youme town

the other day my new friend holly (yes, she's been a life saver and a great wealth of information before our arrival and during our transition here) took me on a little field trip to one of the local grocery stores called youme town. it was nice to go beyond the couple of blocks right outside our base - interesting to see the scenery change the closer we got to the "city" and away from the base/sea wall.  definitely better maintained and less run down just a tiny bit away from our base walls.  it was so odd sitting in what my brain thinks is the driver's seat with no steering wheel. as we wizzed along the very short distance, i realized we spent most of our time waiting for our turn to turn or waiting for a light to turn, it wasn't actually very far but took longer than it should have because of traffic.  that's just the way it is. i spent the trip either watching the traffic patterns and trying to figure out where the car was heading at intersections (the intersections really make your head spin when you are so programmed to be driving on the other side) or checking out all the details of the homes - the lotus fields, the onions hanging to dry on the porch, the lady on the bicycle, the smokestacks in the distance, the bridges down the river, just taking in the details.  we parked in the teeny parking space and found that right there in the same lot as youme town was also jutendo which is like a small home depot type store as well as an athletic store.  scattered around it were some japanese food venders and restaurants as well as a kentucky fried chicken (insert sad face) and a baskin robins (double sad face...i did not come here to eat american junk food!).  it seems that japan loves american things and unfortunately some of our worst ideas (kfc/mc's) have migrated here.
youme town is actually quite large, much larger than i was expecting - and off to one side there is some non-food shopping, looked like a makeup store but i didn't take time to really check it out. i'll be back there many times to explore.  i was there with holly and her baby girl and my friend caroline who i became friends with in san diego (she lived in okinawa for a little bit before) - it was nice to be with two gals who had a little experience with grocery shopping in japan.  we wandered around the produce section identifying veggies that were familiar, discussing what things might be when we were unsure. sometimes one of us knew. sometimes three of us were standing around poking at poor veggies, sniffing them and trying to figure it out. our conversations would go something like this as we passed each item around:
is this rhubarb? 
no its definitely not rhubarb - its the same color as rhubarb but its definitely not rhubarb.
 maybe its a pepper?
 it sort of looks like a tuber. 
i really want to make rhubarb pie. 
well, its definitely not rhubarb.
we'd move on down the row and pick up the next unknown. much of the produce was prebagged, but it all looked like very good quality (holly said sunday is the day to shop for produce, its the freshest on sunday - good to know!), you just don't get to determine the quantity since its already bagged together. for example, i bought ten little yellow onions that were bagged up together. and six apples, bagged up together. and three carrots bagged up together.  past the fruits and veggies was an entire huge section of different types of tofu. then came the meat section. i was sort of shocked when the japanese sample lady (yes they had samples all over the store!) offered me a hotdog on a stick and a chicken nugget - also on the stick with the hotdog. i tried it just to see if it was similar to home. it was just as disappointing as every hot dog i have ever eaten at home. (more sad face - come on japan, i do not want chicken nuggets!) luckily the other samples i had were better and much more japanese - a chunk of creamy tofu, a spoonful of cooked salmon, a cup of lemon water and a tiny spoon with a tiny slice of cucumber and some very salty bits of raw fish on top of it. all quite tasty.
we wandered the aisles, exclaiming when we found something, for better or worse, that the others should see.
oh, look at this huge bag of tiny dried anchovies! 
they put them on salad like croutons at my son's school.

oh, here's the soy sauce. an entire aisles of it. or maybe its fish sauce too. how can you even tell what's what?  i guess i will choose soy sauce like i choose wine sometimes - which bottle has a prettier lable? :)

