The Fishing Report

I apologize for the delay in my correspondence but I have been caught up with work and stuff….seems there was a problem with my TPS reports. This is a cleaner version than I would normally write, but I am putting it on the blog. Anyway two weeks ago on Veterans Day I participated in my first deep sea fishing trip since arriving in Japan….and it goes a little something like this………
To do this story justice I need to begin a day prior to the trip. I know that Japan is known as the Land of the Rising Sun, which I believe is an accurate nickname, however I would at this time like to officially make my submission known: Land of the Rising Sun and hellacious winds!!!! (Quick side note the wind here is like nothing I have ever witnessed, the other day I saw a huge marine riding a 1981 schwinn complete with the banana seat and wicker basket on the font. As if that wasn’t funny enough he had zip-tied a picture of the Wicked Witch of the West on the basket, I think he did this just so people knew what side of the rainbow he was from when one of the crazy wind gust sent is butt airborne.) Monday, 13 hours till cast off, I was monitoring the weather stations on the internet. I try to stick with Japanese ones they seem to be the more accurate and most of the time I can interpret the basics. One of the Japanese sites I was previewing had a picture of an animated angry cloud blowing a wave over the silhouette of a sail boat. Even though I don’t read or speak the language, I knew this can’t be good. I got the secretary to translate for me and sure enough it read small craft warning! I called the charter place and they said no big deal, they only stay in if the waves are 8 or over he predicted they were going to stay about 7. (Please note that I have NO idea what form of measurement 8 or 7 was he only communicated with numeric’s and did not follow either of the numerals with a quantitative definition.) So everything was a go and I knew I had better get some puke suppressant. Unfortunately you can’t purchase sea sick meds without a script on the Navy base, so I had to go out to the Japanese stores to find some. I knew this was not something that I could do alone so I did ask the Japanese teacher at school to write me out a message. The guy is kind of a joker and for a brief moment it crossed my mind he might be writing down that I need Viagra, now that would have made for a story.
I got my pills and was all set to go!!!
The morning of the trip I woke up and walked out to check the conditions. PERFECT spitting rain, 35 mile per hour wind and a base temp of 46. Typical opening day of duck season weather but not ideal for my shake down fishing run. Luckily I was prepared and like a Gailor I brought more outdoor cold weather stuff than I would ever need in Japan. And I wore it all out on that boat.
I report to our MUSTARD station behind Starbucks at o six hundred and meet the gang….well it is a total of 9 folks…4couples and me. Odd man out I rides with the organizers and one of the guides. They speak little English but more than I speak Japanese. I was wearing a FLW hooded sweat shirt and that sparked the conversation. I think they were telling me they liked it….or….that it would make it hard to swim when they threw me overboard. Everyone was smiling so I assumed the latter.
The trip was a 100 bucks US cash. That includes 6 hours of fishing and food and drinks. Well I soon discovered that included meals meant that we stopped at a 7/11 near the Marina and the guy gave each of us 1000 yen to buy stuff. I purchased two tall boy Sapporos and three granola bars. We drove another 30 min and ended up at the marina that is about 5 min from my house. I loaded my now one tall boy and 2 granola bars into my backpack and head out toward the pier. Our boat looked trust worthy…I could picture Ol’Samuel Clemens himself behind the wheel navigating her down the “old man” but I could NOT see that “junk” heading out in the swells I could see beyond the breaker wall.
Despite my apprehension we were soon under way. I soon learned that I was REALLY the odd man out, all the folks took cover in the cabin and I sat on port side listening to my audio books witnessing a spectacular view of Mount Fuji. It was cool! We ran with hammer down for about 45min. to reach the fishing grounds. I had no idea how far out we had gone, I lost sight of land 20 min. ago…..well that was until I stood up and saw that huge cliffs were about 150 yards off the starboard. Not only were we REAL close to land we were also in a parking lot of boats. There were people everywhere!!!! This was not western KY stuff were the Coot is cussing everyone, people were glad to see another boat…bringing the total to about 53.
Turns out that most everyone fishes the same way, that is, by baiting their hook with TINY shrimp and loading up a “CHUM WEIGHT”…that’s right a chum weight. It is a plastic tube that you fill with a ton of shrimp guts and other smelly stuff. The way you fish is you drop your bait to the bottom, reel up three feet, and then weight 5 min. If no bite, reel up and re-bait and fill the chum weight. (I included pictures on photo section of the blog: http://allthingsjones.shutterfly.com/487 ) I am NO expert on the Pacific Ring of Fire, but there is a serious drop off the coast of Japan. About 200 yards of the shore, it was over 100 feet deep. Turns out that the chum weights are the key, tons of boats, tons of chum…and it brings the fish. We caught mostly tuna! And it was as soon as it hit the bottom. I was giving my fish to the crew so I got some SPECIAL treatment; meaning they netted fish for me, fed me beer and noodles. Every time I dropped it down I had either a fish or a bite…that is until I got hooked into a big one that broke my line (they don’t use wire liters), since I was fishing for the crew they decided to set me up with a multiple hook rig….BIG MISTAKE….first drop down I bring it up and that rig is wrapped tighter than a double helix. Took the guys about a 40 min. to get me back on the fish.
Crew was cool. When I first laid eyes on them I thought I was witnessing an Asian “Black and Mild” commercial. Deckhands and the captain were all smoking the mini cigars. I ended up landing around 11 keepers and missing twice that. By fishing for the crew, I did kind of screw myself, my fish were not included in the competition, and so I think I missed winning a foldable chair….guess I will just have to stand from now on.
Overall it was a GREAT time, but I sure missed sharing it with someone. Fishing in Japan with a view of Mt. Fuji and WWII anti-air craft gun turrets was too great to do alone. I was having fun but I was really lonely. I did finish an audio book and tried to B.S. with guys that did not speak my language. I have always been lucky enough to have great buddies to experience things with….well I sure miss you guys now! In closing, I never puked, caught fish, and did not get thrown overboard!!! I rate it a success. If anyone wants to come visit the fishing trip is on me. I am sure there is some stuff out there that will need two barrels. I plan on doing more surf fishing for the next couple months. Jones OUT!!! Shoot’em in the Face!

