2nd Dinner

I forgot to tell you about our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner. My friend Linda is American and married to a Japanese man. They have two beautiful children (see photo). Linda and her kids came trick or treating with us on Halloween night and then we went to her house for Thanksgiving on Friday the 23rd. Living in Japan for the last 7 years, she has not celebrated Turkey Day often. She had a couple of our mutual Japanese friends over also & ate ham instead of Turkey. Lot's of fun. Again, too much food but it was all delicious. Cheers---Kristin

November????????

Wow, where did November go? I feel like the month just flew by. Ronan, Josh and I had two Thanksgiving dinners this year. On Thursday the 22nd we went to our friends Wayne and Cindy's house along with 12 others for a great dinner. Sooooooooooo much food. Karthik is from India and he brought lemon rice and spicey chicken and Kinuko, who is from Japan, brought a Japanese salad. Very nice traditional food mixed with new foods. Very Tasty.

Thanksgiving weekend was not a good football weekend for the Perrys. GA Tech fell to GA (again), and LSU lost to Arkansas. I can only hope my brother Rourke regained his voice before going back to work on Monday the 26th. He is a huge LSU fan along with my oldest brother Tim. I felt for them when I saw the score of the game ON THE INTERNET! Damn the internet and AFN. The LSU game was obviously taped and set to be televised on AFN (Armed Forces Network) at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday the 24th, but I got online and the score was right there on the Yahoo home page. Oh well, I am sure it was a great game (until the final OT of course).

Josh bought us a Cannon EOS Digital Camera. Just in time for Ronan's and my trip down to Okinawa. On November 28th, Ronan and I flew down to Okinawa, Japan. It is the southern most Island that makes up Japan. Very tropical. It rained 2 out of the 3 days we were there. Ronan was cast as model for Fuji Digial Camera photo shoot. His pics may appear in any still photo ads for Fuji Digital Camera sometime next year. The way it was explained to me, he could be on websites, billboards, buses, magazines, etc... I took pics of Ronan has he waited around to be photographed. Wow, next time (if there is a next time) I will bring a computer and let him watch movies to help pass some of the time. Entertaining him was a bit tiring. We read the same four books over and over and over, but once we got to know thewe had fun hanging out with the other models and parents. The young girl was 8 and Russian. She spoke Russian and fluent Japanese, but no English (she has lived in Japan for 7 years, I think). The 5 year-old boy was from the Ukraine and could speak fluent Russian, a little Japanese and no English. Ronan spoke only English, so they all got along, of course. The boys father could speak English so I was never left out of the loop. The Japanese production crew were great and treated us very well. I will post the pics I took, mostly of Ronan playing while waiting around to get his picture taken, later.

That brings you all up to December. Today is the first of December and Ronan and I did not get home from the airport until after midnight. I must say, that this modeling thing Ronan has going on has made me have to travel long distances by train without Josh. I have navigated my way up to and from Tokyo on three separate occassions with the need to change trains and train lines. It has helped me to increase my confidence with train travel sans Josh.

Happy Holidays to all who read this post!
Kristin

Here I am getting off the plane after being away from my baby for 5 days.

Here are the Smiths in Shreveport, Louisiana October 2007. From left: Rourke (older brother), Melanie (sis-in-law), Hayley (niece), Vicki (sis-in-law), Sarah (niece), Tim (older brother), Mom, Ronan, me. Kneeling: Megan (older sis) and Ryan (nephew). Missing is my 15 year-old nephew Erin, who had gone to his Byrd High School Homecoming dance the night before, so he slept in rather than eating out with the family.

Here is my black suited Spiderman on Halloween night.

Hello Again!

Hello All,

It has been 2 months since my last post. I do apologize to those who actually go to it looking for an update from time to time (Mom, Carol, Pam, Rebecca, maybe Aaron???). Much has happened. First off, Ronan and I went to the states for a month. Loved every minute of it. Did not spend enough time with friends but spent quality time with family. Mom--we love you for putting us up and putting up with us for that long--company and garbage--you know the saying.

Mom was great. She even kept my three-year-old for a week while I was in D.C.. Ronan had a great time since he was spoiled rotten with so much attention. My sister Megan from Cabo San Lucas came to the states for two weeks while we were there. This was her first time spending more than a couple of hours with Ronan. I am so glad Ronan had that time with family. Got to watch a few LSU games with my brothers. They are HUGE fans and it made watching the game so much more fun when we were with them. Let's not think about the Arkansas game. It is depressing to say the least.

