McCartens' (Asian) Capitol Life

Hair With My Fingerprints On It

2010-06-21T05:27:00.003+09:00

I am honored when people ask me to do their hair. I have been doing this for 20 years and I still love it. I learn something new every day and I get to touch people, share their lives and make them look their best. Mike said he is resigned to the fact that wherever we go people ask me to do their hair. I hope they never stop asking.

This Man Interviewed Marina Oswald in 1963 (but not today)

2010-06-21T03:29:00.006+09:00

At the urging of his wife, whose battle cry has always been "experience before things" , Capt. Mike McCarten was the high bidder in a silent auction to benefit the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society. What caused him to circle that table for an hour? Being a guest at a live broadcast of Face The Nation from the control booth. We are Sunday news morning junkies; it's the only real news these days. Today's show focused on the oil spill. The guests were Sen.Barbara Boxer, Sen. Richard Shelby, Rep Joseph Goa and Sen. Bill Nelson. There was discussion about Rep. Joe Barton's apology to BP for the government shakedown of the company and then his apology for the apology. Bob Schieffer, the moderator, also commented on the head of BP's decision to sail in a yacht race this weekend.
Tim McCarten and Lisa Perez, our nephew and his wife, came with us.
Get out of my way at the Navy Marine Corps Ball next year, I'm bidding for this again and after all, my husband is in Afghanistan (a card I will use).

I Have Loved This Man for 30 Years

2010-05-02T00:05:00.004+09:00

And I got to see him for the first time last week. Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes gave a flawless concert at the Warner Theater. He did a reworked version of "I Write The Book" that had us all spellbound. Jessica Zamora, my co worker, her sister Juli and Mike came with me, Jessica and I were in heaven. Mike and Juli not so much.

The Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes

2010-05-02T00:01:00.002+09:00

We attended the 2010 Navy Marine Corps Relief Society Ball and danced all night.

2009-10-29T01:58:00.002+09:00

We are eating M&M's and dressing the dogs, that can only mean one thing, dementia.
Don't pass these photos around, I wouldn't want Poodle Rescue to see them and take the dogs back.

Drag Race

2009-10-29T01:51:00.004+09:00

My 1980's life flashed before my eyes last night at the High Heel Drag Race. I was lucky enough to have a great perch at Leah's apartment. And guess what? They were doing the Thriller dance, it took all my self restraint (like I have ever had any) not to join in, the only thing that stopped me was I lacked a fabulous dress.

Madame Secretary

2009-10-26T22:54:00.005+09:00

I am very sorry she is not Madame President. Ms. Rodham Clinton heard Mike McCarten was working in town and ran right across the street to say hello. I thought I might try, that day, in true Lucy and Ethel fashion, to impersonate someone who worked at BUMED but where do you put a woman of a certain age not in uniform when there is no cafeteria line?

Thrill the World

2009-10-26T22:35:00.005+09:00

In an attempt to break the world record for simultaneous dancing, a record currently held by 'The Hokey Pokey', I convinced Mike and Leah to join me at Joe's Movement Emporium to learn Michael Jackson's Thriller Dance. We had a few hours of lessons, then off to the makeup room if you wanted blood and guts and then at 8:30 we joined the rest of the world in doing the dance. What could be bad about this? It was free, we were dancing and meeting lots of new people. At the next family gathering we will teach it to all the McCartens. Stand by for THAT photo. In anticipation of my next visit you should go to www.thrilltheworld.org, watch the videos and learn the dance so we can get started right away.

Lucky Prepares to Meet His Maker

2009-10-26T22:26:00.003+09:00

I arranged for Lucky and Pepper to go to day care on the day our furniture arrived here in Old Town. It was a great place, they were among hundreds of dogs and placed in a room called 'the lounge' for older dogs. At the end of the day they came home with report cards. Pepper had reclined on the futon all day but I was happy to read that Lucky made a friend named Homer. Well, it seems Lucky may have picked up a little something life threatening from Homer. Lucky spent a restless night and when we woke to the morning light our room looked like a scene from 'The Shining', there was blood everywhere. Lucky spent a few days in the ICU and was diagnosed with Canine HGE which led to a cascade of things culminating in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He still isn't quite healthy but he's not trying to die anymore. In the midst of all this a local church had a blessing of the pets on the Feast Day of St. Francis Assisi so we put on our best leashes and hedged our bets.

PEPPER

2009-10-26T22:12:00.003+09:00

On our way out of Japan we got another dog. Pepper is an 11 year old Husky- Schnauzer mix ( Schnusky). We are her eighth owners, she has been passed around Camp Zama in Japan the way cars are passed from one family to another and never leave the military base. Her last family had her the longest, three years. For some reason could not get her on the flight back to the States with them so they had someone pick her up at the airport and take her to the shelter on the Yokosuka base. I was keeping tabs on her, no one was interested in adopting an 11 year old dog so they were going to give her a permanent home at a no kill shelter as a last resort. Mike and I took her on a trial basis and one day as we were walking her someone stopped us and said she was thinking of taking Pepper home for her children as they had left their dog behind in the States. Mike turned to me and said "lets go sign her adoption papers right now". As I write this I realize that's exactly the way he married me.
The major difference between Pepper and Lucky is that Pepper is a dog.

"She thinks a little like a Japanese person...."

2009-03-05T21:53:00.009+09:00

.....my hosts said to our Nakai-san at the Ryokan, nodding in my direction. That's because I bring gifts and thank people profusely. Mayummi-san, Chizuru-san, Motoyo-san and Chizuru-san's husband treated me to a night at a very nice Ryokan with an Onsen that is 100% volcanic water. We had our own Nakai-san (a hostes who wears a kimono) who served our 18 course kaiseki meal in our room and even though she finished with us at 9:00 PM she was back to wake us up at 8:00 AM to then serve our 5 course breakfast consisting of many kinds of fish, three soups and four kinds of pickles. In between all this food we soaked in the Onsen. After spending hours in showers and baths the night before I thought I would wait until I got home to shower again. I could see my friends were quietly horrified so I told them I would take a shower. "Oh no. Ka-chan. Take a shower just to get clean, then you must take a bath, the water is 100% onsen water and the tiles are special Izu tiles."

Answer: Sayuki of Asakusa

2009-02-10T22:16:00.004+09:00

Question: What do you get when you cross Margaret Meade with a geisha?
Sayuki is the first foreign geisha in Japan. I know I have always called myself the "Gai-jin Geisha" but I apparently have no rightful claim to the title. Sayuki is a British woman with an MBA from Oxford who studied in Japan off and on for 15 years. She is currently persuing a degree in Social Anthropology, that is the form of Anthropology where you have to live among your subject of study. So Sayuki applied to be the first foreign geisha and was accepted on account of the fact that she is fluent in Japanese, has lived within the culture and plays the flute. All Geisha must be experienced in some kind of performing art. Sayuki is not ready to give up the Geisha life, she is quite liking it and asks that we all be on the lookout for the book she is writing.

Winter 2008/2009

2009-02-09T07:36:00.004+09:00

I have been working almost full time in the hair salon here so the only trip I took this winter was to the States. I did my niece Allegra's hair for the Winter Ball. A near disaster, how could I know that Winter Ball hair is not like prom hair?
Mike and I hosted a Christmas party for the salon. On Christmas day we served dinner on the ship. Mike's apron says "Wash your damn hands". We hoped to do some good but I felt as though we were harassing people who just wanted to be left alone to eat lunch.

2008-11-06T15:55:00.001+09:00

Kindly Don't Panic The Horses

2008-11-02T08:40:00.004+09:00

Yabusame (horseback archery) is a Shinto ritual that dates back to 794. A mounted archer must hit three targets while galloping full speed. Yoritomo Minamoto the first (and my favorite) shogun of Kamakura made his warriors train in this ritual and they began performing the rite at the Hachimangu shrine in 1186. It was the proudest thing in a warrior's life to be selected as an archer in Yabusame. Mike and I had ringside seats as guests of JANAFA (Japanese American Naval Friendship Association)

Puppy Mill Rescue

2008-10-24T19:29:00.004+09:00

Poodle Rescue of New England has recently taken in 24 poodles from a puppy mill. Many of the rescues are blind, deaf, toothless and infected. The cost of veterinary care for each dog has been about $800. For the first time ever Poodle Rescue has had to put a freeze on medical care except for emergencies. Poodle Rescue is an all volunteer agency that gave us Lucky. The website is linked on this blog. If you can spare any amount of money or you can be a foster home for these poodles please contact them via the website.

