The motivation behind the creation of this blog almost
doesn’t seem appropriate any longer.
I’ve been stupid-free for months! :) Not that I’m complaining—I’m okay with
not being subjected to all the stupid things that plagued me almost daily there
for a good long while. However,
that left me wondering what exactly one does with a blog when there’s nothing
funny, as the saying goes, to “write home about.”
I’ve been thinking about blogs lately, and what to do with mine, when it dawned on me that for all intents and purposes, a
blog is really nothing more than a public diary. Instead of starting off intimate descriptions of the things
that happened that day with “Dear Diary” and expecting it to stay private, the
stories that make up one’s life are displayed for all the world to see
and—haha—read like a book!
As stupid things will no doubt find me once again, I will
continue to share the fully stories but in the mean time, indulge me as I use
this blog to keep a sort of diary of the every-day, often unspectacular events
that keep us busy here in Japan. So, on that note:
Dear Blog,
I’ll start with the Friendship Festival. I’d heard all about it from lots of
different folks, yet I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It looked an awful lot like a two-day
Air Show to me! It's a big fund raiser for the various squadrons because the flight line is open to the public. And boy did they all come out to play! It rained most of Saturday, but that didn't stop folks from standing in line for hours to see the planes or grab a bite to eat. AMXS sold hamburgers and hotdogs, chips and drinks--pretty cool set-up, huh?
I think lots of folks must've agreed with me because we ran out(!) of meat by lunchtime on Sunday! I guess a few of the guys ran to the commissary and bought them out of burgers and dogs and kept selling 'till 3-ish, then we were down to just chips and drinks.
So here's the thing about the Friendship Festival...Saturday Nick and I had various receptions to go to so we didn't really walk around the flight line and see the sights. On Sunday, it was me and thousands of my closest friends hanging out all day. The kids complained it was too hot to do anything outside and Nick had to work. -__-
No worries though, I wasn't about to let the bad attitudes of my kids and the misfortune of my husband ruin my day! Here's just a glimpse of the festivities.
I watched a ton of folks do a little skydiving, opted not to stand in some of the longer lines, and listed to some legitimately good music! I put the flags here because the picture of the stage was taken during an amazing rendition of our National Anthem by a man with an electric guitar. I get chills even thinking about it!
I keep forgetting to ask Nick what the final dollar amount was that we made from the burger burn. I have a side bet going so I'd better remember to ask!
The next festival I attended was the Fire Festival. But I'm already ahead of myself. I moved around a lot as a child and when I was little I remember my mom would ask me if I found a friend at each new school when I'd come home that first day. I have to chuckle because I'm about to write something similar.
So, I found a friend. *smile* Her name is Monica and her hubby is a CC in the MXG as well. I feel bad that I benefited from misfortune, but there's really no other way to describe what happened. In true MX fashion, plans changed and our friend Tom had to work. They already bought tickets to take the bus to the Fire Festival and what to do with an extra one? Did I mention I found a friend? (hee hee) Monica invited me to go with her to Yoshido for the Fire Festival. I have to be honest, I had a moment's pause because it was the last day of summer vacation for the kids, I hadn't seen a lot of Nick in the past couple of days (that whole work thing again)...the moment passed. Thanks for the invite and off we go to the bus stop!
The way I understood the story might not be 100% accurate, so don't go and Google it to find any errors! I'm sure there probably there but hey! The story was kind of interesting so I didn't look it up for myself.
This particular festival is hundreds of years old. Mt. Fuji is an active volcano (and don't think I didn't have a moment's pause over that very fact off and on that day!), and the festival is way to appease the fire gods and provide protection for the upcoming year. They line the streets with fire and burn torches down to nothing. Then they take the ash and spread in on the doorstep of homes and businesses so that if the volcano erupts it won't harm their buildings. So, true, not true? You decide! It was a beautiful town and I can tell you that when the entire street was literally on fire, it was H O T!
So our bus guide gave us a few stats on Mt. Fuji. I guess it hasn't erupted since the 1700s. I don't know if that reassured me or made me wonder if it's 'due'. As I snapped over 600(!) pictures that day I couldn't help but offer my own little word of prayer for the volcano to stay dormant. I didn't want to be some future archeologist's Pompei-like discovery: "Look how she cradles the oddly shaped black box to her eye..."
At any rate, here are just a few of those 600 photos:
I'd be remiss if I didn't tell at least one funny story.
So my friend Monica has big boobs...
...I do not have big boobs.
This sweet looking old man came up and started chatting with us. Interesting thing to chat with a person who doesn't speak your language. Lots of hand gestures are involved.
After a few minutes he outlines my friend's bust with his hands and with a big goofy grin on his face says "COCO ICHIBAN". He turns to me, outlines my apparent lack of bust and says "NO ichiban."
At this point we're both laughing and looking at each other like, what in the world does Ichiban really mean? That was the name of Nick and I's favorite sushi restaurant in Rapid City, so what, we're dining twice a week at a place entitled breasts?
He apparently thought it was funny because he went on and on about COCO and NO.
For you with acquiring minds, ichiban apparently means "the best". Coco means "this right here". Monica and I are apparently poster girls for the best and not the best!
He saw my camera and wanted to take a picture with each of us. Sounds innocent enough. I take the picture of him and Monica and at the last second he kisses her cheek (can't find that snapshot!). My turn. He stands by me to take his picture and I kind of expected him to kiss my cheek--oh how I wish that's what he did!
Here is Mr. Ichiban, right after he licked my face!!
Sayonara!!
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