Merii Kurisumasu!

Merii Kurisumasu from Japan!  (We will get back to that spelling a little later).  We hope that Santa brought you all what you wished for (or more importantly that you were nice, not naughty, this year).  Tim and I had an incredible, extended Christmas.  To start, we celebrated Christmas in New Orleans with Tim's family before Thanksgiving.   A little over a week later, after stuffing ourselves during a Thanksgiving feast, we exchanged gifts with the Gould contingency in Kentucky.  What's that you say? Yes, you are correct.  Our Christmas holiday started well before the typical Christmas season.  Spoiled with a jubilant Christmas celebration with our families state-side, come December 23rd, we chose to expand our horizons and get out on the town for a true Japanese Christmas.  

On Friday before Christmas, Tim and I headed up to Tokyo where we were to meet our sponsors, Andy and Rebekah, for dinner.  We departed Sagamino Station (a 20 minute walk from the base) around 3:00pm that afternoon.  After a few train swaps, we arrived in west Tokyo, Harajuku, about an hour and a half later.  Little did we know what was in store for us!  As we exited the station or, more appropriately, were sucked out of the station by the vacuum created by the hoards of people moving in our direction, we realized that we were certainly not the only ones with the bright idea of venturing to Harajuku.  To describe the main streets of Harajuku, I would be remiss if I did not make a comparison to Michigan Avenue, 5th Avenue or the Champs-Elysee in Paris.  Every store... strike that.  Every designer store you could fathom literally decorated the streets.  Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo... maybe that is why I found this such a  beautiful part of town.  There were thousands upon thousands of people busily walking the streets shoulder to shoulder with fellow shoppers.

Harajuku is an interesting area of town. It could definitely be described as the fashion mecca of Japan.  It has several other fascinating components in addition to the designer stores galore.  Harajuku is infamous as the site for an expressive youth culture.  Whether dressed in Gothic Lolita fair (http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/japan_picture/displayimage.php?album=43&pos=51) 

or sporting greasy, mile-high hair dancing to Rockabilly music, 

there is something for everyone.  For the more historic minded traveler, this area also boasts the Meiji Jingu Shrine.

Cold and looking for a bit of personal space, Tim and and veered off the main drag to the quaint and boutique side streets.  Luckily for us, we found a third floor cafe to retire to for a bone thawing moment of peace accompanied by a glass of wine and beer.  Refueled and ready to tackle the Japanese madness once more, we hit the streets.  Back at it, we walked and window shopped until we realized that we really were cold and ready for a longer stint indoors.  I do not think many of you will be surprised to hear that within our first week of living in Japan we were able to scout out a truly good Mexican restaurant that is a favorite among expats (including native Texans).  Tim and I wound our way through the dark, back, posh neighborhoods of Harajuku to Fonda de la Madrugada (http://www.sunnypages.jp/travel_guide/tokyo_restaurants/mexican/Fonda+Dela+Madrugada/502).

Winding our way down several flights of stairs, we finally found the entrance.  We greeted the accepting hostess and asked for a table in hopes of ordering an appetizer.  At 5:30pm, the place was empty.  Through broken English and Japanese, we were told that we needed a reservation (as the place is always packed on weekends) and that there was no available table until 8:30 or 9:00.  Fair enough, we thought, and turned to walk out.  But the hostess grabbed us and pointed us toward another staircase downward.  There, we met a fine gentleman that again told us there were no availabilities until later.  Thus, once again, we turned to make our exit.  For a second time, we were waived off and ushered to a table in the back of the restaurant.  Confused, but cold and hungry, we took our seats and perused the menu.  Our waitress was an English speaking Indian woman.  We ordered a few drinks, taquitos, and chips and guacamole.  Everything quickly arrived but the guac. Maybe they forgot it, I wondered.  Let's be honest.  How long does it take to make guac?  But soon, we learned why it was the last element brought to the table:

This was the never-ending, bottomless, mortar of (what appeared to be) fresh guacamole!  It was seasoned.  It was acidic.  It had massive chunks of fresh avocado.  I was in guacamole Heaven!  After gorging ourselves on our Mexican appetizers, we spoke to Andy and Rebekah.  They planned to meet us at the restaurant for a quick dinner before heading down to Ebisu.  When we told our waitress that we had two more joining us, she quickly apologized and told us that we could only have the table until roughly 8:00pm because someone had reserved it for later in the evening.  Ah!  Yes!  There was the confusion from earlier!  We could have the table only until 8:00 as opposed to after 8:00 as we thought they were explaining to us when we arrived.  

