a little place in japan

current happenings

2012-01-21T20:54:00.000-08:00

Well these homes are more than awesome.

Walking around in Kamakura neighborhoods. Apparently they have a knack for modern architecture.

pounding the mochi!

2012-01-21T18:32:00.000-08:00

We have been dying for a true mochi experience since we arrived in Japan. We LOVE mochi and have been known to prepare it many different ways (check out other mochi posts here & here). When we interviewed at Ella's school and discovered they held a mochi pounding event we were over the moon! In fact, I'm pretty sure they were creeped out by our excitement. Flash forward to last weekend and we finally got our chance to pound the mochi!

The fathers took turns pounding steamed rice in a large mortar & pestle while the teachers splashed warm water to keep the rice moist. After the rice was pounded into a smooth ball they removed it and placed it on a table of flour. While the kids got to pull the mochi apart and roll it into balls the parents prepared the edible mochi for eating. We made balls of warm mochi covered in soy bean power (which is also amazing on vanilla ice cream). We also dipped warm mochi into (soy?) sauce and rolled it in seaweed. In the end we all sat around the table and feasted on mochi, tea and pickled cabbage.

It was a great experience and as always, the cute babies running around in tiny people aprons and bandanna's made it all the more enjoyable!

hello, goodbye.

2012-01-01T02:30:00.001-08:00

2011 was quite a year. It's strange how quickly a year moves when you are documenting a little person's every first something in their life. Looking back through pictures Brandon & I can see that we had a very successful year. We taught a little person how to crawl, sit, walk, dance, eat, wave bye-bye and blow kisses. We took a baby on two international flights. We taught a little person how to brush their teeth. I got a promotion too. It was a good year. Sorry, but I couldn't pic just one - here is this year in photos! xoxo

A new city for living, Yokosuka, Japan. A new city for discovering, Tokyo, Japan.

Jiji & Grandma visit for the 3rd time. Aunt Stephanie visits from Okinawa. We visit Aunt Stephanie in Okinawa. 2011 Cherry Blossom's. Meeting new friends.
Shie & Nate at their pop-up shop in Tokyo. Ella and Cypress play on a hot summer day. Seeing old friends: Kent a friend from high school tours through with his band, Letting Up.

Laura visits Tokyo for business.

A trip back home to Texas

Brandon with great, best friends Ty & Sean and Sean's rehearsal dinner.
Ella meets her Nana Elaine for the first time. Tear.

Marine Day, Zushi Beach.

Ella begins Japanese Day School in May and by her birthday, fits in great!

Ella's first birthday Party!

Yokohama Octoberfest & Jiji & Grandma Willett visit for the 4th time!

Sumo Championships.

Out first time to Mt. Fuji.

And we should never forget the over 15,000 people who lost their lives on March 11, 2011 to the great Japan earth quake and tsunami. And we should never forget the thousands of people who selflessly came to their aide.

Good bye 2011. Hello 2012.

the truth about taking your 13 month old on a plane that passes the international date line

2011-12-23T22:25:00.000-08:00

We did A LOT of research to prepare for our trip to and from Walt Disney World. We were looking at 11 hours from Narita to Orlando and 14 hours back in the same direction, with layovers in each direction. What can you say, we flew the cheapest way possible.
There is so much information out there and it's hard to know who to trust. I wouldn't say you should trust us over anyone else, but just in case you need a little more advice or just a bit of encouragement feel free to read on. It's best to lay out what we found most encouraging and then let you know what really happened.

Some research (that we found helpful):

EVERYONE, even the most holistically organic, natural people said to invest in Benedryl. Advice taken.
EVERYONE said to buy 1 new toy for each hour you expected your child to be awake. Advice taken - mostly.
At least 3 bloggers said to individually wrap each toy. With the intentions that unwrapping would eat up some time. Never got around to it.
3 bloggers recommended this toy: Lauri Toys Toddler Tote. Advice taken.
EVERYONE said to buy Gerber Puffs. We bought these instead: Happy Baby Puffs & Happy Tot meals.
EVERYONE said buy a big water after security. You will use this to not only keep your baby hydrated but to clean their sippy cup. DO NOT clean sippy cups with airplane water. Airplane water is NOT SANITARY and the crew usually only stocks enough for service.
Many blogs said to spend the extra money and buy your baby their own seat. Advice not taken.
Every blog had a great packing list. We'll let you know below what we packed and what we actually used.

Our experience:

We bought the Bebedryl and we used it. We gave her a small dosage right before her usual bed time and she slept for 6 hours! One the first flight. On the second flight, not so much. The dosage helped, but she only selpt for 4 hours. However, she naturally fell asleep later and slept for another 3. DO A TEST RUN AT HOME.

We only bought 3 new toys:

The Toddler Tote (mentioned above) is great because it doubles as 3 or 4 toys. Ella loved the puzzles, but the pegs were a bit too difficult for her tiny hands.
Doodle Sketch. AMAZING.
Leap Frog Junior Tag Reader and 3 books. However, Curious George Colors was the favorite.
We got an iPad. We had been toying with the idea for several months, but this trip finally sealed the deal. We bought a cover that lets you stand the iPad on it's side like a TV, loaded up a handful of her favorite Yo Gabba Gabba episodes (and a few of our favorites too) and the rest was history. On the first flight she watched the three episodes, twice. This ate up approximatly 2 hours. Amen.
Never got around to wrapping the toys because of, well life. However, I could see this would be an excellent idea for parents with children who understand what opening a toy means.
Snack food = awesome. We always bring our own snacks like bananas, nuts, etc. Plane food is so boring and full of sodium so adding in some natural favorites always helps. It just made sense to pack Ella the same goodness. Happy Baby products are our favorite.
Buying a seat. We are indiffrerent on this idea. Here are the reasons. For this flight, we didn't even think about it. If you buy your own seat (on American Airlines) for a child under 2 you must have a car seat. Since we don't have a car, we don't have a toddler car seat. On the flight back we lucked out - we were sat in a row with an empty seat. However, Ella still needed to switch from lap to lap to keep her entertained. It was great for sleeping hours because she was able to stretch out, but if we had paid we would have had the car seat; so she wouldn't have been able to lay down. If you are an American living in Japan with no car this could end up costing you more hassle (and money), but if you have a car seat and your kid likes sitting in that seat for 10+ hours, go for it!

Now for some things we discovered on our own:

TOYS: Everyone tells you to pack plenty of toys, but no one talks about what happens when your kid drops those toys on the ground. We all know those airplane rows are cramped - but imagine being a 6' tall guy trying to bend over and pick up a toy in a dark isle while the guy next to you is sleeping. Not a good situation. So, be prepared to drop toys - and to loose toys. It sucks. If you are lucky the person behind will pick them up for you. Thank you random person!!

SOBA NOODLES: If you fly a Japanese airline you will most likely get soba noodles at some point. Don't eat them - save them for your child. We gave Ella Soba and she ate/played for 1 1/2 hours! Not flying Japanese? Pre-cook some of your childs favorite noodles and pull them out about 2 hours into the flight.

ASK: Ask for everything and anything that might help your experience. Ask for the crew to hold your food until your child is asleep. Ask the gate attendant to hold a seat in-between you and your husband in the hopes it will stay empty. Ask for the last row in the plane - you won't feel as bad when your child is craying because there are less people around to bother. And once your child goes to sleep, ask for a glass of wine.

DOWNSIZE. We bought ONE large piece of luggage that doubled as a backpack. It was key that we packed as few suitcases as possible. We bought an small stroller so that we could check it at the gate. We bought a new carry on BAG. Bag is key here. If you bring everything in a bag you can stuff it under your seat which equals easy acess for toys, food and diapers.

Packing List for the Plane:

As promised: what we packed and what we used.

1 diaper for every hour on the plane, this left plenty for layovers. Just enough.
1 package of wipes.Plenty.
2 sippy cups. Used both.
5 small towels . Used all.
pair of PJ's. Didn't use.
2 plain white onesies. Used 1.
1 extra pair of pants.Used.
3 bibs. Used all.
snacks (mentioned above) plus a banana, cheese sticks and pre-made grilled cheese & peanut putter sandwiches. Everything was eaten
toys (mentioned aboveUsed all.
iPad.Used!

Well, we hope that this provides you with some helpful bits of advice. If nothing else we'll never forget what we read on one blog: Just remember that your flight will end and the plane door will open. You will get off and you will have a great vacation. If all else fails - just tell yourself that! Proof that your flight will end, the door will open and you will have a great vacation.

First day at Magic Kingdom!

uncle nate walks!

2011-12-16T19:02:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Uncle Nate! He graduated today from the University of Little Rock. Keep your ears and eyes open for his documenting, reporting and general awesomeness!

Workin' hard amidst Occupy Protestors

In case you were curious, we purchased a Kammok as his graduation gift. No better gift for an outdoorsy, earth and human respecting adventure guy who needs to take a load off! Buy a Kammok today!

follow ups are good for happiness

2011-11-06T04:29:00.000-08:00

Ella Elaine is updated. I hope you enjoy my follow up thoughts on joining Mommahood.

Mt. Fuji

2011-11-05T00:23:00.000-07:00

The saying goes, "A wise man climbs Mt. Fuji once, a foolish man climbs Mt. Fuji twice." I would extend that to say, "An even more foolish man drives 2 1/2 hours with a 1 year old for a picnic at Mt. Fuji."

Well, that is what we did! On Ella's first (!!!) birthday we rented a van, packed snacks and drove almost 3 hours to the 5th station on Mt. Fuji. The 5th station is the point where all of the trees dissapear and you feel as if the whole world is below you. We ate lunch as the clouds swirled around us and believe it or not, we did something even more magical - we toasted our sweet little girl's first year of life.

