Sunshine

Well the biggest Fife news this Fall is the new addition to our family. It all started one evening when we went to dinner at Coco Ichibanya, Japanese curry house. Our neighbor's "boy" bunny ended up dropping out a load of baby bunnies (that is a story in itself) and I was contemplating taking one. We stopped by the pet store on the way home from dinner to look at bunny cages. The kids ended up spying a puppy, immediately took to her, and named her sunshine. My husband (while my back was turned) got the clerk to get her out and let the kids hold her. They were immediately in love. Then he held her for a while...long enough to seal the deal. He tried to get everyone in the car to leave and the kids all cried. Not "we want a pet" but "we want to take Sunshine home, why can't we have Sunshine?" Tyler...barely four that week, said to me "Mom, let me help you make your decision, I will take a plastic bag out back and pick up her poop." Let me tell you he has yet to do so! Anyway, I glared at Kurt, Kurt looked at me and we decided to pray about it. Just as he was about to say that we didn't have enough yen (those Japanese people do NOT give away their animals) we saw the American Express sign above the door. I guess we took that as a sign, because three days later after her "new puppy" shots, she was at home with us. Kurt gets up with her at night and I do the day duty (his punishment for getting her out of the cage in the first place). Actually I have horrific insomnia and if I get up with her, it is two hours before I can get back to sleep...was like that with my kids too. Anyway, she is a smart pup and can already "sit" and respond to her name at two-months old. I think she will be easily trainable...except for potty training. Oh, by the way, she is an English Cream daschaund (notoriously difficult to potty train). If we can make it through the nighttime potty training...she will be a part of the family for a long time.

Great Summer

Well folks, summer has wrapped up and we are heading into the cool of the Fall. The kids are all back in school, Hannah had her first day of Kindergarten today. It was bittersweet putting her on the bus with her big sister; she was so excited. It always hits me way harder to send them off to Kinder than to take them to preschool...I guess it is because it is so "official." I know she will have a great year. Her teacher, Mrs. Bloom who lives across the street, is very excited for school to start and will be a great teacher. Sarah's teacher Mr. Thomas should be great for her too...he ordered owl pellets last year which are really cool to disect. I wonder if he knows how weak a stomach Sarah has...
I guess I should blog a bit about what we did this summer. One thing I didn't do was take pictures, I am terrible. I will scrounge up some from friends/family and post what I can when I can.


Kurt got home at the end of June from his deployment, but turned right around and went back to the States on a two-week assignment. It is sure nice to have him back and it looks like he will be around for a while! Also in June, Hannah had a sleepover to mark the end of her Yochien experience and they had a great time. She ate Japanese food, played games and slept on a futon. When school ended, Sarah went off to her first Girl Scout camp. She went for a week to Tama Recreation area...a military facility about 16 miles away (takes 45 minutes or more by car). She got to ride a horse, hike, learn to build a campfire and got to sing some of the same songs I did when I went to camp. She had a great time too.

In July, we went to NY to visit the family. I was able to attend my sister Laurie's baby shower which was great, and got to see my new little nephew that my brother and his wife had back in February...Reilly is the cutest kid ever! We got to spend the fourth with the Robert family at their beautiful lakehouse and got to hike and go to the park with my parents and the kids. It was a nice vacation.

When we got back, Kurt had an exercise to prepare for a big inspection coming up. He was working over 12-hour days so my girlfriend and I took our six kids and went to the Yokohama area. We stayed at Yokosuka Naval Base with our hotel overlooking the water. Tyler was ecstatic watching the "Destroyers" drive by in the morning. All navy ships to him are "destroyers." We got to tour the Battleship Mikasa, went to Haijiima Sea Paradise - aquarium/amusement park, went to Chinatown and had dim sum, shopped for school clothes at the BX, spent a day at the base pool and then took a ferry to Sarushima ("monkey island") where we picnicked and played on the beach. All in all it was a great time.