Dinner finished by our 8:00pm deadline, the four of us left Harajuku for Ebisu.   This was the area Andy and Rebekah preferred to frequent on weekends.  It was busy and loaded with international restaurants and bars.  After trying out a new French/Spanish tapas and wine bar, we chose a warm British pub.  By around 10:30pm, we decided we should begin our travels back to the base.  An hour and a half later, we were home, warm and snuggled in bed.

Now our first trip to Tokyo was pleasant and I am certainly glad we went.  However, with a 20 minute walk to the train station and an hour train ride into Tokyo, I do not know if you will find me frequenting Tokyo for weekend festivities when I can find the same wine/beer closer to home and most likely cheaper.  The proximity to a major train station is high on our list of priorities when searching for a house.  I think, with a shorter commute, I will again endeavor to find Tokyo as the perfect spot for a night out.

Saturday it was Christmas Eve.  With sound advice from our friendly on-base librarian, we decided to visit Yokohama, the second largest city and the largest port in Japan.  Yokohama is only a short 30 minute train ride from our station and is a much more manageable city from a tourist's perspective.  The city, albeit large, is easily walkable from end to end.  The Minato Mirai 21 development was where we spent the majority of Saturday.  We visited the Landmark Tower that looms 971 feet about Yokohama. At one point, it was the tallest building in Japan.  The 69th floor observatory is open to tourists and allows for a 360 degree view of Yokohama.  On a clear day (and lucky for us it was) you can see all the way to Tokyo and also catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji.  To the untrained eye, there is absolutely no visible separation between Tokyo and Yokohama.  Every city seems to bleed into the next.  What an expansive eastern coast of Japan!

After leaving the Landmark Tower, we walked across the harbor to the Red Brick Warehouse district. The warehouse, appearing just as it sounds, is three stories tall with open space for markets and fairs.  For the Christmas season, an outdoor ice skating rink was set up to compliment the indoor Christmas fair MADNESS!  However, after being pushed and shoved through the crowds, Tim and I chose to head back to NAF Atsugi to attend the 7:00pm Christmas Evening Church Service.  As we walked back to the train station, we stopped for a moment to reflect and view the beautiful skyline of Yokohama.

We did make it back in time for a church.  It was a great Christmas Eve Candle-lit service at the church on the base (pictured below).

Right as church was about to begin, horns honked and children rallied.  What was it?  As the children all ran outside, it became apparent that Santa was paying a visit to the good children on base.  Well, Santa and his "sleigh" that is.  

Santa, riding on a shiny red fire truck, was making his rounds around base throwing bags of candy to the  children in a manner that could only be described as a fusion of Christmas, Mardi Gras, and Halloween.  And oh how the kids loved it!  They were sugared up for the whole church service with few minding the cardinal rule of remaining quiet throughout church.

Since our plans to go to Yokohama were somewhat last minute and because Yokohama was so close that there was no need to stay there for the night, we had poor planning for Christmas Eve dinner.  After church, we came home and cooked a warm, American, DiGiorno pepperoni pizza and watched Christmas movies on tv.  We were equally unprepared for a delicious Christmas day breakfast/feast.

I must digress for a moment and fill you in, if you have not heard so yet, on the Japanese Christmas Eve tradition.  As far as I can understand, the Japanese somehow equate poultry with an American Christmas.  Thus, to follow the custom, the Japanese order Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas Eve dinner.  Yes.  You heard me.  Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas Eve.  The lines flow from the KFC counter as the Japanese line up to pick up their previously placed order.  The boxes used for such occasion actually say "KENTUCKY CHRISTMAS!"  I have yet to get one or take a picture of one but before my three years are complete in this country, I will have at the very least a picture (if not having eaten it myself).