{sweet Ella}

Nagashi Somen

2011-11-01T02:51:00.000-07:00

If I had posted about this food adventure when it happened I would have started off with how miserable the heat was that night. Now that some time has passed I can't remember the heat all that much - but I can remember how great it was to have our first bamboo somen noodle eating experience, or "splashing the noodles" as Ayumi calls it. The actual name is nagashi somen and you can read about it here, if you like.

We all sat in front of the Chiba house (Ayumi's family home) on our little yellow crates and watched as Ayumi's Mom and niece splashed somen noodles into the freshly cut bamboo stalk. Little by little they came down the bamboo "slide" and we picked them up with chopsticks. After which, we dumped them into our bowls (pictured above).

It was speed eating at its finest. We thought we'd grown accustom to eating quickly but couldn't begin to keep up with slurping our noodles in enough time to grab the next. We quickly learned, like many eating exeriences in Japan, it wasn't so much about how fast we ate but the time we spent while eating. As the sun set, we splashed noodle after noodle, toasted sake and listened to Ayumi's Mom tell us story after story-understanding every 5 words or so. It was one of the best nights we've had in Japan, thus far.

{Our hosts: Ayumi's Brother, Sister-in-Law, Mom & Niece}

{Ayumi & Ella-chan}

{Something looks farmiliar!}

we ditched the picnic...

2011-10-31T05:50:00.000-07:00

...and hung out on the lawn instead! One day we packed up sandwiches and drinks and walked to our local park. Amazingly enough, it was the same day some classic rock, English singing locals showed up at the random amphitheatre for a Sunday afternoon practice party.

{Hanging out in Mikasa Park}

We're back!

2011-10-31T05:43:00.000-07:00

There are a few things I am trying to get back into, one of them being posting about life! So, I will spare all excuses and I am just going to start a series of posts to catch our dear friends and family up on life! In the midst of our workaholic lives we have managed to get out and discover some great things. Maybe that is why I haven't blogged...I've been too busy discovering what to post about, yea. . .that's it. Anyhow, hope you enjoy the posts throughout this week!

{Ella-chan looking out over Yokohama}

Current Happenings

2011-08-12T16:58:00.001-07:00

Check out these awesome new vending machines! Spotted at Shinagawa station.

Summer Festival

2011-07-31T00:37:00.000-07:00

Ella-chan's school hosted a summer festival this weekend for family and close friends. Two great things happened. Ella got to wear her first Jinbeh, a summer style kimono (altered into a tiny person size) AND my co-workers son won a giant (real) live beetle. Gross. I felt so bad, but he seemed pretty happy about it. Most Japanese boys seem very happy about beetles and bugs in general. The older kids did tiny people versions of ceremonial traditions and then everyone played games and won toys, lots of fun toys!

This is Ella's favorite teacher!

Zushi Beach

2011-07-29T20:39:00.001-07:00

Remember how I stated: I promise to get out and discover more of Yokosuka? Well, I ventured out to Zuzshi Beach one day. Bags packed and ready for a fun, relaxing day at the beach. It didn't occur to me that it was the worst day to head to the beach with no plan. Marine Day. I love that Japan pays homage to the mother mother nature that surrounds it! Too bad I didn't get there in the morning...

...as far as the eye could see.

In Our Kitchen: Mango Salsa

2011-07-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

There were no decent avocados at the market one day, so I switched it up a bit. Delicious!

In case you are curious:

(2) Mango's: diced

(1/4) Onion: diced

(1) tomato: cored/diced

(2) cloves garlic: minced

(1) tbl sp olive oil

(2) jalapeno: diced

Salt, Pepper & cilantro to taste

*we added a table spoon of Meyer's Rum-it was awesome.

...and here is my best flower arrangement from July!

3 Decades

2011-07-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

We had a fun, at home celebration for Brando's 30th birthday. I surprised him with grilled bacon burgers, corn, and tomato's - and of course chocolate cake. Ella and I gave him a classic, acoustic guitar and he was shocked! Even though we didn't have a huge party it was a great time. Willett Style.

Ella Update

2011-07-12T04:51:00.000-07:00

Holy 9 months! Where has the time gone. Long gone is the time of daily updates, even weekly updates for that matter. My apologies dear friends. What I can always promise is the sharing of amazing new things as we discover even more about Japan!

Ella is 9 months old today. A Tuesday, she was born on a Tuesday. 6:32 p.m.

current happenings

2011-06-15T03:50:00.000-07:00

Happy people walking. Shibuya.

Kitty Cafe

2011-06-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

At long last we sought out a Cat Cafe! Thanks to our good friend Laura, who was in town for business, we found a great one in Shibuya. How hilariously brilliant is this concept? You pay for increments of time and get to sip a latte while you hang out with nearly 15 cats. It makes perfect sense for all of those people that can't have a pet in their building. Everyone loves some form of a furry animal and why not get that chance to enjoy it?! Being that I am highly allergic and we had Ella in tow, we maxed out at 30 minutes, but it was well worth my throat closing up.

As we understand it there are also bunny and dog cafes out there. Looks like we have a new mission.

home again

2011-06-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

Hello Texas! It was nice to see you.

Letting Up

2011-04-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we left Ella with a sitter for the first time and headed into the city to see a show. Finally! Amazingly enough an old friend from high school, Kent, was traveling through Japan on tour with his band, Letting Up Despite Great Faults. Going to see them was a no-brainer. How often does that happen in your life? It only helps that they are a talented group. So, if you ever see them on the set list of your local music festival don't turn your head, you will pleasantly surprised!

Cute DJ girls.

Surprisingly enough, Kent looks identical to my brother, Nathan, beard and all...is it weird that I never recognized that?

Visit Lettingup.com to learn more about Kent's band and mates.

Sakura (cherry blossoms) 2011

2011-04-23T16:56:00.000-07:00

This year's cherry blossom experience was much more low key. Rather then following them up and down the Shinkansen line like [last year] we just patiently waited for them to bloom here in Yokosuka. They finally made their debut around the first of April!

...and just like that, two weeks later they were gone.

Ella-chan Update

2011-04-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

Ella at 5 months old.

Okinawa {food & various other things}

2011-03-28T06:36:00.001-07:00

Chatan sea wall graffiti.

Fresh guacamole. Always a favorite.

Grilled Squid at Transit Cafe.

Okinawan specialty: taco rice

Loco moco platter

Doctor Fish: 500Yen for super smooth feet. I'll be it very creepy but very efficient. A must do when traveling Asian & Japanese cultures.

Okinawa {lounging around}

2011-03-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

::Transit Cafe::

::Beach Days::

Our morning walk spot; the sea wall

The first official photo of our Bean sitting all on her own. She was a bit shaky but she did it!

Okinawa {sightseeing}

2011-03-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Sightseeing adventures from our non-vacation in Okinawa.

::The Aquarium:: A giant turtle eyeing Ella-chan

::Zanpa Beach Lighthouse and Lighthouse Cliffs::

It was very windy.

Whale watching with our evacuee Momma, Stephanie.

::American Village::

Okinawa {the non-vacation}

2011-03-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

As most of you know we took our October Okinawa trip a little bit earlier than expected! We invaded the island to get out of the insanity that was becoming our neighborhood. Our plan was to hang out a few days while the restaurant was closed, but due to an extended closure we ended up staying a over a week. Even though we tried not to treat this as a vacation, when in Rome... Our hearts hurt a little bit as we read about the fleeing "Gaijin" or "Flyjin" as we are now referred to. We didn't necessarily mean to bail on our host land but in all honesty, lets face it. We are foreigners and have a 5 month old baby to think about. Plus, our intentions of returning made us feel a little less guilty and it was a great way to give our families back in the states some peace of mind. Would we have loved to pack up and head to the states? Sure! However, here is where our responsibilities lie. So, on to Okinawa! What a beautiful place. Bright sun shine (for 4 our of the 9 days, at least), palm trees and bougainvillea vines everywhere you turn. Seaside cafes and beach bars. Millions of t-shirt shops and Shisa dog statues all over. We were able to fit in a trip to the Aquarium and Ella climbed her first light house. Actually, I think we all climbed our first light house. We did some whale watching from enormous cliffs and played in the sand. Ella sat up for the first time on the beach (couldn't have planned that milestone better myself!). We got a little sun on our faces and walked along the sea wall several times. Oh, and Stephanie took us to her Japanese dad's sushi restaurant where we ate the freshest, most thoughtful sushi since our arrival in Japan! It was a great trip considering we were desperate evacuee's. Like I said, "when in Rome...":

Photo blogs to follow: {sightseeing} {lounging around} {food & various other things}

Support Japan

2011-03-20T05:14:00.001-07:00

Check out my latest blog at Hazel & Lavender. Follow the links to many wonderful products with many artists lending 100% of aide to relief efforts in Japan.

good bye Grandpa

2011-03-19T06:43:00.001-07:00

Rest in sweet peace Grandpa Willett

We have a bit more somber news. We are surely hoping our blog and life events start to look up after this weeks end. Today, in the states, our family lays to rest one amazing man. He was your more than average model citizen who could dance a jig and talk on Skype at 99 years old. He is even asking to the last minute for donations to the Salvation Army. It's never fun to be away for these moments and we wish so much that we could be with our family at this time. If you are out there reading this, please say a prayer or send your good vibes in the direction of Tama, Iowa. There are many people there today who would love to feel your warmth.

We'll miss you Grandpa Walter!

March 11

2011-03-15T04:59:00.000-07:00

On March 11 Japan experienced a 9.0 earthquake 130 kilometers (about 80 miles) off the coast of northeastern Japan. The earthquake triggered a tsunami warning and 40 minutes later an extremely destructive wave reaching 10 meters (about 31 ft.) high, destroyed coastal cities including Sendai, Miyagi. Although most destruction occurred in this general area the earthquake reached south including Yokosuka. In the days that proceeded the aftermath spread to include damage at several nuclear plants, most effected of those being the plant in Fukushima, roughly 285 kilometers from Yokosuka (135 miles).

