Exploring Neighborhoods and Yanai

Yes, I know.  I am behind on my blogging.  My daughter told me so!!  However, today is Monday, Sept. 27, and we have officially been in Iwakuni for a 33 days...1 month +!!  And, we are continuing to learn and explore and adjust!  :)  The picture above is one of a POTENTIAL house we have found. More pictures may be found on my facebook account!  It is quite nice and we are waiting for a response from the landlord. It does have more than adequate space and instead of being in the middle of a neighborhood, it is on the corner going into the neighborhood.  This is quite a bit more accepting; as we don't look into anyone's house nor do they look into ours!   We spoke we Mr. Fuji, one of the base housing administrators, last Tuesday.  He was going to contact the realtor, who was then going to contact the landlord.  He shared with us that it would not be a quick process and to be patient.  Today we will be checking in with him and see if he knows anything.  It is quite a negotiation process.  Basically, they (the realtor, landlord and Mr. Fuji) work together to try and come up with a contract and monthly payment that will be under our living allowance.  We continue to send up prayers and trust that this may work...or not...if we are to be somewhere else!

Because "housing" is in the waiting stage, we spent more time with the school and school activities.  Monday, the 20th, was a Japanese holiday; as they honored their ancestors.  We really didn't experience much of that here on base though.  Since I wasn't house-hunting, I finally got my sub packet turned into the school office!  Friday nights are beginning to be a lot like home!  When there aren't sports activities, a group of teacher's meet up at the base lounge and enjoy getting to know one another!  These "meetings" have lasted until midnight and since we live on base, it is a BEAUTIFUL stroll back to our place. 

Last weekend, the 18th and 19th, our goal was to workout and find "the house" on our own!!  We enjoyed running along the seawall and then exploring different routes around the base.  AND, we did find the house. YAY for us!  It is much more challenging that you would imagine.  Some streets look like alleys and you have to determine if you can drive down it or not!  Also, for some reason, the way things twist and turn, you are never REALLY sure which direction you are going.  You keep looking back to the sea to guide you.   It was fun to go on our own, as we explored the neighborhood, got out and took pictures of the neighborhood "park!"  The other MOST fun activity was going to YAMADA DINKI!  This is a BIG electronics store that has everything!!!  From TVs to luggage to paper goods to personal hygiene!  SO MUCH FUN!!!    While you are there, a jingle is BROADCAST LOUDLY, is set to some kind of music and ends with the words "Yamada Dinki!"  The newest creation that we found are washer/dryers that are all in one!  Not sure how that would work, but it was fascinating!  (Oh! ..and the number of electronic toothbrushes...LOL!)  As you can tell, I was entertained!  I'm going to try and upload a picture of the choices of earphones...I couldn't stop laughing!

Look at all the colors!  And if you looked more closely....there are a ton of designs and BLING!!
  

On Sunday, we jumped in the car and headed south on 188.  Our destination was Yanai.  This is a "commercial town of the Edo period."  We are out to find the "Street of While-Walled Houses."  This was a merchant's area during the Edo period and many of the houses remain with new merchants within their shelters.  I'm excited to find Yanaijima Fabric.  The drive down was along the sea and breath-takingly beautiful!  It is still somewhat of a shock to realize you are living on a tropical island.  Another realization is that you are in the "country."  There are very few cars and people as we go through other small towns and enter Yanai.  Yes, there are other people, just not at all what we are use to in the "sight-seeing" spots of the States.  Yanai, we read, means willow and well.  There is a picture of me at the Shoko-an Temple with the "willow and the well."  The legend:  "...about 1400 years ago Han-nya Princess who lived in Bungo, dropped at this area on her way to Kyoto to satisfy her thirst.  It says that she drank the water springing from the land, when she placed a toothpick of willow by the side of the well.  It is believed that this area has been called Yanai since the willow grew."

