An Insignificant Post

Happy August! Things have been relatively quiet around here. Well... maybe not quiet and possibly not even uneventful but we haven't done a whole lot of exploring. George went on a TDY (aka, business trip) to Okinawa a few weeks ago. It was supposed to be a 6 day trip but ended up being an 11 day trip. He traveled back and forth between Okinawa, Japan and the Philippines. He had a great time. He even brought back a few souvenirs for me. I got a new wine holder, a beautiful wooden salad bowl, servers and eight individual salad bowls. I also got a new hammock and a purse. George may try to rig it to hang on our balcony (the hammock, not the purse. :)

This past weekend we stuck around this area. Saturday night we had dinner on the base at Chili's... (which I eat at twice a week... minimum). After dinner we went to our friends (and neighbors house) we played a little Rock Band and I got to sing Taylor Swift... yes!!! Then we played a board game called Balderdash. It was really fun. I'd recommend it to anyone!

On Sunday we invited a few friends over which kept growing and growing until there were 11 of us! We rearranged our dining room and added a card table. It was a tight fit but we did it! George grilled peppers, onions, chicken and steak. I made homemade guacamole, and worked on the rest of the food in the kitchen. We served fajitas. It was a hit. It was nice to have so many people over, we enjoy playing host and hostess.

I thought that since I don't have a ton to tell you about in this blog I would start a list about things that I've found interesting here in Japan... some are fascinating, others not so much, but each is something I've gone... “huh... that makes sense.” OR “huh... I wonder why they do that.”

1.Drive on the left side of the road
2.When you reach in a vending machine the flap that guards the drink that falls out opens towards you instead of pushing the door in.
3.The balk lines at intersections are set way far back (like more than 20 feet) to allow plenty of room for the big trucks to turn.
4.Big trucks (or semi's)... the whole side of the truck opens up... instead of out from the back. (I'll see if I can find a picture to describe it better)
5.It's the law to have to stop at all rail road crossings.
6.At these rail road crossings at night, it's customary to turn off your lights so the oncoming traffic isn't bothered by your lights.
7.Also, at red lights it's common to turn off your lights so the car in front of you isn't bothered by you. And if you're first in line you turn them off to not bother the traffic coming the opposite way.
8.After you wait at a rail road crossing, there are speakers that talk to you... the one on the base (yes, a train runs through the base), says “thank you for waiting blah blah blah.”
9.The yellow traffic lights seriously last 2 seconds.
10.People don't talk on the trains. Everyone is silent.
11.Tipping is considered rude, and offensive. This one... we don't mind too much.
12.Credit cards are rarely accepted.
13.Money doesn't go from hand to hand. When you pay someone at a store, 9 out of 10 times there is a rectangular tray you place your money in... instead of just handing it directly to the cashier.
14.The local radio stations run on a different FM frequency than they do in the states. So the radio stations begin around 70.1 to 85.9 instead of 88-107ish.


I realize this list is varied, but those are just some things I've noticed here in Japan that are pretty pointless and you really don't need to know them... but hey, I don't feel like I have much more to blog about.