(image via msnbc)

In the past week we have become students of nuclear science. We follow several websites and several people on Twitter. All of these sources are news & governmental organizations along with a few trusted expats.

If you follow any happenings on Twitter these folks keep us well informed with legit info (and a big thank you to their fingers who haven't stopped since 2:46PM on March 11):

@TimeOutTokyo

@survivingnjapan

@1Rick

@matt_alt

@norishikata

@ambassadorroos

On Wednesday night Brandon I made the decision to fly out to Okinawa and stay with one of our best friends Stephanie. You may remember her from our last trip to Tokyo? The basis of this decision was to remove ourselves and the baby away from the stress and uncertainty of the situation and return home Monday after a few days of R&R. Upon arrival in Okinawa we started receiving messages and phone calls informing us that the base where we work had begun voluntary evacuations. It is important to know that radiation levels in Yokosuka are still very normal but base officials wanted to be very sure they were offering their employees every possible way to feel safe. With the situation in Fukushima making minimal progress the only way to get this peace of mind was to authorize this voluntary evacuation.

Thankfully we had departed 12 hours before and although Haneda Airport was very crowded we sailed through with out any major delays.

So, what now? We will stay in Okinawa until further notice. Being the planner I am this is very hard. It's a real test in patience to not know what your next move will be. This is different than spontaneity. You can go on vacation and be spontaneous, because you know the day you leave. However, now we are living on edge in a different way. While we are safe and over 1,000 miles away from Fukushima we don't know when our time here will end. A week? Two weeks? God forbid, a month? Did I ever mention we left produce in our fridge?

There are many things on our mind but we are so thankful as we watch survival stories on the news. This is nothing compared to the events that are still unfolding in the areas most effected by the quake.

Thank you to all of our family and friends for your concern and constant communication. Thank you to technologies such as Twitter, Skype & Facebook for allowing us to keep that constant communication. Thank you to our employer's for providing us the resources to leave Yokosuka in the fast manner that we did.

minnie and jaco

2011-03-09T15:27:00.001-08:00

RIP Minnie and Jaco; watching from the window, their favorite spot.

There have been a few times during the last two years that living abroad has felt unbearable. There was the loneliness we felt during our first holiday season, the passing of Grandma Reixinger, the weddings of three amazing friends Adam, Lindsey & Nikki, and the birth of our best friends Adam & Lindsey's daughter Penny. Luckily most of the moments missed have been great ones, but recently that is not the case. Our love goes out to Momma & Papa Willett - and Jason - and Erica, because we know the sadness you must be feeling, as we feel it too.

our baby rocks::to tokyo, again.

2011-03-07T05:09:00.000-08:00

We had another house guest! Stephanie from Okinawa by way of Texas came to visit our new digs. We haven't seen her since our "White Trash" going away party in Dallas 2 years ago. She now lives in Okinawa where she works for the same company as Brandon. Here is how we spent our last two days. A crash course in Japan. A mix of old and new. Valuable sights it's taken us a year to discover and to combine into one day.

We started the day at Meiji Shrine. An absolutely picture perfect setting of nature, Japanese tradition and culture set in the middle of the bustling city. It's beautiful here and Sunday is the best day. Why? Because everyone gets married, that's why. We witnessed at least 5 weddings happening within the 20 minutes we were at the main shrine.

Stephanie actually recognized this Kimono as Okinawan because of the head-dress. The large white one above is what we have always seen in photos, it was awesome to see both! It seems to have been a very important family, as they had security guards clearing traffic and stopping paparazzi tourist like myself. However, they could have just sprung for the better package.

Directly across the street you can find where insanity comes to life. Harajuku. This neighborhood hosts street after street of wild n' crazy stores and people. This is where you find the "Goths" & "Lolita's" and such. Except, we saw none. Please take notice of the man below, wearing gold-fish earrings...live goldfish. I had a great full body shot until he decided to whip out a ninja kick in the middle of my click. I would have taken the time to set up another but a local complained too many Gaijin (foreigners) were blocking the street. So, since I understood - much to their surprise - I moved along.

Ella was one of the attractions. People kept stopping us to take her photo!

We picked up some Gyros from this awesome guy, who also promptly fell in love with Ella. Proceeded to find a curb and be told by an old Japanese lady that we were spilling too much food on the ground. Forgive us, we are not skilled in the ancient art of eating messy street food with a baby in tow.

And lastly, why do we have the best baby ever? Well, just look below for (the best) example 1. of millions.

Just plain passed out in the middle of chaos.

Oh! And, we went to the Buddha. Again.

Back to the Buddha

2011-03-01T04:40:00.000-08:00

Because it's just so peaceful and we really like that.

A great picture of Ella

2011-02-25T03:35:00.000-08:00

Happy on her 4 month birthday.

Tokyo

2011-02-21T18:37:00.001-08:00

As promised, we do more than eat. Last weekend was the rendezvous with Mama & Papa Willett. Or should I say, Nana Sue and Grandpa. The main event was obviously Ella spending time with her grandparents but we managed a few other things too. One thing we didn't do (very well) on our last trip was visit the Imperial Palace. Saturday we walked through Marunouchi-naka-dori Ave., a wonderlust of high-end boutiques, window shopping while we made our way. The Palace was as beautiful as we had imagined. There is something about standing in front of a 100+ year old gate (Japan's capitol moved from Kyoto in 1888) that guards one of the worlds only living emperor's. It creates two moments: 1. You realize how old the world really is and, 2. you realize you are so far from the United States which is really so, so young. We didn't get to do much except stare at the iron fence and bamboo gate with the Palace peaking up out of the perfectly sculpted trees. You can only enter the grounds two days a year, Jan. 2 for a New Year's greeting and December 23 for the Emperor's Birthday. On these days you can tour the grounds and stand outside the Palace hearing speeches from the Emperor and writing him letters about what you want - which he actually reads.

After the palace we walked to the Ginza to do a little more window shopping. We took Mama & Papa Willett to a little Udon noodle shop for lunch and then through a Japanese department store. Something everyone should see once in their life. The bottom floor is usually a grocery store, packed with chef's cases as far as the eye can see. Each filled with every kind of food and pastry one could imagine. Okay, you caught me. While this post wasn't about eating we did happen to visit what could be called a "food city". But we didn't buy anything! Oh wait, Yes we did.

in our kitchen: chickpea curry & Nutella covered mochi

2011-02-12T22:06:00.000-08:00

Last week we made two memorable dishes. For dinner, chickpea curry. Originally vegetarian, we added chicken because that's how we roll. Brandon also added yellow bell peppers, sauteed in curry powder. We opted for no rice since chickpea's are so high in fiber and super filling.

Another stellar dish.

Then, for dessert and in honor of World Nutella Day we covered mochi in Nutella and honey. Yum.

I promise we do more than just eat.

Kamakura

2011-01-23T03:44:00.000-08:00

Right outside of Yokosuka is Kamakura, this adorable beachside-ish Japanese town that hosts Japan's 2nd largest Buddha statue. This weekend we hoped on the train and went strolling down the streets lined with sweets and souvenir shops swarming with the most international crowd we've seen since Kyoto. It was peaceful and rewarding and as we sat under the Buda feeding Ella we couldn't help but realize how special the moment was. Buddha's and Temples bring a certain peace of mind to anyone of any religion. It's just something about the trees, gardens, gathering of people from all over the world, and ancient stuff that makes you appreciate life to it's fullest.

chinese & mongolian

2011-01-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

Brandon got this amazing new rice cooker for Christmas from Mama & Papa Willett and we have been breaking it in with some tasty new dishes. It is quite the step up from our $7.00, two cup, mini-rice cooker from the last year and a half!

We took our first stab at Mongolian cooking. I can't say if we have ever had Mongolian before, so why not give it a try!

Mongolian Chicken Stew: A delicious combination of chickpeas, golden raisins, toasted almonds, cinnamon, curry powder, and garlic; stewed with green peppers, red onions, chicken, and tomato soup.

Last night we cooked Kung Pao Chicken (Jewell's favorite Chinese dish). This was a recipe we found on the blog Noodle Fever via Tastespotting.com. If you have never perused the Tastespotting website you are missing out. It's the best place to get lost, at least that's what I think. Although, maybe not if you're on a diet.

It was our first attempt and we didn't have cornstarch so our sauce lacked that glossy look. However, it was one delicious and insanely, eye-watering spicy plate of food!

three pictures of Ella

2011-01-18T01:22:00.000-08:00

Happy 3 months (and a few days) to our Ella!

at first sight

2011-01-18T01:14:00.000-08:00

Here are a few snap shots of the new city, Yokosuka! We haven't discovered all that much yet but have definitely been out walking around everyday. (Hopefully) some day soon we will go out and dig a little deeper. Until then, feast your eyes on some of these shots of the train station area.

So, as you can see it's much more urban than Sasebo and there is something going on with saxophones. There are 6 different statues with-in 30 meters of the train station. Any ideas?

Yokohama

2011-01-11T03:06:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we took the train to Yokohama. What's in Yokohama? Well, for starters an original Louis Vitton Trunk from 1922 that I wasn't allowed to take a picture of and was guarded by not one, but two guards. Other then that all we did was shop and eat. It was great, we didn't even leave the train station area! We have plenty of time to go back and sight see on a larger scale and believe me, we will.

Most of the pictures are from an awesome import store. We walked away with two bricks of brie, rose from Italy, cheese crackers, Wilkinson's Spicy Ginger Ale, and verde salsa. Yum. Oh, and no worries - we definitely grabbed a chocolate baguette.

