Family Update-Return back to the States??

It is Saturday afternoon and Zack has duty today.  Caraline has been sleeping for the last two hours and Noah is playing independently with his wooden blocks.  This is affording me the ability to update all of you on the happenings of our life. 

Zack went back to work this week from his holiday leave.  He took ten days instead of the standard fourteen.  We decided to only take the ten to save up some leave for our spring trip to Australia.  He seems to enjoy working security...or at least he isn't hating it!  He may be back in his regular shop sooner than we anticipated...just depends on the ship.  We shall see.  We have mixed emotions about him going back to a regular work schedule.  This schedule isn't much fun when he works the three day period and the kids don't see him for those three days...but it is nice when he's off for a few days in a row.  This schedule allows him to be home during the day and actually spend more time with us.  And gives us the freedom to go on more day trips because he works less days...as well as gives me the opportunity to have some mommy time.  And I was thinking about taking some Japanese culture classes/art classes...so I'm praying that we stay in security for a bit longer!

Noah has been enjoying his Christmas presents.  His major gift this year was a Melissa and Doug easel set with various accessories...various family members bought him accessories to go with it.  He enjoys painting, coloring, and using the chalk.  He loves to sit at the kitchen table and do little art projects.  I got a toddler art idea book for Christmas and it's amazing.  Yesterday he used scissors to cut and tear paper...and then used a glue stick to stick the pieces on a background sheet of construction paper.  This entertained him for an hour!  As I mentioned before that we put away some of his other toys...and its taken him this past week to forget about some of the toys and play with the wooden blocks, trucks..etc.  We'd much rather him play with items that he has to use to entertain himself...not visa versa.  His face is healing well from his multiple falls on vacation.  He has been loving more on Caraline instead of trying to beat her...so that's great!

Caraline is growing and is just about the same size Noah was at her age.  And they look eerily similar!  She is also similar in the fact that her internal clock is well functioning...and likes to have her bedtime routine.  She really enjoys baths and sitting in the warm water.  She can hold her head up pretty well and likes to play on the floor batting at toys on her activity gym.  And she loves her mommy!

Now for me...I am doing well and loving our life here in Japan.  Zack and I have thrown around ideas of where we would like to go next in our family adventure.  To the outside the reality of moving every three years can seem tiring and ridiculous...but to us this allows us to have new and exciting adventures!  And in three years I am sure that we'll have accomplish quite a few things in this area of Japan.  We'll probably be ready to move on to another area.  After coming to Japan and learning about a new culture, seeing amazing sights, being able to travel to other countries, getting on a train to see amazing things...etc...I just don't know if I could be happy returning back to the States.  I would get that itch to get up and go.  It's been a week since we took a train to Tokyo and I'm already itching to get on a train and go!  We could travel in the U.S. but we can do so so much just in a few hours here.  Plus I just love the environment and the sense of family that is created here when we all must band together to be each others family.  That doesn't happen in the States.  While in Virginia, I got tired of Zack leaving and going out to experience the world...here I too get to see the world.  And I don't think I'm willing to give that up anytime in the near future.  Australia, China, Bali, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia...all on my list to see...plus many more.  Even with a bit of the baby blues...I'm happier here than I've ever been!  Living abroad has been amazingly wonderful for our family!

 

Embassy and Christmas

We got home from our winter trip on the 20th.  Then on the 22nd we headed to the Embassy.  Noah stayed with a friend and we took Caraline with us.  I had made an appointment in the afternoon for us to complete all of her paperwork.  We got on the train in Yokosuka and went again to the Shinagawa station.  We were supposed to get on a local line and then tranfer again to the subway.  But we got on the platform and the train never came.  The sign above was all in red Kanji...and red Kanji is BAD!  Trains in Japan are always on time and always go where they say they are going.  However we had an issue coming home from the trip when the train suddently changed lines on us...and it was a no English train.  We took a tiny detour and it wasn't much of an issue.  We stood on the platform for a few mintues and then looked around to find some help.  I found an African American man waiting on the other side of the platform (that tell that detail because I knew that there was a high chance that he spoke English).  He said that he was waiting for the express to the Narita airport and the train was going to be over an hour late.  There was some issue with the trains in Tokyo.  He was able to tell us the cab fare to get to the embassy...very suspicious indeed!  We got to the embassy and was processed in with everyone else.  I am not going to post information about the embassy for safety reasons...OPSEC!  We were able to fill all of her paperwork and head back home to pick up Noah.  The next few days we prepared for our Christmas feast.  Zack did most of the cooking and I took care of the kids and house.  Our talents were better used in that way! :)  Christmas day we had our shipmate friends over and had a great time.  Noah enjoyed all of his presents and we were able to put away some of his other toys to bring out later when they will be "new" again to him.  That evening/night and the next day we Skyped on and off with both of our families...popping in at various houses across southern Indiana!  Very fun to see everyone and let everyone see us too! 