I spent a fabulous two days in Lafayette, Louisiana where I went to college. Didn't know why my best friend Marie was sick but she was a trooper to go to New Orleans so we could meet up with our other two best friends Jeanne and Heather. Jeanne, thank you for hosting a fantastic weekend at your house and we will always remember that as the weekend Marie found out she was pregnant. Yeah for baby Crozier!

Got back to Japan in time to celebrate Halloween. Ronan was black suited Spider Man. He had a blast. Our friends Linda, Amanda and Henry came on base and we trick or treated for about an hour. Ronan took to it like a duck to water. He was not shy about knocking on doors knowing he would get candy thrown into his bag. Look for pics to follow this post.

I got back into the swing of things at Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society where I volunteer. This is where I get most of my adult interaction these days. I love working in the Yokosuka office. Thanksgiving came around early this year it seemed and we went over to our friends, Cindy and Wayne Ludwig for a big dinner with friends. Soooo much food. I ate way too much, but that's what you often do on Turkey Day. Then we had a second Thanksgiving meal on Friday the 23rd with my friend Linda. She has lived in Japan for almost 7 years so she has missed a few Turkey Days so we celebrated with her and had a great time.

Well, i know this post is not full of witty banter, but it will get those individuals who are interested in the Perrys up to date for the most part. Oooh I almost forgot Ronan's big news. He is going to be modeling for Fuji Digital Camera this week. We are headed to Okinawa for the three day photo shoot. I took him to the audition not knowing much about the job he was auditioning for and wow he got a big job on his first audition. Will tell you how it goes at my next post.

Cheers
Kristin

Time Zones and Blogs

Hello All

I thought I would respond to my hubby's comment regarding time zones. First, I don't know how to change the time zone for my blog and he is out of town and can't do it at this moment. I will investigate after I post. But I assume that everyone who reads this blog on any regular basis knows I am half way around the world from the states, so I am really not that concerned.

Moving on. Ronan had a great time at his pre-school level swim lessons and I met a couple of parents that I now run into from time to time on base, so the effort to get to base everyday was worth it. Speaking of the effort, I enjoy living out in town in Zushi; however, I am toying with the idea of moving on base. At this time I am just thinking about it, but I will go by the Housing Office to see what it all entails. There are days when Josh leaves the house before Ronan and I wake up and does not return until after we go to bed. This is not the norm thankfully. But also, I think the convenience of living on base (especially to have an oven) is more appealing now than it was when we first got here. My laptop crashed so I do not have access to the pics of Yokosuka housing available to me so I will take some new pics and post at a later time.

Now in reference to blogs. I have a cousin, whom I have met once, who has a blog. I would check it from time to time to see what was up with her life in New York. I wrote a comment the last time I checked it. Today, there is a message saying only invited readers can see it. WTF!
I have no idea if this transpired because she now knows I was reading her blog, but I can't help but wonder. If it is, how sad. If not, whatever.

I will likely not post again for a little while. Ronan and I are going on a trip. This will be the first time we have traveled while Josh himself is not away for a long period of time. Unfortunately with the travel is doing now for work and his busy work schedule, he can't take off for leisure at the moment. But the three of us do plan to get stateside at some point.

Love to all my family and friends
Kristin

Blog Spots

Hi All

I added a link to my sister-in-law Rebecca's blog. She and Peter just visited us this past July so you will see some pictures they took while here.

Josh is busy as ever at work and Ronan is starting preschool swim lessons today. It is hotter than H-E-double hockey sticks here, but I think it is hotter in Louisiana.

Gotta run.

Cheers
Kristin

Harry Potter

Well, I have finished the 7th Harry Potter book. Read it in two days over a weekend. I had to know how it all ended without looking it up on the internet. I enjoyed it and am sad that the series is over. I now look forward to the last two movies. Speaking of HP movies, I was disappointed in the lack of emotion or action that went into Sirius Black's death in The Order of the Phoenix movie. But this was not my favorite book of the series thus it is not my favorite movie. For all you HP fans, enjoy the last book.

Josh, Ronan and I have completed our first of three years in Japan. Time flew and the summer is whizzing by too. Ronan and I are looking forward to going stateside this fall. Mom be ready to eat at Taco Mania a few times while we are visiting in Shreveport. I really miss TexMex Mexican food. Oh and while I am in Louisiana I plan to have to well made Bloody Marys. I need to find out if I can bring back spicy green beans, because that is what my homemade Bloody Marys are missing.