 While we find merchants, ice cream, Sagawa Soy Sauce(a specialty of Yanai!), japanese goldfish laterns (which Yanai is known for), we do not find the fabric.  As we mill around, we find the temple and Yanai Tenmangu Shrine.  We began to take pictures, but were being very careful to not get caught.  There is a cemetary on one side of the Shrine and two women had walked up with plants.  Suddenly, there is a priest on a motocycle riding up along side the courtyard.  Mac plays charades in asking him if we can take pictures!  The priest smiles broadly, reaches for our camera and places us in two locations and takes our pictures!  We profusely share our "Arigato go ziamas"...and slowly, yet quickly, walk away.  We end up in the Temple and give up trying to be "sly" and take pictures at will!  At this point, the humidity is unbelieveable and sweat is rolling down our legs and we decided that we had done enough adventuring for the day.  

So, this past week was more school.  Saturday morning we awake bright and early to go watch a Cross-Country meet and have plans to go exploring and something hits us!  We are not feeling well.  The only thing we could imagine is that a cooler front came in and the change caught us!  We are both fighting runny noses, full heads, head and body aches and sore throats!  Thus, we slept and recooped all weekend!  Mac just called from school and said he feels even worse.  We are praying that this will pass and won't require searching for a dr. just yet!!  Ugh!  And, I just contacted housing and he shared, "We are working on it and looking for it to work by the week of Oct. 14."  So, I clarified that it was going to work and he would call us earlier in that week!  Not sure what I'm suppose to do next!  I'm thinking I'll let it go for a bit and get back with him the week of the 4th!  Hahaha!  Hope you are enjoying the ramble!!!  There are so many things I think of to add as I go back and read!!  I will make a note to talk about some of the students next time and working with them in class!  They really are good kids and I'm getting to know quite a few that have English as their second language.  They have such good attitudes in having to "figure out" words and will laugh, laugh, laugh while working!

One thing for sure that we have learned....people of Japan are very, very patient and encouraging.   While in Yanai, each merchant truly tried to talk with us and wanted to know what land we were from!!   As soon as we said, America, they wanted to know more!  Then, as soon as they understand you are teachers, they are even more interested in what we are doing in Japan.  The best thing....in ANY language...the word "PHYSICS"..makes people shake their heads, laugh, and claim they know nothing!!! 

House Hunting and Birthday Adventures!

Peace Park

Happy 55!


Mac celebrated his 55th birthday in Japan by receiving 56 email hits from friends and family ON his birthday morning!!  Thanks to you all for making him feel "HUGGED" while celebrating his birthday so far from home!  Additional "thanks" to Nic for creating his FACEBOOK page!   It has added a new dimension to his daily routine.   If you look closely, there are 5 candles on one small cake and 5 on the other!!!  After he blew these out, we quickly turned on the oven fan, the bathroom fan and opened the door to be sure we didn't set off the alarm or sprinklers!  Prior to the "cake," he had celebrated by teaching all day and then attending the school's baseball team's game!!  Natural for Bill. 

Earlier in the week, prior to this birthday celebration, I had been out house-hunting.  The Housing Agency here on base took four of us out to meet six different realtors on that Tuesday morning.  That afternoon, one of the guys, Ken, and myself went to look at two possible houses.  The first one was very clean and remodeled.  It was up, up, up a very narrow road and sat on the corner in a fairly large neighborhood.  It had three bedrooms, an unusual thing for Japanese homes in Iwakuni, but a very, very small living area.  There were a few "pluses" to this home, one being that it was only 15-20 minutes from the base.   The second  house we viewed was about 45 minutes from base and even the realator got lost trying to find it.  Thankfully, Ken was with me, read the map and got us to the house.  It was much older and had a LARGE balcony off of the master bedroom with a spectacular view; however, it was very smelly, older and I came away with bites on my legs, arms and face.  Needless to say, it is not an option!  The next day, Ken was checking out a "mansion"...a 829 square foot apartment in a high rise right in the center of town.  I tagged along and fell in love with this BEAUTIFUL, modern, sparkling clean place.  It also had balconies off the master bedroom, the tatami room, living/dining room and kitchen. It was an end unit and allowed for amazing views as well.  I could go into GREAT detail about the beautiful wood on the floors and doors and other parts of this place, but it won't be ours!  However, it did give me hope that we COULD find something that was more updated and comfortable.  To complete this discussion of housing....we visited two additional "mansions" that belong to Mac's colleagues.  Both were equally comfortable, sharing those breath-taking views and more updated fixtures.   After viewing these, Mac and I are MORE open to looking at this type of shelter; however, we will continue to look for a house as well.  All of this is extremely dependent on what is available when!!  It is set up that you are responsible for constantly inquiring and being QUICK to view what is available.   For example...on Saturday, Mac was at the phone shop, ran into another teacher who shared that his Japanese wife had heard of a big home that just had come onto the market.  Mac came home, we got in the car, went to the realty office, TRIED our best to communicate with them, called the helpful teacher who came by, and found out that it had been rented THAT morning!  So, even though it wasn't meant to be, it proved that you have to act quickly to secure a possible shelter!  We continue to pray and know that "OURS" is out there somewhere!