Great Words

2011-01-08T03:29:00.000-08:00

How fitting. Right after I finish [my wrap up] on Sasebo I just came across this [article] about Sasebo! I can't believe I never thought to search the Metropolis for info on Sasebo. I guess just didn't think it's awesomeness reached this far! Enjoy.

Good Bye Sasebo

2011-01-08T01:27:00.000-08:00

A new year has started and with that we have officially started life in Yokosuka, Japan. Not without leaving one of the greatest cities in the world and some great people behind. It seems like in every new place we live we search to find the greatest things possible. We see no need to sit around and think about the negative aspects of life - just get out and discover what is great about your surroundings.

So with out further banter, here is a [collection] of our 15 favorite things about Sasebo. A permanent installation for our family blog.

Pedestrian area on a snowy day, downtown Sasebo.

three pictures of Ella

2010-12-20T04:18:00.000-08:00

Kira Kira Light Festival

2010-12-04T20:00:00.000-08:00

December 1st I took Ella out at night, in her cute white bear hat, to see her first Christmas lights. She loved them. I loved them. It was a good time. It was also the Kira Kira Light Festival, sadly, something we missed last year. Like my mom says, the Japanese are very good at celebrating life with so many holidays ans festivals. Well, this was definitely a celebration. On December 1st everyone gets together to toast the Christmas & Holiday season. There are several things going on at the same time - not unlikely in Japan.

Look, it's Christmas Godzilla and all of his friends!

Different organizations and businesses from around Sasebo purchase tables, stock them with beer, snacks, and party hats and all meet up after work. Here they party through the evening with everyone coming together to toast at 7:00PM. It's great. Everyone standing around in their business suits getting wasted in the middle of the Arcade. Giving cheers and shooting off balloons, it's quite exciting. While all of this is going on there is also a festival with oyster's, flowers, and other various treats for your liking. Most amazing of all, there is a costume & skit contest. This is a situation that honestly feels like a Japanese Christmas Game Show. People of all ages dress in their best (or most hilarious) costumes and put on a small skit about Christmas. Words can't really describe the insanity that pursued - so I just took lots of video. [Next Post]

I will leave you with some pictures of the evening to tide over until I get the videos posted.

Look who we ran into! It's Aunt Manami and her concierge training team.

Happy start of Christmas!

The Holiday's Are Here

2010-12-04T17:00:00.000-08:00

It's official. Ella and I have gone walking everyday while Brandon has been in Yokosuka, getting things started at our new home. Here are some pictures from around town. We haven't made it down to see the Cornell yet though. We will wait for Brandon to come back for that one.

The Tamaya window display. I would love one of those old fashioned tiny Santa's in the snow.

Card displays are everywhere.

Make a Wish - Look! That kid wants to be a chef!

The Arcade is lined with Christmas Trees.

Winter flowers.

I was planning on buying three of those green trees to use as Christmas decor but that would be silly, considering me move the day after Christmas.

fried rice for one

2010-12-04T02:15:00.000-08:00

Taking care of the bean by myself while Brandon's away hasn't been all that bad. Except that I got hungry today. So in honor of our favorite dude, I made myself some fried rice - Brandon style: with lots of Saracha. I think he would be proud because I made sure my pan was really hot before I added anything. That's the most important thing or at least that's what he tells me whenever I ask how to cook something. Yum!

baseball extravaganza

2010-12-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

What the what?! Just realized we never posted anything about our amazing Japanese baseball game experience. Maybe it's because I was slightly distracted by my ginormous baby belly. Who knows? Anywhoo. . .here it goes!

We had waited a year to finally score tickets on one of the baseball games. We got here pretty late in the season last year and tickets were hard to come by at that point. We decided it best to go through the base tour company for this one, I can't even begin to imagine the mis-adventure that would have become of us trying to buy tickets from some creepy on-line dealer, plus we saved a tone of yen by not taking the train round trip. So, it worked out. Perfect timing too as it was tight around Brandon's birthday and he got to do the ONE thing that he had been constantly talking about since before we moved.

The baseball experience here is fantastic. It's like going to a college football game in the states. Everyone is so into it. Covered in Hawks (Fukuoka's team name) gear from head to toe, wearing scarves and giant claw hands while they fly flags and scream battle songs out of megaphones. Literally, we saw people doing all of that at the same time. There are official cheer sections where both the home and opposing teams have bands that play fight songs. Yes, bands like marching bands. Yes, fight songs like rehearsed cheers. Meanwhile, the announcer is a 6ft tall German radio DJ guy who is screaming super pumped up Japanese to the rest of us and there are concessionaire's running around selling KFC & serving beer out of keg back-packs. Yup, that's about how it went. Like we were inside a giant baseball game show. (The run on sentence is supposed to symbolize the intensity.)

All in all it was a great day, we even got on the jumbo-tron. It turns out they like to display the Americans who also love baseball. . .weird.

Seventh inning stretch balloons. We let them go for the home team, the Hawks.

good bye faces

2010-11-29T00:43:00.000-08:00

What brought us to Japan? It's been a while since we started this blog so some of our sweet reader's might not know why. Work! About 18 months ago Brandon finished culinary school and had quite a bit of management experience racked up from his post-college days. I was in-between jobs (waiting tables at the best restaurant in the world p.s.) so we decided it was the perfect time to do something spectacular with our lives. We were one year into marriage and it was just the two of us with one month left on our lease when Brandon responded to a job listing for a company, in Japan. Who knew that all of those years of working in a corporate restaurant would land us smack in the middle of Japan, working for a family run company?

Fast forward. So, here we are about to leave Sasebo, Japan (where we both work on a Navy base) Brandon serving some of America's finest their burgers and beer, but more importantly meeting some of the most kind, hard-working people in the world. This would all be a story best told by Brandon but I don't think it's hard to know his feelings about his staff, neh the family, that he came to love like brothers and sisters. So rather than putting words in his mouth I will let him write an entry, eventually, about what his experience was like. I will however, tell you that watching Brandon evolve into a General Manager over the last 16 months has been a heart warming experience. It seems he has experienced every emotion one would in a good relationship(happiness, confusion, surprise, disappointment, rage, love - and pride, to name a few) and come out with a sparkling, cohesive,
self-sufficient example of a well-run, profitable store.

For a professional standpoint it's no surprise that he was offered this new opportunity. Sure, I am bias and think my husband deserves a billion promotions in a year but I think that most people would agree he plain rocks at his job. So, congratulations hubby! You deserve this and we (Ella & I) are behind you 100%. Like I told you in the car (driving! ah, how I barely remember those days) on the highway in San Antonio, I will follow you anywhere in the world. I must admit, I am happy this move takes us to a big city. Maybe we'll get some counter top space? Eh?

In the meantime-here are some good-bye faces from the Sasebo staff!

Brandon with his kitchen crew!

current happenings

2010-11-26T05:58:00.001-08:00

Christmas is coming!

THANKSgiving

2010-11-25T10:23:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving #2 in Japan has now come and gone. It goes with out saying that this holiday season will be tough with out family. Now that we have Ella, it seems like we are back at the same feelings as last year when we celebrated for the first time in Japan. An exciting new adventure. Missing family.

We always talk about how crazy it is that all of these things are happening again. We can recognize which festivals are approaching by the decorations around town and which Japanese holiday it is by what stores close. We know winter is around the corner because all of the flower vendors have switched their stock and all of the bakeries are featuring their strawberry shortcake. All kinds of things are happening that we are used too, which is just another sign that you have become a citizen of your surroundings. All be it, we move in a month and everything will be new and ripe for discovery. . .again.

This year's Thanksgiving was very different from [last year]. You may recall how we spent the day last year, drinking and cooking all day long. Ending in a fantastic pot roast cooked on top of our washing machine. Remember that?

Well, this year we changed it up a bit. Ella spent her first Thanksgiving helping mommy at work and dad came along to volunteer. We spent the day serving the troops at our annual USO Thanksgiving Feast. It was a great turn out and Ella was a hit with all of the sailor's in her turkey bib. It was great to have her there bringing smiles too all of their faces. We know that Thanksgiving is about tradition, but how do you really keep tradition when you move around all of the time? So our tradition is spending time as a family. What better way than the three of us serving some fine, hard working people who are so far from their own families? We may not have a big turkey, shitake mushroom gravy, asparagus casserole OR the Cowboys game, but we have each other. That is more than enough to celebrate!

Pie Eating Contest!

With the volunteer crew, still happy after clean up.

When service was over we spent some extra time packing up the left-overs to be delivered around base to those who were on duty, to our USO Center, and various single sailor areas. Just to spread the love a little more. We also grabbed some left-overs for ourselves and headed home to pull together a small meal of our own. Brandon made a great sauce for the turkey (gotta love his culinary genius sometimes) and we served it up "family style". We spent the rest of the night enjoying drinks with Manami and reminiscing about the last year and how so much has changed. We often realize this when we are sitting around holding our beautiful little baby, she is a constant reminder of where we have been, but more importantly, where we will go.

Happy Thanksgiving.

kid clothes

2010-11-23T05:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a fun new thing for us! Japanese kid's clothes are the coolest thing ever. Of course, they believe that USA kids clothes are the coolest ever - and in the case of JCrew, I agree - but otherwise, they definitely win!

current happenings

2010-11-23T05:57:00.001-08:00

Shot of our entry way, on a good day. These cute shoes are ready and waiting for her little feet to grow!

the birth story

2010-11-16T02:58:00.000-08:00

Check out Ella's birth story [here], if you like.

moving notice

2010-10-29T05:02:00.000-07:00

Big news friends and family: We are moving!

