figure out once inside that it’s not the right one. Japan has two train lines just for your future reference when you come visit me. We decide to take this train anyway because I knew we could still make it to Zushi, we just would have to switch trains. Wei pulled up directions on her phone since she can actually read Japanese and we made it to the right station where we needed to change trains. Meanwhile, it was already close to 7 pm, we were eating the snacks we bought at the Nex and Family Mart. The Japanese have these great snacks that are little trianglse of rice, wrapped in seaweed and stuffed with fish or some kind of pickled vegetable. They also have every kind of dessert and pastry you can think of, you just have to watch out – what looks like chocolate is probably sweet bean paste! Back to the train station, we stood on the platform totally confused, crossed over the tracks to the other side and looked for the signs to Zushi. Then we got on the next train and immediately it announced, next stop Yokosuka Chuo. We had gotten on the express train that took us even further back than where we had just come from. At this point, we were tired, confused, sweating since Japan’s humidity is so much worse than Annapolis if you can believe it. We were thinking, ok, who can we call and just stay with? But I had too much pride to show up to work the next day and say we got lost, so we turned around, got back on the train, got to the right stop and then tackled the next challenge – how do we get to Jaime’s from the train station in the dark? I did the walk with Jaime once before, and I obviously should have paid more attention. We started walking one way and whenever a road gets darker and less crowded that’s the first sign you are headed the wrong way. We ran into a group of teenage boys and I asked them if they spoke English and could tell us how to get to the beach. One guy stepped out from the group, I’m not actually sure if he was friends with them, and told us he would walk us there. Wei was looking at me like I was crazy for following some kid, but he did walk us the right way and we made it to the main street with this bar that has a memorable tiki roof and I knew where I was! We stopped for some awesome thai food and then walked the last few blocks arriving home FINALLY around 9. We pretty much walked into a sauna since the AC had been off for a few weeks, but we were so tired it didn’t matter. The next morning, we easily walked the 15 minutes to the station, found the right train, and made it to work on time. Of course everyone still made fun of us for getting lost when we told them the story about how it took us 3 hours to get home, especially since most people live closer to base and have less of a commute. Which leads me to the fact that I’m in a total disarray over where I want to live. I love being in a house, with neighbors and a garden and being by the beach. But at the same time, it’s so easy to live closer to base where everyone else does. And I still don’t want to deal with having a car. But what will I do when it’s cold or when I go grocery shopping?! I wish I was more decisive sometimes.
Ok. Friday. Went to work, went to Chili’s for the first time since high school. There is one on base. Great Margaritas. Then I went to the Chu-Hi stand with Wei and a few guys from the ship. Chu-His are a delicious and deceptive drink that taste like juice but in reality are really strong. I tried peach, and a few other flavors out of the 31 choices. From there, we moved on to the Haunch, my first introduction to the chaos that describes the few blocks of bars right outside the base. And to top the night off, Wei and I missed the last train to Zushi and had to crash at a friend’s house in Yoko. But it was fun.
Most exciting news! Ellyn is here! I’m so happy. Yesterday we hung out and walked around Zushi, really not paying attention to anything else but conversation, catching up on every detail from the last few months. I’m so happy to have so many girl friends here, for the first time, I’m hanging out with more girls than guys! Off the ship that is. We also went to look at a few apartments. The realtors here have unbelievably good customer service. They drive you around to look at places all around Yokosuka. We weren’t in love with either of the two places we saw, but I’m glad we looked. The newer apartments are all really nice, some have an oven and a dish washer if you are lucky, but I don’t like most of the floor plans. They are a straight hallway with rooms off to the sides. So we have a lot of looking to do this week. Ellyn knows she wants to live close to base, I have no idea what I want. But if Ellyn lives close and I live far, I can crash there and she has a place to get away and we are all happy. The sad thing is that we have no idea if we will ever be in port at the same time! Last night, she got to meet a bunch of people from the ship. We watched fireworks from a friend's apartment, they were to celebrate Friendship Day. I think the Japanese really like fireworks because I see them all the time. The show was great, but the food was even better. The guys on my ship can cook! I’m so impressed, there is more to them than ship handling skills, who would have known. We had fajitas and I made guacamole…of course.
Alie, I'm starting to read Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Maybe I’ll have weird dreams too! And I’m finally going to learn how to play the guitar, I had my first lesson last night. And Ellyn and I still plan on doing yoga and learning Japanese. We have to do something to keep us sane. Now we are trying to figure out what to do today. There are so many options!
