It's Been a While

It's been a while since we've blogged recently. I have to say that since our move on base, things have slowed down considerably which I have to admit is actually really nice. I think in a lot of ways I was ready for the suburb type life. Right now our family weekends have been about having family time, BBQ in the back yard, playgrounds, and getting organized still from the move.

Out in town, things have not been as rosy as we'd like them to be as well. A taxi driver was found murdered and immediate evidence pointed to a sailor. However, right now it's proving to be a little bunk. I'm not quite sure how much has been stated in the general media, or what I'm allowed to talk about but let's just say our Japanese neighbors are not too friendly with us right now. It's typical when things like this happen. Nothing too crazy will happen. Maybe a house will get egged, tires slashed, or something will be said to us by a passerby on the street and we know that it wasn't something kind.

With the dollar falling in value it's also much more cost effective to stay on base. We've been able to save a lot more money these days which has put us much more on par with our goal. After all, this move to Japan wasn't just an adventure but also a way for us to save our pennies and buy "The American Dream", a nice house somewhere.

We haven't decided where in the USA we'll go, but we do know that we'll be going back... just not yet. We've found that although we appreciate other cultures, America is our home. This started out as a way to save and ended up to be so much more. It's encouraged us to not be so apprehensive about trying something else overseas one day. Maybe it's turned us into a family of nomads... I'm not quite sure yet. I think we'll walk away from this knowing that there are good and bad elements about Japan just like there are good and bad elements of America, and probably the same would go for just about any place in the world. There's a certain amount of pride that goes with knowing that our family can "hack it" just about anywhere. Above all we know that we will miss this place when we are gone. Mike just signed on for an extension, so we'll be here for at least 2 more years. Until then we've got to soak it all in.

Sunset Over Kujuku Shima

Kujuku Shima (translated 99 Islands) actually consists of over 200 islands located near Sasebo, Japan, in Nagasaki Prefecture. On a clear day, the sunsets are spectacular, or so I've been told. I didn't have the greatest weather during my trip, but I was able to capture a few pretty nice ones.

Yokohama Memories

This is an oldie, but a goodie. My friend, Thomas, and I took our kids out one Sunday in November to visit Yamashita Park in Yokohama. We ended up taking a boat tour around Tokyo Bay, underneath Rainbow Bridge, and along the shores of Yokohama. Afterwards, we ended up over near Landmark Tower and the huge ferris wheel that's there. We took the kids on the ferris wheel and got some great shots.

Check out the pictures in the Gallery, dated 03/02/2008. The kids got ahold of the camera for a few pics, which explains some of the more unique shots.