In January we're taking this 3 person show on the road and relocating to Yokosuka, Japan. Just a stones throw away from Tokyo! Why you ask? Brandon is being relocated to another restaurant -big move for his career! It's no doubt that we will miss so much about Sasebo, we have really come to love it's charm and the friends we have made here, but there is something exciting about experiencing a whole new area of Japan that makes this news bitter-sweet.

We hope you're ready for all new adventures as the Willett's take on a new city and all it has to offer. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, here is a shot of our first family outing. . .how cute is Ella's head poking out of her blanket there. Ramen shop, of course.

current happenings

2010-10-23T01:39:00.000-07:00

This is just a cool picture that Brandon took 2 days before Ella was born. Just thought I would share!

isn't she lovely

2010-10-23T01:04:00.001-07:00

First things first. It has been way too long! It's hard to explain why, but it's a mixture of things like the fact that our lives went from zero to "woah we are having a baby", and, "Jewell is working 60 hours a week while pregnant", in one hot minute. It's no secret that I miss my days of wandering the streets of our city and stopping to people watch while drinking a latte but it's also no secret that I have two new things that I love. I couldn't be happier with my job but more importantly, our baby arrived!

Her name is Ella Elaine and we are totally in love with her. She was born Tuesday, October 12th at 6:32 PM, 8 days late and weighing 8lbs 2oz. Her hair is light brown, her eyes are a beautiful slate-grey/blue, her cheeks are super chubby, and her legs are long and strong. She and Brandon are already the best of friends and sometimes when she cries all he has to do is touch her and she will stop. She is so lucky!

Ella. One day old.

The last thing we thought we would become master's of while living abroad was giving birth. Sushi, sure. Exchange rates(which really stink right now), sure. Trains, definitely. But having to go through the most intense and important experience of our lives while only understanding about half of what we were being told, definitely not part of the plan. Through all of the confusion and differences(giving birth in Japan is a much different experience than the USA) Ella still came out perfectly healthy, in the hands of a very capable Doctor, in a very peaceful environment. In the end, that's really all any parent could hope for.

Leaving the birthing center: 5 days old.

Here is a bonus shot of one of my meals at the Birth Center. So, basically I got 3 full meals a day plus a snack and a dessert. All gourmet and all served on fine china. Take that USA.

current happenings

2010-08-27T04:46:00.000-07:00

Here is some life.

The new camera rocks.

the one year post

2010-08-19T01:28:00.001-07:00

It's so hard to realize we have been here, in Japan, for a year now. Does anyone else out there think this year went by so incredibly fast? It wasn't long ago we were hugging our family good-bye and walking our 4 suitcases up the ramp to airport security. We were so uncertain about what we were doing but excited at the prospect of redirecting our lives - to the other side of the world.

It wasn't long before our possessions began to grow and we began to assimilate into Japanese culture. We accepted the fact that we were going walk everywhere and that we couldn't get dark chocolate as easily as we could back home. We began to enjoy buying groceries in small amounts knowing they were coming fresh daily from the farms in town. We learned to squeeze into a twin size bed and love the firmness of a futon mat on wood. Brandon learned how to cook with no counter and two burners. Actually, we are still perfecting that one. We learned how to fit everything we wanted into a tiny fridge. Then there was learning how to not bump into people while making no eye-contact and knowing when to avoid the grocery store so you didn't get run over by a sweet little old Japanese lady - who is not so sweet when she is trying to get to the last bell pepper.

We have made some wonderful friends, many of whom we have discussed on this blog. This year would not have worked out well with out the new friendships and new traditions built with them.

Lastly, the most important thing that came from this year of new discoveries is our baby. She is six weeks away from her day of birth and we are so excited. It's is so amazing knowing that we are bringing a little person into this big world - and that she will actually know how big that world really is.

Thank you all for stopping by from time to time. It feels so amazing to know there are friends and family who have been able to experience some of this crazy adventure with us. We hope you're ready to see what this next year has to bring! We sure are.

Here are some of our favorite moments from over the past year.

Reggie & Manami

Real Ramen

Conquering the Y105 Sushi go-round.

Conquering trains.

The Nagasaki Peace Park & Atomic Bomb Museum.

Care packages!

Our not so traditional, but worthy Thanksgiving Dinner.

Laura & Tom. And Karaoke!

Happy 2010!

Baby news.

The return of the beard.

Tokyo!

Kyoto! And Cherry Blossoms! And dragging Mama & Papa Willett across Japan.

Living in a mix of old and new every day.

Well, now we begin year two! Stay tuned!

our new little place

2010-08-09T02:02:00.000-07:00

Since we know everyone has just been on pins and needles waiting to see what our new place looks like - here you go! We spent the last weekend putting some final touches on the living areas and starting to unpack everything for Ella Bean's room, which you can see will still need some work...but is coming along! Geeeeez, we can't believe it's almost been a year. It only took us that long to settle in to a great little place and finally feel like we don't have to sit on top of each other or stand in the bathroom to open the fridge!

We hope you enjoy the tour!

Well, we hoped you enjoyed this small photo tour of our new little place in Japan! Maybe we will get another YouTube video up here soon!

Oh, and our new gas stove top boils water in just about 3 minutes! Awesome!

brandon's 29th

2010-07-16T19:31:00.001-07:00

Brandon celebrated his first birthday abroad this week! We had a great little celebration with our good friends Reggie and Manami. We walked to dinner at our favorite restaurant and then returned to the apartment for drinks, presents and a surprise cake! Oh, and the non-child bearing people went out on the town after while the pregnant one curled up in bed.

Here are some shots of the evening!

Reggie & Manami at dinner.

After some due diligence I found a pastry chef in town with an oven and a German chocolate cake recipe up her sleeves.

Of course we missed everyone - there is nothing like a pool side party at Mama & Papa Willett's house, but have no worries we still managed to enjoy the night!

Bastille Day!

2010-07-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

In honor of Bastille Day we thought it was time to show you our favorite French Bakery, Donq. They make everything from scratch right there in full view and the product travels about 5 feet before it lands on the shelves. If you are lucky enough to get there as this transfer is taking place you can taste the items fresh and hot out of the chefs hands.

Bread cutting time!

Why yes, we would love to support a giant cream cheese roll.

Lady fingers. Strategically placed at every check out. Marie Antoinette would be so proud. Every time we check out I like to think it's her own little victory.

happy Brandon Day

2010-07-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to the best husband in the world.

something's kickin' pt. 2

2010-07-11T00:41:00.000-07:00

Here we are at 28 weeks. And a shot of some progress on the apartment!

love of san antonio

2010-07-05T02:05:00.000-07:00

Just a little something we came across while strolling through the Ginza (shopping arcade) yesterday. How random is this??

employed!

2010-07-04T03:40:00.000-07:00

We both have jobs now! I have officially started working as the Program & Volunteer Coordinator for the USO Sasebo Center! Woo hoo! I like to plan a good party that's for sure.

That's me, helping at the 4th of July Celebration! My first official program to work! USO sponsored the Hot Dog and Sasebo Burger eating contest. That's right - we are in Japan and we DID experience a food eating contest, and people really did douse their hot dog buns in water. I had no idea what I was doing, but Brandon said I looked like I did. Nice to know I can still wing it!

tiny resturant

2010-06-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

This is our new favorite resturant in Sasebo. Tonchinkon! We can't wait to show you photos but this tiny little resturant is full of some of the best tasting Japanese food we have found. Plus, it's directly across the street from our new apartment which makes for an easy commute.

wild sunday life

2010-06-13T23:08:00.000-07:00

We went to BioPark again! This time the sun was shining and the animals we out, as opposed to last time when everyone with a brain was hiding from the snow. This was Brandon's first visit so that was also some thing that made this trip more exciting.

If it's one thing we are becoming master's at it would have to be mass transportation. We find ourselves doing things that we never thought we would ever do, just to get to a zoo. Here is how it works when you have no car in a foreign land (take a deep reading breath): walk to the train station, take the train to Huis ten Bousch Station, walk to Loreli Hotel, catch the BioPark Shuttle Bus, go enjoy the zoo, catch the shuttle back to the hotel, walk back to the train, realize that you have to take the train to a random station to switch train lines unless you want to wait a whole hour until the train that will take you straight to Sasebo, decide to do this train switching adventure, make the switch successfully, thank God that number's are a universal language, arrive back in Sasebo and finally walk to your favorite Ramen Shop because all that just made you and your pregnant wife really, really hungry. Then walk home with enough time to watch the sunset off your new balcony.

That's right, all in a days work now. To think when we first arrived one train ride was ridiculous enough for us to handle!

Oh, yes-and this is one really fun zoo!

current happenings: cool down

2010-06-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

It's getting hot here! Pretty soon we will be sweating buckets like we did the first day we arrived...

However, here is one of the million things we love about Japan. Store bought ice that comes in a perfect sphere! Sure makes your every day drink something special. Thanks Japan.

what the belly?!

2010-06-04T23:00:00.001-07:00

Yes, I realize this is the 3rd baby post in a row, making this more of a baby blog at the moment, but we promise to do some more posting about other things soon. We live in this great new neighborhood and have fallen in love with a new restaurant and a new jazz bar. Also, we have raided a local used/vintage furniture store that I can't wait to post on. Life seems to be on auto-pilot these days, just living from one day to the next. The apartment is almost put together and we will soon be starting on the nursery for baby Ella - fun times ahead with that adventure!

Here is the baby belly-23 weeks in! Have a wonderful day!

someone's kickin'!

2010-05-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well Family and friends, the news is in...we are having a little lady! She is expected October 2, 2010 and we couldn't be happier. "Over the moon" would be the correct phrase I beleive.

Baby Ella and her parents are registered at Target and Amazon.

New Digs!!!

2010-05-29T00:20:00.000-07:00

Can anyone out there say "new apartment"!?