Thus, Mac's birthday weekend had begun with looking at the first house I had seen!  However, things got better Saturday night when we joined some colleagues at their high-rise!  It was HER birthday as well, but she shared her spotlight with Mac!  About ten people in all were there!  It was fun to learn about others and feel like we were beginning to develop some social connections!                                                                                              

Then..Sunday, Suz (another colleague), went with us to Hiroshima's Peace Park.  It was our first train ride!!  The trains were quite nice and the scenery along the way...beautiful!  Hiroshima is considered a BIG city compared to Iwakuni...and it felt it!  However, Suz shared that it is a "laughable" city to the locals; as they compare it to Tokyo!  Tells you a bit about the rural feel of Iwakuni!  We so enjoyed the Peace Park and chose to stay outdoors (in the HOT and HUMID) rather than do the museum at this time.  It was quite serene.  There was a memorial happening in one area, but weren't really sure what was happening.  After the park, we strolled through their outdoor mall...I forget what it is called!...and were visually impacted with all of the colors everywhere!  The Japanese are quite taken with packaging of all different sizes, shapes and COLORS!!!  We both laughed as we enjoyed a chocolate-filled croissant (somewhat French, we thought) and then went to a PUB...which was somewhat Irish!  Surely, at some point, we will find the SUSHI bar and the typical Japanese cuisine! 

Our days continue to be filled with the demands of paperwork and for Mac, lesson planning!  Within this next week, we are fairly certain that some items will be more routine and allow for more exploration.  We will finally get our DINGO on Tuesday...tomorrow!  As with this, everything takes a new turn because we don't really know the language and they don't know much English, so some details are just not shared or explained!   

I will post more pictures on facebook!  Unfortunately, I have not MASTERED blogs and this one is giving me fits!  If anyone wants to share any tips, please do so!  Again, thank you all for comments and emails!  It is SO nice to hear from everyone!!!  

AND...here's to next Sunday's football game....GO COLTS!!!!  

May the outcome be better than yesterday's!

SMILES AND HUGS! 

We've Got Wheels!

As we approached the Labor Day Weekend, we were excited to have some free time!  On Friday night, we headed off base and down the street to check out one car dealer.  With our driver's license secured, we were ready for some wheels!   After talking with "Jim" and viewing his 9 choices, we said we'd think about it and  headed to the Officer's Club to see if we could meet up with some teachers!   One teacher, Erin, and her husband did show up; as did his squadron!  We did enjoy spending some time with Erin and her husband and met another "mom" of a high school kiddo.  After talking with Erin's husband, he highly suggested we go to the Honda car dealership and tell them the make and model that we wanted...saying they would get it!  Obviously, we came home and began researching ALL the Honda models and confirmed our information about "yellow" plates and "white" plates.  Long explanation...but the "yellow" means an engine smaller than a motorcycle's and is less tax.  We decided for driving around, we wanted a "white" plate.