1 Hoa Lo Street, Hanoi

2008-09-08T14:39:00.004+09:00

.............is one of the addresses that Evil uses. This street name is interesting; Hoa Lo means "Hell Hole" or "Fiery Furnace" in Vietnamese because it is the street where stoves were sold. I am sure I have never visited any of the other truly evil spots in the world because the feeling when you are in one is unmistakable.
The French built "Maison Centrale" in the 1880's during the French occupation of Indochina. It was used for political prisoners who were freedom fighters for Viet Nam, many were women and they were forced to bring their children into the jail with them. They were able to communicate with each other and it is said that this is where the Vietnamese communist party was born. Conditions are as bad as you are able to imagine. A well used guillotine is a centerpiece, prisoners were shackled to benches at an angle that force blood into their heads. Rooms are dark and narrow. But really, nothing I can write can describe the atmosphere of this evil, sinister place.
In 1964 the first American POW's were interred there, nicknamed it the "Hanoi Hilton" and that's when things got really bad. A woman missionary named Monika Schwinn was a prisoner and on display is a letter from her to Ho Chi Min asking to please release her cat from the prison and send it home. We were told that prisoners could hear the city noises right outside the prison, a brutal reminder that life went on. John McCain was shot down in a very small lake right in the middle of the city and brought to Maison Centrale. There is a statue of his capture at the site on which it occurred and we were told that the North Vietnamese erected this as a symbol of their victory.

They Won

2008-09-03T08:22:00.006+09:00

Our niece,Leah, accompanied me on a trip to Hanoi. We stepped off the plane and into a world that I would describe as 'third'. Water buffalo compete with trucks for space on the highway. Viet Nam is an agricultural society and people are cultivating rice everywhere. Hanoi is a crowded, noisy city. There are few traffic signals and even when they are present they are ignored by the tens of thousands of motor bikes. Crossing the street is an art we mastered. The French occupied Viet Nam for about 100 years and that is evident in the architecture and the food. We bought french bread on the highway.

4 Acres and Some Turkeys

2008-08-21T02:22:00.007+09:00

This is the house Mike owns, he has never seen it so if you talk to him tell him you think it is very nice. These are views of a bedroom, living room, the view from the front door and the dining room. I had the bedroom painted in 'Hyacinth'. When I took my brother's family to see it there was a family of turkeys in the yard

YMCA

2008-08-21T02:14:00.006+09:00

The past month was spent experiencing the glory of Maine in the summer.
Mel Stobbs turned 60 which means that a theme had to be identified by the Kittery Point gang so we could plan costumes . Since Mel likes home improvement projects the theme was 'Home Depot' and all the guests had to dress in orange. Maureen and I went to Home Depot to try to buy a Home Depot apron. We were told that they do not sell them because people would buy them and attempt to impersonate a Home Depot associate. Maureen and I win the incredulous award for keeping straight faces while the store manager told us this. I will leave it to you to guess why impersonating a Home Depot associate is not a good idea.

Mushi Atsui

2008-07-08T15:35:00.005+09:00

......Means hot and humid. For my first ever public musical performance it was hotter and more humid than I have ever experienced. This wasn't MY koto and the sun was beating down on us so I just looked at this block of wood and thought "I have no idea what to do with this". I regained some of my composure and played OK, not perfectly. I also crossed my legs, YIKES!
We had a Fourth of July party and here is a photo of Mike with Nozomi san's daughter Unity who loves ice cream and Lucky.

Oh, And One More Thing

2008-06-30T23:22:00.002+09:00

Last week Mike bought us this.
It comes with 4 acres on Gerrish Island in Kittery Point, Maine

I Got A Gig!!!!!

2008-06-30T23:10:00.003+09:00

My limited Japanese combined with my koto no sensei's (Koto teacher) limited English has brought me to this conclusion; on Sunday evening in Yokohama they are celebrating the 150th anniversary of something, my koto no sensei is giving a concert and she has asked me to play a duet with her. Of course, I could be delusional.

Mushimono?

2008-06-30T22:43:00.006+09:00

This week we attended a Kaiseki dinner hosted at the Tadodai House by the Admirals from the Japanese Maritime Defense force. This was a sobetsukai (farewell party) for Mike and Kathy Krentz. Kaiseki is a multi course meal of small dishes that is the ultimate in Japanese dining. The term "kaiseki" means hot stone in a kimono fold, the term "kai" means a fold in a kimono and "seki" means stone. Probably derived from Zen monks putting hot stones in their kimono next to their stomachs to allay hunger.
A typical Kaiseki meal:
"shiizakana" (appetizers served with Japanese sake)
"mukouzuke" (sashimi - slices of raw fish)
"kuchitori" (a small side dish)
"suimono" (a soup)
"nimono" (simmered vegetables)
"aemono" (food dressed with sauce)
"kounomono" (Japanese pickles)
"sunomono" (food marinated in vinegar)
"yakimono" (grilled fish)
"mushimono" (steamed food)
"nabemono" (Japanese hot pot)
rice
miso soup
dessert

Even more remarkable was the house; the Tadodai House was built in 1913 and was the official residence of the Japanese Imperial Navy (what is now the Yokosuka base was the largest JIN base). As I sat in the dining room across the table from the elegant Japanese Admirals it occurred to me that Pearl Harbor had most likely been discussed in this room, if I squinted my eyes I could pretend I was a fly on the wall in November 1941.
The first resident of the house was Vice Admiral Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito in 1913. Vice Admiral Hirata Noboru lived there from Oct 1941 until November 1942. From May 1945- August 1945 Vice Admiral Totsuka Michitaro lived there and then the next resident was Captain Benny Decker in 1946. I live at 6 Edwina Hill, Mrs. Decker was named Edwina and was pivotal in making this base a "little America" and forging a relationship with the Japanese community.

Genki

2008-06-27T05:33:00.003+09:00

A Sumo Stable is comparable to a monastery. Young men enter right after high school and renounce the modern world. A stable is run by a former Sumo wrestler and his wife, they become the young men's parents and consider themselves a family. In order to become a Sumo you must have a sponsor, you are not evaluated on your size or strength but on your spirit and mind. There are no weight classifications in Sumo and I was assured that size doesn't matter. Mike and I got to experience a little in the daily life of a Sumo. We went to a stable run by a man and his wife, they have nine wrestlers living there. Despite the sand ring on the first floor the house was immaculate. A Sumo cannot wear western clothes again until he retires, when out in public they wear kimono. Daily practice runs from 7-11 AM, then they eat a delicious stew called chunko nabe and many bowls of rice, they eat only twice a day and sleep right after eating. Young men want to be Sumo but their parents often object because of the unusual and demanding lifestyle. Lately there have been several foreign Sumo, from Mongolia and Bulgaria, this has Japanese Sumo fans concerned about the focus of the sport as Sumo is the National Japanese sport and is supposed to be more spiritual than athletic I think. Sumo retire in their early to mid thirties and go on to open chunko nabe restaurants or run their own stable.

Biwa

2008-06-14T13:03:00.004+09:00

That is the name of this instrument which is made of mulberry wood. This particular instrument has been handed down from teacher to student for 150 years. There are four kinds of Biwa, this is the 'blind monk' kind. The Biwa came to Japan from Persia along the silk road, it's a dying art. This sensei played some Santana on it to demonstrate how nicely it lends itself to modern music. Then a bunch of very proper middle aged Japanese women jumped up and yelled "Freebird". OK, maybe it was just, "Thank you most sincerely, national treasure- san".
After the performance I ate yet another meal that looked back at me.

Ga-jin Geisha

2008-06-11T19:56:00.004+09:00

Q: What's the difference between an Ikebana sensei and a 1960's Irish nun?
A: There isn't any.