Christmas morning we were quite lazy.  After skyping with the families, we finally cleaned up and decided to head back to Yokohama.  There were a few more areas we wanted to check out.  First, we visited Japan's largest Chinatown.

Looking for warmth and a cozy Christmas dinner, we left Chinatown in search of the Bashamichi Taproom (http://bairdbeer.com/en/blog_bashamichi/info).  The taproom exhibits the locally brewed Baird Beer and delicious Texas BBQ!  The restaurant has 3 floors, with what appeared to be a top floor beer garden.  When we first arrived, we were the only Westerners in the joint.  Luckily, with broken English and Japanese accompanied by delightful smiles, we were able to procure service.  Tim and I each had a brisket BBQ sandwich, baked mac-n-cheese, chili baked beens and piece of mouth-watering Pecan Pie.  For an impromptu Christmas dinner, I'd say we did quite well!

After dinner, what could only be described a frequent Japanese patron of the restaurant, came in for his nightly beer and to deliver a Christmas present to the staff.  It was a scrumptious Strawberry cake that the thoughtful staff shared with us as a Christmas present.  

For the Japanese (whose religion is a mostly a combination of Shinto and Japanese Buddhism), Christmas is more of a commercial holiday. They decorate with Christmas lights, a tradition that they call Illuminations.  Traditional, western Christmas music is played EVERYWHERE.  However, Christmas day, in practice, is more like Valentine's Day than Christmas.  Basically, Christmas night is date night and all of the international, romantic restaurants are booked.

To me, as a seasoned traveler, I always anticipate the moment when the barrier between cultures breaks.  That first moment where I feel that I can actually live, and more importantly, survive in this culture.  This was it for me.  The Japanese waitresses, who, with great effort, spoke little English, worked in a taproom/restaurant shared their Christmas present with us, two strangers speaking only a handful of Japanese words from America.  It was an overwhelmingly thoughtful gesture.  The holiday spirit was intoxicating.

Ultimately, our Christmas holiday stretched from Mid November to December 28th when we opened our final presents from Aunt Penny, Memaw and Camilla, and Doug and Ali.  What a great, expansive holiday filled with warm thoughts and love from our family.

A Brief lesson on the Japanese Languague

The Japanese language has 3 basic types of writing: Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana.  Kanji, originating in China, was not conducive to the Japanese language.  Thus, the Japanese developed simpler forms of writing with Hiragana and Katakana.  Hirigana has 46 characters and with their variations, has 89 syllables of Japanese.  Like Hirigana, Katakana is composed of characters that represent syllables of the spoken language.  However, Katakana is used almost exclusively for foreign words and names.  Because Christmas is a western religious holiday and not based on Japanese traditions, Christmas is a foreign word.  To say Merry Christmas in Japanese is very similar to that in English.  The Katakana way of spelling Merry Christmas is Merii Kurisumasu.  Click on the link below to see the written Katakana and pronunciation.

http://japanese.about.com/library/blqow33.htm

Thanks for reading!  Happy Holidays!

Getting a little personal....

We thought we would let you know where we are "living." We currently have a room at the Gateway Inn and Suites/ Bachelor Officers' Quarters on Base (http://dodlodging.net/NAF_ATSUGI.HTM). It is a petite suite that gets the job done. Below you will find a few pictures. This map is a view of the base with the "YOU ARE HERE" indicating the hotel/BOQ. It is only a 5 minute walk to the front gate, commissary, NEX, post office and housing office. However, it is a 15 minute bike ride to Tim's squadron (yes, that is right, Tim rented a bike.  And yes, he looks nerdy and cute in his uniform and bike helmet). 

When we first stepped into our room, it was already decorated for Christmas!  Our sponsor's wife, Rebekah, decorated it for us.  With the first glimpse of the room, there was a Christmas tree (now filled beneath with presents from Aunt Penny Stanley), a Christmas wreath, and  a "Merry Christmas" sign (not to mention the fridge and pantries were filled with Japanese food!). To add to the original Christmas decor (mind you the Japanese love to say "X-mas, or X-mass), I put up a picture frame, a decorative Christmas tree, and a large stocking advent calendar that were all gifts from Mamma Linda.  Don't you just love Christmas and family!  Here are few pics.  And note, for those of you who have sent us Christmas cards, they are either on our desk or taped to our (bathroom) door.  We love having pictures of friends and family!

