An Overnight Culture Trip...

Oh brother. I haven’t written in ages, and it feels good to get something written down!!! January came and went, February is flying by too. Which is good news for me- I’m ready to get this deployment over with! So far the support has been incredible. Truly. I have only made myself one or two meals since George left. Everyone just keeps feeding me, or inviting me out to lunch and dinner. It’s so wonderful to have people here to lean on when this whole military life rears its ugly head. So far, I’m doing very well. I’m sad of course, and I miss my best friend, but skype is my saving grace. I’m so so so so so so happy I can hear his voice, and see him. I can sit here at the computer and chat, just like he was in the room with me! Obviously it’s not the same, but it could be worse!

I got to go on a very neat trip in January. My awesome friend Kate invited me and our friend Lacey along on an overnight onsen trip with the culture club she belongs to. There were 8 American women and 6 Japanese women. We left the base on Friday morning and took a chartered bus to a town called Kusatsu, it’s a touristy hot springs attraction. We stopped at some funny Japanese rest stops, and tried some new things to eat. One of them was a pancake drink from a vending machine. Imagine liquid pancakes with butter and syrup. But don’t think of it as too thick. It was actually pretty heavenly. :)

We got to our hotel, checked in and went off down to the village area. It was snowy where we were and the streets were icy. We had lunch, (I had chicken and rice along with some edamame with salt. So delicious!), walked around a very stinky but pretty sulfur hot spring, and did a little shopping. We made it back to our hotel and did a little onsen-ing. Yes, the giant naked hot tubs. Still sounds a little weird when I say it like that, but it’s not weird at all. (Well, maybe just a bit).

The products they have in the bathrooms are incredible. Face washes, moisturizers, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, foot lotion, collage treatments etc… of course they are for sale in the gift shop. A lot of us fell in love with a face wash that’s a gel, and as you use it, your skin peels off. It doesn’t have the substance of an exfoliant but does the same thing, but on a whole ‘nother level. When we found it at the gift shop, it had labels on it that resembled an award for 2010 and the Japanese women we were with encouraged our purchase, so a lot of us bought a bottle of it. I do love it.

After the onsen we went back to our room and put on our Yukata’s, which is a type of traditional Japanese dress. Most of the people at dinner were wearing them. We had a really fun time taking pictures in them. We couldn’t stop giggling and doing funny poses. Thanks for being fun roommates Kate, Lacey and Stephanie! It was SO fun to have a girl’s weekend, just what I needed! AND of course, I forgot my camera at home… so thanks to Lacey for sharing these pictures with us all!






We had dinner, which was a buffet at the hotel. This was my first Japanese buffet and it was fun to try a lot of new dishes, with the aide and guidance of our Japanese hosts! I didn’t find anything that I fell in love with, but it was still fun to try. After dinner we went and sang karaoke! The hotel had rooms set up, similar (but on a smaller scale) to the black cat karaoke I’ve talked about in the past. We took turns singing American songs and Japanese songs. We tried to do songs the Japanese women would know. I think one of them even selected YMCA. Which let’s face it—everyone knows it! We had a great time drinking wine, Lambrusco (a new favorite if none of you have ever tried it, it’s an American kind of wine? It reminds me of sangria in a bottle…) and champagne. We shared snacks and fruit, and sang Happy Birthday to our friend Stephanie. I discovered sweet rice cakes on this trip, and now I eat them like candy. (I’m sure they’re not that good for you, but they’re better for you than American candy, that’s for sure).

We went back to one of our hotel rooms, and since this was a “culture trip” the women brought different Japanese crafts for us to make. We made a cellphone charm, origami, and chopstick holders before it was time for bed (and maybe some others that I can’t remember!) We went back to our Japanese style hotel room which consists of bamboo mats on the floor and basically a sleeping pallet that’s stacked in the closet for a bed, with a buckwheat pillow. I brought my own pillow so that helped some. It actually wasn’t that bad, and very common for a Japanese hotel. (You also take off your shoes before you enter the room).

The next day after breakfast where I tried nato, (fermented soybean, that I truly almost made me throw up at the table), we went to a demonstration of how “in the olden days” they would cool off the hot springs so the towns people could bathe in the water. It’s naturally super-hot… I don’t remember the temperature now, but know that it’s smokin’. I got to participate in it, which was really neat. They took giant long planks of wood and splashed them in the water with incredible force. I found it very difficult to maneuver, but the demonstrators seemed to have it figured out.  I don’t know if there are any photos of me doing this, I’ll have to ask around. It was neat to see!