I had my second Ikebana class today. I have read stories about how demanding these people are. I survived grade 4 with Mother Columba so I am thinking I can survive this. Today's lesson was about angles but most importantly creating and framing empty space.
This is my finished arrangement from today. Sensei said 'good for a second class' and she is encouraged by the fact that I am not afraid to prune. New students usually leave too many leaves on the Shin and Soe.
I had a Koto lesson tonight too. My koto teacher is delightful, she says I am sugoii!! A natural! Today we played duets and it was music to my ears.

Caption This

2008-06-05T11:47:00.004+09:00

Tired of the slow pace of Women's Liberation in Japan, Eeko- san decided to take matters into her own hands

This Poor Guy

2008-06-03T07:39:00.003+09:00

This weekend the Blue Ridge, Mike's office, had a Family Day Cruise. I took along my Japanese Gang. The photo of the ship with Mt. Fuji in the background was taken by one of the helicopters on the ship. My friends and I traveled by train to Shimizu, about three hours south of Tokyo where we spent the night. Mike met us for dinner and we had an authentic Japanese evening of food, sake and Karaoke. We sang Beatles, Elvis and Elton John songs. Painful.

Does This Taste Funny To You?

2008-06-03T07:33:00.005+09:00

Does anyone know what this fruit is? We got them in Borneo. I ate three of them, not because they tasted that good but because they were there.

Sarawak

2008-05-29T21:44:00.005+09:00

I saw an ad for a special on the National Geographic channel that went something like "join us as we follow an indigenous tribe in remote Sarawak, Borneo." Mike and I just took a taxi.
It is remote from Main St. USA and maybe I have gotten too accustomed to these exotic places but you know, if you can get there by taxi does it merit a National Geographic special? I am going to watch these programs with a jaded eye.
Walking along the rain forest canopy on these swinging bridges was fun, they were quite extensive. When we finally came down one of the tribesmen asked us if we had seen the area where a tree had fallen and taken out the bridge.

I Heard the Native Drums in Borneo

2008-05-24T16:16:00.002+09:00

....and then Jamie Oliver stepped out of the jungle. No kidding, he was a guest at the hotel I was at.
I paid 50 Ringit ($.20) to use this bathroom so I am going to step on the toilet if I want to. I should have taken a photo of the toilet and the hose running into it.
Don't get me wrong, Borneo isn't all overgrown, monkey infested jungle. I had a spa day at our hotel where I had my own cabana, a volcanic mud wrap, I bathed in coconut milk strewn with orchids and had a facial and massage. Maybe that's what Amelia Earhart has been doing all these years.
It is so humid in Borneo I couldn't take too many photos, my lens kept fogging up. I would have to convert to Islam just so I could keep my hair covered every time I left the house. Do you think that last statement will bring a fatwa down on me?

I'm Sorry Too

2008-05-24T15:58:00.002+09:00

I attended a luncheon the other day where a Japanese Admiral was the guest speaker. He was very candid about military matters that I won't go into here since this is a light hearted tale of this hairdresser's adventures. He did talk about the time he spent living in America and the things that confused him. They don't have checking accounts here in Japan so he wondered why people were writing notes to the check out clerks in grocery stores. And then someone asked him to 'car pool'..........
OK, so one potentially incendiary tale;
My Japanese friends came over for lunch the other day and after we sat down they said "Kathleen san our hearts are heavy, we are very sorry about Pearl Harbor" and I said "My heart is heavy too and I am sorry about Hiroshima". Isn't it nice that they brought it up?

Ground Zero

2008-03-24T16:51:00.003+09:00

A big part of Mike's job is planning for pandemic influenza. We saw this yesterday and he was talking in his sleep last night. Everyone in Asia wears masks when they have a cold, I read that it started during the SARS epidemic.

The Japanese Hang

2008-03-23T21:57:00.007+09:00

Japan has many seasons, one being Cherry Blossom and it's making an appearance. Mature, affluent women will tell you they like plum blossoms more because cherry blossoms are too showy. The close up photo is of a plum blossom. Today Mike and I did the true Japanese thing and went to Ueno Park to view cherry blossoms. The traditional way to do this is to lay out a blue tarp under a cherry tree, eat and get drunk on sake. We were non conformists and went to the National Museum which is on the Ueno Park grounds. Durning Sakura (cherry blossom) season they light red paper lanterns in Ueno Park from 5 until 8 PM.
We got to witness another Japanese tradition in the park today. On Sundays people dress up like Elvis and dance in public parks. Afterwards we had our Easter Dinner, sushi. It is against the law for women to be sushi chefs here, they say our hands are too warm to handle the fish while making the nigiri.

Freindship Through Flowers

2008-03-21T07:36:00.005+09:00

That's the Ikebana International motto. Yesterday I went to an II luncheon in Kamakura, our appetizer was little tiny fish with eyes eaten whole. We saw demonstrations from the various Ikebana schools. The day before yesterday (ototoi) I went to a luncheon where the speaker was the vice mayor of Yokosuka, she is a physician as well and graduated from Toyko University "The Harvard of Japan". What did she speak about??? Bread! I understand her not wanted to get into tricky political waters and it was her first speech in English. Well, it was a very diplomatic decision and she brought bread for us to take home so she was a success.

Try This

2008-03-07T08:34:00.000+09:00

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Kathleen Marra!

Kathleen Marra can be very poisonous if injected intravenously.
Half a cup of Kathleen Marra contains only seventeen calories.
Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by Kathleen Marra.
The Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter is made entirely of Kathleen Marra!
Scientists have discovered that Kathleen Marra can smell the presence of autism in children.
Kathleen Marraocracy is government by Kathleen Marra.
Bees visit over three million flowers to make a single kilogram of Kathleen Marra.
Owls cannot move their eyes, because their eyeballs are shaped like Kathleen Marra.
In the Great Seal of the United States the eagle grasps 13 arrows and Kathleen Marra!
Kathleen Marra will often rub up against people to lay her scent and mark her territory.

Life is What Happens While You're Making Other Plans

2008-03-02T15:47:00.003+09:00

Yoko Ono has established a museum for John Lennon in Saitama, just past Tokyo. It is really a very well done museum with various rooms depicting different aspects of John's life. Mike and I spent two hours there recently. Yoko says John was just a pop star but once he met her he became an artist.

Basket Weaving 101

2008-02-21T21:21:00.006+09:00

This morning I was walking down a Kamakura street that was built in 1163 just as the stalls were putting up their shutters to sell all kinds of Japanese food and laquerware. It was magical. I was on my way to the Hachimangu, a shinto temple, where I prayed and took a basket weaving class. It doesn't get better than this.

Sapporo Snow Festival!

2008-02-14T08:47:00.001+09:00

Snow Festival

2008-02-14T08:10:00.002+09:00

Kathleen and Ricardo arrived in Japan's first snow storm in 15 years, all the highways were closed. I will spare you the nail biting details, we managed. We went to see the "elusive Mt. Fuji", which was true to it's name, and Hakone.
The Sapporo Snow Festival was fun but the highlight ws a small town called Otaru, it was an alpine village in northern Japan. Kathleen and Ricardo blew glass there.
Just so you know she really is famous, Kathleen ran into someone she knew here in Japan.

Save The Cheerleader, Save The World

2008-01-15T22:58:00.000+09:00

Mike has been wanting something that is heavier than socks but thinner than slippers to wear on planes. He spotted these felted clogs in a shop that cost $60. "I can make those!". I ordered the pattern from Fiber Trends, you knit them so they are about five times the desired size and then felt them in the washing machine. I made them in two evenings for $20 and here they are.
Kathy Krentz has been telling me for months that I should watch "Heroes", last week I caught a cold and rented the first two discs to see me through the sniffles, right now I think I am faking sick so I can stay in and watch all the episodes. I am at disc 7 and have only one more to go then withdrawal sets in. I love Hiro.

Ni how ma?