Under the Chestnut Tree

Transliteration – Rōmaji (Romanji)

Ooki na kuri no ki no shita de

anata to watashi

naka yoku asobimashou

ooki na kuri no ki no shita de.

Under the big chestnut tree

You and me

are playing happily

Under the big chestnut tree

So, I was corresponding with my friend, Missy L., through email and I got started on this subject and it gave good inspiration for a blog entry. Moving to a place where I don't know a soul, where I have laying ahead of me the task of meeting new people and making new friends (which, for a former very shy little girl, can be extremely frightening), where distance separates me from those I know the best, has made me contemplate the idea of friendship. In Louisville, and even just a little beyond (KY Lake, Big M. in Vegas and Kendall in Atlanta, etc.), we have a group of friends that I consider to be something very special. The roots of these friendships stretch so deep. They were created by aquaintance and made stronger by time. It is an enormous network (facebook has the evidence). We have so many people available to us to share in our celebrations and to give us support when we need it.
So, being that nearly all of my friendships have shared aquaintance or time in it's DNA, I wonder, is it possible to establish new friendships in a place and atmosphere where time and frames of reference are not an option? Most of the people we have and will meet here have a connection to the Naval base. I think the language barrier will keep us from establishing bonds with alot of Japanese nationals. Because of this, the people you meet will come and go so often. I have already met several people who I really enjoy being around, but most of these budding friendships are already threatened by departure dates. Also, we have no established friendships here, so there is no one to vouch for the authenticity or sincerity of the people that we do meet (this is what I mean by frame of reference). I wonder if there will be anyone here in Japan that we could really depend on if there were to come an occasion when we needed someone closeby. I wonder, where is the line between aquaintance and friendship - between friendliness and loyalty? Sometimes you wonder if the next thing out of your mouth will be the thing that changes someone's opinion of you. As I told Missy, I am missing the people who already know me and accept me for who I am, regardless of our differences. I am missing those people I can say anything in front of and not worry about judgement because our bond is already established. I am missing sharing the motherhood years with the girls I once partied and got crazy with! A girl I met here (with whom I've shared some fun shopping trips), who has traveled the world, says she characterizes a friend as someone you enjoy spending time with. That sounds good to me. I will just enjoy the people I meet and those who make our days here in Japan fun and memorable. We have been fortunate to have crossed paths with many helpful people so far. I will just appreciate this. Thank you to those folks. And if a lasting friendship or two does develop, all the better. This is just a new experience for me and has led me to all of this contemplation.
Emailing, skyping, chatting,...facebooking?...have been incredible tools to help feed our emotional needs, our connections to those we love. I am so thankful for this technology! Thank you to all of the people back home who have stayed in contact with us. For me, there are a special few of you who have been rocks - thanks Carlye (you rock, my rock!), Randy, Michael, Gran, Corey Lee & Chelsea, Missy, Hope, Lesley, Leigh. I know alot more of you are keeping up with us by reading this blog. It is just so nice to read some of your words and thoughts.
To all of our friends, I say, thank you. This distance has given us an even greater appreciation for what we have in you.

