Now That's A Buddha Belly

Wow, a lot has happened since we went on our field trip to Kamakura City.

Last Friday we finished our week-long Area Orientation Briefing and Inter-Cultural Relations class.  Even got a certificate to show for it!  Gotta love the government.  Then we took the written exam for a Japanese driver's license.  Nailed it!

For surviving yet another week in Japan all three of us celebrated on base by dinning out at a fancy Italian restaurant — Sbarros.  ;^)  Actually it was pretty nice because this particular Sbarros hosts live piano music every Friday and Saturday.  I had a lot of funny holding Nathan in my lap at the table and making it look like he was playing piano along with the musician.  Check out the photo Tina took of us.  It's already one of my favorites.



New Friends

While moving into our new building the previous week, Tina had met the Arroyo family. They invited us over to their unit on Sunday for Eggs and Kegs , which is watching Saturday college football on Sunday morning in Japan while enjoying breakfast and beer.  The Arroyo's (Lt. Peter, Hillery and 14-month-old PJ) are wonderfully friendly.  Peter has a video projector setup displaying the games on a screen against their living room wall, so they basically have a 92" television!  The Arroyo's have graciously lent us an infant's play mat that has dangling rattles, bells, a mirror and noisy fabric.  Nathan loves it already and has used it every day since.

The Great Buddha
After that fun social get together with our new neighbors, we decided to finish what we had started the day of our field trip - to see the Great Buddha statue.  We basically traveled by JR Train to the town of Hase, which is one more train transfer further than Kamakura (where had gone for the field trip).

Interestingly we'd forgotten how much earlier the sun sets here, so by the time we arrived the sun had already dipped below the hills. I think it made for much more dramatic ambiance. I did my best to shoot the scene on a long exposure while camera sat atop my teeny tiny, flexleg tripod I usually take along on hiking trips.

The 13 meter tall bronze statue had been constructed in the 1120AD and originally housed within a temple.  A tsunami swept away the outer structure in the 13th century, since then it has been out in the open air.  Visiting the Great Buddha at that hour was amazingly calming.  Tina and I even sat cross-legged, mimicking the Great Buddha, with our own little buddha-bellied Nathan.  (I'm telling you, Nathan is the best little travel companion.)

On-Base Life
On Monday Tina began her required "Command Orientation" at the Yokosuka Hospital.  Unlike the orientation we both had taken the week prior, this session was more about her new hospital's work policies.  Tina says it was stab-my-eyes-out level of boredom for a whole week.  Fun!  Sorry, Honey, I'm very happy I did not have to attend that orientation.

Instead I spent the week running errands around the base for Mommy, et al.  Found time to take the driving test and received my Japanese Driver's License!  (That experience is worthy of a blog post all by itself.)  Suffice it to say, it's a very strange feeling to drive a car with the steering wheel on the right side.

But one of the things that grabbed my attention while running around the base this week has been the clever design of delivery trucks here in Japan.  Trucks here open up lengthwise, like a clamshell.  Items are loaded / unloaded from the side.  We've seen the buildings and streets out in town.  Space is at a premium.; there is no room for loading docks and forklifts.  I mean there's no wonder why this country is the origin of The Transformers cartoons, because just look at it.  This vehicle can mutate!

Off-Base Friends
Also this week another family took us under their wing.  The Lovelace family (Hoyt, Kim, 5-year-old Chloe and 4-month-old Ariel) drove us off base to their house for home cooked Mexican dinner.  Hoyt used chile peppers that were packed on ice and flown back after visiting New Mexico State.  It was an amazing meal!

Lt. Cmd. Kim is an ophthalmologist at the Yokosuka Navy Hospital.  I honestly can't remember if I was the one who randomly met Kim first (probably in the hospital's galley).  Or if Tina somehow met Kim while being introduced to other staffers.  Who knows.  But I do know that Kim and Hoyt have gone waaaaaay out of their way to be extremely helpful and welcoming.  I mean, Tina is not even in the same medical department!  Yet Kim tracked us down, invited us into their home and have treated us like royalty.

Anyway, the Lovelace's were wonderful because they shared so much about living in Japan.  They live way off base, in a Japanese house with tatami mats, an elaborate toilet and no central heat!  When in Rome... I guess.  Their daughters were adorable.  Can't wait to visit with them again.

I can't say it enough.  I am utterly amazed at how helpful and friendly people are at this base.

More Food

Oh yeah, I know friends like Natalie have asked about the food experience.  So I'll throw in one more bit about food.

This evening (Saturday) we went off base to a Thai restaurant recommended to Tina.  It was great. We had an adventure just trying to find the restaurant.  We rode an itty-bitty elevator to the third floor and interacted with a waiter who spoke by mixing in English, Japanese and Thai within the same sentences.

At the end of the meal, he served us "Basil Seed" treats.  I'm not sure if it's traditional Thai or what.  It's very delicious; fits perfectly after eating a spicy curry.  The treats are very hard to describe, but I'll try my best.  Basically the little seeds are still within their individual gelatin pouches and immersed in ice cube-chilled sugar water with bright food coloring.  Each customer gets a different colored dessert.  Very cool.  I had to be a total Gaijin and take a photo with my iPhone.

Next Time, On Survivor...
On Monday Tina will have her first day back in a hospital as a physician since June (she finished residency three weeks before Nathan was born).  In typical Tina fashion she wants to spend Sunday prepping for this big event.  I'm excited for her, but I can't imagine the butterflies she's feeling in her stomach.

Nathan is doing great.  He's sleeping much better at night.  He's flirting with everyone he meets.  He's having a good time.

So far I'm having a blast living in Japan.  I'm sad to be apart from family and friends back in the States.  There's a tug at the bottom of my heart whenever I'm reminded that you are all so far away.  Then again, I know I'm home every time I look into Nathan's eyes, hear his giggle and see his adorable smile.

- Charlie