Let me go back to when we arrived back in port. Wei and I were so excited to get off the ship, sleep in a real bed, eat a good dinner, do everything we couldn’t while at sea. We packed up way too much stuff to take off the ship and then make our attempt to find Jaime’s house in Zushi via the train. Everyone I talked to, let me clarify that was mostly men, told me the train station was right past the mall that’s located next to base. So we walk for 20 minutes with all our bags until we get to the mall and start looking for the train station. I look to the left, see a train, and think, oh that must be it! We figure out once inside that it’s not the right one. Japan has two train lines just for your future reference when you come visit me. We decide to take this train anyway because I knew we could still make it to Zushi, we just would have to switch trains. Wei pulled up directions on her phone since she can actually read Japanese and we made it to the right station where we needed to change trains. Meanwhile, it was already close to 7 pm, we were eating the snacks we bought at the Nex and Family Mart. The Japanese have these great snacks that are little trianglse of rice, wrapped in seaweed and stuffed with fish or some kind of pickled vegetable. They also have every kind of dessert and pastry you can think of, you just have to watch out – what looks like chocolate is probably sweet bean paste! Back to the train station, we stood on the platform totally confused, crossed over the tracks to the other side and looked for the signs to Zushi. Then we got on the next train and immediately it announced, next stop Yokosuka Chuo. We had gotten on the express train that took us even further back than where we had just come from. At this point, we were tired, confused, sweating since Japan’s humidity is so much worse than Annapolis if you can believe it. We were thinking, ok, who can we call and just stay with? But I had too much pride to show up to work the next day and say we got lost, so we turned around, got back on the train, got to the right stop and then tackled the next challenge – how do we get to Jaime’s from the train station in the dark? I did the walk with Jaime once before, and I obviously should have paid more attention. We started walking one way and whenever a road gets darker and less crowded that’s the first sign you are headed the wrong way. We ran into a group of teenage boys and I asked them if they spoke English and could tell us how to get to the beach. One guy stepped out from the group, I’m not actually sure if he was friends with them, and told us he would walk us there. Wei was looking at me like I was crazy for following some kid, but he did walk us the right way and we made it to the main street with this bar that has a memorable tiki roof and I knew where I was! We stopped for some awesome thai food and then walked the last few blocks arriving home FINALLY around 9. We pretty much walked into a sauna since the AC had been off for a few weeks, but we were so tired it didn’t matter. The next morning, we easily walked the 15 minutes to the station, found the right train, and made it to work on time. Of course everyone still made fun of us for getting lost when we told them the story about how it took us 3 hours to get home, especially since most people live closer to base and have less of a commute. Which leads me to the fact that I’m in a total disarray over where I want to live. I love being in a house, with neighbors and a garden and being by the beach. But at the same time, it’s so easy to live closer to base where everyone else does. And I still don’t want to deal with having a car. But what will I do when it’s cold or when I go grocery shopping?! I wish I was more decisive sometimes.
Ok. Friday. Went to work, went to Chili’s for the first time since high school. There is one on base. Great Margaritas. Then I went to the Chu-Hi stand with Wei and a few guys from the ship. Chu-His are a delicious and deceptive drink that taste like juice but in reality are really strong. I tried peach, and a few other flavors out of the 31 choices. From there, we moved on to the Haunch, my first introduction to the chaos that describes the few blocks of bars right outside the base. And to top the night off, Wei and I missed the last train to Zushi and had to crash at a friend’s house in Yoko. But it was fun.
Most exciting news! Ellyn is here! I’m so happy. Yesterday we hung out and walked around Zushi, really not paying attention to anything else but conversation, catching up on every detail from the last few months. I’m so happy to have so many girl friends here, for the first time, I’m hanging out with more girls than guys! Off the ship that is. We also went to look at a few apartments. The realtors here have unbelievably good customer service. They drive you around to look at places all around Yokosuka. We weren’t in love with either of the two places we saw, but I’m glad we looked. The newer apartments are all really nice, some have an oven and a dish washer if you are lucky, but I don’t like most of the floor plans. They are a straight hallway with rooms off to the sides. So we have a lot of looking to do this week. Ellyn knows she wants to live close to base, I have no idea what I want. But if Ellyn lives close and I live far, I can crash there and she has a place to get away and we are all happy. The sad thing is that we have no idea if we will ever be in port at the same time! Last night, she got to meet a bunch of people from the ship. We watched fireworks from a friend's apartment, they were to celebrate Friendship Day. I think the Japanese really like fireworks because I see them all the time. The show was great, but the food was even better. The guys on my ship can cook! I’m so impressed, there is more to them than ship handling skills, who would have known. We had fajitas and I made guacamole…of course.
Alie, I'm starting to read Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Maybe I’ll have weird dreams too! And I’m finally going to learn how to play the guitar, I had my first lesson last night. And Ellyn and I still plan on doing yoga and learning Japanese. We have to do something to keep us sane. Now we are trying to figure out what to do today. There are so many options!
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