Non Stop November

We are going to kick things off this month with ALLLLL the Homecoming Festivities! The week started out with lots of the same spirit week events as we remember from our high school days.  Of course they have a more modern/pc names.  We had "Nerd" day, they had "Mathlete vs Athlete" day - you get the picture.  I think their favorite day was "anything but a backpack day".  Lilly took my folding wagon.  I told her not to break it by having someone ride in it.  She PROMISED that wouldn't happen, but we both knew it would.

    

Up first is the Powder Puff football games. Sadly I was not told when these games were being played or you know I would have been there.  Which may be why I wasn't told, come to think of it.  Nevertheless, I was able to get a few pictures from the girls and even a video!  The Juniors played the Freshmen first.  I remember back when I was a freshman having to play my sister's Junior team.  Lilly got some good carries, but ultimately the Freshmen prevailed.

    

The Sophmores were up next, taking on the Seniors.  Lucy hasn't forgotten how to snatch a flag since her flag football days and she was all over the Senior receivers!  

            

Apparently this game was decided by a field goal!  Lucy, being one of the only soccer players on the team, was up for it! If you would like to watch the video I won't spoil it for you.

    

The Sophomores went on to battle the Freshmen and somehow the Freshmen ended up victorious!  I am so happy that this school year is somewhat more of a normal year in terms of what the students are able to do compared to the last two years.  With the high school being such a small school, the girls really are able to participate in pretty much any and all activities!

The Homecoming game sadly was on the same night as our Marine Corps Ball, so we didn't get to go to the game or see Lilly debuting as the Mascot!  I am still fuzzy on how she was able to pull that off but what a fun surprise!  

  

Jim and I had a blast at the Ball!  We were out numbered probably 5 to 1 by other services since there are only a handful of Marines stationed at Yokota, but it was a great showing.

    

The following night was the Homecoming dance.  We were able to get a bunch of the girls' friends together for some photos.  It was a lot like herding cats, but the kids had fun and they all looked great!  

        

We even got them to take a picture with us!

Off to the next thing!  Ben has transitioned to football. He plays wide receiver and defensive back.  Thankfully, there are three teams in his age group, so it is a better situation than soccer where they were the only team.  The teams are pretty evenly matched so that makes the games fun to watch as well.

    

The fall colors are really popping over here.  My favorite has to be the ginko trees.  The leaves turn such a pretty yellow.  Wesley and I run down this road almost daily and we always make sure to appreciate them.

    

Another weekend, another ball.  A far cry from what is considered "normal" for Jim but still we are happy that we are able to even attend.  This time Jim was the guest speaker for the Camp Fuji Marines.  They had it down at the New Sanno downtown so we persuaded the kids to come with us and we could take some time exploring more of downtown Tokyo.  The girls only really got behind the idea when we said they could bring their friend Sam.  Luckily, everyone gets along and Ben didn't feel like too much of an outsider.

        

So we dropped the kids off at Team Lab Borderless (an interactive museum/art installation) for a few hours the next morning. While they were busy doing that, Jim and I went shopping in the fun gift store downstairs.  We met up with the kids and decided to do some more running around the areas surrounding the hotel.  We checked out a cat cafe where we were pretty much ignored by all the cats until we broke out the treats.  

Of course you can't go ten feet in Japan without seeing a shrine/temple so we explored Meiji Jingu which is a Shinto shrine with a 170+ acre land of gardens and forest in the middle of Tokyo - think Central Park in NY. It was established in 1920 to commemorate Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken who are widely believed to be the founders of modern Japan.  The forest is manmade from 100,000 trees from all over Japan and was designed to be a self-regenerating natural forest.  Of course most of the shrine complex was burnt down during WWII but the forest survived and the shrine rebuilt.  

    

It wasn't all culture, we also walked among the fancy shops, the thrift store district and had many opportunities to ride the subway until it was time to head back to Yokota.  We even dragged the kids down to the Tokyo Tower even though they went the night before while we were at the ball. We also discovered the place where they make those Lindor chocolate truffles, and they had over 30 different flavors like saltwater taffy!

        

As soon as we arrived home, we had to switch gears to celebrate Lilly's 17th Birthday!!  This year she wanted to make her own cake with her friends and have everyone over to watch a movie and to spend the night.  So that is exactly what we did!

        

The next day, Jim and I decided to let the kids clean up from the party and we rounded up some friends and headed up river to a sake brewery!  It was a much better way to spend the afternoon than cleaning, let me tell you.    

    

November was just slammed up for events.  Last year Ben and I ran the Big O which is a 10 mile run that has historically been around the base.  Since we have been here, it is more like a C, but it is still 10 miles.  The participants get a sweatshirt upon completing the race.  This year Jim and Lilly joined us.  Lucy said she wanted to do it too, but instead she had basketball practice - not sure if I believe her or not.  

        

We are finally up to Thanksgiving week. The girls had a "Friendsgiving" meal where the only requirement was to bring a dish that has nothing to do with Thanksgiving.  By the end of the night, all the kids were crammed into Lilly's bedroom playing a game.  I am not sure why they chose to pack into that tiny room but who understands kids these days?