That is all for now.

Cheers---Kristin

Enoshima, Kamakura, Tokyo, etc...

Hello All,

It is nearing the end of July. So much has gone on this month. First we welcomed Josh's sister Rebecca and her husband Peter to Japan. They visited for two weeks and we tried to pack in a lot of sight seeing. During their visit Ronan celebrated his 3rd birthday. This year he had a Thomas cake and extended family to help celebrate. This is a far cry from last year's single slice of cake from Sbarro's after eating take out Pizza in the Navy Lodge.

During R & P's time here, we went up to Gotemba at the base of Mt. Fuji. While up there we spent a day at Fuji Q Highland Amusement Park where Ronan got to see Thomasland and Rebecca, Peter and Josh rode some really hairy roller coasters. Rebecca and Peter visited an Onsen (Japanese bath) and reported that they enjoyed the experience.

We spent a few days in Tokyo, which in my opinion is just another big city. I am more partial to Kamakura. Speaking of Kamakura, we all hiked approximately 3 kilometers on a muddy trail to see the big Buddha. It was great. Peter became an expert at navigating the trains and subways while here.

We also took a day trip to Enoshima Island. It is a small island about 4 km in circumference. It is part of the city of Fujisawa. To get to it we hiked a 600 meter long bridge from the mainland to the island. While on Enoshima we ate at a restaurant called I Love NY PIZZA. This was the best pizza I have had in a long time. The owner hails from Brooklyn, NY and was most hospitable. Josh, Ronan and I will definitely be going back again and again while we are here in Japan.

Enjoy the pictures. Love to all my family and friends.

Kristin

LTJG and Son

Here is Josh and Ronan after we attended Captain Honkomp's Change of Command Ceremony with Captain Kiwus on May 18th, 2007.

Whatever I did, it worked!

June 13, 2007
Hello all. This quirky blogger site. Last time I blindly navigated my blogger home page as it was all displayed in Japanese. Today, I hit a few buttons and now I am able to see all my options in English. Whatever I did, it worked and I hope it stays this way until I know how to read the language. Written Japanese is very beautiful, especially Japanese caligraphy. I hope to collect a few caligraphy writings while I am here.

Anyhoo, June is almost half way over. Wow the time is flying by. Our one year anniversary is coming up, followed by a visit from Rebecca and Peter from Oregon. We are super excited and planning some fun trips.
I was so in awe of the beautiful buildings, bridges and churches we visited while in England a few years back. To be standing in a structure built hundreds of years before our own country was even in existance was amazing. So being in Japan is just as awe inspiring. There is a temple in Nara, Japan known as Askadera that was built around the year 596 I believe. I hope to visit this temple when we go to Kyoto, Japan. Kyoto was the capital of Japan prior to Edo/Tokyo, so there are many ancient sites to see.

Ronan is as wonderful as ever. Loves all things icky in my opinion. He is very interested in bugs and Japan seems to have a plethera of them for Ronan to look at and try and touch. We do caution him NOT to touch the centipedes since they are poisonous. Haven't seen one yet, but I know they are out there lurking. I hope to take advantage of the outdoors more this summer than last year. After living in sunny Southern CA for two years where it hardly rained and the weather did not reach into the high 90's while I was there, I was taken aback by the sweltering heat and high humidity of this area last year. Being a Louisiana girl, I can handle it when I am eased into it. Check back in a few months to see if we are staying in or enjoying outside activities. I hope the latter.

I hope all the Smiths, Lines', Perrys, DeFosses', Stones, Bechtas, Annulis', Breauxs and Croziers are doing well. Please keep in touch.

Cheers
Kristin

May 29th, 2007

I am trying to post to my blog; however, a new development has occurred since the last time I logged on. I go to the log in page and it is in Japanese. I log in to my manager page and I blindly click until I find the right link to post. I only hope I am doing this correctly. There is no link to turn all the text to English. I have blogged from my home computer several times without this situation. Now I really need to learn how to read Japanese.

Josh, Ronan and I went to a restaurant in Yokohama on Sunday that did not offer an English menu. This is not the first time this has happened, but it still takes me back just a little. To quote my husband, "we are functionally illiterate living in Japan." This of course can be rectified by one or both of us learning how to read Hiragana and Katakana and hope to recognize a Kanji symbol or two along the way. It is a hard language to learn. Even Japanese nationals whom I have befriended say it was hard for them to learn. I must devote time to this skill if I hope to be able to read on the level of a first grader by the end of our time here.