This is our first home-cooked meal in Japan.  Rebekah left us spaghetti sauce and noodles.  Throw in a few sauteed onions and garlic in red wine and you would think you were in Italy... or maybe that is just the jet-lag. 

Tim and I are starting to get used to working our way around here.  We left our room around 2:30pm today. We walked from the base to Sagamino Station (the closest train station about 15 minutes away).  With all this house hunting, we decided that we owed it to ourselves to explore each area further before making a final decision.  Thus, we took the train from Sagamino Station (near the base) to Yamato, the area where we hope to live.  -Well, let me digress.  Naval Air Facility Atsugi (where Tim is stationed) is surrounded by several cities: Ayase City, Ebina to the south west, Zama to the north west, and Yamato to the east.  Atsugi, interestingly enough is not the closest city to the base but most likely was when the base was established.  From what we know thus far, Yamato is a busier area with a multitude of restaurants and "happenings."  This, thus far, is our first choice.  Zama is a more residential are nestled in the hills. This is our where our sponsors (Andy and Rebekah) live.  Ebina has a unique 5 story outdoor mall called the Vina Walk that includes the Gap, Outback Steakhouse, OIOI (the equivalent to a multistoried Macy's with an enormous supermarket that has NINE WEST SHOES!!!!) and several other International stores and restaurants. - After walking around Yamato, we decided to check out the Vina Walk mall in Ebina.  We wondered through the mall, and, no, I did not buy anything (insert tear here).  

Next, we hopped the train back to where we heard there was an amazing Indian restaurant.   We were not disappointed!

Two thumbs up from me!

This is the biggest piece of Garlic Nan Tim and I had ever seen!

We are now back in our room.  And yes, I know that we should be immersing ourselves in Japanese culture but, at this moment, we are watching American TV (we were cold and tired from our big day out and, after hitting up the Japanese grocery store, we headed home for heat and comfort - did I mention it has been in the low 30s since we arrived?).  The cable is put together (from the best of my understanding) by the military.  To say the least, we get very interesting military commercials talking about insurance and how to prepare for deployments.  What I love about it are the Christmas movies!  We have watched "White Christmas," "An Affair to Remember," "The Holiday," and, currently "The Santa Clause" (not to mention that we get TV Land which airs FRIENDS every night).  Boy is this the best of both worlds!

Tim Allen (as Santa in the "Santa Clause") is demanding my attention so I must go.  So we will leave you with a few pictures of Christmas lights.  We love you all.  We appreciate you reading our blog.  And, more importantly, we appreciate you all being a part of our lives!

Love, Tim and Claire Prechter-san

Vina Walk (Mall in Ebina City)

The football field/track on base

The tree at the front gate.

Getting Settled in JapanLand

Well we did it.  We arrived at Yokota Air Force Base via a lovely North American airlines Boeing 767. We enjoyed our own two seats, one with a window and a lovely view of nothing (it was cloudy the whole flight) and one with an aisle, giving us and our ears access to the 20 or so children under the age of 3 who must have been competing for loudest baby award.  But, Claire with her Ambien and me with my lack of recent sleep seemed to find a way to enjoy ourselves for the 10.5 hour flight.

This was at 6:30ish in the morning. Being Atsugi bound and a family, we were able to board on the early side and get situated.  All the half asleep passengers boarding afterwards were scoffing as I struggled to get the perfect shot, and this is what you get.  Claire was asleep only minutes later.

Finally, as we make our descent into Yokota, we left the clouds behind and got a view of the sprawling metropolis of Tokyo.  We saw some high rise buildings then it was what looked like house after house after house.  If there were city boundaries, they were indiscernible from the air.