2008-01-03T15:15:00.000+09:00

In 1971 on the Bay View- Greenville bus Carolyn Vacca taught us all how to say how are you in Chinese. 36 years later it came in handy. We spent the past two weeks eating everything Taiwan had to cook. Well, we skipped the snake. Here is our tour guide, Danny Mak's, version of recent Taiwan history.
From the mid 19th century until 1945 Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese, then two things happened almost at once, we bombed Japan and Mao defeated Chiang Kai Shek in China. The Taiwanese optimism at the prospect of being given to the US was short lived when we let Chiang take over, in 1945 he established martial law that lasted until his death in the late 1970's. He didn't act like someone who had just lost a war, he believed himself to be the leader of China and fully expected to return in glory. On his way out he managed to take quite a lot of art and historical items with him. So many that the massive exhibit at the Taiwan National Museum changes every three months so most of the objects can be seen. This was a good thing because so much of China's history and art was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.
With Chiang, one million Chinese came to Taiwan to join the 21 million that had been there for 4 or 5 generations and the aboriginal people. From that diaspora many later moved to the US, it was with their children and grandchildren we took our tour. Jimmy Kao on our tour with his family called it the "Chinese Roots" tour. Mike and I were the only westerners.
To be continued............

Formosa

2007-12-23T08:27:00.000+09:00

With little time and an adventuring spirit Mike and I have decided to go to Taiwan for Christmas. It's a three hour flight from here. We are taking a tour of the entire island before (Mike hopes) the Chinese blow it to smithereens or worse. I have heard Taiwan described as what China might be like without Mao's dictatorship. Taiwan is supposed to have some of the best food in the world. More later.

An Island Paradise

2007-12-16T20:18:00.000+09:00

Upon arrival, I wanted to get out of Saipan as fast as possible. We were the only Westerners in the airport and the only people at the US Passport desk so we sailed right through into your typical American welfare state. Garapan, the main town, is full of poker and massage parlors, once I got past that I saw that Saipan must have been your textbook version of paradise. Saipan was an island where tarro, bannanas, sugar cane and all kinds of fruit grew wild, the coral reef is full of delicious fish, there are no bugs, no poison anything and the weather is temperate year round. Then Magellan showed up after 109 days at sea and the Saipanese ran out of luck. He killed 8 people and burned 40 houses because he thought they were stealing from him. Then Germany, Japan and America used the island for their own purposes and now there are no crops. The Japanese exported the sugar cane then the US paved the entire island in concrete for runways in WWII. They have not had to repair one road in 60 years the Army Corps of Engineers did such a great job. The Enola Gay took off from Saipan to drop the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima, when the Emperor of Japan wanted to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the bomb he did not go to Hiroshima to pray but rather to Saipan.
This photo is of Suicide Cliff, the Japanese wanted to commit suicide rather than submit to the Americans and convinced thousands of Saipanese that life would be hell under American rule so they should also commit suicide. Over 5,000 people walked off this cliff, many holding their children. A Japanese man who survived the fall was rescued by an American Soldier and said that from his vantage point at the back of the line it looked like people going down an escalator.

This is Fun, Try it

2007-12-16T20:15:00.000+09:00

These People Can EAT (But what are they eating????)

2007-11-28T21:30:00.001+09:00

A tea box awaited us in our room at Shimoda which is an area famous for it's tea growing. I have posted pictures of that box along with photos of our dinner. Shimoda is also famous for Ume, pickled plums, I usually enjoy them. Shimoda plums are about $3.00 each and very sour even though honey is added to the brine. Chizuru san thought I should show you some before and after photos. At dinner we had something like lemonade but made with very small mikan or tangerines, it was delicious. When we were returning to our room Chizuru said she hoped the futon boy had come and indeed he had. The last photo is what we ate for breakfast, you are correct in thinking it is staring back at you.
On one of our yukatta clad excursions from the onsen to our room we heard Karaoke coming from the bar. Motoyo told me that Karaoke means literally, "only orchestra"; "Kara" means only and "Oke" is shortened from Orchestra.

Once Upon a Time an Alcoholic Hairdresser Lived in Japan

2007-11-28T19:05:00.000+09:00

Maybe two.
For our one year anniversary my Japanese friends took me to a hotel in Shimoda. When you stay at a Japanese hotel that has an onsen (hot spring) you stay in a room that seems nearly empty, they provide you with a yukatta, a cotton robe, which you put on and wear for your entire stay. That's right, everyone eats, sleeps and walks around in their robes when they are not naked in very hot water. If you have a tattoo you cannot go into a public swimming pool or an onsen. That is because the Japanese Mafia,Yakuza, (http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/1.html) wear tattoos and the ban on tattoos is to keep public baths free of crime.
So anyway, the first consul from the US to Japan, Harris, came to Shimoda (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501021111-386980,00.html) and was given a Geisha, O Kichi-san.
O Kichi was an uncommonly beautiful girl whose family sent her away to be a Geisha, she had a childhood friend with whom she later fell in love and was betrothed but then Harris (portrayed by John Wayne in the movie version; The Barbarian and The Geisha http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/3913/The-Barbarian-and-the-Geisha/overview) saw her asked for her as part of his deal with Japan so she left her true love for the good of Japan and started to drink to deal with her sorrow. Harris went back to the US, her former love wanted nothing to do with her so she opened a hair salon. She drank heavily. lost the salon, opened a brothel, drank more, lost that and drowned herself at the age of 51. It sounded a lot like Madame Butterfly but when I googled Madame Butterfly the story on which it was based was written before O Kichi- san's death. Today I visited her house and her grave and saw the actual palanquin upon which she was carried to Harris. There was this really drunk guy praying at her grave so I think maybe she is the unofficial Shinto patron saint of drunks.

Kawaii (cute) Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T21:26:00.000+09:00

Our most recent Thanksgiving adventures have taken place in Reykjavik, Vienna and Japan.
As I write this our Thanksgiving has just ended and yours has not yet started. I hope yours is as much fun as ours was. I doubt you can even come close unless you have three fun Japanese women, an overwhelmed Japanese man who may be one of those competitive eaters and Capt. Mike McCarten at the head of your table. When dinner was over Ryoko san said "Wait a minute, isn't there a wishbone?" Our guests had read about Thanksgiving and had only seen Turkeys on TV. Maiko san won the wishbone pull and said we all know she wished for a husband.

Maiko Wants a Husband

2007-11-20T12:31:00.000+09:00

Maiko is one of my co workers, she is smart and very funny. She really wants to get married and said she was recently told that you should not tell a man you are dating that you want to get married. She figures maybe that's what she was doing wrong. She has lived in Vancouver, Brooklyn and Harlem. In Harlem she lived with a few members of a women's professional football team and wondered why no men were invited to their parties.
I invited Maiko to Thanksgiving here and she happily accepted and asked if she could bring a friend. She called to tell me she is bringing six people, maybe more, like here entire English as a Second Language class. Not to worry she said, they will employ the Amrican tradition of "pot luck".
If you know any great guy who may want eventual matrimony please forward this to them.

Yarn and Chocolate

2007-11-10T14:20:00.000+09:00

In the past three years Mike has gained a wife, a dog and this sweater that I just finished knitting in a merino/ silk combination yarn. He may have also gained a pound or two because of this fudge recipe. Try it and you will agree, it calls your name before breakfast.

1 1/2 packages of chocolate chips (3 cups)
1 can of low fat condensed milk (it's a medium size, about 14 oz)
Melt together over low heat until smooth add nuts if you like. Pour into an 8 or 9 inch pan covered in wax paper. Chill. How easy is that?

One Year

2007-11-02T07:45:00.001+09:00

My Japanese friends told me that yesterday was our one year aniiversary so they took me out to lunch and at the end of the month they are taking me to a fancy hotel in a hot spring area. Women are so much better at these kinds of things than men are. A: They remembered our anniversary (OK ,I didn't). B: They fed me. C: A fancy hotel.
We had the "lady's lunch special" at a crab restaurant, with the exception of the salad everything on the tray was crab. On the dessert tray everything except the kiwi was grape. The grapes here are amazing or as Katie McCarten said. "they taste like grape!".

Ladybug

2007-10-25T09:25:00.000+09:00

This morning I found this lovely bug in my garden so I captured it. This is our neighbor Maura who loves Lucky in the way only a two year old can.

