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

Josh's Blog

Josh's Blog
Check this out!

Kamakura, Japan 

Kamakura

Ronan and me in Kamakura, Japan 

October 2006

Hi Everybody

It is now the second day in October. Sorry it has taken me so long to post. Just trying to get my bearings in a new country. At first I felt excitement about being in another country, then the newness of everything was fun and adventurous. Now I am in the stage of the newness wearing off and missing all things familiar to me. I've had my "blue" days but Ronan and Josh keep me sane. I have started volunteering at the Yokosuka Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS). This is a great organization that is set up to assist those service members and their families with financial needs. The people I work with are great and this give me an opportunity to put Ronan in daycare so he can be around kids his own age. The downside is he got the sniffles after Friday's daycare visit. I expect he'll bring various viruses home. It's inevitable.

So Josh, Ronan and I have done little exploring since our arrival. We have tons of time. I am sure the previous statement will come back to haunt me when we only have a couple of months left in Japan and are scrambling to see the sites. That is what happened to us in Port Hueneme, California. We were discovering restaurants and beach parks in the last few months we were there.

So here are my likes and dislikes of living in Japan thus far. We'll start with the positives.

• The area seems very safe.
• The streets are clean and mostly litter free.
• The speed limits are low.
• When out shopping, riding the trains or eating out in restaurants, the Japanese person is very polite and bends over backwards to communicate with you.
• There is no tipping in Japan. That was hard to get used to when we first started eating out. Of course you should tip at restaurants on base.

A few negatives are:

• The Japanese people love their cigarettes and there are few NON-smoking facilities. If there is a non-smoking section in a restaurant, it is usually right next to the smoking section so you can still smell the smoke. Or some restaurants don't allow smoking until after 5 pm but because they allow smoking at all the place retains that smokers odor.
• The Japanese do not seem to "let you in" if you are trying to merge into traffic. If you come upon a closed lane and need to get into the other lane, forget it.
• And the typical Japanese woman is much smaller than me so it is hard to shop for clothes out in town. But these are all points that can be gotten over easily.

Josh, Ronan and I took a train ride to Kamakura this past Sunday. It rained but it was still a nice trip. Check out some photos I will post after this message. I miss all my friends and family terribly. I hope some of you can come visit. Everyone is welcome. And Josh and I hope to make stateside at some point next year.

Love,
Kristin

Ronan's 2nd Birthday!