Customs was quick, and, once we got our bags, we met our sponsor, Andy.  Thankfully, he brought us Japanese snacks and drinks refueling us for the hour car ride to NAF Atsugi.  We'll have to do a whole piece on their snacks and drinks because it's unlike anything I'd seen before.  Most of their snacks are something rolled in rice.  Everywhere you look its rice, rice, rice, but more on that later.

That evening we checked into our room and into the squadron.  While there, we got a glimpse of this:

This was the scene of the sun setting behind the mountains in the distance.  Mount Fuji is there, but it might be hard to see in this picture.  It might be easier in this one:

Fuji is the snowcapped mountain in the distance lit from the sun rising behind my back.  I hear the view goes away in the summer when the sky turns to a thick haze, so Claire and I are stocking up on stunning views while we can.

That first night our sponsor and his wife treated us to dinner at the local "sushi-go-round."  We liked this type of place because the food literally goes by the table on a conveyor belt and if it looks good, you grab it.  Ironically, Japanese sushi is more sashimi style (raw fish presented over white rice) as opposed to sushi rolls.  Then a waitress comes when you buzz her and counts the plates and prints your bill.  It's great because you can get an authentic meal without the anxiety of not really knowing what it is you ordered.  It was also reassuring to see it packed with 97% Japanese people.  It certainly was a local favorite.

The next night, however, we were on our own.  The intrepid duo we are, we set out on foot alone beyond the main gate of the base.  After a nice stroll, we settled on a restaurant that said "Restaurant" above the Japanese characters that could really have said anything.  Though there was no food conveyor belt, we were somewhat relieved to discover we had happened upon a 'picture menu' place:

This way we could at least just point to what we wanted, which we did.  To our faces, so far, the Japanese have been very pleasant and patient with us.  Hopefully this continues, because I have no doubt their patience will be tried to their utmost.  Fortunately, this meal turned out good.  We even found our stateside sushi restaurant staple, edamame, to start us off.  Paying was interesting.  When our receipt was presented it looked something like this:

If it didn't show the total in numbers, I would have just held out my wallet and said take as much as you need.  The one on the right is the one from the market we stopped by afterwards.  A quick preview to a market post; their produce is from another world.  Apples and peaches the size of your head, and all sorts of instrumental Christmas music playing on the loudspeaker to include a rendition of Feliz Navidad.  Yet, as we begin our house hunting, we are hoping to find something within walking distance of restaurants and markets that we can call our own.  

Speaking of house hunting:

Beautiful place right?! It's not ours.  It could be. But it won't, and here's why:

This is the stove.  Those cabinets are beneath it because there is no oven.  There is a small fish broiler.  To put 'small' into perspective think of your average toaster oven's cooking capacity.  The inside of this is maybe 1/3 that size.  Claire made a good point noting you couldn't cook more than 1 cookie at a time in there and pound cakes are out of the question.  But it did have some interesting features that are somewhat common in Japanese houses that I thought I'd share with you.

The first is this tatami room.  Its a small room with tatami mats on the floor and usually some very delicate, sliding doors.  I will hopefully have more information as to what a tatami mat is made out of as well as the sliding doors, but until then, this picture and wikipedia will have to do:

 Also notable features to a Japanese home are its bathrooms.  I know... an odd topic indeed.  If you're lucky you get a toilet with an electrically heated seat.  Also, there are no sinks on the walls in the bathrooms.  Instead there is a small sink on top of the tank of the toilet that automatically runs when you flush.  It's genius! Secondly, the bath/shower room is quite literally a room you go into, close the door and shower.  It looks like a luxurious use of space.  You really have to see it to understand it, so hopefully this picture helps.  I just can't wait to experience it for myself.

 Like I said, this isn't our place.  This is just the first place we looked.  The realtor, who didn't speak English, picked us up from the main gate and took us here and brought us back.  He opened all the storm shutters for us as well.  I wish I had a picture of the card he gave us.  It nothing but characters.  It's going to be interesting adjusting to this culture.

Speaking of culture (my last segue for the evening), our patient sponsor agreed to take our picture in front of Japaneseey things for our Christmas card.  Near their home are a few small temples and shrines, one of which was chosen for our card.  I'll leave you this evening with a cluster of photos from that shoot:

Oyasuminasai!