しらけ (Shirase)

2007-10-22T19:51:00.000+09:00

I belong to the Japanese American Wive's Group. The only word from that sentence I ever thought might apply to me was "American". Another member of the group is the Japanese wife of the Commanding Officer of the Shirase, the only Japanese Ice Breaking research vessel. The ship leaves Japan every November, travels over 20,000 miles to the Shoya base in Antartica, drops off 30 scientists who will stay there for one year and picks up last year's group. They return to Japan in April. The staff told us that the ride is so rough the scientists meet the ship in Australia. So all this woman had to do was say "can I bring a few friends over?" and presto, 70 of us were treated to lunch, tours and goody bags. The senior engineering officer asked for a volunteer to press the emergency panice button, someone did and alarms and lights went off. He thought that was a riot.

Wouldn't My Mother Be Surprised

2007-10-21T13:24:00.000+09:00

I was going to title this post: "My Mother's Worst Nightmare" but Mike suggested I use the above title instead. My mother was a teenager during WWII; she bought all the slogans and sold war bonds,her social life revolved around the USO and newsreels. Her friends and relatives went overseas to fight. After December 7th she was afraid there was a chance a kamakaze pilot would target 110 Huron St. because that's what she was told in the Fireside Chats. She told me often not to trust the Japanese and don't forget that "loose lips sink ships". I love Japan and the Japanese but my mother's 60 year old history comes with me. So on a day like today when the base is open to Japanese residents in the form of a Mikoshi Festival I think about my mother's experience and I am grateful we share our cultures in a peaceful manner.
I took this photo of the Kitty Hawk underway from the deck of the Blue Ridge this morning.

Hanna to Hiru Gohan (Flowers and Lunch)

2007-10-19T16:47:00.000+09:00

A kind, childless woman, the headmistress of an Ikebana school , never married and has no one to leave the school to. She adopts a lovely young woman, teaches her all she knows and sends her to Tokyo University, the Harvard of Japan. In addition to being my youthful fantasy this was a reality for Toko Adachi. She was the daughter of a Zen master and went to live with the Ikebana Headmistress when she was 10 years old. Her adoptive mother died last year and she is now the Ikebana Headmistress. She demonstrated at our Ikebana International luncheon at the Kamakura Park Hotel. My friend Kathy and I have officially eaten more meals together this year than Mike and I have. By the way, it's Kathy and Mike Krentz, we sat with Kathy of Kathy and Mike TI (they made up their names when they emigrated from Taiwan).
So anyway, here is a picture of my frequent dining companion with her favorite accessory.
I have included a picture of my student Keiko in her kimono. Because the chances of Keiko reading this are slim I will tell you that she is over 60 years old. Japanese women don't age and don't get fat. I think that's proof that God is Japanese.....and a woman.

When we first moved here we tried to guess what these lines in the street were for. Our best guess was some kind of dividng line for bicycles and pedestrians. Last night on our way to sushi Mike said "What are these lines for again?" I told him that Kathy Krentz told me they are for the blind and then I googled them.

These blocks are called 視覚障害者誘導用ブロック (shikaku shōgaisha yūdōyo block) "guidance blocks for visually impaired". They are ubiquitous. We have seen them imprinted on tee shirts.

We have been watching the playoffs live while we eat breakfast (and lunch yesterday). Tonight we take seppuku lessons, which is a good skill to have if the Red Sox are your team.

What if I AM Too Old for Any of the Questions?

2007-10-12T22:25:00.000+09:00

You Are a Henna Gaijin!

You're not Japanese, but you wish you were!
You can use chopsticks with your eyes closed, and you've memorized hundreds of Kanji.
You even answer your phone "moshi moshi."
While the number of anime videos you've seen is way higher than the number of dates you've been on, there's hope.
Play the sexy, mysterous gaijin, and you'll have plenty of Japanese meat.

What's Your Japanese Subculture?

We Are Here Because We Love You

2007-10-08T18:27:00.000+09:00

I am waiting for the day when I walk into my home and everyone I know is sitting in a circle in my living room holding a script. At the front of the circle will be a person I have never met whose job title is "facilitator". So maybe Japan is a bit far for you all to come to stage a knitting intervention,
Mike leaves a trail of papers wherever he is that I used to think was enormous. HA! I have been sitting in that pile of yarn for two days, watching "The Soprano's" season five. By the time Janice tried to kill Tony at Sunday dinner I had made this baby sweater for people I barely know.

This About Says it All!

2007-10-05T22:24:00.001+09:00

Your Power Element is Fire

Your power color: red

Your energy: hot

Your season: spring

Like a fire, you are full of power and light.
A born leader, you easily draw people toward you.
You are full of courage and usually up for anything dangerous.
You have a huge ego and love to be the center of attention.

What's Your Power Element?

Just When I Thought I was Out They Pulled Me Back In

2007-09-27T12:29:00.001+09:00

Last night we had sausage and peppers for dinner, the night before we had chicken parmesan. Mike has started calling me Carm (well I know it's not calm).
I start working in the salon four days a week tomorrow which means my torrent of Italian American stereotypes will be reduced to a trickle.
Yesterday was the 21st anniversary of my first day sober. That's when I started to feel like anything is possible but even then I don't think I could have hoped for the life I have now.
Pictured is the first finished Pomatomus Sock I knitted for Leah Rosales ( I hope she doesn't notice the gravy smell.)
I have to go, Christopher got shot and he is in intensive care.

It's All Gravy*

2007-09-25T14:25:00.000+09:00

Which Sopranos Mobster are you?

Tony Soprano

"The one who calls the shots"

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

I had to go to the mattresses. I need to re-enter Navy and Japanese life slowly so I have given myself one week to get back to normal routines here. Today is my last day and I decided to do whatever I want. That means 18 hours of "Sopranos" videos. I have only seen one or two episodes in the past. I started behaving like Carmella after watching the third episode of season one. Mike came home for lunch, I heated up some pasta for him and am planning a nice tray of baked ziti for dinner. There is not a better way for a homesick Italian woman from Providence to cope with life amongst millions of Japanese people and a few thousand military. I have to go now, the indictments are coming down.

* Gravy: if you are Italian and from Providence that is what you call tomato sauce. "Brown gravy" goes on meat.

Nothing Says Lovin' Like..........

2007-09-23T15:13:00.001+09:00

As we sat down to dinner Mike said, while taking a forkful of sausage with fennel and apples, "this is why I really missed you". The longer we are married the better he is at realizing what should be thought vs. what should be spoken, a quarter of a second later he said, "because we have dinner as a family". I like to cook and I do it because I love that Mike enjoys my cooking. I spent the rest of the evening wondering why I was so upset that Mike said he missed my cooking. Maybe because what I heard was, " I only missed you for your food". I am not upset anymore. I get it. Honest.
Tonight we are having guests and the salad is Cantaloupe, mint and jalepeno peppers dressed with orange juice and lime.

What Day Is It?

2007-09-22T07:40:00.000+09:00

This morning as I was ironing and listening to knitting podcasts (don't knock it, it's my life) I thought "I am finally starting to feel like myself", the clock said 3:30AM and I knew it wasn't over yet. This re entry has been particulary difficult and I wonder if the Ambien had anything to do with it (remember when George Bush Sr threw up right here in Japan and blamed it on Ambien)? I had two Ambien, I took one in RI to test my reaction in case I came to in the middle of the night eating a jelly donught and directing traffic in my nightgown. I figured the name McCarten is respected enough in Narragansett so that I could eventually get released on my own recognisance. The Ambien did nothing, I didn't even sleep well. So I took the second on the flight from San Francisco to Japan. It was like those Sci- Fi stories where they put the astronauts to sleep for 30 years and they wake up on Mars.
For those of you who have asked, here is a picture of Charlie Drago taken at the Clambake to celebrate Tim and Lisa's engagememt.
Getting on the scale after two months away was alarming. Clam Cakes are the reason. RI is the only place on Earth with clam cakes. I know, I have looked and tried any facsimile. Key West's Conc Fritters are a distant second. Maine has something called clam cakes that resemble crab cakes. Not good.

R. I. CLAM CAKES
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. fresh chives or parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1 small can minced clams
1/2 c. clam broth or liquid
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
Drain clams well, reserving 1/2 cup of clam broth liquid. Combine all ingredients. Drop by tablespoonfuls into medium hot oil in a deep fryer or deep, heavy skillet. Don't let them touch the bottom
Oil that is too hot or cakes which are too large will cause burning or uncooked centers. Adjust temperature up or down slightly to compensate. A good starting temperature is 360 degrees.