Mrs. Yokota only had one appearance this summer at the Friendship Festival, an airshow open to the Japanese public. Two days in a row, for 12 hours each I stood on the flightline in heels, dress, sash and crown waving and having pictures taken with the Japanese. I think I had a thousand pictures taken of me! We raised a ton of money for the Mrs. Yokota Organization by selling cakes and lemonade, and we are going to be able to give a decent-sized scholarship out in the next few months.

We have also made some day trips this summer. The kids and I went one day to the "train park." They have numerous old static displays of steam engines. They have some kiddie rides and they have a giant train set that has about 15 different trains running on about six different tracks. The kids had a great time, it was a fun way to spend the day. We also went as a family to "Summerland" amusement and water park. They had a lazy river, hot tub pool, gigantic gondola ferris wheel, roller coaster, free-fall and several waterslides. They have an indoor wave pool (that we skipped this time) and a large indoor kid play area. It was one of the last Saturday's this season that the outside will be open, but there weren't that many people. OK, there weren't that many people for Tokyo!

Last night, Labor Day, the next door neighbor and I put together a last minute block party. We got a bounce castle for the kids and just threw together some food. It was a great time and we talked a lot about how we should have been doing these get-togethers long ago. Maybe we will close off the block, pool our candy, and have a Halloween block party!

Not only have we been able to relax some this summer, we have also been able to get some spiritual regeneration. Kurt and I went to the temple in Tokyo again, which is always a great experience (the Korean BBQ we had for dinner on the way was great too). I got released from Young Women's as a teacher and got called to Relief Society...as a teacher. I am a little nervous since I have never even been TO Relief Society because of my extensive time in Primary. I am excited to be involved in several enrichment groups coming up for the year...I am the POC for the book club and lunch bunch and will be attending the cooking club. That along with Mrs. Yokota duties, volunteering at the elementary school, and YOSC activities should keep me gainfully employed while the kids are in school.

Kurt has been busy with work. He was working as the Assistant Director of Operations for the 36 Airlift Squadron. Now, he got moved and is now Chief of the "Command Post, " the base's central nerve center. Everything gets filtered through there to the proper chains...if something bad happens on or off base, they know about it first. It is a very high profile job and demands a lot of attention to detail and regulation. Anyone who knows Kurt, knows that is his forte, so I know he will do an excellent job. He won't be flying as much which means he will be home more often and not off on "trips." He will miss the flying, but we won't have to miss him!

So that is the great, long blog about our summer. I hope that all of your families are well and safe. We love to get your family's updates too...helps us feel close even when we are far away!

Uniquely Japanese

I have really wanted to add these things with pictures, but I will just have to blog now and add pictures later. There are some really unique things about living in Japan. First of all, something that I noticed recently is that there is a huge trend for women to wear their shoes way too big. They get sizes so big that their entire foot comes out the front of their open-toed shoes leaving an inch or two in the back.

Another thing I have noticed, there are no old cars here. I inquired as to why that was and was told by my Japanese friend that the inspection process and road tax requirements are so stringent, that once a car is older than four years, because of the increasing price to keep it on the road, it is cheaper for people to just buy new ones. Crazy!

The Japanese are either really high tech or really low tech with their toilets. Sometimes you go in and the seat is heated, there is a bidet and there is either music or running water noises automatically to hide the sounds of your nature calling. Either that or there are what look like mens urinals laying flat on the ground. These are called squatters. These usually have no toilet paper so always carry that with you when you go out. Also very few bathrooms, especially in the city or in rural areas, have paper towels, so always carry a cloth towel with you. I bought several handkerchiefs from the dollar store and carry those with me.

I will be sure to write more as I notice things uniquely Japanese.