The next morning, we slept in a bit, headed to breakfast and stopped to chat with the Sargent/Major (?)... this is PROBABLY wrong and Mac would correct me...but he is at school!  So, anyhow, he suggested we head to another dealership and ask for a friend of his.  He also shared that her son was a senior at Westpoint, so Mac would have a connection.  We grabbed food and went that direction on foot.   She had just returned from an auction the day before and had a 2002 Mitsubishi DINGO...which did NOT smell of smoke (sooooo many do!) and was perfectly clean!  It was also a bit bigger...wider, had seats that folded down completely and we could probably get our bikes inside!  (As well as Mac's long skis!)  After a bit of negotiation, we settled on a price and are now waiting for her to receive the title!  She did supply a loaner car for the weekend...a Subaru Plao (sp??)...which does smell of smoke, but it is WHEELS!!!   It is also quite small and a great car with which to practice driving on the LEFT!  The steering wheel is on the right...thus, the turn signal is on the right and the gears and windshield wipers are on the left.  We have joked that we have the CLEANEST windshields around due to mistaking the windshield wipers for the turn signal!!!  So, now it is Sat., early afternoon, and we are DYING to get out on the road.  A couple of teachers called Bill and shared that they were at Yuu Beach, about a 25 minute drive to the LEFT.  At this point, I'm really not sure what direction, but I'm thinking SOUTH...along the shoreline!  Logical, right!?  Part of the reason it takes a while to get there, is not because it is far, it is because the fastest speed section is 50km...which equates to about 30mph!!!  Japanese believe in keeping their cars free of accidents! 

The beach was BEAUTIFUL; as was the drive, once we passed all of the stores!  On my facebook account I have posted pictures.  It was VERY hot and even though it is JELLYFISH season, the fellow teachers shared that if the locals are in the water, it was okay.  They said they had seen one, very small JF, so Mac and I got in the water!  It was heavenly!  On the opposite side of the road there were some houses with amazing views.  Shannon (one teacher) said she had lived in one of them and it was incredible to see the ocean every morning, but the drive to and from the base got to be a pain.  I'm thinking it would be worth it and actually TRIED to get a look at one of those houses, but it was already under negotiations.  While sunning, we watch a group of local kids, jumping off a high seawall!  Looked scary, but they were having a BLAST!  So, we would say our first sightseeing outing was the beach!  What a great way to begin.

That evening, Pauline and her husband, Luke, treated us to some Korean food at a restaurant!  It was great fun to chat with new people and learn how to cook our own food at the table.  We ate with chopsticks and had steak, rice, vegetables and some egg!  Pauline is one of the secretaries at Mac's school.  Her husband is a recruiting officer.  We had such a good time!!

Sunday, I think all of our "pursuing" finally caught up with us and while we got up to go to church, eat off a lavish buffet at the club, we came home and crashed for 3 hours!!!  We must have needed some mental and physical rest!  When we pulled ourselves together, we headed to the Kintai Bridge Area.  It was quite overcast, threatening rain, but at least a bit cooler.  While walking around the area, we found Kikko Park which had ice cream shops, coffee shops, fountains, flowers, statues, and a sense of CALM.  It was heavenly to just stroll.  We suddenly remembered that it would get dark earlier than we were use to and that driving was still a new experience, so we should head back!  And, of course, we didn't head out soon enough and were challenged with directions back to base in the dark!!  We made it though and had the cleanest windshield around!!! 

Monday we relaxed a bit, worked on MORE, yes MORE paperwork, lesson plans for Mac, a two-hour workout at the gym, and ended the day with a movie rental.  Since this Friday is his birthday, we are hoping to find some new place to eat in town and possibly go on a hike to Seven Falls.  Not really sure where that is, but will let you know as we learn about it! 

Hope this finds you all well and busy!  I know people have had a challenge in viewing this blog, but hopefully, with input from you who are successful at reading this, I can send hints for others!  Thanks for all the emails and prayers....next post will be about HOUSING.  I began the search yesterday! 

HUGS and SMILES!
jen and mac

Sept. 3, 2010

Konichiwa....
so not sure of the spelling, but it is becoming more and more familiar!  So is "arigatogosiamas"...meaning a very special "thank-you!" 

Our days are becoming to have somewhat of a structure to them.  Obviously, that is with the help of the school schedule.   I am noticing that I seek out activities that are "comfortable" to me to help with adjustment.   That being, in the school and working out at the gym.  Our constant walking, which includes a flight of stairs to our room, is truly a good workout everyday!  :)  The other thing that I do is grab my Colts sweatshirt to wear in our room at night!  Mac seems to be able to flow through the days without these necessities!  However, teaching math and earth science and having to do lesson plans has been a stretch.  He has commented that he LOVES his Physics class and it is because he is on know territory!!! 