The clam cakes will float; turn them over gently as they rise to fully cook both sides. Do not overload the cooker, as this will reduce heat too much. Fry only a few at a time. Serve hot. We eat them with clam chowder

Maureen's Birthday Party

2007-09-19T09:27:00.000+09:00

I'm Back!

2007-09-19T09:24:00.000+09:00

During the one month, three weeks and three days spent in the US I have forgotten most of my Japanese and just how gruelling the flight to Japan is. I rememebered how much I love Maine, R.I., clamcakes and my friends and family.
Maureen had a significant birthday celebrated under a tent in her back yard.

We All Live in a Yellow Submarine

2007-08-14T06:59:00.000+09:00

On July 27th we celebrated Mike Marra's 80th birthday with his girlfriend, Doris and some of their friends at McCarten's beach house. It was a lovely day.
Mike, Allegra, Angelina and I went to Las Vegas to see Cirque de Soliel's LOVE. If you ever get within travel distance of a Cirque de Soliel go. Mike might say that the highlight of his trip was going on this roller coaster at New York New York.
I am in the States and amazed still every time people speak to me in English.

Happy Birthday Lucky

2007-07-21T10:57:00.001+09:00

Lucky began his life with a family in Connecticut who "lost interest" in him after 22 months and dropped him off at a dog pound on their way out of town for vacation. Poodle Rescue of New England was contacted and I got lucky. In the ensuing six years he has worked in a hair salon, frolicked in the lava fields of Iceland, chased Ptarmigan, and been told daily by hundreds of Japanese school girls that he is "kawai".

I Found Nemo

2007-07-15T17:30:00.000+09:00

We went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. I have no words to describe it and nothing to compare it to. It is a colorful, busy place that bears no relation to anything above a tropical sea. Mike and I were so intent on what we were seeing that we didn't realize we were chilled until we started shivering in our wet suits. You need to see it before you die. Yes, you.

Give Me a Home Among the Gum Trees

2007-07-14T09:01:00.001+09:00

We traveled 4 hours inland by bus from Cairns to Undara in the Outback. Luckily for us Rollie, the bus driver, knew everything about everything. ( sarcasm) After seeing about a thousand of them, I pointed to these huge mounds and asked "what are those things"? The answer was termite mounds; two words. I got a discourse on the 3,542 species of termites, 356 of which are found in Australia, they are blind, albino and can smell wood. We learned about his friend Richard who tried to sell his house which, on inspection, was about to fall down because of termites. He was unaware of this due to the fact that since they cannot tolerate sunlight they stop eating short of going through a wall. In the photo Mike is standing next to termite mounds, which are made of termite spit and sand.
At Undara we slept in a tent under the Southern Cross, sang Australian songs around a campfire and listened to the dingos howling while we slept. We had breakfast cooked over a campfire, including damper and billy boil .Billy tea is made by boiling the water in a billy, adding the tea immediately after removing the billy from the fire, and allowing the tea to draw for a time. Then we hiked through the lava tubes.

Australian Damper Bread

This is a traditional bread baked in the coals of an open fire or in a Dutch Oven (huge lidded cast iron pot) but nowadays it's baked it in a normal oven.
Ingredients
4 cups self-raising flour
3/4 - 1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
Method

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and mix in the sugar.
Rub in the butter with your (clean) hands until a fine breadcrumb texture is achieved.
For a well in the top of the flour, pour in the milk and water, and mix well with a knife until the dough come clean from the sides of the bowl.
Turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and silky, like a baby's bottom.
Shape into a mounded loaf, (some people cut a deep cross in the top) and bake in a preheated oven, 200 c / 400 F, for 25 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 180 c / 375 f and cook a further 10 - 15 minutes until done. The loaf should be a light golden brown colour and sound hollow when tapped.
If you are "game" try cooking it on a camp fire; nothing beats that extra smoky flavour, especially using Australian Eucalyptus wood to give it that special something. If you are cooking in an oven at home, try putting a few Gum Leaves in the over to smoke as your are cooking the bread.
Damper is very similar to Irish Soda Bread, and probably developed from recipes brought over by Irish immigrants/convicts.

Variations of the basic recipe are seemingly endless, but you could try substituting other liquids, such as beer for a darker colour/flavour, or varying the ratio of milk to water, and so on. Try adding more sugar and butter and some dried fruits for a dessert damper. Basically use your imagination.

So, You're a Cannibal..........

2007-07-12T23:29:00.000+09:00

I read about an Aboriginal owned business that enacts Aboriginal history and dance, they also cook what was described as Aboriginal bush food. Guess what? According to these Aborigines they ate Japanese food and corn on the cob. According to all the Australians the Aborigines ate people, they preferred Chinese people because they thought white men were too salty. I must have heard fifteen stories about Aboriginal cannibalism, if you want the gory details, google it.
Anyway, the evening was embarrasing. Remember when Gene Wilder dressed Peter Boyle up in a tux and had him sing "Puttin on the Ritz" in Young Frankenstein? It was just like that. They sang "Proud to Be an Aborigine" while they did the can-can. I would have preferred they boiled an audience member.

2007-06-30T00:52:00.001+09:00

Youze are 94% Rho Duylanda

Wikked Smot, did ya graduate from You-Ahh-Eye? Not for nuthin but why dont you treat yourself to a nice suppa on "The Hill"

How much do youse know about Rho Dyelun?
See All Our Quizzes

2007-06-28T12:45:00.001+09:00

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"So, you're a cannibal."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?

I'm Not Surprised

2007-06-28T09:47:00.000+09:00

Get Sorted By The Hogwarts Sorting Hat!

All I Want is a Room Somewhere...........

2007-06-26T10:31:00.000+09:00

My Fair Lady was my favorite album for about 4 years sometime in the 60's. I still know every word to every song. But I digress. Here is where you will find me for the next few days. Yesterday's move took 13 hours. I want pity.

Up and Away

2007-06-24T17:03:00.000+09:00

We are trading the clear view of Tokyo Bay for a more obstructed one but still pleasant. Tomorrow I am moving on base to a much bigger house with a yard for Lucky. We asked for the house on the hill. I feel we will have the bonus of a good leg workout every time we come home and we are far away from everyone else.

Company Outing

2007-06-24T16:57:00.000+09:00

Mop Heads East had a going away brunch for Tressa this morning. This is our entire staff ( I know she looks young but good shampoo girls are hard to come by). I think we are a great group and work well together. They may say something else but not to my face.

Dog Day Afternoon

2007-06-18T18:51:00.000+09:00

There are a few things that bring Lucky's masculinity into question; he worked in a hair salon, he is very attached to his mother and he and Tony Bennett were found in some, shall we say, odd circumstances. Not to mention that operation he had in 2001. So you can imagine my delight at his reaction yesterday when I introduced him to Mikki chan a very cute little Hawaiian girl. He did play hard to get but then when that shifty eyed dachshund showed up Lucky chased him right out of their play house.
Mike would be proud.

But Do They LIKE Us?

2007-06-12T19:46:00.000+09:00

FDR felt the American people needed reassurance that the billion dollars appropriated for the "Manhattan Project" was a good investment so he decided America would drop the Atomic bomb on somebody. Germany was eliminated as a target because he felt Germans could figure out the technology and use it against us so....Japan. Four cities were nominated as targets, Hiroshima was not in the initial four, Kyoto and Yokohama were.
Hiroshima was a major military instillation. The city was preparing for air strikes and mobilized junior high school students to dismantle the homes around the munitions area, they were afraid of fires blowing up the ammunition. So on August 6, 1945 there were thousands of 10-14 year olds at ground zero. The stories are gut wrenching and I will not force you to read them. However most of these burned, radiated children found their way home to die the next day. Everything at the memorial speaks of the unquenchable thirst the victims experienced and there is a fountain flowing "for the thirst of the victims".
While Katie and I toured around there was a funk band playing on the grounds of the memorial at ground zero. The song we heard was "Sesame Street". At first I was annoyed and felt that they disturbed the solemnity of the park. Then I realized that IS Hiroshima today. Hiroshima is a bright, vibrant alive city that speaks continuously of peace. They are very proud of their major league baseball team, the Hiroshima Carp. The specialty food there is Okonomyake. One chef I encountered in Hiroshima seemed to tolerate me because he had to.