We are settling in to our new little place in Japan and let me the first to tell you that it is just about 40x better then the last place. I mean, we can actually stretch out our legs, we have two rooms(one for baby!) and the best part is-you don't have to stand in the bathroom to use the kitchen. Although, we are lacking some necessities, like a range. Here in Japan you most likely have to provide your own appliances. We have the fridge so far, but will be collecting the other items soon. So, safe to say you should be expecting some photos once we figure out a place for all of our clothes. How we got so much stuff into that last little place, I have no idea-oh, wait! Yes I do, we slept on a wooden platform atop a storage space.

See ya later 130sq. feet!

Earth Day

2010-04-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

I went to a local Japanese Beach for a Earth Day clean-up! Not only did I want to honor mother earth but if you must know, I was secretly scoping out what our beach access might be like this summer. You should know that I was very pleasantly surprised. It is small, but swimmable and clean-thanks to us! Not to mention the Navy Base has a shuttle during the summer. Exciting!

Baby Thoughts

2010-04-22T02:07:00.000-07:00

If for some reason you were not already aware, we are in the process of growing our first little baby in my belly. I am currently 16 weeks along and finally starting to look a little bit more like a pregnant lady and not someone with a serious cupcake fetish.

It's weird to think that the most important thing we will be bringing home is a child. As of February of this year we were under the impression the most important thing would be a full set of china from the beloved pottery factory in our town. If that isn't a testament to how fast your priorities can change, I don't know what is. I have always considered myself a citizen of the world, and now we get to raise a child who will really be a citizen of this great big place. Although, for those of you who are wondering we will hop on a train and travel to the Embassy to obtain a baby passport and social security card. So, technically, it will be an American. . .but it's all in perspective.

16 weeks in the belly.

Kyoto

2010-04-20T03:06:00.000-07:00

If you can only go one place in Japan, there is no doubt about it that place should be Kyoto. While we are all for the beautiful insanity that is Tokyo, there was just something about the atmosphere in Kyoto that had us hooked from the moment we got out of the traffic on the way to our hotel. To quote Anthony Bourdain, "it was unimprovable."

When we arrived it was snowing. We sat worried for the weather the next few days while we were in town but were easily distracted by the pure beauty of snow falling a top cherry blossom covered mountains. Really, it was like nothing you could ever see, anywhere, ever.

You have already seen the view from our hotel room in Kyoto, but here is the view of the mountain the evening we arrived.

The next day we woke to amazing clear blue skies. Not an drop of rain to be seen. The weather even warmed up just enough to not require an under layer of clothing. Kyoto is very natural and scattered with many ancient temples and castles. Here are some photos from the many places we visited. You are not allowed to take pictures of the interiors -as to no disturb the Gods of course - so most of the pictures you will see are of castle and temple grounds.

Nijo Castle front.

A temple rock garden and fortunes.

Frolicking in the gardens of the 1,000 Buda Temple.

Hanging around a temple.

Amazing colors.

The Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion).

The brochure for this unbelievable temple referred to the Kinkakuji as "the world's most elaborate retirement home."

One night we were searching for a great place to eat. Brandon and I asked the concierge where she went to eat. She sent us to the Gion District and ultimately to the best food we have eaten in Japan, thus far. It was so good that the next night went back again with the parents.

A Ginkakuji Temple market.

The 10,000 Tori Gates.

We hope you enjoyed reading about our cross country trip! We had such an amazing time getting to know our new home even more and words can express how great it was to have family along for the adventure. Where to next?

Part III: Tokyo Disney

2010-04-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

Wow! Disney would have been awesome if there wasn't an average wait of 180-320 minutes for every ride and the surprise sub-zero rainy weather (as exhibited by our awesome fashions a few photos below). See ya later Fast Pass. As we learned all Fast Passes run out with-in the first hour the park is open. We all collectively agreed we had never seen more people in our lives in one place. I was fully prepared to sit around with my baby belly and not ride anything - but no one else was! In fact, I started a covert operation to run around with every one's tickets gathering as many fast passes as I could before the all sold out: 2. That's right - only 2. So, the best part of our Disney excursion was looking at all of the details. In true Disney style everything was magically designed to perfection. And if you thought Disney World was the cleanest park you'd ever seen wait until you see a Disney park in Japan. It was almost creepy how clean everything was! So, while we were cold, it was fun to look at everything through our shivering eyes.

Here is a view of our Hotel. We stayed right inside the park and went to bed and woke up hearing Disney music.

King Triton's Castle! It was an attraction I have never seen before, the inside was full of kids rides. Dang! 7 Months too early! I love the Little Mermaid.

Here we are looking like a "cold mess". There is nothing good about the way Sue and I look, but we were warm! And I am publishing this photo just to show you what we are willing to put ourselves through for the Disney experience.

Tower of Terror. While I was trying to look scared it actually depicts the weather much better!

Well, it's official. I have now travel to Disney parks in three different countries. I deserve a prize!

Part II: To Tokyo

2010-04-12T08:20:00.001-07:00

Part II: The Tokyo Cavern Club

If you must know, this event gets it's own post because it's no lie that we are obsessed with The Beatles. So, after seeing a CNN report about a year ago when researching living in Japan, we already knew that this night was happening, some way, some how. So, on our only night in Tokyo we took our parents to the ever so tame Roppongi neighborhood to hear a Japanese Beatles tribute band. By tame, I mean that it's not tame at all. For those of you from Texas, imagine 6th Street in Austin times 10.

It is designed like the original Cavern Club The Beatles first played in and the walls are covered with albums, autographs, and photos at every inch. They serve themed cocktails also! We were able to reserve a table and since we called so far ahead of time we were right in front of center stage. What makes the whole experience so insanely cool, is the band doesn't speak a lick of English, but sings every song perfectly. It was fantastic. I would definitely NOT miss this if you are ever in Tokyo!

To Tokyo

2010-04-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

So, we have made you wait long enough! Here are a few summaries of our amazing trek across Japan!

Part I: To Tokyo

Bright and early we caught our first train out of Sasebo, the start of a nine hour journey to Tokyo! We didn't exactly know it would take nine hours, but in true Amazing Race style we stumbled upon a few moments of "what do you mean we can't take the train from Fukuoka to Tokyo?!" So, after we made all of the right connection plans and cursed the train schedule the man at the domestic travel agency had given me, we were on our way!

The Shinkansen (Bullet Train)

Upon arrival at the most amazing hotel (Westin Tokyo) we have stayed at to date we cleaned up for a wonderful traditional Japanese meal, they even had veggie sushi rolls for me and the baby! After a full night of rest(in an actual bed!) we boarded a tour bus for a half-day tour of major sites in Tokyo. We are usually very anti-organized tour, but when given one day to conquer a city that should really be given 7 days, we agreed to cave in, but just to a half day. After we disembarked from our crazy little tour guide we found our way through the Tokyo Subway to Shibuya. The sole purpose of this adventure was to a. conquer the subway system and, b. walk across Shibuya Crossing. If you haven't heard about the Tokyo Subway, it basically looks like you threw some multi-colored noodles on a plate and attached Japanese characters to particular destinations along each noodle. Also, equally intimidating is the Shibuya Crossing. This is a 5-way intersection in-which it's said 1,000 people cross each time the light changes. Although, I am now convinced from experience - it's probably more. Awesome. Well, we conquered each task with such ease and delight that we moved on to the next thing. Finding the H&M. For some big city shopping. Funny how we could find our way through a plate of spaghetti and pass safely across the street with 1,000 people but we couldn't locate a store 150meters away from us. Eventually, it happened and we successfully completed 3 things on the top of our "Must Do" list.

Outside the Imperial Palace, well a guard tower at least.

Walking through a temple market.

Shibuya Crossing in action.

Hope you have enjoyed this first portion of our trip, in the next section you get to hear all about the Beatles Club!

Happy Sakura

2010-04-04T02:16:00.000-07:00

As previously mentioned, Cherry Blossom Season is in full bloom here in Japan - and also in Washington D.C. Since I can't make it to D.C. I will just have to settle for our 7 day trek across our new home land instead! While there is so much more to write about our trip, I need a few days to digest it all. I wanted to leave you with some person shots of the Cherry Blossoms that we took on our trip! Enjoy!

spring time

2010-03-23T05:19:00.000-07:00

Just as winter comes to an end here in Japan something like snow starts to take over the scenery. It's time for Cherry Blossom season!

image via flickr.

Happy Spring!

thoughts from a little couch in japan

2010-03-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that I have become the girl that doesn't update the blog and trust me I am getting a handful from the parents about it. I never meant to stop updating - lord knows I love to talk. The thing about it is, I have been curled up on our tiny little couch for the last month, unable to do anything for fear of throwing up on an innocent bi-stander. Which, have you know, I have avoided doing at least three times in public. So proud of that, it's really a huge test in self control I have decided. So - if you found that last bit of writing un-appealing and full of TMI(that means too much information, dad) then you might just understand why there is a lack of updates.

As previously mentioned things are going to be looking up soon. We are exactly one week away from our first visitors! Mama and Papa Willett are coming from Dallas for a crash course in our new life! We will be taking the Shinkansen (bullet train) for the first time to Tokyo and Kyoto!!! I am so excited to sit down and go 200 miles an hour. We all survived the Mission to Mars ride at Disney World, so I know we can take this one. There are a few other things we can't wait to do. Like cross the street with a thousand people at the Shibuya Crossing and go to the Golden Temple in Kyoto. That is right, there is a temple made totally of gold. What?? Yea, so excited for that one. Of course, there are some other things that sound appealing - like sleeping on a bed, having someone make that bed daily, the possibility of there being whole wheat toast at our hotel breakfast buffet, and maybe finding some real pizza.

The weather is reminding us a lot of Texas right now. You know, one day is rains, the next day it doesn't, one day you wear flops, the next day it snows. But, just like my nausea it's starting to even it's self out.