Our MommyDaughter Adventure

The girls and I had our own little adventure yesterday. We drove to Kurihama flower park, in the southern part of the Penninsula. We took a previously undriven route that we thought would be a good shortcut, rather than drive the distance to the base and take the posted directions from there. We made it without incident to Kurihama, but, as expected, once we got to the immediate vicinity of the park I had a little difficulty finding it, being that the sign for the place is in Japanese. Yet after just two laps around the block we found it.

We made a steep climb around the flower field, whose beauty was unfortunately quite lacking right now. The place is known, however, for the field of poppies from mid May to June and cosmos, which we just missed, from mid Sept. to mid Oct. As we turned the corner 600 meters up we were greated by...



Godzilla!!!!

There's an amazing kids playground up there with, of course, Godzilla. The thing that makes this gigantic Godzilla even better is the fact that he basically deficates kids all day! See, Godzilla is actually a slide and you can guess where the 'bottom' of the slide is. It'd be even more awesome, I think, if the top of the slide was thr0ugh his ferocious mouth, but it's only at the belly. There's also an enormous structure featuring net climbing tubes and bridges and a long roller slide that is fun, but best when assisted by the plastic mats they sell. We unfortunately did not have a mat - ouch. we had a great time playing and took a different path down. To our dismay, after trecking up and down the hills of this path we hit a dead end when the path turned into a stairway. So, already tired and sore from all the uphill walking, we had to turn around and backtrack the entire trip back up then eventually down again. Stella was a trooper. Lacey laid back and enjoyed the scenery, which was beautiful by the way.

Pictures posted in Photo Journal
note: Stel took her turn as photographer so alot of these pictures are her art/vision

Bits and Pieces

Stella at a beach near our house. The tall, dark area almost directly above Stel's head is Fuji-san. (Click to view closer.)

In Japan, you can pay your bills at convenience stores.

I mentioned something before about the customer service. Wow, it's great. Mostly everywhere you go, one or more people will say "Ira-shai-mase" (welcome) as you enter, pretty loudly. Then, they will leave you alone until you are ready to buy whatever it is you want to buy. No pressure. They just leave it at 'welcome' until you are ready. But, at that point, they go all out. Packages are usually wrapped pretty nicely, especially in smaller stores and markets. There's alot of thanking and bowing. And it is not unusual for the girls to get gifts. Just today we bought some plants at a store and they grabbed a couple of fresh flowers and gave them to Stella and Lacey. Oh, and Stella got some kind of bag at another store. The other day Lacey was given two bibs at a department store. It's really cool.

I wish you could see the absolute cuteness of all the Japanese school children on their way to school in the morning dressed in their adorable uniforms. Mostly kids walk to school. We have seen kids that look no older than Stella walking down the street by themselves. There are, however, adults dressed in reflective green hats and vest, that stand all up and down the streets. I assume they are there to guide the children to and from school.