So...our days this week...for Mac...up, check emails, to school, lunch w/ me in his room, chatting a bit after school, home, seeking out what else we need to do and running around getting those done, back home, lesson plans, go out to eat, home, watch some TV, check emails, crash and sleep!   For me, it has been going to school 2 days this week w/ Mac.  Me cleaning the teacher's work area the first day and assisting w/ his grade book, running copies and asking the HR person a gazillion questions.  Even on the days I have gone to school, I don't stay and come back to "home" to work on my sub packet and organize our stuff.  I also run errands on base.  The last couple of days, I have gone to the gym to workout...they have FAB classes and equipment...and then have gone to the library to explore, done laundry, continued to work on this 2 inch packet for subbing and checked-in w/ Mac to see if there is anything he needs.  Mac's principal gave me his wife's bike to use just last evening...Thursday and already I am LOVING having 2 wheels instead of just 2 feet! 

Our great accomplishment yesterday was getting our driver's license!!  You can only miss 5 on the test and we both missed 5!  In Japan, they have a sign for EVERYTHING and stopping and parking are known as DIFFERENT things!  This weekend, we are hoping to WALK down to the car place that all the teachers have said is the best and find our car!!  Regardless of whether we get a car or not, we are planning on taking the bus into town and do some more exploring beyond the base.  This will give us a better feel of where we are! 

Where we live is a like a nice two-story apt. building...or hotel.  We had to laugh, b/c I had commented on the great light from outside we got and it helped you not to feel closed-in.  Welp, you should see it now.  They suddenly started putting up scaffolding and netting around it two days ago, b/c they are getting ready to paint!!  AND....yesterday...I had to leave b/c they were going to be power washing.  My comment was that it was TYPHOON practice for the residences!  I also try not to stay there too much during the day due to the small nature of the room and knowing we will be there for a while.  Although, we are so fortunate...it is clean and has free laundry facilities and the people are soooooo helpful!  AND...the couple next to us have two small children...ages 2 and almost 1...and I can't imagine being in that small space with little ones! 

Our daily reading the other day was about God's preparing just what we want...so we are VERY excited about finding that perfect house in the future! 

I know this is short, but it is time for me to head to school for lunchtime! 

Konichiwa!

School Days Begin

Good Tuesday Evening, Friends and Family!  Mac made it through the first day of teaching with flying colors...or should we say me throwing mini Reese's Peanut Butter cups to his students!  :)  Actually, we have to share that we really MADE IT THROUGH yesterday's orientation of the base.  While this was somewhat helpful, it was a LONG day and the sensory, informational overload almost did me in!  However, we did make it downtown on a quick tour, checked out the train schedule, had a bite to eat, visited a DASIO...dollar store and returned in one piece! 
First, school!  Since it is a block schedule, Mac only had 3 of his 5 classes today.  His first...Physics!  Comfort zone for sure!  The principal even sat in for about 10 minutes. There are 22 in the class and they enjoyed his impromptu quizzes...two of them!  :)  Actually, they seemed attentive, slow to get started, but got into the curve once he started the quizzes.  His next class was 8th grade Algebra.  He shared that it really STRETCHED him getting back into math instruction.  The last class of the day is a math "lab"...where kids are to practice their math skills.  I was around for the end of the class and the rapport between he and the students was great!  They were all having fun and working hard on equations and math properties.  The PB cups were a reward for making it thru their first day w/ Mac and their second day of school!  Everyone left happy!  Tomorrow he faces another 8th grade Algebra class, his Earth and Space class and then a "seminar" class; which is like a study hall.  With the block scheduling, classes are 85 mins. long...ouch!  Really forces a lot of teaching strategies to keep everyone engaged!  He will admit, he was EXHAUSTED by the end of the day!  While he taught, I talked w/ the school secs. and offered to clean a VERY DIRTY, unorganized; yet, HUGE teacher work room.  It has 3 stoves, 3 sets of double sinks, a gazillion cabinets and all kinds of other furniture and equipment.  After BLEACHING the outside of everything, finding a shelter for lots of STUFF, going to the PX and getting room fresheners and setting out a basket of the Reese's and Hershey Kisses...it was much more presentable!  The vice-principal came in, thanked me and shared that I could throw out anything in one cabinet.  I shared that I was only working on the visual part of the work area and I'd let him know if I was brave enough to tackle the inside of any of the cabinets!  GROSS! 

