Cool Breezes, Falling Leaves, and Quiet Contemplation

I managed to go (almost) the entirety of October without posting.  For shame!  I shall slap my own wrist and send myself to bed early.  [Oh the decadence!] 

Winter must be coming because the laundry basket now contains bunnyhugs, and sweaters.  A trip to the Cafe Mokuteki now requires more thought - do I still want that latte iced, or maybe today I should get it hot.  Showers and baths have become more fun again, no longer just a way to become clean but a relaxing and steam filled way to warm up and wind down.  Gone are the days of standing under cold water wishing for an escape from the ever oppressive humidity. 

My cards and pictures no longer crinkle in the heat, giving in to the pressures of the humid air and refusing to remain sturdy and straight.  A crochet hook and yarn now sits on the coffee table, waiting to be used.  Gone are the days that bread must be kept in the refrigerator, and blankets in the linen closet.  In a land so far north, the sun has started to set before 5:00 making evenings seem longer.

The leaves have begun to change colour and fall, people from southern States have began discussing the coming snows in earnest, always with a mixture of fear and excitement.  Will driving be safe?  Can we survive in weather below freezing?  Exactly how much snow do we need to get before they will shutdown the base and call it a snow day?

Fall for me has always been a time for quiet contemplation.  It was one year ago yesterday that I left Korea to venture forward into a relatively uncertain future.  A decision that I made in the pursuit of love and happiness - and new adventures.    I have found all three tucked away in this tiny little city so far away from where I started. 

Bring on Fall - and all the new adventures that will arrive with the cooler air and the changing leaves.

Halloween

I've become a bit of a Halloween scrooge through the last few years.  I really enjoyed living in Korea over two Halloweens, I didn't have to dress up, or be pressured into watching horror films late at night.  Some people go all out with their costumes planning and sewing (or ordering online) months in advance.  I am not one of those girls.  So when the head teacher at Misawa English school announced they were planning a costume party for the kids the weekend before Halloween I was not thrilled.  After some encouragement from a friend and fellow teacher at the school I made an effort (albeit a SMALL one) to procure a costume and a bit of holiday cheer. 

These are teachers at the Halloween party.  My costume consisted of a pair of bunny ears from the 100 Yen store (dollar store anyone?), some eyeliner and lipstick used in ways other than their intended purpose, and a rather fluffy cotton ball tail.

One thing I had failed to take into account during my Halloween Scroogery [Look Ma, a new word was born today!] was how much kids LOVE Halloween.  Even ones who aren't really sure what the holiday is, why the are celebrating, and why it requires dressing up.  ...Lets be honest, I don't think the Canadian/American kids are really sure why they do it either - they just know it leads to candy!

I ended up enjoying myself tremendously, simply because I got to celebrate the holiday through their eyes.  We had a pinata, cookies to decorate, and English Halloween word guessing games.

Some kids decorated their cookies to eat later....

...and some kids just ate their icing right then and there.

From now on I'm spending every Halloween with children.  I'll take them trick-or-treating, I'll hand out candy, and I'll hand them back to their parents once the sugar high starts to set in!

Hope everyone had a fun and festive Halloween!

Sushi

I thought that I'd post the pictures I took from the last time Travis and I went out for sushi.  People seem to be confused as to why I would WANT to eat sushi - or why we like it!  It's delicious, and this is why:

 The best sushi always comes with excellent sides.  Like above, we got pickled ginger (YUMMO!) and wasabi that was so fresh they grated it in front of us, and gave us a bit of the root!

 This is the assorted set that we enjoy the most.   It's nice to be able to have a little bit of everything.  I don't remember exactly what everything is - but I know their is salmon, tuna, shrimp, yellow fin, crab, and scallops there.  (I have to admit, I always give my scallops to Travis, just not my favorite!)

If you get one of the bigger sets you get more (go figure!) as well as some specialty sashimi, like this raw shrimp sashimi that Travis got that still had it's head and some of the legs.  

 As an added bonus - you get to eat with chopsticks!  Dinner is always more fun with chopsticks!!!

Misawa Air Show

This past Saturday Misawa Air Base hosted an Air Show, opening up the base to the Japanese to come and demonstrate both the USAF (United States Air Force) and JASDAF (Japanese Air Self-Defense Force).  These are some of the pictures we got from the event.

JASDF fighter

 This is the Miss Veedol  it was her last flight before her retirement.  The Miss Veedol was the first plane to fly non-stop across the Pacific Ocean.  The flight left from Sabishiro beach outside Misawa - and traveled for 41 hours across the pacific ocean where the pilot and copilot crash landed in the middle of Washington state.  (The plane had to crash land, because they jetisoned the landing gear after take off to drop some of the weight from the plane).  Obviously it has been recreated and reattached since October of  1931!

 USAF demonstrating formation flying with the F-16's