After that, we walked around town, had lunch, got a few Chu-Hi’s for the road. And then took the bus back towards home with a stop at the famous Kokeshi doll factory! We were very behind schedule for the day so we just a short time to spend there, but it was very cool to see! The factory we stopped at makes (I think) 90% of the world’s Kokeshi dolls, so it was pretty impressive. They had traditional dolls, newer style dolls, dolls wearing different uniforms and outfits, children, pets etc. I bought a little bride and groom Kokeshi couple, and a Kokeshi Mary holding baby Jesus doll. They are all really cute. That factory sells things at the annual Bazaar the base holds so if I’m in town that weekend I’m really looking forward to getting some more as gifts! (And maybe a few more for myself.)

It was a really culture-filled weekend. I wish I spent more time traveling Japan instead of sitting on my butt around the base. I do get out way more often than some, but not as much as others. I really am looking forward to finishing school so I don’t feel guilty spending my weekends away from my books and computer and the studying I’m neglecting!

Pass this blog around to your friends. I get really excited when I get a new follower. :)

Mucho love,
Chelsea

George's Mustache

George and some of his buddies he's with decided it would be a good idea to follow the icky military tradition of growing a 'stache while deployed. Trust me. I'm just as disgusted as you are. He's so proud of it. Thought it was too funny to not share. This is not even two weeks worth of growing. It's only going to get worse. Why he wants to cover up his handsome face is beyond me!!!

A quick message from George!

Chelsea's followers,

I just wanted to let ya'll know that I made it over "here" OK. Where is "here"? Well I can't exactly say, but it's not difficult to figure out. I've been staying busy: flying, masters classes, military education classes, skyping Chelsea, etc. I'm already sick of the sand and am ready to get back to Japan. Mainly because I heard our "child" has been acting out. I'm sure Chelsea can fill you in further. Chelsea has been the greatest (as usual) writing me almost every day. She's the best. If you feel the need to write me, ask Chelsea and she can get you my address (baked goods are appreciated by everyone on our crew! Yeah, shameless plug, I know.) I hope all is well with all of you. Take care and I hope to see ya'll soon.

George

Here's a picture of George and our good friends Dereck and Kevin in their new flight suits, and their "Boonie Hats".

Where's George?

Hello,
George traveled to Bangladesh in September. He made it on a PacAf (Pacific Air Force) video. Here's a link to it:

http://www.pacaf.af.mil/shared/widgets/popup.asp?url=http://www.pacaf.af.mil/shared/xml/rssVideo.asp?mrsstype=3&contentid=123222879&contenttypeid=1&type=video&pos=1


It's video of him putting on his helmet... he doesn't say anything, but I am proud of him and will give him the 3 seconds of fame. :) See if you can find him!

Chelsea

“One of the best THINGS TO DO sometimes is simply to be.”

George (and I) are about to face his first deployment. I am doing okay with this notion. Until about a month ago, I wouldn’t even acknowledge that it was actually happening. I have a lot of thoughts on deployments, but since I have never actually had my husband leave, I don’t truly know what to expect. I think I do, but I’m sure I don’t.

We started dating when I was 18. (I turned 19 six weeks later). Before he would even call me his girlfriend we had a long talk about what it would be like to date a guy in the military. We both knew how strongly we were connected, and I knew dating him would put me in for the long haul. At this point, he was still in ROTC, but knew he’d be headed off soon. We discussed long distance relationships and deployments—how much they would suck etc. He gave me fair warning. But somehow, I never really thought a deployment would happen… well- I know it would happen, but it just felt so far off that I didn’t think the time would ever actually arrive.

WRONG.

Here it is. What’s that Ferris Bueller quote??? “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” No kidding.

This will be a relatively short deployment. I feel like I can’t even complain for a second because I know so many other military spouses have their husbands leave for many many more months than what we’re going to do!

I had an idea to keep my chin up. I’m going to make a list of things to do while he is gone- and actually accomplish them. I’m going to excel at many of them, squeak by with others, but all in all, I’m going to make a list and DO IT!

Here’s what I have so far:

1. Finish our wedding scrapbook. (Our third wedding anniversary is almost here, and I am not even close to being done with it. I’m SO BAD!)
2. Finish 18 hours of college credit. (This is already in the works… I’m taking 9 hours now, and I’ll do another 9 from April-June… Yes, I know I’m a rock star. And just FYI, I only have one more class after those, and then I’ll FINALLY get my degree in August!!!)
3. Eat (and cook) at least 3 vegetarian meals a week.
4. Learn (AND USE) some more Japanese!!! (7 words or phrases a week… that is totally doable!)
5. Visit family and friends in Georgia! (Get excited folks)
6. Get a plant. (And keep it alive)
7. Plant flowers. (And keep them alive)
8. Read books. (I’m open to suggestions)
9. Make my bed in the mornings. (Easier said than done)
10. Run.
11. Organize our storage area.
12. Organize (and keep it organized) our guest room!
13. Find 2 new bands to love. (My Beatles and Taylor obsessions are great, but I need to be more than a 60 year old woman, and a 13 year old girl.)
14. Take a military hop somewhere exciting. (Singapore, Hawaii, Thailand… Or maybe all 3.)
15. Teach Cheyenne to jump through a hula hoop. (Don’t laugh, this a serious one)
16. Plan a fabulous vacation for George and me to take when he gets home.
17. Get a ‘bikini body’ (For our vacation.)
18. Learn to navigate the train systems here all by myself.
19. Sign up for an ITT tour, and take one! (ITT is information, ticket and travel. They do tours and group trips and lots of other really fun things, and I’ve never actually taken one)
20. Send George lots of packages, love letters, and baked goods.


What do you guys think? Do you have any suggestions of more things to do?

If you would like George’s address while he’s gone, please e-mail me for it. He would LOVE to receive fun mail from family and friends while he’s there. (And just for the record, I like mail and packages too!!!)

Peace, Love and Sushi,

Chelsea

Daruma Dolls

On Wednesday January 12th I went to a Daruma Doll Festival! Me and 4 other girls headed out around 1pm and walked to the train station, took the train up to Ome (about 30 minutes) and walked around the festival. The Japanese love their festivals and I suppose having one on a Wednesday afternoon is not too uncommon… who knew?!

A daruma doll is an ugly little “doll”, which really is just a head with a face. They come in lots of colors and sizes, but the traditional is red. Each color represents something that will bring you good luck in the new year. One color is for wealth, another for health, etc. (sorry for the rhyme). You make a wish, pertaining to the color of the daruma you bought, and then color in one of the eyes. Once your wish comes true, you color in the other eye! The following year, you bring your doll back to the festival you purchased it at, and throw it into the fire and it burns. Awesome huh?! Even if the wish doesn’t come true, you still get to burn it the following year.

I got George and myself each our own dolls to make our own wish.

The festival was a lot of fun. There were plenty of vendors to keep us entertained. We drank a sweet, hot, chunky (YES, I said CHUNKY) sake… well… we all tried it, but I think almost all of us threw it away! We also had yakisoba, which I am not much of a fan of… so then I also had what I have nicknamed “Japanese pancake” It’s similar to Gyoza. It has pork and vegetables put inside of what looks like a giant pancake. It’s super greasy and probably not very healthy, but it sure does taste good! I also had a candied strawberry! It was 100 times better than a candied apple.

One interesting thing that happened was a little girl saw us, and turns and points and keeps repeating “Gaijin! Gaijin!” (which means foreigner in Japanese). Her mother began “shushing” her. It was so funny because it was totally that kid that is saying to her mom “Look at that fat (or interject any other non-PC title here) person!” It was too funny to be offended. My friend Kate, who is an incredible photographer, took photos most of the photos on that day, but I didn’t bring my camera. Once I get a few pictures from her, I’ll try to add them to this post!

DARUMA!

--Chelsea

Happy 2011!

Happy January, friends!

I’m sorry to say that I obviously have not written since the new year! Lucky for you all, I started my classes back today, and in the spirit of being a true procrastinator… here I am writing a blog post! Ha!

New Years Eve was spent in a low key fashion. George and I, and two other couples hopped on a train and headed to Hachioji, a town not too far from here. We had hoped to eat at a noodle restaurant that plays round-the-clock Beatles music! BUT… since it was closed for NYE, it was a no-go. We eventually found a yakiniku restaurant that was open, and ate there. It was pretty good! We only had one minor ordering issue, when I tried to order a drink. I wanted sho-chu mixed with juice, and pointed at the picture and everything. I also wanted a water. What I received was hot water and sho-chu mixed, which was disgusting. Good try.

We made a quick run to Starbucks, and then hopped back on the train and back to the base. We rung in the New Year at midnight at our friends/neighbors place. There were about 6 couples, and it was a nice semi-low-key evening. We had champagne, counted down at midnight to the Japanese TV, kissed at midnight, did a little dancing to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s, and then went home and went to bed! The coverage we saw of the countdown didn’t involve a ball dropping, but instead, a gong being hit at a shrine! And instead of kissing, they threw money at the shrine.

New Years is a very family oriented holiday here. From what I gathered, most stores, restaurants and businesses are closed for a couple of days, and most of their time is spent with family, instead of partying.

Hope you all had a great time ringing in 2011 (can you believe it’s 2011?) with friends and family that you love!



-Chels