we did notice that packages were always smaller - like a package of 20 pistacchios instead of a giant bag of 200 like you'd get  in the states. cereal boxes are smaller, although its not a big thing to eat here. smaller amounts of everything. no super sizing, its a good thing actually - just takes awhile for your brain to adjust to the new normal.
my favorite side of the store had all the prepared japanese "fast foods" and snacks. i can't wait til peter starts preschool at the yochien, i am hoping to make friends with some of the japanese moms there so we can practice japanese together and so i can go to the store with them and ask them a millions questions about everything we see!  we got some fried tofu to put in a stir fry. we got some tempura squash (cut like a melon, with a light flaky fried shell on it) that we ate as a side last night, a sweet red bean paste covered ball of rice (wish i knew the names, my descriptions don't make it sound so appetizing bit it was tasty!), and some other things we haven't tried yet like dumplings and seaweed wrapped something or other (not sure what's inside - there were different colored stickers on it which of course indicated something different inside - i will soon know the color code, or will it, it may be hard even once i have eaten it to figure out. ha!) its fun how food has become such a fun adventure. of course i can go to the commissary and get american food no problem, any pre-packaged thing my heart desires is there. hamburger helper. mac n cheese. but i really want to try to branch out and eat the local fare and serve it to my kids. i'm looking forward to seeing (or hearing about) what peter eats at yochien. i'm hoping to make local friends who can teach me. i'm hoping to take japanese cooking classes. oh man, i have big plans for our tummies while we are here. so far, we're loving it.

juntendo - the home repair store, our eyes all lit up when we saw their flowers and plants. can't wait to put some color into our back yard.

athletic store is to the right and youme town is straight ahead)

tiny shopping carts with just room for your basket. there were a couple carts with a little car for a kid to ride in and you put your basket on top, so it looks like i will likely only be going shopping when one of my littles is in preschool. there were very few children actually in the store, and those that were there were very quiet and well be haved. am hoping the will rub off on my crazy american kiddos. a momma can dream, right?

tomatoes, peppers, bitter melon...

one of my favorite things to do is people watch - i spent a lot of time looking at what the locals were wearing. i've been feeling self conscious every time i get dressed - what would be normal/no big deal in san diego suddenly feels kind of scandalous. there is a dress code on base but more importantly is the cultural norm, i certainly don't want to offend people or come across as inappropriate (wearing sandals, nice denim shots and a conservative t-shirt with ruffles on the front felt odd). people just dress up more - although i see the man dead center of this picture in workout attire, so its hard to break the code.

grapes. next month the base is sponsoring a tour to go grape picking at the height of the harvest. i hope we can make it. sounds interesting and something the kids would enjoy!

greens - i bought some baby bok choy

loads of mushroom options

the meats are displayed so nicely!

which soys sauce would you choose?

caroline at the check out.  most places in japan do their transactions in cash only - yen, that is. i was thankful they took mastercard here as i forgot to take yen out before we left base.

at the front of the store there is a little bakery, we couldn't resist trying a few things. like tiny sugar covered doughnuts with beans inside. brilliant adding a little protein to an empty calorie treat. :)

some of our purchases on display for daddy to check out

moshi, fried tofu, beans, dumplings in the top right, seaweed snack in the middle

looks like a date (snack in the lower left), bean paste covered rice balls (middle bottom), fried sweet orange rice (bottom right), bread (upper left) - the bread is super fluffy and cut really thick and only sold in like a 1/2 loaf amount, veggie juice boxes

this guy did not come from the grocery store, but we played at the park later in the day and the bugs were just singing away as they do all day long here. i love it, its such a cool background noise. i love the constance and vibration of it. makes me happy. its fun to stand under a tree and stare up into the branches and find them!

move-in day

chaotic. frenzied. not-so-graceful but super productive. that sums up our move-in day.  so many friends and family have send sweet, supportive messages this week telling me what a great job i'm doing, how gracefully i am handling the transition, etc.  i appreciate it, but i want to be sure everyone understands that this is a blog and as the writer of the blog, i get to apply filters to my reality whenever i see fitting. so before i begin this post, please know that no matter how joyfully i am able to reflect on our recent days or how cute the photos i snapped may be, i have also yelled more than i ever want to, been on the verge of tears several times and am carrying a load of tension a mile high in my shoulders. just wanted to keep it real for everyone and remind you all that story tellers get to edit out some of the yucky stuff; often the first go-round isn't quite as tidy and filled with sunshine. :)