There are persimmons growing everywhere right now.

We unfortunately discovered a different kind
of very large spider on our porch today.

Lacey with her biggest fan, Yiying, who works at a Ramen shop just outside the Base gate that we go to, alot. She really loves Lacey. We just discovered that Yiying and the other two people that work here are not Japanese, but actually Chinese, so we have to bone up on our Chinese now too 'cause she only speaks a couple of English words. Check out their English menu. It's so great!

They have the best fried rice, ever.

We are so excited to be having our first visitors!

Trips' mom and brother are coming for Christmas!!

I'm really missing Huber's, and Hillcrest Ave., and PeeWee's House. Fall is my favorite season and I'm missing these things. There are a few decorations around and Stel will get to trick or treat onbase, but missing that feeling that's usually in the air. It was a bit cooler last weekend and we grabbed a chai tea latte from Starbucks onbase, that helped a little.

We got to vote already! Absentee ballots.

Congrats to Lesley and Robert on their crazy, good news.
Congrats to LeighLeigh on her baby girl

and to the Hoekstras on their baby girl.

WE MISS YOU GUYS.

That's all for now. Just had a couple of things in my head.

That's our neighborhood in the center. Photo taken from Shonan Village. Our house is at the left end (from your perspective). Click on the photo to see it larger.

We're Back

First, for those of you who have checked in several times to find the same 'ol post, I apologize and thank you for the interest. We are in our new home and my days mainly consist of tending to the girls and getting this house in liveable order. I'm not yet prepared with alot of photos, but once everything is decently in order, I will post some. So, for now, I'm gonna share with you some of the quirky, different things about having a home in Japan (including a couple of visual aids).

The genkan

Probably one of the most well known household practices is the custom of removing your shoes before entering the home. This custom is mainly based on cleanliness. [I'll let this webpage give further detail

http://www.tjf.or.jp/eng/content/japaneseculture/02kutsu.htm]

Because of this, homes have an area call a genkan, kind of like our foyer, just kind of. Shoes do not go beyond the genkan. This is something to get used to, especially when you are trying to get a baby and an almost 4 year old out the door in the morning and you've forgotten to grab diapers, for example, and you have to run in and have to remove your shoes to grab them.(I will be sticking to Uggs this fall/winter.) When we were moving in, yes, the delivery men took their shoes off ev-er-y time they went back and forth! And this practice extends to other areas. For example, while shopping, I started to step into a changing room and was stopped by the sales lady saying 'shoes, shoes, shoes'.

Toilets & Bathrooms

The bathrooms in Japan are just that, rooms for bathing. Therefore, the toilet is typically in a completely separate room from the bath, sometimes nowhere even close to it. Ours is a little westernized, I suppose, 'cause even though our toilet is in its own room, that room is still in the bathroom (see the pic). And the toilets, wow. They refer to these things as Super Toilets, and that they are. Most have a button for a bidet, a button for female cleanliness, and a button for a seat warmer. Sometimes, epecially in public, you will happen upon a Super Toilet with a button that plays music and a button for making noises, perhaps a faux flushing sound, to cover up your own embarrassing noises. Some have automatic lids that lift on there own when it senses someone near. We had alot of problems when we first ran into one of these, at a McDonalds of all places. As if all the buttons didn't freak Stel out enough, when she walked into that stall and the seat lifted on its own, it was over!! I also should mention that I realized this happened right after she had watched the movie Monster House. We had problems leaving the base for awhile after that because she would not use the restrooms anywhere offbase. She's gotten used to the look of the Super Toilet now, but still asks before using whether it is 'automatic'. Also, since the toilet room is separate, there is sometimes a little hand washing area above. Neither of our Super Toilets are working right now, so things have just been business as usual around here. These aforementioned toilets are the modern/western ones. In alot of public places you will still find the squatters.