We are looking forward to our first visitor this week. Josh's cousin from Montana will be here one night before he flies back to the U.S.. And Rebecca and Peter (Josh's sister and her husband) are headed our way this summer. Lot's of things planned for their trip here, but the most important (in Ronan's almost 3 year-old opinion) is going to Fuji-Q to visit ThomasLand. Ronan has been asking to go to Thomasland since he learned of it's existance from another child at his daycare center. Josh, Rebecca and Peter also will most likely climb Mt. Fuji. Since Ronan is not of hiking age, he and I will pass the time elsewhere while they are on the mountain.

Well, I will sign off now and see if this information posts and if so, does it post in English.

Love to all our family and Friends!--Kristin

Hakuba

Hi All,

Josh, Ronan and I took a wonderful trip up to Hakuba, Japan and stayed at Hakuba Cortina Ski Resort. Ronan loved the snow and sledding. Josh and I got a couple of days skiing under our belts and we had a great time with our friends. Our trip started Saturday morning when we took the Japan Railway from our neighborhood up to Tokyo. From there we got on the Shinkansen otherwise known as the Bullet Train. Ronan was very excited. The Bullet train ended at Nagano where we caught a bus to the resort in Hakuba. Check out the photos of the hotel and slopes as well as Ronan on the trains.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Well, another year of my life as come and gone. My sweet self was born 30-something years ago on Ground Hogs Day. In Zushi, Japan I saw my shadow. Does that mean 6 more weeks of winter? I can never remember. No big plans today. I grew up in a family where birthdays were special. My mom always cooked our favorite food and then we would have ice cream cake from Baskin Robins. Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Mint. Since my older sister's birthday is the 31st of January and mine is on the 2nd of February, my parents usually had us celebrate together on February 1st. My mom would make spaghetti pie. It was delicious. I hope to start something traditional and special for Ronan and his birthday now that he understands that he has one. He can tell you the month and what cake he wants (A blue Thomas the Tank Engine cake of course). I will settle today for a great day with my son. --Cheers, Kristin

The Super Toilet

The pictures to the right is of our Super Toilet. The majority of homes off base in Japan have at least one in the home. We have two "water closets", but only one Super Toilet. So, Ronan is in the throws of potty training right now. He is also a two-year-old boy who likes to push buttons. Needless to say, when he pushed the bedet button and water squirted on his booty, he was a little traumatized. So much so that when I would pick him up to put him on the potty, he wanted to be taken to the upstairs water closet, wanting NOTHING to do with the Super Toilet. But alas, a breakthrough today. He pushed the far right button, which blows air to dry the bum and after some coaxing to have him turn it off himself, he realized that it was not such a terrible thing. Now he can't go to the potty without pushing the air button on the Super Toilet. I am trying to figure out a way to use this new discovery to my advantage with teaching him to initiate telling me he wants/needs to go potty. I'll keep you posted. ----Kristin

Gotemba, Japan

Hi again,

What a rarity that I would post twice in one month. I am happy to say that Josh, Ronan and I returned to Gotemba over the MLK holiday weekend. We went to Gotemba back in September of 2006, but we had only been in Japan for 2 1/2 months and I did not know the other people we went with that well and was feeling homesick for the United States at the time. So I felt a little out of place that trip. This time, those us of us traveling together knew each other and I am enjoying Japan much better these days. The link to check out where we stayed is

http://www.gotembakogenresort.jp/access.html

I will try to post a picture. Since the blog setup has changed a bit I am still learning how to navigate this site. Cheers--Kristin

It's 2007 Already?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

HI Family and Friends

Sorry to those of you who check in on a semi-regular basis to see whether I have updated this site or not. As you can see I have given my blog a new look to make up for the lack of posts. I hope to be better with keeping this site current, but I will make no New Year's Resolutions regarding the subject.

Well, 2007 is here. Josh, Ronan and I hung out with friends playing Trivial Pursuit. For those of you who know me, know that this is one of my favorite games so I had a good time ringing in the new year. Plus, Trivial Pursuit does not leave you with a hang over (unless you are Josh and drink lots of red wine while playing this long game).

I wish you all a very Happy New Year!
Kristin