Sarah's Cable TV Commercial

Obviously, Sarah got selected to be in this commercial for cable and internet service. Since they were looking for a woman to play Sarah's Mother, they asked me to audition too. It was my first audition and although I didn't make it, I made the "short list" which is down between me and another gal. I guess they thought she looked more like Sarah's Mother than I did! This is especially funny since you only get to see the back of her head! The shoot was really fun. It was an all-day affair, but we got to meet some interesting people. The guy who played the Doctor was from Africa. He is married to a Japanese woman and they are expecting their first baby. He came to Japan to be with his brother who left Africa a while ago. The guy who played Sarah's Dad is French, also married to a Japanese girl, and just had his first baby...he slept alot between shoots. The woman who was Sarah's Mother was Italian and looked a lot like my brother's wife Jill...also Italian, but she was blond. She is married to a Japanese man whom she met while in school in England. She said to me "I never thought I would ever marry a Japanese guy" but it was funny how she scrunched up her nose when she said "Japanese." I guess she got over it! Sarah had a blast playing with the bears. One is supposed to be the uncle of the other one. One is a newspaper reporter...not sure how that is supposed to play into the commercial for cable TV. Anyway, it was just another fun adventure.

I am an Aunt again, and again, and

So this has been the year for babies. My sister Amanda just had a beautiful little girl, Karyssa, to add to her other three beautiful children. A very exciting event for me was the birth of Reilly Evan Campbell to my baby brother Scott on February 28 (I even predicted the day he would come). I guess it was that my "bratty baby brother" is now all growed up. It is also really exciting for me to announce that my baby sister is pregnant! This is especially symbolic because it finally brings us all into the same phase of life and now they can not only see what I have been going through, but really understand! I am so psyched!

So the rumors about kids modeling in Japan are true. We had known that several modeling agencies from Tokyo came to base, about every six months, to recruit American children for television, commercial and print work. What we didn't realize was that the modeling fair weekend was going to be the week we got here. We went to "see what it was all about" and hit the ground running...we got seven calls in the first week. That was really crazy since I didn't even know how to get to the other side of base! Since then, I have mastered the train and subway systems and have been quite busy with the jobs that Tyler, Sarah and Hannah have gotten so far. Here are a few examples of their work: Hannah did the video spot, Tyler did a "combi mini" catalog, and Sarah did a magazine shoot for "Oceans" and an advertizing deal for "Rubies" Halloween costumes among others...

It has also been interesting to learn how weird and bad the lives of the "real" models is. The Dutch gal who was supposed to be Hannah's "Mom" gave me a behind-the-scenes low-down. Most of the models live together...sometimes eight girls to an apartment. They are only allowed to come to Japan if they are sponsored by a particular agency. The contracts are for six to eight weeks long...only. The girls get their rent provided up-front by the agency, but they have to pay it back when they get a paying job. This gal was twenty and was old. She lives with four girls who are all 15, three from Poland, one from Holland. These girls go out drinking every night and come home at wee hours. I guess there is a bar that lets models in free and provides food vouchers and free drinks. They save up the food vouchers for parties...they will get together and spend their vouchers all at once to have a Birthday or some other celebration. They rarely make enough to go out otherwise. This leaves them prey to obviously unsavory characters, one of whom hangs out at the "model bars" and sells drugs...or gives them out at first. The "Dad" was Russian and looked like he had a rough night. No, my kids will never become "real" models...it is just for fun now!

