Music Playlist Removed

I have just removed my music gadget from Playlist.com due to sicking ads found on their site. I will no longer promote their site on my blog. I apologize to anyone who may have gone to Playlist.com from my blog and found inappropriate material. I encourage anyone else who has an account with them to submit a complaint, as I have, about the inappropriate content of their ads. I know this stuff is common all over the internet, but that doesn't make it okay to be complacent and just live with it!!

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke

Stand firm for truth and righteousness!

Into a house now

We finally moved into a house yesterday. It's really...something. This house is so old that it's a bigger adjustment moving into this house than it was to move to Japan. It was built in 1952. It has all wood floors, solid wood doors, really old elecrical boxes and external wiring on the walls, and there is a glossy shine from ceiling to floor. The walls and door frames have been painted so many times in nearly 60 years that they are rounded and gloppy. On our wood floors you can see marks and repairs where the radiators were. Marin has described this place as "creepy" and "spooky". I'm not sure yet how to make it feel like home, but we'll get there. Right now I'm just glad to have a whole kitchen again, and the smaller of two shipments of our stuff. The rest will come later next month. We can't wait.

Check back soon. I'll add more to this post later. I just wanted to get at least this much up for now. We're really busy right now.

'Lil TAC Officer

We have carefully considered all schools to send Marin to, and have placed her in a very strict military school. She has done so well that they have already promoted her to head *TAC Officer of her class, and possibly soon, the head of the whole school. Here is evidence of her hard nosed, strict leadership skills that will take her far in her military career.
*TAC Officer; a drill sergeant for aspiring Officers

Joy, in the Truest Sense of the Word

Tokyo, Japan Temple
On Friday night Jeff and I had the opportunity to go to the LDS Temple in Tokyo. It was wonderful to be there to feel the power of the Spirit and peaceful solitude, like a comforter. There is no equal in all the world to the Temple of the Lord. It truly is His house. It is very much set apart from the cares world. In no other place do I feel so close to my Father in Heaven. What a blessing and a privilege.

Salt Lake Temple, Utah

A Great Week

We're having too much fun here. Between the three of us we have seen and done a lot! Last Saturday, I took a "train class", a guided excursion to Yebisu Garden Place in Tokyo. It took an hour and a half to get there by train. We were given 3 1/2 hours to explore the area, shop, and eat. I went to lunch with 4 young Japanese tour guides who speak little English. That was really cool. We ate at an old western style restaurant, and I ate a really good burger. A bit ironic, I know. Then we walked over to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. It was impressive, yet humbling. It featured images taken all over the world over the past year by expert photojournalists. Many images were gruesome, showing the violence that has occurred in far away places like Georgia (the country), devastating natural disasters, and even effects of the economic crisis. I don't even know how express how it touched me, but it left me with a solemn feeling, for sure. It definitely made me all the more grateful to be a citizen of a very civilized and relatively safe country. (Japan is safer than the US.)
Also on Saturday we moved into a suite. We had been in a small, one room hotel room with a tiny fridge and a microwave. Now we have two separate bedrooms and a living area with a kitchenette, a table with chairs, a TV and a love seat. It's a relief to have more space, and separate rooms, not to mention something of a kitchen.We found our way to church on our own on Sunday. Good job Jeff!! It's 30 minutes away, through the tight, maze-like streets of the city. Jeff has an amazing sense of direction. Church is interesting. It's in a very nice new building that is completely different from anything you'd find anywhere else. It's on 3 levels. The bottom level is brick floor parking and a small lobby with an elevator and a stairway. On the next level is a small chapel, with only cushioned folding chairs, and the top level has the classrooms and Branch President's offices. The Branch is tiny, especially since it's summer. It's a Military Branch taking in members from several military bases. There are usually about 35 people in Sacrament meeting, about 15 in the one adult Sunday School class, 8 to 10 in Relief Society, and the same numbers in Primary. We're still trying to figure out the personality of the Branch. It's different. Jeff has very good experiences in Priesthood, better than he's found in past wards. The Relief Society also has a very different feel from what I have experienced anywhere else. I'm not sure what to say about it except that I hoping to help strengthen the RS and do what I can to bring the sisters together and lift their spirits. Several of the sisters' husbands are deployed, which explains a lot. I know all too well what that's like. I'm really looking forward to getting involved. The Branch just received our records and we are ready and waiting for callings.This week, Jeff and I did Japanese Headstart. It's a full time, week long introduction to Japan, its history, culture and language, in a classroom setting, plus a day trip to Odawara Castle---an hour and a half away by train, right by the ocean. The class was taught by two really funny Japanese men. They were practically comedians! It was a whole lot of fun!! We got certificates of completion with our names in Japanese yesterday.Sensei Onozaki, our instructor and a samurai master

The same day that we went to Odawara Castle, Marin went on a full day field trip with the CDC* to Ebina Fantasy Land! She had a lot of fun, though she doesn't know how to explain what she saw and did there. The preschool does a full day field trip to really cool places every Thursday. Last week they went to the Enoshim Aquarium, also an hour and a half away. The Aquarium featured a dolphin show where the dolphins performed. Marin was bouncing off the walls when we picked her up that day!