Life outside of school:    After going to church, then working in the classroom, we ended the weekend with a swim in the Olympic size pool at the gym.  What an amazing place.  It has everything you could possibly imagine.  The lanes in the pool are 50 meters..so we opted to swim in the 25 meter area!  It was very refreshing!  This place offers a HUGE cardio room, strength training room, classes, massage area, nutrition classes, an area to rent out any and all equipment and to top it off...it is FREE!  What a positive!  Tomorrow, my plan is to go to a Pilates class and be put on a list for a fitness instructor. 

Orientation was an overview of what the base has to offer.  The information was directed at the newly assigned military; yet, some was applicable to us.   One of the guys I struck up a conversation w/ was 20 and from Denver, CO.  So, so many YOUNG individuals w/ family are stationed here.  And, a lot of young singles.  This base does a very good job at providing a comfortable environment for our military families.  This weekend is a concert and there are lots of  arranged outings.  They encourage everyone to take advantage of being in a foreign country and learning as much as they can about their surroundings.  They also STRESS the model of being an ambassador for our country!  For Mac and I...well, we are somewhat "thrown in" to the community without real ties.  It has been interesting to learn that 90% of the teaching staff have only taught in DODs schools, or have some connection to DODs...either from spouse, parent or being a military child.  The piece that is a bit unsettling is that most everyone talks about how happy they are to be living on base.....which is clearly not an option for us.  AND...for those that are currently living on base, it won't last much beyond the next year or two.  Thus, we have to find housing of some sort of housing off base and this is w/out any assistance from the school.  The most fun piece is that none of the realtors speak English.  I go on a tour next Tues. with the military housing unit to preview the real estate offices!  LOL...ought to be an experience!  I am really trying to "live in the moment" and not really think about the housing piece....trusting that it will work itself out...yet knowing I will be the one trying to track down some options.  Another "challenge" has been the unbearable heat and humidity.  I love hot, but this is so much more intense.  Very rarely do you get a break from it, even with a/c.  Thank goodness we have a/c.  Also, with the heat...we are walking everywhere.  It is a large base!  Great exercise, but exhausting.  It would be SOOOO nice if someone offered to drive us around a bit.  :)  Tomorrow the plan is to try and get our Japanese driver's license (all the booklets are out, so we are going to have to rely on our immediate recall before taking a test!).  Once we have a license, we could WALK to some of the car dealers and perhaps...purchase a car!  Fingers crossed and prayers, please!

Japan...from what we have seen on our two tours out...everything is very close together!  In being an island, every bit of "flat" land is used for buildings.  This is why housing is a challenge.  Thus, they have maximized their space by creating narrow streets and allowing very little space between buildings.  The cars are the most amazing thing for me.  Every one is like a toy car, in the best condition and looks amazingly efficient! (And, no bright colors, or deep hues).   I never knew so many different makes and models could look so similar!  We are constantly walking over to check out the type of car!!  They also have two different types of license plates...one yellow, meaning it is more economical and hence, less tax....and white..the opposite!  We will be looking for a car with a yellow license plate!  :)  People SMILE ALL the time!  It is the greatest thing to be around smiling individuals.  You may not know a thing that has been said, but it's all okay!  Another funny...at the commissary, there are TWO individuals bagging your groceries and they have a TIP bucket!  It is customary for you to tip one to two dollars!  Oh! one more thing that made me LOL... when we were downtown, I took a picture of a MR. DONUT and we visited a DOLLAR STORE..called a Dasio!   It had EVERYTHING you could possibly want!  Hello Kitty and Disney characters are quite the market! 

Enough for tonight!  I'm starting to ramble, but wanted to let you all know that we LOVE your comments on facebook and via emails.  It has really helped.  Yesterday was the toughest for me as I kept trying to figure out what to do about the housing issue.  However, it is out of my hands and am sure that it will all work out eventually!  I keep thinking...we have only been here 5 days!  Hugs and Smiles!
jen and mac!