we woke up in our temporary lodging and went to bed in our own beds. what a glorious feeling. but man, there was a lot of head-on-swivel, fast and furious attention to details and logistics management going from start to finish. the first task of the day was packing up all of our luggage and acquired belongings while getting the kids dressed and fed. of course it went slower than it needed to so reid and peter dashed to the new house to meet the inspector for the walk through to identify damages/discrepancies and sign for the house.  the moving truck was there, waiting for the go-ahead to begin unloading.  our sweet friend holly had offered to bring her kids to come play with peter nearby at the playground for the first few hours of move-in day chaos, but once he saw the truck and put together that his bed and toys were coming out of the truck there was no way he was leaving our new house. meanwhile, i was still at the tlf finishing up the packing and getting myself dressed - then was the trick of getting the giant stroller and two babes down the stairs for the quick walk to the new house. am thankful for my health and my strength, so many tasks i've had to accomplish lately would be impossible without those blessings. we arrived and the packers were already going full steam unloading the truck and reid was checking off the box numbers as they carried the items in one by one. we had a crew of 5 japanese men who were all very cordial and professional - and all walked around in their socks all day so as to not walk into our house wearing their shoes as is their custom.  they set up some tarps on the lawn and made a path up to the door and just left their shoes on the porch. they worked extremely hard in the intense heat and humidity of the day, literally soaked through with sweat as they went and only took two short breaks. it was impressive what they accomplished and i was grateful they were there to take care of that intense job. once i arrived and realized none of my children were willing to leave our house or my side for the rest of the day, i thanked our friend and said goodbye and took over the job(s) of box-checker-off-er, traffic director and mother/referee (that's a hat you never take off) and reid went back to the tlf with a borrowed vehicle to carry all eight million of our suitcases down the flight of stairs and bring them to the house to get us checked out before noon. no sooner had he finished that than i was making silly requests like checking the post office for my cleaning supply order and lunch pick-up - we were so thankful his squadron buddy loaned him the vehicle, it was a life saver!  he was gone the entire morning working on those tasks so i was thankful, yet again, for the portable dvd player. we set it up in the front play room, the closest room to the front door so i could monitor/manage the kiddos and tend to the task of accounting for our belongings and deciding where to put them.  thankfully, curtis napped most of the morning in the pack-n-play we set upstairs in his room. the rest of the day he rode along in the ergo carrier, sweaty and hot but happy to be close to momma where he wants to be every minute of the day lately.
the language barrier was not a big deal, they all knew their numbers and could tell me what the sticker said (although sometimes they would switch those funny numbers and tell me a sticker that read "067" was "ninety-seven" or some little switch like that) and understood when i said "office" or "master bedroom".  even when one of them would come ask me a question in japanese, i could gather from the context clues and hand gestures what he meant and was able to communicate my preference. the crew leader spoke great english, so it was never a problem at all. and that's how the day went: ask what number. cross off the number. tell them what room. tell peter to stop kicking betsy. ask what number. cross off the number. take betsy potty. tell them what room.
moving gives you great perspective on your possessions. perspective on what you own and how much of it you have. as i continued bringing toys and toys and toys into the playroom, it seemed almost embarassing how many of them we have. as they carried boxes of clothes into the house, it was overwhelming and seemed a bit ridiculous to own that many clothes, even as a family of five, when so many people in the world have only the clothes on their back. i often wondered what the japanese men thought of our belongings or what they discussed -  how what we tote around in our life is different than what is brought along when a japanese family moves.  at one point i wanted to tell them to stop; whatever was still in the truck, just take it away, our house was full - and at that point, it really was full! when everything is in boxes stacked high, filling the corners and the walkways and the center of the room is just piled with stuff, it seems impossible that everything will ever fit into the house. but of course, once you start the magic of unpacking, getting rid of the boxes and the paper and start putting things in their places (oh man, that IS the best feeling in the world), it all seems a bit more manageable. we are blessed to have so much in this life, i am grateful for everything under our roof - but it is interesting to get that perspective - to really see and touch every. single. thing as it comes into your home, consciously taking inventory on how blessed your family really is.
the movers packed up around 3 and we continued the task of unpacking and putting away. our front covered patio is now filled with empty moving boxes (thankfully they will come take them away this week when we call) and our house is definitely getting there, inching its way closer and closer to feeling like home. the first night we all slept in our beds - the kids in their brand new bunk beds.  that feeling of finally sliding into your own bed, in your own sheets after 6+ weeks of sleeping in a different bed every week or so...oh its just heavenly. after another two full days of assembling furniture, organizing and reorganizing, we are definitely getting there. we even cooked a real meal in our kitchen tonight. yesterday we finally lit a candle which seemed to make everything a bit more cozy. and for some reason, i feel like once i finally bake a pie...then and only then will it really be official. we are finally home. :) xo