Winter Trip 2011: Hiroshima

The afternoon of the 19th we got back on the Shinkonsen and took another two hour ride to Hiroshima. The train ride went well and Noah again fell asleep before we even got out of the train station. We walked to the hotel and dropped off our bags. On to a taxi to take us to the A Bomb Memorial. Seeing the bombed out building and pictures of the devastation from that day is probably one of the most memorable moments of my life. Standing in front of it imagining seeing it first hand...with a grimace and a churning stomach. The building has been preserved from that day in history. We walked around the park to see many of the memorials that evening before it dark. It was sickening to feel the empathy towards the victims. That night I had a horrible nightmare that the U.S. government dropped a nuclear bomb in an Indian Reservation located in Ferdinand. I still remember the dream and the feeling of utter devastation I felt. I remember the feeling of crying uncontrollably. I woke up with tears in my eyes. The next day we got up and went back to the park to see the museum. They had many artifacts from that day along with pictures and models to piece together what had happened that day. I know the U.S. says that lives were saved by the dropping of those bombs in Japan...but stand in an exhibit next to a pile of fingernails and skin...to a pile of hair...all that was left of those two people. Identified only by the ring in the pile or the hair bow laying in the hair. And then that feeling of "my country's rightness" quickly goes away. Stand next to the river where in that exact spot thousands of people perished upon each other as they went to quench their intolerable thirst from being burnt from the inside out. It was sickening. My stomach is churning as I write this. Of those that survived their DNA was altered and they became sick as the years passed. The nuclear rain poured down all across Japan causing thousands and thousands of more people to feel the long lasting toll of radiation poisoning...even children that were in their mother's womb. The mayors of Hiroshima since then have wrote a letter to each world leader following nuclear testing...they have written over 500 letters. The city has and continues to push for the ban of nuclear weapons...90% of these weapons belong to the U.S. and Russia. In the museum, Japan also told of the war tragedies that they did to the countries they occupied in the Pacific. They were in no way pointing the finger at the U.S. That one page in the U.S. History book Junior year was suddenly very alive. Zack says that him along with a few friends were probably laughing in the back of the classroom saying that "they deserved it". Is that what we were taught? Japan did so many horrible things during the war that they deserved to have nuclear bombs dropped upon them? It was the right choice. I'm not sitting here debating whether it was the right choice or not...but saying that it was sickening. We left the park and went to visit the Hiroshima Castle...well a replica since the original was destroyed by the bomb. Zack enjoyed it but my head and heavy heart were still at the park. This short visit to Hiroshima expanded my world ten fold...had a huge impact on me. So much that I would tell you to visit Japan just to go to Hiroshima.

We left that late afternoon for a four hour ride on the Shinkonsen to the Shinagawa station. Two young Japanese girls sat across from us and entertained Caraline for 30min...and then took Noah for 30min...we were sad when they got off the train! LOL And then it took us about 90 minutes to make it back to the base. Noah and Caraline took turns crying on the train ride back to the base during that 90 minutes. It was nine that night and each one wanted their bed. Noah started crying when Caraline started crying...because she gets attention when she cries! The poor Japanese that were on the train with us! But we shall not be deterred...if the kids scream the whole way on the train then so be it...because we are here in Japan and I refuse to live out the time we have stuck in the U.S. (in Japan!)! We had a blast and even with the screaming train rides it was well worth it!

Winter Trip 2011: Kyoto

On December 17th we left our little U.S. home in Japan and headed to the train station for an hour ride to the Shinagawa station to catch the Shinkonsen(Japanese Bullet Train)...for a two hour ride to Kyoto.  The last half hour of the ride to Kyoto got pretty interesting, where Noah was laying in the aisle of the train just screaming.  He was tired and it was way beyond nap time.  Zack was taking care of Caraline and I was supposed to have a handle on Noah.  Zack shot me a look saying..."Aren't you going to do something?"  And I responded by throwing my hands up in the air...exactly what did he want me to do with a tired screaming toddler that turned to a noodle every time I tried to pick him up?  Thankfully the Japanese people are fairly understanding and looked upon us with smiles...probably thinking that this was exhibit A for why they don't bring out their young children!  But we made it there and Noah fell asleep before we even made it to the subway below the train station.  We got to our hotel and checked in.  And we were able to knock out a few sights before it got dark...the Nijo Castle and the Imperial Palace grounds.  That next day we visited many Shrines and Temples in Eastern Kyoto.  The city is known as the historical/old culture capital of Japan.  I've posted some of the pictures we took on facebook...but the pictures don't do it all justice.  You can't see the grandness of it...or the feeling of awe that comes across you.  It was absolutely amazing...amazing!  That evening we ate at an Irish Pub...you see that pretty much wherever you go in the world there is always an Irish Pub and a Texas Bar!  This bar was actually owned and operated by a young man from Ireland...just loved his accent!  Noah had a melt down or two in the booth...he was tired and hungry.  We all had a long day.  A waitress brought him over a dancing/singing snowman and Santa...and then we were able to eat our meal in peace!  The Japanese are so great about young children and lending a hand if they can.  The next day we had lined up a private taxi tour to take us to a few sights in Western Kyoto before heading to the train station to travel to Hiroshima.  The city has so much to offer that you could stay there for a month and have a full day planned each and every day.  The tour guide was able to explain a lot to us and we asked him many questions.  It made us realize that we had seen a lot the day before but hadn't really understood.  A lot of items were posted in Kanji and then English below it...but we would come across a sign in Kanji with a lot of people gathered around it.  It must have been pretty interesting stuff...but too bad we had no idea what it said!  We learned more in the three hours with him than we had the entire day before!  My top enjoyments of that leg of the trip was seeing a 600 year old living pine tree trained into the shape of a ship and the Golden Temple(actual gold leafed).