Dim Sum

2007-06-09T12:24:00.000+09:00

Yesterday we went to Chinatown in Yokohama. Chinese chefs coming to work in Yokohama's Chinatown have to go through a "retraining" program because Japanese people only like Japanese style Chinese food. My Japanese friends add mustard and vinegar to all Chinese dishes.

Aoi to Shiroi (Blue and White)

2007-06-06T19:53:00.000+09:00

Shards of blue and white pottery wash up on the beaches in Zushi and Kamakura. This has been attributed to people in China throwing their dishes into the ocean, ancient ships using pottery for ballast and..... fill in the blank with your own ideas. I am enchanted by this magical blue and white treasure that occurs only on these beaches. Lucky and I comb the beach at least once a week and today Katie proved to be a skilled hunter. She also touched the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

They Almost Missed the Bus

2007-06-03T14:19:00.000+09:00

Tokyo seems to have survived the onslaught of the Hylton/McCarten women. Trisha celebrated her quarter century with a six course dinner in a private dining room at a Tokyo hotel. Lauren got a two hour haircut from an attentive Harajuku boy and Kathleen got to know three remarkable and special women. We saw a performance by a 16 year old Maiko (Geisha in training), trawled the Tsukiji fish market, were reprimanded for sushi eating practices by a stern chef, learned the Tokyo Metro by heart and got photographed with sumo wrestlers. Despite all this I am sure that what Mel will remember most is "we almost missed the bus to the airport"

Karma

2007-05-27T22:33:00.000+09:00

After visiting the Aquarium at Enoshima we ate sushi.

Tea Ceremony in a Bamboo Forest

2007-05-27T22:07:00.000+09:00

We were overwhelmed by brunch at the Officer's Club then boarded two trains and a bus for the Hokukuji Temple which is in a bamboo forest. This was the site of a battle between the samurai and the Prince, the samurai were trapped in caves by the Princes' men and committed sepukku, you see their graves in the photo.

Day One

2007-05-26T20:50:00.000+09:00

Mary Ellen, Trisha, Lauren and Katie have arrived! After a harrowing drive in the rain from Narita we made it safely back to our home on the bay. Today we went to Kamakura and saw a Shinto wedding........

Lucky isn't on the Roof

2007-05-24T18:13:00.000+09:00

Tonight I put Lucky's dinner down and he didn't come. Maybe you have to be a pet owner to know how ominous that is. When I went to look for him he was lying on the floor unable to get up, or even sit up. I got a piece of cheese to test just how profoundly out of it he was and he looked helplessly at me but couldn't move. He had a few vaccinations an hour before and Mary Ellen's dog just died after being vaccinated so I was doubly worried. It was five minutes after the vet had closed. There are emergency veterinarians here but you have to bring an interpreter and you need to take a train which requires a dog carry bag. I had neither and my dog was limp and breathing funny. When you don't speak the language it takes hours or even days to do what should take minutes, like ask directions, or make an appointment to have your car inspected. I can say my stomach, head, throat, ear or eye hurts in Japanese but I can't say my dog just got vaccinated and passed out and he's breathing funny. So I rushed to the base vet who is Japanese, he was closed but still there, he saw Lucky and said he would stay a few extra hours and put Lucky in a cage and do vitals and if he was strong enough give him some kind of adrenaline. Come back in two hours. So for two hours I wondered should I tell Mike in and e mail that his dog had died or just work up to it as in "Lucky is on the roof". When I went back to get Lucky he was in the Vet's office on a blanket with a bowl of water next to him. The vet said he came to and started barking so he took him for a walk. Dr Shinjo opened his car door to put something inside, Lucky jumped in and when he tried to get him out he bit him. He scraped the skin but didn't break it.
The picture is of my coworker Maiko-san. When I went to work this morning I told her I liked her shirt. She said "What does it say?" I told her and she said what does that mean? I made a face to illustrate attitude and I think she got it

Ahoy

2007-05-23T10:50:00.000+09:00

Mike's office will be his home as well for the next four months. He left today at 10:00. I will next see him in Brisbane in early July.
Mary Ellen Kiely, her two daughters,Trisha and Lauren and Katie McCarten are selflessly rushing to Japan to keep me occupied during this difficult time. OK, so he's been gone for an hour and I have rearranged the apartment (they call them 'Mansions' here) and am making reservations on the Shinkansen to Kyoto.
Lucky is morose. If he wasn't so attatched to Mike's "Fraser's father's chair", I would be nudging it off the balcony on group resource recovery (big trash) day .

おてあり

2007-05-19T14:55:00.000+09:00

Every American living in Japan will report about the toilets at some point and finish that sentence with "I want one when I get back to the States". Madonna said that in an article recently.
Toto, the manufacturer, just recalled a model because it was catching fire. Toilet seats are heated, you set the temperature.The toilets here all have two kinds of built in bidets too. As the water refills the tank after you flush it comes out of a faucet into a sink so you don't waste that clean water but use it to wash your hands. Toilets are never in the same rooms as bathtubs. Half our house is bathroom. There are Japanese toilets that are porcelain holes in the ground. I hate them.
The shower and tub are in a sealed, waterproof room, there is no shower stall and the shower is never in the tub. You don't wash in the tub ever, no soap is allowed in it because of sensitive heaters enclosed in it. You wash vigorously first and then get into the deep tub to relax, Japanese families fill the tub once a night and the whole family takes turns.

Another Day Another Luncheon

2007-05-17T20:19:00.000+09:00

It poured. I got motion sick. My hands are blue. I ripped my creation. For $75.00 Mike got a handkerchief that will turn his nose blue. I rinsed the scarf and handkerchief I made in my washing machine and IT turned blue. Here's a picture of lunch.
Bridget, Kathy and Diana made my day.

The Streets Of Yokosuka

2007-05-14T16:43:00.000+09:00

Today, for the first time, as I was walking along a Japanese street a Japanese person called out to me and knew me. It was Nozomi -san, a coworker of mine. I love Nozomi, she is one of the smartest people I know. Her English, both spoken and written, is perfect (she has never lived in America). She is great mother to her two year old named Unity. If life was fair she would go to a university and use those brains to help run the world.
I saw this elderly couple on the street, right before I took the photo the man had to sit down to rest and his wife stood over him with her hand on his shoulder while he caught his breath. It was touching.
Almost every restaurant here has plastic food in the window. There is a kitchen supply store in Tokyo that sells the plastic food.

Ryori (food)

2007-05-13T17:20:00.000+09:00

These people can eat! I haven't cracked the code yet on why they all weigh 95 lbs. I have included a picture of my favorite lunch, they are fish or pickled something (like plum) wrapped in rice then wrapped in seaweed and you buy them at your local convienece store, Family Mart, for less than a dollar.
Types of food are symbolic ; for a locale or a season. These are kuro tamago, or black eggs, they cook them for an hour in the volcano, for each egg you eat you are guaranteed 7 more years of life. My Japanese friends sent two to Mike to insure he lives until 69.
Also included is a picture of Maiko-san, one of my co-workers. She is bright, generous and funny.

I Have Japanese Hair!!!!!!

2007-05-12T22:18:00.000+09:00

Today I had Japanese Thermal hair straightening done by Tomoko-san. It's permanent hair straightening via a Japanese method that costs $800 in the US and $90 here. First they put this chemical on my hair and all the articficial color came off and my hair looked totally destroyed. At that point I started picking out very short haircuts from a Japanese hair magazine where everyone resembled a hip version of Moe, the Stooge. Then they blew dry my hair and it looked like steel wool, then ironed it and it stuck straight out. I wasn't panicking( on the outside)( much). Another chemical was applied and my hair is sliky smooth, shiny and straight. I just walked along the ocean and came in and Mike took this photo. I even feel Japanese now.
Mike and I walked through town to dinner and we took the other photos on our walk home. Sometime in the '70's an entreprenuer opened a night club and wanted to make Yokosuka the "Jazz City" of Japan. He put up these musician statues all over town. There is a walk of fame where jazz muscians put their handprints and autographs in the cement. It didn't seem to take off, now there are just these cool statues that people put beer cans next to.
The man in the window is making Anko, adzuki bean paste, my favorite dessert.