We've seen and done a whole lot in the short time that we have been here. We couldn't have gotten here only 3 1/2 weeks ago, could we!? It feels like longer because we've packed so much in. It feels like we're on a cruise---living in a hotel, eating out all the time, Jeff being with us all the time, and frequently traveling and going on excursions to great and exciting places in a beautiful foreign country. Three years here wont be long enough.

Things will change a bit after Jeff starts work on Monday, but not much. His schedule will actually be light, for a total and complete change from the past several years! We will still go on lots of excursions with ACS** and Outdoor Rec. Jeff will take some kind of a samurai lessons from one of our Japanese Headstart instructors. I will start taking a Japanese class in a few weeks through the University of Maryland, and Marin will start school in September. We also have Marin signed up for violin and swimming lessons in August, and soccer this Fall. Could life get any better than this?!

*Child Development Center
**Army Community Service

Dreaming of Bumper Cars

Well, we have a car now, and it's nice to have wheels again, especially since it's been so rainy here lately. I'm ready to be done getting drenched whenever we have to go somewhere. So, now we're getting used to driving in Japan. It's a whole different experience driving around here and we're still nervous about it. First, we drive on the left side of the road, from the right side of the car. The gear shift and wipers are on the left and the turn signal is on the right. It's all backwards! Then, the roads are so narrow (off post) that you have to squeeze your way around, and in many places it's too narrow for two cars to pass each other going opposite directions, so you have to wait for cars to come through from the other direction before you can go through the narrow part. Plus you have to watch for pedestrians, bikes, and mopeds using the same small space! And you also have to watch for telephone poles planted out in the road too! Yeah, it's crazy. I think it would be a great idea if they just drove bumper cars instead. They're the right size for the roads, and driving would be a lot more fun and less stress!

Every Day Here is a New Adventure

Yesterday, Jeff and I went to the Newcomers Brief. There were many presenters from all different offices around Camp Zama. It was good, very informative. The presenters were very personable and told us how much we would love it here. The only people who don't like being here are those who have no sense of adventure, and fortunately there are very few.
We had our favorite dinner last night. The Community Club has it every Wednesday night. It's Mongolian BBQ. We get a bowl and fill it with all kinds of raw veggies and raw meats, add some sauce to it and then the cooks stir fry it for us in the kitchen. This was our 3rd Wednesday eating there because it is so good!
After dinner we went to a Girl Scout meeting with Marin, our first ever. There were lots of girls between 5 and 10. Jeff and I enjoyed visiting with other parents while the girls did their opening exercises and sang their songs. The activity of the night was trying Sushi! It was hard to do on a full stomach, but I did it just to say I did! It was okay. It would help to be hungry when I try it again though. Jeff really liked it. He also liked the rice and tuna covered in bright orange salmon eggs that burst between your teeth. I tried that too, but wasn't too ready for that. Again, it would help to be really hungry. Marin wouldn't try it at all.
As for girls Scouts? I'm not sure what to think. I'm sure it's a good thing, but I come from a family that is not in the least into scouting. And singing cheesy songs is so against the grain for me. But Jeff is an Eagle Scout and is all for this. He was helping Marin memorize the motto on the way home. That's fine. It will be their Daddy Daughter date each week! Just don't rope me into it.

Today---Finally a break! We have been going, going, going constantly the whole time we have been here, plus we live in one small room so I don't get time or space to relax in privacy. I am someone who needs plenty of that. So, today Jeff went to another day of Newcomer Briefings, I opted out, and Marin went to the CDC (Child Development Center). She went on a field trip with the CDC to an aquarium an hour away and had a great time!!! I enjoyed a day of personal time alone in the peace and quiet in our room!! I feel so much better now!
We have been trying to get a car for the last week, but there have only been a few cars here for sale and they are not available for another 2 weeks. There is a car lot near our church that has great cars but we can't get there without a car. So, when a friend of ours said he was heading over there to get a car for his wife, we asked if we could go with them. John was happy to take us, especially since he didn't know the way there and Jeff did. It worked out very well and was a fun evening for both families. Both families piled into their van and we went over to the lot. The kids had fun wiping the big water drops off the cars after a day of pouring rain, and the adults had fun looking at all the cheap cars!!!
Used cars are ridiculously cheap here! It's great, especially because the Japanese take care of their cars and things far better than Americans do. We got a '96 Honda CRV for about $2500, plus other fees. It looks great and we're excited about it.
Our friends got a car too. After that we went to McDonalds on the Navy Base, and all had fun there too. We really like our friends. They have a 6 year old girl who gets along well with Marin.
Here is our new car! It has a sun roof, fogs lights, side mirrors that electronically fold in for all those tight squeezes, and an extra side mirror on the front end so we can see down on the left side of the car. For us Americans, who are used to having the bulk of the car on our right, that will be immensely helpful. (Jeff hit a curb and almost took out some construction barriers, all on the left side, when we test drove a car the other day.)

Look at the Japanese writing. It's crazy to think they can actually read that, and someday I will too!