unpacking the truck in full swing - and there's holly and her little lady

the littles watching "my neighbor totoro" - an awesome japanese movie that they totally dig. i picked up a couple of these at target before we came - the movers all commented on the movie and all knew the characters. made me dance a little jig :)

the play room at the height of its chaos

finding ways to entertain themselves as mom and dad worked to control the chaos

curtis tried a little bit of mashed banana once his high chair was cleaned and ready - he was not impressed, but thought it was fun to play with and feel between his fingers

progress!

these walls

last night i finally ventured out...its funny how in the same moment the base can feel big, yet be so small.  in the heat and humidity of the day, the walk can feel almost endless getting to the destination with kids in tow, sweat dripping down my body - and yet once i had been inside the walls for a week, never having seen what was on the other side, it was like my brain was going crazy not knowing what was just outside.  of course i'm not stir crazy already, we've barely just arrived - but my curiosity and my deep desire to make this my home, our home has me itching to scour every inch of the area, and slowly make the mystery and novelty of where we've landed into just another part of our new normal.  so, outside the gate with the iwakuni roadrunners i went.  my new friend holly invited me to join them and it ended up being a really small group - three of us gals and one local guy.  out the gate, down the street, down some steps, along the seawall and back again. 4.5ish miles, lots of chatting and endless sweating. i couldn't help myself from staring down the alleys and into the open garages and through the shades of the windows as we went along, so interested to see what "real life" looks like here in japan.  the run felt great, but it felt even better to get a little dose of what my new iwakuni life will hold. this is where i live now. these are some of my new people. these are the sights and sounds of my every day.
once i had seen it, i needed more and we planned to venture out as a family today.  another morning at swim class and daddy came along for the first time making the logistics  of the morning more enjoyable split between two parents. betsy has still be fussy any time i am more than 3 inches away from her, so i hopped in the water with her class today and she was back to her normal little fishy self. even better than happy betsy coming back to me was her major potty training success (we've been planning to go back to training as soon as we landed here in japan, she's been ready for forever but it was complicated with all that transition) - in the middle of class she said she needed to go and go she did - the more complicated variety too, a first for her. i was so proud and we all went out for ice cream after swim class to celebrate. woo hoo! we are well on our way with the progress of #2 and two days in a row of waking up dry from naptime, its a big deal.
so back to venturing out. after betsy's nap, we loaded the kids up and off we went with no plan or destination in mind, other than perhaps finding food.  it was so refreshing to see what's happening out there but it also put in perspective how big iwakuni actually is; its quite the walk to get to the main downtown area. as we wandered down the road, the heat was getting to everyone and we decided we needed to save our adventuring for later once we own a car. our babies are just too little to be in the heat for that long. poor curtis was sweaty and sad so i found a perfect spot to nurse him, standing next to a wall behind a large street sign. momma's gotta do what she's gotta do. ;)
so the immediate area outside our base is definitely more small-town japan that what i experienced in the tokyo/yokosuka area. like the rest of the country, everything is built in and up and around everything else, tucked in smartly, making the most of the space and land available.  there are shops and houses and cemeteries all nestled in, shoulder to shoulder.  to be honest, my first impression was "oh, its a little run-down and rough looking"...but amongst some of the older, more weathered buildings there are some newer very nice homes as well. its an interesting mix.  the infrastructure of the roads and signage are very well maintained and everyone we passed was friendly enough, offering a smile and tolerating my attempts at japanese greetings "konnichiwa".  i peeked into a little market very close to the base entrance - definitely nothing fancy, yet everything she was selling looked like good quality, very reminiscent to what i'm used to seeing at our farmers market. i'm hoping to get to know the lady and ask her about her food...but i have a lot of practicing japanese before that will even be remotely a possibility.  a friend of mind is taking me to a local grocery store on sunday, so it will be interesting to check that out as well.  i need to find a better source of produce, the produce at the commissary is very small.
as i was saying, we kept walking, i was taking in all the details between refereeing the kids behavior, and they were all visibly falling apart as we got hotter and hungrier, so we made the call to head back to base instead of asking the kids to endure more walking without knowing where we'd end up for food. once we have a car, we have a map of lots of places to try - its just to far to walk with the babes along.  sure i was a little disappointed we didn't get to enjoy some local fare, but i appreciated the opportunity to glimpse our surrounding area and take it all in a bit.  being outside the walls of the gate inspired me even more to attempt to "master" the language while we're here - unlike tokyo area, there is not much "romanji" writing here so i am going to have to learn to read one of the three other writing styles, more likely a bit of all three (kanji, katakana and hirigana). i am thankful for my rosetta stone, but of course i feel like i am not learning it fast enough. there is a "survival japanese" class offered on base in september i'm hoping to find childcare for so i can attend. and i'll keep plugging away with ms. rosetta stone of course. so far my real life applications have been saying hello, goodbye and thank you to the lifeguards and bus drivers. but the kids are practicing those few words too and are always rewarded with a smile and a chuckle from the japanese folks they are speaking to.  the japanese ladies who bag groceries at the commissary are particularly smitten with betsy and her blue eyes (they pronounce her name "bet-e-sy".  next week i'm hoping to scope out some preschools for peter. they are currently on their summer break and resume classes in september. i think it will be great for him to get started now, although i had been debating if it would be too soon. after seeing how happy he was go to go "school" (childcare on base) the other day during our brief, i know he needs that time to be challenged and to be independent in the world. 

