Yesterday, D.J. and I drove up to the Yokota air base (about 2 1/2 hours away) to pick up a co-worker that’s brand new to Japan.  He arrived with his family and we brought them back to the Lodge on base.  We are sponsoring them, which just means that we’re helping them get settled in Japan and help them figure out what all they need to do.  But, anyway, when we arrived we found out that it was going to take about an hour to get all the passengers off the plane, so D.J. and I went over and got some lunch at the Burger King on base.  Which is where we discovered that they didn’t have any more boy toys.  Well…I just wanted to leave straight away after finding that out.  What use is it when you can’t get a good boy toy?  You have to get an alternative one?  Is that one that sits around listening to Green Day or something?  Sad.

I think I’ve said it before here, but I’ll say it again.  I love Japan, but I’m done.  I’m good and I’m ready to move back home to the states.  My mom has cancer and just went through surgery on Monday.  So, I’ve been calling my Dad and my sister religiously trying to get updates and see how everything is going.  Things were a little rough for awhile, but now she seems to finally be getting a little better and hopefully she’ll be released from the hospital soon.  It’s really painful to be stuck in Japan when I really want to be home.  I hate being this far away.  It’ll be nice when regardless of where we’re stationed, I can get home in a day and a few hundred dollars (as opposed to a couple thousand).

Yesterday I was at Shara’s house to meet some workers who came to fix her tub while she was at work.  I was looking at a book on Japanese decorating and afterward I went and bought it at the NEX.  I’ll spend the next couple of months collecting items that I’ll want to take back with me.  I can fill the house with traditional Japanese items that will remind me of all the good times I’ve had over here.  I’ll miss Japan and the people and I’m sure I’ll think back with longing, but I’m ready to go home.

I heard this on NPR and found the article on BBC News. Sounds like the “Get Tight with Christ” hand and body cream would work well.  Perhaps the “Virtuous vanilla” lip balm would be better?  I guess now we’ll never know.

Shara decided to come to my house yesterday and we were going to go hike in the woods and snow. Well, she calls just outside of the neighborhood and tells me that her car is stuck. She’s going to try to turn around and go home because the roads were really bad and getting worse. So, about ten minutes later she calls back and tells me that a couple of people helped her push her car and she’s still on her way. Since she was closer to my house than hers, she figured she ought to keep coming. And she made it to my hill. Her tires weren’t going to get her up this sucker. As you can see, this is the hill.

So, I had been walking downhill to meet her and try to push the car, as it had gotten stuck again. And although we did move it forward a little, there was just no way. So, we circled around town to try the other (and more traveled hill).

We made it all the way up the hill (it’s very long and curvy) and got almost to the top and the wheels started spinning again. I got out and started to push and a woman who lived on the corner came out to help us. After some pushing, I switched with Shara and drove it. Two more women came out of their homes to help us and we got it up the hill and we parked and left it. It wasn’t going to make it all the way to my house and we were close enough. Later we baked some cookies and took them to women who’d helped us. After we got the car parked we did a little exploring around the neighborhood.

We found lots of people outside and shoveling the streets. There aren’t any plows so I guess you have to work with what you’ve got. People were even outside using dustpans to shovel the snow. I’ve seen a light dusting, but never this much snow here. It feels like home! Except with less salt.

Saturday night my friend Shara called me wanting a ride to the ER.  She has the chicken pox!  For the second time.  And I was fine until about a half hour after we got home and then I ended up with the stomach flu (or something).  It’s been an awful couple of days, but I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Shara, well, she’s still in bed.

We went on base today because she was told to come back for a re-evaluation.  Well…no one notified anyone else that we were coming back and so no one knew what to do.  Every time they needed to tell her something or get her ID card, they sent someone different.  We saw four different people in the thirty minutes we were there (all with different advice).  We stood in the foyer because she wasn’t allowed in the hospital because apparently she’s too sick.  They did allow me to go get her prescriptions, though.  Better to be exposed to someone who has been throwing up every 15 minutes for 6 hours straight than to someone with itchy bumps.  Not that I think one sickness is “better” than another, I just didn’t know that they had a level of sickness that they didn’t allow in a hospital.  Isn’t that where you’re supposed to go when you’re sick?

After my lessons on Thursday evenings, I have been going to Kamakura to pick up Indian dinner for D.J. and me. A couple of months ago, we found this review of the place and have been going back frequently ever since. The owners have come to know me and we sit around and talk while they make my food for carry out. They also usually give me a glass of warm tea while I wait. I’ve never had any tea like this and I love it. So, while I was waiting for my food I asked them about it and they taught me how to make it. I was SO excited to get a lesson in making this stuff. Maybe next time they’ll teach me how to make my favorite, Mutton Che Tenad. Yum.

Yesterday I missed the bus so as I often do, I took the hill behind the house. I love Japan for these paths everywhere. I can also go uphill and view Fuji-san, but yesterday I had to make it to work on time. I love the peace you feel in the middle of the woods. It’s quiet and full of life and yet you hardly ever see another person back there. It’s nice to get away from the crush and noise of the city sometimes. I’ve hiked up and down in the day and in the darkness and believe me, the woods are always different. Please excuse the shoddy camera work. I took all the photos with my phone.