Instead of a shower, we have a shower room. The Japanese bath differently too. The shower is for rinsing and cleaning, the tub is for soaking and relaxation. [Again, see link for further explanation.]http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2002.html I'm lovin' this set up. It makes bathing the kids very efficient. Stel still has bucked the system and still uses the bath for her cleaning purposes. I suppose none of us really do it the Japanese way, but the set up is great. And, as mentioned in the article, we can start a hot bath from the kitchen. We still just walk in there and turn the knobs though.

Last interesting note on toilets and baths, instead of the shower being on the second floor of a two floor home, as with western houses, here (as per usual) it is the opposite and the bathing area is on the first floor with another toilet (what we think of as the guest toilet) upstairs.

Appliances

They're small. Real small. Small.

But we are lucky to have them. Ovens are a rarity. Homes typically just have burners and a fish broiler.

Above: Stove, washer/dryer, and our Japanese fridge

Left: My two dishwashers.

Side note: The Japanese hang their clothes outside to dry. You will see that everywhere you turn. And at the stores, there's an enormous plethora of clothes hanging options.

Garbage

Japan is a crowded place, with a shortage on space. No room for landfills. So, in order to manage the refuse of the great quantity of people who inhabit this island nation, there are very strict garbage collection policies. All garbage is to be sorted into categories. There's burnable trash, nonburnable trash, and recyclable trash (which is then divided into sub categories). It has taken alot of effort and we are still getting accustomed to the system. We peel labels off of bottles, tear the little plastic window out of spaghetti boxes, and rinse clean anything that has contained food.

Each day has it's own type of garbage, which is taken out, in the correct type of bag might I add, and placed in these green netted boxes that are in every neighborhood. If your trash is not right, the will slap a big yellow sticker on it and leave it there for all to see. And our trash would stand out like a sore thumb around here. There are 3 other American households in the neighborhood, but I'm sure it wouldn't take long to solve the mystery.

This is the most expensive garbage can I will ever buy. Even with this very helpful item, things still pile up awaiting the proper day. Luckily, there are places onbase that we can take recyclables on any day of the week.

Here are two articles I found that give a little insight. Our situations are not so extreme. But, when we were moving in, many of the neighbors made sure that we were aware of the policies. It was a hot topic and made us feel a bit exposed.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2002/04/27/rgarbage_ed3_.php

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/12/international/asia/12garbage.html

I am very proud to report that our garbage is yet to be yellow stickered and left. And it is a very rewarding feeling to be doing so much recycling.

Insects

There are some crazy ones here. And from what we hear, there will be some crazy ones in our house at some point. This little lady (not so little) has made her home on our side porch. We are told, thankfully, that she prefers the outdoors. I have noticed these kinds of spiders everywhere lately. And the handsome guy below is just one of several praying manti we've seen on our front porch. Unfortunately, we have had the infamous Japanese hornets hanging out at our neighbor's house, making a flight path right over our barbeque porch. These suckers, well, suck. They are big and aggressive, so I've read, have painful, venemous, nonbarbed stingers and work together. They have kept us from using our porch for the time being. The neighbor is in search of an exterminator, so hopefully it won't be an ongoing problem. And also, unfortunately, we've also had a roach or two, which is really common. Our friends told us a good trick we've used once. Instead of squashing any bugs and having to clean the mess, we have a specific plastic tupperware container that we use to trap them, then, we turn 'em into popsicles! We throw the container in the freezer to kill them and toss them out after.

Our Housing Agents

I want to mention our Housing Agents, Takakita-san and his English speaking employee, Miho-san. They are really great and incredibly prompt when we have any issues in the house. I actually only mentioned the hornets to Miho-san and asked her opinion on them and before we knew it, her boss, Takakita-san, had come over to speak with the neighbors about it for us.

Another side note: Customer service is just awesome here. Very attentive and appreciative but, there is never any pressure.

Well, I think that's it for now.

Shortley, I will be posting on the photo journal site, some photos from a walk we took today of our hill and some cool things we discovered around our area - so please check it soon.

If you are reading my posts, I invite you to leave comments. It's always great to read some words from people back home.

Until next time...