We found a great new apartment! It had two rooms and a bed. It came with an A/C unit, a stove top, refrigerator, and even a washing machine. That is right, apartments here don't usually come with any of those things. Just a gas line and a bunch of plugs. It even had a tatami room, which is a traditional Japanese room with woven bamboo floors. Oh! and the balcony was the size of out current apartment, so that was nice. So, are you wondering why all of this is in the past tense? That is because we didn't get accepted - because we are foreign. Awesome. Not. So, now we have to struggle through the whole process again in hopes that we can find a place by May. Wish us luck! This next statement might be considered out of the blue and a tad bit too political for our blog, but, people that don't believe working immigrants deserve any rights obviously haven't lived in a foreign country - and maybe they should experience it at some point to better make their important decisions.

That's all the thoughts from our little couch in Japan. For now.

Nagasaki Lantern Festival

2010-02-23T23:50:00.000-08:00

The last time we went to Nagasaki we got so lost that the mention of the city makes my mind spin. In fact, we were prepared to never go back. This time we went on a bus (a much cheaper and efficient way) with a bunch of people from the base and we didn't get lost - except in the insane crowd.

We ditched the tour guide as soon we arrived, after all, Chinatown was the one thing we actually found when we first visited Nagasaki. This was a much different Chinatown. On the last trip it was a ghost town, but not this time. We made out way from park to park trying to catch Dragon Dances and Chinese Acrobats - but we didn't really get to see anything because every event was so crowded that you spent most of your time watching out for people pushing through the crowds and not so much time looking up. So, we happily walked the streets looking at all the lanterns, which were very detailed and as the sun started to set filled with illumination.

Overall, we really enjoyed taking a long awaited adventure - no matter how nauseous one of us might have been.

And then there was this. It was like the main event, I should have had a protective bubble around our unborn child because of all the pushing and shoving to get a view of these offerings.

baby, oh baby

2010-02-19T22:16:00.001-08:00

Here is a crazy plot twist for you, dear readers. Looks like we will be doing our part to add to our already amazing family, because I am now definitely pregnant!

Of all the things we could have brought back from Japan. . .

FYI the due date is October 2, 2010.

hot minute

2010-02-11T23:50:00.001-08:00

It sure has been one hot minute since we last updated you, dear readers, on life. It is safe to say that there has not been too much to update on. Yes, believe it or not we are settling in to life! We have been here for 6 months and while that is a very exciting feat - it also means that there is less adventure and more daily tasks to get us towards that next adventure, if that makes sense.

Here are a few things that we have coming up that will surely bring wonderful stories!

February: The Nagasaki Lantern Festival

March/April: Mom and Pop Willett arrive in late March for a 10 trip in which we will follow the cherry blossoms across Japan by train and visit Tokyo, Tokyo Disney(where there's a Disney there's a Willett), and Kyoto.

April: Hallelujah!!! We are going to move into a slightly larger little place in Japan! Yes, there is one happy girl on the other end of your computer screen.

So, fear not - we are still alive and happy and loving life here in Japan!

trash

2010-01-25T00:38:00.000-08:00

In case you were suddenly taking the USA's method of Trash Disposal for granted I would like to let you in on the experience here in Japan.

First, everything must be separated and if it is not you get this huge orange ticket on your trash bag! I mean what are you supposed to do with that? Plus, I don't know about any of you but once I deliver my trash to the curb - I don't necessarily go back for it.

Now on to the the separation. Everything must be separated into burnable / un-burnable. After which, it must be separated into plastic, paper, glass, burnable trash like food, aluminum, and so on. Everything must be placed in a special clear city approved trash bag - which you must buy YOURSELF.

Next, there is trash pick up. Each form of trash has a designated trash pick up day (much like the USA) - here at our apartment it 3x a month for burnables and 2x a month for un-burnables (not like the USA). If you put something out on the wrong day - yup, you get an orange ticket - we are still unsure how they enforce these tickets and we are convinced it's mostly so your neighbors can give you the stink eye.

Now, the attention to recycling is something that could be taught to the whole world, I mean it could truly be the future of trash disposal - it's unbelievably amazing. This is just a post to let you all know how completely complicated (and a bit funny, as in funny ackward) it is. It really makes you appreciate the uncomplicated system on your street - one bin for trash, one bin for recycle, your trash comes 2x a week and is picked up with out fail no matter the size, shape, or color of your bag. Have I made you want to give your trash person a fruit basket of love and appreciation yet?? No?? Keep reading.

Wondering what brought this post on? I just witnessed a young girl buy her monthly ( I assume) trash bags, a total cost of Y8,800 (roughly $90.70). That is right, you have to drop a bill just to throw away your trash - and that was for a single lady. One of the only times I will be thankful for daunting city taxes was the moment I saw that transaction.

How do we deal with this? We separate and take our trash to base - in whatever bag we want, what ever day we want.

hot wheels

2010-01-23T06:54:00.000-08:00

Here she is!

Jewell's hand-me-down super awesome cruiser from her super awesome friend Laura.

2010-01-15T21:32:00.000-08:00

Since we have a few reader's I really wanted to let you all in on this amazing project our friend Clayton is beginning.

In May after graduating from medical school he will leave on a cross country bicycle & mountaineering fundraising tour. The purpose: to raise awareness and funds for The Modern Women's Clinic and Research Center in Pampram, Gauna. His journey will take him from North Little Rock, Arkansas to the Redwood Forest in California, a 5 month, 3,000 mile journey. After which, he will move to west Africa to join the team at the clinic!

Take some time to get familiar with the program, and maybe donate if you can!! Every little bit helps!

Clayton on a mountain.

Dr. Frank Addo - founder - in front of the clinic.

Visit Clayton's Website & Blog here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, we look forward to keeping you updated on his progress!.

snow day

2010-01-14T21:34:00.000-08:00

The weather has been pretty wacky lately, with the few feet of snow and all. That didn't stand in my way yesterday when I chose to go to Hello Kitty Land with one of our friends, Ayumi. I piled on multiple layers of clothing and socks, threw on my boots and gloves and got super pumped to visit the land of my childhood obsession. However, when we entered the destination into her GPS unit (which also plays local TV) and were told said destination was 3 hours away we finally decided - maybe today is not so good a day to go to Hello Kitty Land.

So, once again my plans to Hello Kitty Land fell through. Doesn't anyone else understand how important it is for me to go to this place???

Plan B: Bio Park.

On the way to this amazing interactive zoo (not in the technology sense - in the you get to hold the animals sense) we quickly realized that Sasebo was not the only place that received the gift of snow. We also noticed that Sasebo was the only place the snow seemed to have actually melted. As we neared Bio Park (about 45 minutes from Sasebo) we oohed and ahhhed the several feet of snow still piled over rice patties and orange tree's. We noticed the homes with white roofs. Basically, we realized that maybe going to an interactive zoo in a typically warm climate might not be the brightest idea. However, we stuck with Plan B and enjoyed the scenery.

Detour: Giant Tori = Giant Temple.

On the way to the glorified petting zoo we came across a Tori that was huge, and orange, and very captivating. (the picture above is taken while exiting, entering was much more magical. sorry.) We pulled in and entered what I could imagine what a Japanese snow heaven might look like. There was several feet of snow resting on perfectly manicured gardens and trees. There were "oh, so Japanese" bridges to the likes I have only seen in travel brochures guiding you over koi ponds, and beyond the gardens and trees a really large and beautiful temple. Great detour.

Upon our arrival to Bio Park, we were greeted by an empty parking lot and some parrots sitting on a branch, covered in snow. The poor guys were freezing, but non-the-less doing their jobs. It instantly reminded me of a cold day at the water park when we would to have to stand in the Texas Tree House getting routinely drenched in cold water just so the 10 idiots that thought playing in freezing water would be fun wouldn't drown. Well, those poor parrots had to stand out on a branch in snow just to greet the two idiots that thought coming to a Zoo in 2 feet of snow would be fun.

First of all, this place is amazing. It's set around a mountain and the path sort of guides you up and around to the top - with all of the animal sanctuaries along the paths. A lot of things were closed due to the fact that the animals were huddling in random corners trying to keep warm, but I could still tell that in Spring this place is going to be amazing. Some animals were happy to see us, especially this beaver that put on quite a little show. We held some Guinea pigs and fed several goats and sheep, you know all the guys that probably get ignored when the kangaroos are hopping along the paths (I will believe the brochure when I see it). We fed some random animal that was wandering the path with a head of a dear and the body of Brandon's dog. Finally, a monkey jumped on Ayumi's shoulder which was the icing on the cake and was also nice because at that point we couldn't feel our toes and were about ready to give up.

In the end, it was quite a successful day. Complete with a stop at Uniqlo for some cool new pants and a scarf it was just what I needed after several days of sitting around.

For your enjoyment:

Mr. Beaver performing his Maneki Neko Song

The monkey and the ??? both getting quite aggressive. I have now thrown out those gloves.

current happenings: snow!

2010-01-13T02:07:00.001-08:00

This morning we woke up to snow at 6:00am. Much to our surprise, it is still here - and layering like a biscuit at 7:00pm. Sweet winter!!

it's all happening

2010-01-11T04:07:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to our dear friends Sean & Alanna on their engagement! We can't wait for the wedding, but mostly we can't wait for a life-time of married couple memories.

In their beloved Mexico.

jazz spot

2010-01-11T01:22:00.000-08:00

We found a really great bar that happens to be dedicated to Jazz. There is not too much to say about it except that it was amazing. I think we found our new "Our Bar".

Great seating.

Look Adam - we found your drum set!

The record wall.

