Showa Park, Pet Stores and Shopping

We had the best day yesterday! We really got to get out and explore Japan and it was such a blast. I seriously already love it here!

We went to Showa Park which was a train ride away. We rode with Jane and Dereck to the train station in their car but couldn't find parking (that seems pretty common here) so Dereck had to drop us off, drive back to base and then walk to meet us. It's about a 10 minute walk, but pedestrians and bicyclists have full right away here. Jane helped us get our train cards which you can load money on. They are learning Japanese pretty quickly (they've been here since March) and it really gives me hope that in 2 months I'll be able to get around too. We took the train about 6 stops or so to the park.

The Japanese people love their parks here! We paid a small fee to get into the park and were able to find a map in English. The park was huge! We walked around for about 3-4 hours and it was a ton of fun. They had a lake with paddle boats for rent, barbeque grills that people were cooking at, people having picnics everywhere. There were also food vendors! Omg the food! It is SO good! Dereck has a philosophy that here if the food comes on a stick, then it's good! George got a teriyaki pita pocket thing and noodles and I got a snow-cone at one point in the park too. I'm happy to know that here they all seem to know the English word for chicken, so you can just go to the counter, say chicken and point to what you want.

I feel so rude because after your order they always say something back. I'm sure they're saying, “oh, would you like a drink?” Or “Can I get you something else?” and I just stare back at them and repeat chicken. We were also told it's considered poor manners to count back the change they give you because it's kind of like insulting their math. The smallest bill here is a 1000 yen, which is relatively close to 10 dollars. And then the smaller amounts are all in coins. I'm going to have to get a separate change purse to keep the money straight, because they do accept the dollar on the base, so we carry both around.

It's the little things in life that make me happy. I took a picture of the 'train' that chug-a-lugs around the park and some of the people waved at me! Us Americans really do stick out. I should have taken a picture of George standing in line to get food, he really did have about a foot of height on everyone else. It was funny. They all look as we go by too. My blond hair and George's height make us one heck of a pair!

Oh! There are Azalea bushes everywhere, on and off base! We also have Kudzu on the base here! And I have seen Magnolia trees! I am SO excited to see familiar plants, we might as well be in Atlanta!

Here are some pictures of the park.







After the park we rode the train back to Fussa where we live. We went through a Japanese 100 Yen Store which is basically a dollar store. It is amazing to me how much stuff here is printed in English! The people all wear clothes with English phrases on them! But the catch is... none of it makes sense! It is SO funny. One lady was wearing a shirt yesterday that said something along the lines of “And that do to the sense of it.” Or something like that. I bought stationery that is really cute that have lambs on it and says “Lambs who jump” and another with a little girl who I guess is supposed to be little red riding hood and it says “Girl who wears red hood.” It cracks me up and is so adorable. There were cute little trashcans like for bathrooms that had anchors on them and would say “We are the sea. We hear songs. We are hearing songs by the sea.” Does it make sense? No. Is it cute and funny and did we spend an hour reading American phrases in this Japanese dollar store? Yes!!!

After the dollar store we went to a store kind of like a Wal-mart. They carry the 'george' and 'mainstays' brand just like wal-mart does but it's not called it, nor does it have the logo anywhere. We enjoyed looking around there and will probably make some purchases there soon. That is where I found my first “Space Toilet”. See the pictures below. It gives you options to heat the seats, play music which is more of a wooshing sound so you can do your business and no one hears you, gives you a bidet option and something else I didn't quite figure out. I didn't get adventurous and try any of the cool options but I think I will in the near future.


Space Toilet


One of my most favorite phrases here is what we American's call the “Gaijen Smash” (I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong) Gaijen is the word for foreigner and whenever you do something stupid we all say Gaijen smash to each other. Example: cutting across lanes because you missed a turn, Gaijen smash. Example: throwing your trash away in the wrong bin... gaigen smash. As I complete more of these accidental “Gaijen Smashes” I'll explain it better. It is very funny though and every time we say it, George and I really giggle.

We were able to get back to base in time to get the cell-phone store and get our plans set up. We both got iPhones because that's what they give away for free when you sign a new contract. Awesome, right? We think it is. Sometimes there are Japanese kanji (characters) that pop up in my apps but we're figuring out how to use them. I think I will miss my palm pre though!

We went to a mall about a 15 minute drive away to get dinner at the food court. I got ramen noodles with pork in them and something kind of like egg-rolls but the roll is soft and not fried, and more meat based. I also got rice. I have yet to see a fork off base but have been given spoons, and I'm getting better with chop sticks each meal because of assimilation. I have to! George had rice with corn and beef and pepper in it. Both meals were excellent. I love that the people really seem to enjoy their jobs and are hard workers, very swift and are quick to offer a smile when they understand that no matter how slow they speak we won't be able to understand each other. I got water to drink which in the food court was at a station in the center of all of the tables and they were basically mouthwash dixie cups for you to drink out of and go refill. Oh- another example of a Gaijen smash: Taking 6 mini water cups and filling them up so you don't have to go refill with every sip. Are you supposed to do it, probably not, but we can use Gaijen as an excuse. Silly foreigners. :) There are hand washing stations there too. It's common that they don't provide any hand dryers or paper towels to dry your hands so you are supposed to carry around your own towel or just drip dry your hands.

After dinner we walked around the mall for a bit. It looks a lot like an American mall just with Kanji Signs, but still a ton of English words everywhere, also not making sense. We found the pet store and saw a little white poodle for 1,250,000 yen or almost $13,000! Crazy right? There were also several giant turtles for sale, kittens that were $2000 and other puppies that ranged from about $1300-$4000. I was going to buy Cheyenne a new cute food and water dish but couldn't find one that was bigger than what looked like would be a kitten sized. The Japanese love to get the cute little miniature dogs and dress them up. We did see a few larger sized dogs, some bigger than Cheyenne but overall saw all small doggies like dachshunds (long haired), mini-poodles and a few sheba-inus, all who were actually large.

Well that was our day yesterday. We went to bed around 10 last night but I woke up at 4:15am and George around 5:00 when I kept tossing and turning. It's 8am now and we're still laying in bed with our computers! I wonder what Sunday will hold for us!

Love and miss you all!

Chelsea