betsy and her "congratulations" ice cream

one of our few happy moments together - lately everyone has been pretty fussy and discombobulated. am hoping the move into our real house tomorrow will help balance everyone out a bit.

right outside the base gate

little market just outside base

thai place we are interested to try

curtis having his emergency snack break

cemetary

this gas station had a pit crew that took care of you when you pulled up - down the street there was a self-service option

this was a little disheartening to see outside one of the local establishments...i am sure i understand why its there, surely some young marines have not behaved well, not respected the space or the culture...makes me want to connect with some locals even more and show them how Americans can be, not the stereotyped drunks that many experience unfortunately.

many people have gardens in their back yards...this was one of the bigger ones we passed that wasn't fenced off

very interesting the way the houses fit around the roads and the roads fit around the houses - its hard to tell which was there first.

learning to read the important words. lol :)

busy on base

settling. unsettling. balancing. falling apart. scooping it all up and putting it back together again. that's sort of my current norm.  slowly, slowly we're searching for a rhythm but that's certainly upset a bit by our funny living conditions and lack of routine. every cell in my body is anxiously awaiting our move-in and delivery of household goods this friday! it will feel so. good. to be settled in, unpacked. it will enable us all to start getting a groove. setting a rhythm and finding our routine. its so important to small children, and i'm finding through all of the chaos and transition of the move that its also quite important to me.  living helter-skelter like this always has my nerves extra tense and leaves me feeling even less in control of life than what is to be expected with three littles. life lessons. practicing patience. i know. i'm learning and growing. but the excitement and anxious anticipation of moving in makes it hard to remember all those little yet important details.
baby curtis is having wierd nights, waking up every 20 minutes - 2 hours. i'm not sure if hes teething or he just knows that i'm there and will scoop him up the second he makes a peep in a desperate attempt to keep him from disturbing the other sleeping babes. its making it hard on momma to stay patient in the light of day when i'm awake most of the night with him, despite a 9 pm bedtime because every room of the house is occupied with sleeping kids, so what else is there to do?
we're finding there is so much to do on base, so many great programs and opportunities to take advantage of - which is a huge blessing, as we can ride the bus for free to all of them and it gets us out of our temporary housing. soon after breakfast the older kids get a bit hysterical, their bodies aching to get out of the house and move and stretch and scream with joy. we're getting out the door and taking advantage of what the base has to offer. swim lessons for the big kids every day at 9 this week and next. and today was peter's first dance class. its for 3-5 year olds and is not formal instruction, but rather geared toward becoming aware of body movement and moving with intention....and following instructions. :)  a new friend, erin, is the teacher and she did a great job managing the adorable little mob of maniacs. we were invited into the studio (aerobics room at the gym) at the end of the class to see what they worked on today.  it was clear peter enjoyed his time and was happy to be "required" to move and jump and wiggle. it was also clear that my presence was a huge distraction and it was hard for him to follow the teacher's guidance and reminders when i was in the room. honestly, it was just nice to see him happy and surrounded by other littles his age. wishing betsy were old enough to participate. soon enough, lady bug.  apparently they will be "performing" on stage at the summer music festival on base later this month. that will be a fun and interesting thing, for sure!