ANKO
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cup azuki beans
10 cups water
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
PREPARATION:
Put 4 cups of water in a pan and add azuki beans in the pan. Soak azuki beans in the water overnight. Put the pan on high heat and bring the water to a boil. Stop the heat and drain the water. Put 6 cups of water in a pan and add the boiled azuki beans.
Put the pan on high heat and bring the water to a boil. Turn down the heat to low and simmer the azuki beans for about an hour. Add sugar and salt. Simmer the azuki beans until thickened. Stir the anko well. Stop the heat.
You can eat as is or really mash them and put into pastries or on croissant.

Gakusei

2007-05-11T08:20:00.000+09:00

Education, as you know, is very important here. A post high school education it is out of reach for many people. School loans do not exist here and there are very few scholarships so parents pay 100% of a child's education. My friend Risa is putting one son through university and one son through medical school right now. She said most children will repay their parent's as soon as they are able. Parents consider this investment in their childs education to also be their retirement fund since they will most likely be paid back while in their 60's and 70's. One friend told me that she and her husband paid for her son to also get a masters and Ph.D. and then he became a teacher which meant he could never afford to pay her back.
Japanese people, for the most part, consider American Universities to be inferior. Quite a few Japanese people go to college in Canada. Tokyo University is the Harvard of Japan and very prestigious.

2007-05-10T19:29:00.000+09:00

They Got Me

2007-05-10T18:25:00.000+09:00

I have a Japanese language tape that warns about Japanese people's habit of downplaying accomplishments. On the tape someone compliments a Japanese woman's cooking and she spends about ten minutes saying she is not a good cook, she was given a recipe by a good cook and she just followed that. Blah, blah, blah.....you get the picture. I listen, assured I am too astute a judge of human nature and will never fall for something like that. I underestimated the Japanese woman. On the way to her mountain home in Hakkone, Mayummi sincerely apologized for the condition of her home and forcing us to spend time there. She has been telling us that it is a small place she and her sister built (it sounded to me like they went up on weekends and pounded in the nails). She asked me did I think I would be able to sleep in one room with everyone. On the train ride up she told us that something lived under the porch of the house. We all carry these universal translators, she typed something into hers, showed it to me and the screen said "wild boar, razorback". Yikes. What I expected was the small house you see in the first picture. What I found was a beautiful home set into the side of a mountain. The house was used to film a TV drama in which someone is thrown over the deck and killed; that's Mayummi and Chizuru on the murder deck. The former Miss Nippon, who is now a big Japanese movie star, lives in the house Mayummi is pointing to. Shinzo Abe's( the prime minister) second home is behind the beige closed gate. We slept in one room because that's what Japanese women do when they have friends over. I have included a photo of a kotatsu, the table with a heater underneath that I mentioned earlier.

I Saw Fuji-san and then the Earth Moved

2007-05-09T21:49:00.000+09:00

My three Japanese friends, Motoyo, Mayummi and Chizuru took me to Mayummi's vacation home in the mountains to initiate me into the custom of Onsen, hot spring bathing. As you know, Japanese people sit on a little wooden stool with a little wooden bowl and scrub themselves raw for about 30 minutes before getting into a tub. They do this daily at home and then take it on the road for vacations. In an onsen it's a party with your close (same sex) friends.
I am flattered that my friends try to deny to themselves that I am a barbaric American. In a Japanese round about fashion, I am just learning ,they asked; "Is it true that Americans wear shoes in their homes?" "Yes". "Do you?" Motoyo asked.
Yesterday they asked "Is it true that American's take daily showers and not baths?". "I know only one American who takes a daily bath, Maureen-san", I answered. "Ka-chan, do YOU take just showers?".If I could remember the last time I had taken a bath I would have lied but I had to say yes. "Don't you ever take showers?" I asked. Two can play this game. "Maybe once a year if it's really cold", Motoyo said.
Then Chizuru told me that last year their former English teacher from the base, Joy, was having a baby. Her husband, Jesse, called the women to invite them to a baby shower. All Chizuru could understand of the conversation was "baby" and "shower". When she got off the phone with Jesse and put two and two together she realized he meant that Joy's water had broken . Chizuru, knew it was too early in the pregnancy for Joy to have the baby and she must be having a miscarriage. Chizuru called Mayummi and Motoyo who helped her analyze the situation and realized she was right. They called Jesse back in a panic to find out what hospital Joy was in and how could they help. "No, no, no" said Jesse "a shower is a party".
The girls knew that Americans shower the way Japanese bathe so now they understand they going to a party for Joy IN a shower. They feel odd about this but happy to be included in an American custom for their friend. When they get to the party they can't imagine how all those people are going to fit in the shower. THEN they are told they have to crouch down (in the shower they guess) and then spring up and yell "SURPRISE!!!!!!!!! ".They are sure someone is going to get hurt by crouching down in a crowded shower and then jumping up. And anyway, why would you want to scare someone who is the guest of honor at a party?
While at the Onsen we had the strongest earthquake I've ever felt. Tanoshii, tanoshii, tanoshii (Fun, fun, fun).

If it's Tuesday it Must be Cumbustibles

2007-05-08T07:49:00.000+09:00

Trash has become the fourth member of our family. On an island this size with so many people there is no room for dumpsters. It stays in your home until collection day. The good news is there are five collection days.
Monday; Bottles and cans. They need to be washed. The labels must be removed along with any plastic bits.
Tuesday; cumbustibles (food and paper without printing)
Wednesday; every other Wednesday is non cumbustibles and the alternate weeks are cardboard and newspapers. The cardboard must be cut and wrapped, newspapers and magazines must be bundled tightly. Milk and juice cartons have to be cut open in a specific way and then washed and dried.
Thurday; Plastic
Friday; food again.
If they don't approve of your wrapping methods they leave it there for you to figure out what you did wrong.
The garbage trucks play cute little songs. (The kerosene home delivery trucks play Russian songs but that's another blog.)
I'll spare you the details of what you do after you walk the dog twice a day.
One house in a neighborhood is designated as the house trash gets placed in front of. They change the house once a year so that no one's property value goes down. Someone from the neighborhood is assigned to keep the area clean.There are lots of feral cats around, you can identify them from the house cats because they don't have tails. People HATE them and try all kinds of things to discourage them from coming near their homes. Ususally they put out bottles of water to scare them. ? There are no trash bins on the streets. If you buy a latte in Tokyo you carry the cup with you until you get home. Mike and I have more discussions about trash than any other aspect of our lives.

Densha だんしゃ

2007-05-07T12:37:00.000+09:00

On most days while I am travelling around by train or subway I am the only caucasian ANYWHERE. Sometimes at rush hour in Tokyo I will see another Westerner on a train or in the station. We say hello.
Trains are a way of life here because even if you have a car and even if you know how to get where you are going, there won't be a place to put that car once you get there. Everyone gets on the train, immediately closes their eyes and falls asleep and miraculously wakes up at their stop. Including Mike, except for the waking up part.

They Blinded me with Science

2007-05-06T08:23:00.000+09:00

We have made the Giant Leap into the 21st. century. (I have been busy pounding clothes on rocks for the last 7 years I guess). Upon plunging our first two i Pods into our ears, Mike said, "We've just had our last meaningful conversation". Purchasing an iMac is what brought us out of the dark ages. I could be taking these photos with an instamatic using flash cubes and once I tweak them with iMac's photo suite they look like this. Our Nikon camera came with a photo editor that is laughable compared to the mac program. You will never again get a photo from us where we have wrinkles.
Mike threatened to wear a fanny pack with that outfit, what you can't see is the size of the purse I am carrying.
The picture of the woman with the umbrella was taken on our engagement trip to Italy. It was a magical moment in the rain but without photo suite it wasn't very visible.

Japanese women

2007-05-05T20:54:00.000+09:00

For the most part, Japanese women strong and strong willed, they just have an "Eastern" way of showing it. Today I saw some beautiful Japanese women.