Good tunes and super cool coasters. What else do you really need??

missing this - the family farm

2010-01-06T05:08:00.000-08:00

In loving memory of Grandma Audrey P. Riexinger 1930-2010

{The family farm in Buffalo Prairie, IL}

mochi

2010-01-05T06:43:00.000-08:00

We have been partaking in our fair share of mochi eating during this new year. Our new year used to be about eating cakes and candies still holding out from Christmas and securing good luck with something made out of black eyed peas. Now, we proudly indulge in glutinous rice that has been pounded into something like looks like cookie dough. It actually goes with just about everything you might put in cookie dough though, so it's a fair trade. Our favorite way: baked in the toaster oven and then topped with walnuts and honey.

fukuoka for the first time

2010-01-03T21:59:00.001-08:00

We traveled to Fukuoka on the train the other day. We took the chance to go with Tom and Laura and they showed us the whole city in a sort of walking/subway tour. Getting a crash course on the subway system was nice so we don't look like complete idiots when we go to Tokyo in March. Although, I'm sure we will most definetly still look like idiots. It was so great to get an idea of what to do and where to go. It's a big city with national sports teams and big glass buildings - the opposite of Nagasaki. It was more international and the shopping appears to be spectacular. Safe to say, we can't wait to go back and spend a few days visiting temples, attending a Fukuoka Hawks baseball game and shopping.

The pictures are quite random but it wasn't so much about the pictures this time around.

the willett's top 10 + 1 collection

2010-01-03T06:11:00.000-08:00

It is no secret that we love great tunes. Brandon is the music guru between us, often doing the labor of finding new albums, but always finding the right soundtrack to our life. It is also no secret that we have had quite the year. Marriage, moving to San Antonio, Brandon graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, and most of all - this little move across the ocean.

You can bet that we had some great albums on repeat that gave us great comfort - and here they are in no particular order.

Our favorite albums of 2009. Most were released with in the year with a few exceptions - there is nothing wrong with dusting off an old favorite.

Here are a few singles that are worthy of mention:

Loving Cup - The Rolling Stones (the first dance)

Poker Face - Lady Gaga (Brandon didn't have a say in that)

Many Shades of Black - The Raconteurs

Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon

Ramblin' (Wo)man - Cat Power

Photo Credits:

Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series #8 :: Cold War Kids, Loyalty to Loyalty :: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, 100 Days, 100 Nights :: The Black Keys, Attack and Release :: Elvis Costello, This Year's Model :: Delta Spirit, Ode to Sunshine :: The Dead Weather, Hore Hound :: Dan Auerbach, Keep it Hid :: My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges :: James Hunter, The Hard Way :: Mastodon, Crack the Skye

our japanese new year

2010-01-03T01:32:00.000-08:00

We took the opportunity to join our friends and visit Sasebo's Temple on New Year's Eve! Here are a few pictures from our experience:

There were booths throughout the temple selling various festival foods. Here is Manami purchasing our taco yaki - Octopus Balls.

The busy, crowded temple. Here we waited in line to throw an offering in the shrine, ring the bell by those giant ropes, and say a prayer.

The year of the tiger!

Manami, Brandon, and I with our fortunes at the temple. Just a warning: they both said babies.

Exchanging arrows. The arrow is a symbol that protects your household from demons throughout the year.

Reggie, Manami, Brandon, & Jewell.

Akamashite Omedeto Gozaimasu!

ellena

2009-12-30T03:13:00.000-08:00

Well, it's not fancy or anything and I hope you didn't just ride 10 roller coasters because it's mighty shaky. . .but here is our beloved grocery store that we wish we could pack up and bring home at the end of this adventure!

If you listen very closely at the ice cream part, you can here the AWESOME Ellena theme song that magically plays every time you enter the store.

Hope you get some laughs at least!

nabe and fondue

2009-12-27T20:25:00.000-08:00

First, I know just what you are thinking. Why would you have fondue?

Last night we went over to our friends house to partake in a lovely, and quite delicious meal experience called - Nabe. This is, in fact - very much like fondue, except that you don't dip things in, you take things out. So in a sense, the only thing fondue like is the giant clay pot resting atop fire in middle of the table.

Our hosts had prepared a feast of mushrooms, tofu (Brandon has embraced the tofu, but I am still coming around to the overall idea), chicken, chicken rolled into balls with vegetables, daikon radish, bean sprouts, cabbage, acorn squash, and since it's the new year - mochi. Mochi is basically rice, that has been pounded and turned into something that best resembles cookie dough, and then ends up flat, hard, and looking like pearl-like sugar candies from the Marie Antoinette days. It is a big new year's tradition. When steamed in Nabe it's gooey and delicious. As for it's other forms, well we don't really know about it's other forms so we couldn't respectfully relate.

All of the above awesomeness is thrown into the giant clay pot in which they are slowly cooked with broth. This can be broth of many flavor's, some of which include; miso, beef, curry(our flavor if the night), and "no flavor". Which I assume means - just water that possibly creates a stock of sorts.

Soon everything starts to look like this:

Once we devoured that - out of bowls of course - came the rice. That is correct, we are just getting to the rice. So, you mix the rice with the broth and top it with cheese creating a delicious, creamy, risotto oozing with flavors from left over pieces of mushroom, diakon, and cabbage. Which I don't really need to explain. If creamy risotto doesn't sound good to you then you don't really deserve to be reading this. Dare I say it? You probably shouldn't be our friend.

Just when you think you can't move your body and you have flash backs to your Mom declaring "kids starving in China" comes dessert.

So fondue.

We have never expressed a love of fondue. Although we did go on a fondue date once, back when Brandon was wooing me with his culinary intuitions which would later effect our future. I mostly loved the apple martinis. However, we managed to receive two fondue sets for Christmas (that's right Lindsey, two!). We took this as a major hint - as to what I don't know - but we prepped a tray of fruit and shortbread cookies and arrived with hands - err bags - full of chocolate. Chocolate, good. Fruit, good. Chocolate dipped fruit, GREAT. So, while we don't plan to be cooking any meals fondue style (why would you when you have Nabe?) we did enjoy the overall result. So don't be surprised if we ever show up at your house with all of the necessary items to make our new favorite dessert. Unless you are Laura, in that case we promise to never show up with a chocolate based dessert, but I can't promise we won't bring the fondue set up just for kicks!

*just to be clear: we loved receiving the fondue gifts. there is nothing more amazing then giving us something we have never experienced before. and we know that is why the loved ones that gave them did. thank you. we loved the experience!

christmas day

2009-12-25T21:59:00.000-08:00

Here is a summary of how we spent our first Japanese Christmas!

What a great Christmas! The day was full of happy moments as we walked around town. The weather wasn't the greatest but we didn't let it rain on our parade. What's great about Japan is that since they don't really celebrate the same way Americans do, we had plenty of ways to entertain ourselves as we distracted our minds from thoughts of being home with family doing things like singing silent night at church or falling asleep under the tree to The Christmas Story. However, the Japanese seem to have caught into the whole holiday cheer idea, meaning there were families out and about having a great time among the decorations and various fair-like activities creating the "hustle and bustle" feel you often get in the states.

We took some presents to the staff to thank them for working so hard during the holiday time. Little things, like American chocolates, sausages, and jellies. They were novelty, but we thought it was a nice gesture for them. We later met up with Tom and Laura for coffee, which is never just coffee. We managed to find some friends that see the humor in both the simple things in life and the situation of immersing yourself in a new culture, they are always up for a good laugh. We went to the center of town area where they had "snow", which actually turned out to be more of an ice shooting machine into a space about the size of our apartment. After our not so white Christmas experience we stopped by Ron's Burger Shop to visit our friends Koichi and Mia. We brought them different American candies and chocolates and practiced some Japanese as well.

Then, it was time for the main event: KFC. We have been waiting since we first read the holiday portion of our Living Abroad in Japan book, in which it read "Christmas is celebrated simply by eating KFC and strawberry shortcake". So, being the type of people that pick up on funny little things like that, we of course planned our entire Christmas celebration around this fact. Come to find out, the book was right. They had a whole system to control the lines and every fast food restaurant in town had their own version of fried and rotisserie chicken you could pre-order and take home. So, now that we have had that experience we can search for our next one - which if we are in the business of knocking out "things you must do while living in Japan" then tonight will be one more thing to tally. Tonight we are going to our first Karaoke party!! So, here begins day two of the Christmas celebration!

Yes, that is me in the middle of all the kids. Yes, I threw a snowball at a kid. No, I don't think he liked it.

Playing in the "snow".

Coffee with Tom and Laura.

Igloo!! You can't see but it was sitting right next to the Godzilla light sculpture.

Bucket of KFC and necessary additions.

Note: From what we can tell, Christmas is not so much about the religious experience. It seems to be more about the merchandising and giving aspect. Which, since the Japanese are not a very publicly religious society-in general-this is not surprising. I did see March of Dimes and other charities with donation trees all over town, so they do believe in the charity of the season from what we can tell. According to our Japanese friends, it is common to exchange a gift with your loved one, eat a meal of American-like cuisine, and often go right back to work.

merry merry

2009-12-24T16:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays from the Willett's!

bowling

2009-12-18T23:57:00.000-08:00

When my friend Laura told me that bowling was a big deal here, I was slightly skeptical. We met up for dinner and bowling and a classic case of prove Jewell wrong. Not intentionally or anything, but I was proved very wrong.

cool Japanese bowling shoes

When we zoned in after our first game there were trickles of drunk or soon to be drunk 20-somethings, with crazy hair and awesome leather jackets filling up the lanes beside us. Then when we finished the last of our chu-hi's and after our second game there were people waiting for us to leave, because there was quite to line forming in the bowling ally. So, it's true...like Karaoke, bowling is a big deal. Jason and Erica would have been so happy.

Mario themed bowling, too perfect.

Notice the lady mid celebration dance to the right.