last night the squadron hosted a bowling night at the base bowling alley, again just a hop skip and jump around the corner from our temporary lodging. there's a little play room for kids off the lanes that the kids enjoyed for a bit before some (more) fast food (again...ugh). and then, they just couldn't keep their happy little hands off the bowling balls, all 10 pounds of them. they wanted to bowl, so reid got them some tiny shoes and manned that operation while i chatted with some of the wives. i must confess, i was so relieved to be meeting some new friends. i am missing the comfort and companionship of my san diego gals bigtime. but its fun to make new friends too, its such a long process to become close - but i'm sure being here, away from our "other" friends, living on the same street, seeing each other everywhere we go can only accelerate the process. horray.  it was also wonderful to connect and hear that there is a big need/demand for birth education and support. thank heavens, such a relief to hear...of course there are pregnant women here too.  i've also found out that there are more birthing options than i originally had been told. yes, some momma's choose to go far away to yokosuka to have their babies. but there is a local OB in iwakuni wit his own practice and i found out today there is also a local birth house in iwakuni - YES!!!! i am looking forward to getting off base to check them out before starting my first birth classes.  before i can start teaching, i have to get permission from base to operate a home business, so that's at the top of my to do list next week after we get moved in and unpacked (can i tell you how nice it is that already moms have offered to watch some or all of my kids during our moving day? so thankful).

my rosetta stone headset and my new cell phone - taking me awhile to get used to the phone, i have to remember to set it to letters and not japanese writing - but feeling grateful to be connected while on the go. those few days without a cell phone were really strange and unsettling.  how did we ever survive without these?

vending machine across the street from our TLF...there are so so so many vending machines in Japan. they serve hot and cold beverages and hot and cold food. incredible. and of course, japan has verry little theft or vandalism so they are actually lucrative.

the view of the clouds and mountains in the distance from my front door the other day - its nice to see clouds and weather patterns again - just a few raindrops from these.  am waiting anxiously to see the first real rainstorm (and hoping we get a car before that happens!)

daddy all dressed up fancy and ready to check into the squadron and meet the skipper.

local shrubbery, for my dad, who is interested in these sorts of things.

riding the bus across base to the gym. so thankful its air conditioned. just after this picture i realized there were seatbelts, so yes - we wear those when we ride.

fellow pilot at bowling night with baby on his hip

peter giving it a go

some of the VMFA 242 bowling night gang

betsy taking her turn

curtis helping daddy finish up the kids' game - their attention span lasted about two turns each

waiting at the bus stop before swim

here comes the bus!

joyful face as he runs across the floor - there was supposed to be some leaping in there, but he did manage to make a big jump at the end :)

"performing" their dance...so cute