Fortune Beans

February 3rd, which is one day before Risshun (the first day of spring on the lunar calendar), is called Setsubun ("set soo boon") in Japan. It's not a national holiday, but mame maki (bean throwing) ceremonies are performed on Setsubun. Traditionally, people throw roasted soy beans called fuku mame or fortune beans, shouting 'oni wa so to' (get out demons) and 'fu ku wa uchi' (come in happiness.) It is believed that people will be healthy and happy if they pick up and eat fuku mame the number equal to their ages (for me that was a lot of beans). Yesterday, we visited a local shrine, to get beans to receive good fortune for the year. At our shrine, there were a bunch of older men who were standing up on the shrine platform. At the designated time, every half hour from four to five, they would throw cellophane bags full of candy and beans, loose beans, coins, or small Japanese oranges out at the crowd. (It was very reminiscent of Mardi-gras but without the drinking or the beads!) The crowd was standing with open shopping bags ready to catch what they could. Some older men were walking around feeling sorry for the Gai-jin (foreigners) and bestowed upon us bean bags and coins! They were also serving "Sweet bean soup" or oshiruko which is a traditional Japanese dessert. The "soup" is made of azuki beans (the size of black beans, but red) which are boiled and crushed, served warm with the liquid in a bowl with mochi. Mochi is glutinous rice cake and tastes and looks a bit like potato gnochi...really chewy. Also, I found out how to use a shrine...each shrine is dedicated to a specific God and has a specific function. My friend Jessica and I ran away from the one for pregancy but settled on the one for education and learning. You make a monetary offering, .50 or a dollar, ring the bell, clap twice and then say a prayer. Hopefully I will be able to learn Japanese faster and easier now! Anyway, it was really fun to go and experience this ceremony. Jessica took some pictures so I will post them when I get them!

The Emperor's New Clothes

The Emperor of Japan comes out twice a year to greet his people. Once is on his Birthday on December 23rd and the other is on the 2nd of January where he gives his blessing for the new year. We went on Friday the 2nd with my Japanese teacher Tomoko and her family, and our friend Amy Joiner and her son Eric. We took the train and subway to "Nijubashi" (means two bridges for the two bridges you cross over the moat to get to the palace). We were led into a security line where we got frisked. There were thousands of people there, but the efficiency was amazing. We also had strollers so we were ushered into a different line and bypassed a lot of people. We lined up and were all given paper Japanese flags. Shortly, a great door opened and we all filed over a bridge and through the portcullis. There was a guard, very reminiscent of the Beefeaters in London, standing at attention as we walked past. We went up a hill and around a bend where we saw a beautiful Japanese building which I think is Edo Castle rebuilt. We went a bit farther (despit the thousands of people, the line moved quickly and orderly and everyone respected personal space) and went through another gate and came into a courtyard where there was a really long, low building. There was a glass porch - like a sunporch - on the second floor that was empty but was guarded on either side with "secret service." We all filed into the courtyard where we waited for 15 minutes when the Imperial Family filed out onto the porch. Although you can't tell from the picture (my iphone doesn't have zoom), we had a great view of the Emperor and his family. It was surreal listening to shouts of "Banzai" (eternal life) and the crackling of the paper flags in the wind. I do have to say after taking the kids to get dressed up in traditional Japanese kimonos, it was kind of disappointing to see the emperor dressed in his business suit, but it was a great experience in general. After a few minutes of waving and the Emperor giving his short blessing, he and his family filed out of the porch and we were all ushered through the exit and down the hill coming out on the opposite side of the entrance. We saw a beautiful pagoda and some beautiful gates on our way through the gardens and out of the property where we were deposited once again in the middle of the city. We all had a great time and are glad we had this opportunity that some Japanese only take advantage of once in their lives (like a trip to Mecca).

The Japanese Christmas Card

So these were supposed to be our Christmas card pictures this year. Unbeknownst to me however, there is a two-week processing time from your session till you get the prints. I don't exactly understand that because the pictures are digital...oh, well. So we went to the cutest place inside Toys-R-Us called Alice Studio. They do the hair and makeup and are great with the kids. Each child gets to take home the brush and comb that were used on them as well as the "flip-flop socks" as we call them. I think they came out great with the small exception that the day before the photo shoot, Tyler put his teeth through his top lip! Just adds to the fierce warrior thing I think. The Kun (coon) and Chan at the end of the names is a Japanese thing. They put Chan or Kun at the end of a boy's name and Chan at the end of a girls, to designate that they are children...it is a diminutive thing like the Spanish "-ita" or mija/hijo. I like it because they call Tyler, Tycoon!