A few days later it was time for the real thing!  We, thankfully, asked to join our neighbors for their Thanksgiving celebration.  Which was a good thing since we had originally planned to go to Hiroshima and therefore had not bought any of the Thanksgiving meal ingredients.  Their spread was far better than anything we could have thrown together even if we had a month to prepare!

    

Right after Thanksgiving dinner, we headed to the station to catch the train because we somehow got a room reservation at a Disney hotel and therefore tickets to either Tokyo Disney or Disney Sea.  We opted for Disney Sea after doing a quick google search.  As usual, Disney did a great job and the park was fantastic.  We saw some rides that were familiar and some that were takes on other rides - I'm looking at you Sinbad's Storybook Voyage.  Many rides were totally new to us.  We have been out of the Disney game since we left Florida in 2015, so we were interested to see how Disney Sea would hold up.  It did not disappoint.  Although I will say as messed up as the Fast Passes had gotten, the newest system in place won't even let you wait for the ride even if you don't mind waiting.  

One of the best things we enjoyed was trying all the popcorn flavors.  The Japanese like to play around with flavor combinations and we tried to taste them all.  The line was too long for the Shrimp flavor, and we decided to pass on the salt and pepper, but the Curry flavor was DELICIOUS!  Jim and I had a memorable snack and a drink at the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge on board the SS Columbia.  We also took a gondola ride at sunset to round out the day, then the train home with Mickey Mouse handholds.  All in all, it was a good X for our Japan bucket list.

        

       

              

    

        

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, we are turning our attention to Christmas and with that comes colder weather.  Wesley has requested a heating pad for his bed.  He sometimes get to snuggle with Ben on the couch and he really loves to burrow under the covers to get toasty warm.  

  

I have been asked in the past if the Japanese sell live Christmas trees, the answer is both yes and no.  Yes, they sell them, but they are super expensive given the size.  This one below is about 3 feet tall and is going for about $52.00.  Most Japanese houses are also super small and there is no room for what we would consider a normal size tree.  

  

At long last - Ben gets some air time

Seems like for the last two months the blog has seen some heavy volleyball love. Finally Ben is getting some air time.  Recreational soccer was in full swing in October.  Sadly, there is only one team in his age division, so this season will be spent playing a hodge-podge version of soccer but it's better than nothing!

Now that the weather is finally starting to cool off, some of my Yokota friends and I have started wandering around Japan for some fun day trips.  On this fine day, we traveled over to Gunma Prefecture (the Japanese equivalent of a state) which is adjacent to Tokyo Prefecture, where we live.  Gunma is predominately a mountainous prefecture with many hot springs (onsens) and ski resorts.  It is also well-known for its agriculture and is Japan's leading producer of wheat.  Gunma also produces quite a bit of the nation's rice, potatoes and cabbage.  We decided to check out Oracho Tataranuma Park first.  The park is surrounded by a rice field on one side and a pretty good sized lake on the other.  Not much going on at this park with the exception of swan and crane watching.  When we parked, we noticed several people with extremely large cameras setting up by the lake so we walked over there to check out the scene.  Nothing going on, just the swans, cranes and ducks doing their thing.  We then headed over to the small shrine located on the river.  On our way back to the car we walked under massive hydrangea vines that I am sure are spectacular in the spring.  We will have to make another visit out here when they are in bloom.

Next up we visited nearby Tatebayashi Castle ruins.  The castle was built in the 15th century but was allowed to fall into ruin after it was mostly destroyed by fire in the 1800's.  The only surviving pieces are a few stone walls and a gate.  So ultimately there wasn't really much to it, but since we were in the area we thought we would at least check it out.  

The REAL reason we treked over to Gunma was to check out the Morinji Temple, which was dedicated to the Bunbuku Chagama, more commonly known as the Tea Pot Tanuki. If you have read any of my previous posts about the tanuki, then you know they are considered a trickster god and can shape-shift.  Apparently, this particular tanuki took the shape of a tea pot that famously never ran out of tea.  After it was discovered that he was not in fact not a tea pot, the tanuki agreed to preform many tricks in his tea pot guise.  Many people paid admission so much that enough money was collected to build a bridge.  The priest of the local temple named the tanuki "Bunbuku Chagama" which means "fortune distributing tea kettle."  The Morinji Temple has twenty one statues that welcome visitors.  In addition, there are many more statues on the temple's grounds and ya variety of tanuki souvenirs for sale from the street vendors leading to the temple. You (and Jim) will be happy to know that I refrained from purchasing any more tanuki.  It wasn't easy.

Even the manhole covers have tanuki!

The following week, I was invited by a friend to hike Mt Mitake.  Our family did this hike last August, but we didn't have all the information we needed to see all the cool things, so I was more than happy to go back!  Of course the cooler weather didn't hurt either 😳.  This time we rode the trolley up and made our way over to the Musashi Mitake Shrine.  The views from atop the mountain were spectacular!  We could see all the way to downtown Tokyo!

  

    

The Shrine dates back to 90 BC, making it one of the oldest in Japan! We also headed to the rock garden that has impressive rock formations covered with moss and it leads to the Ayashiro waterfall and also some ancient cedar trees.  It was a really cool hike and I am thankful to have friends who enjoy getting out and exploring/hiking areas close by.

Next stop was Kawagoe (this time with the kids), known as "Little Edo" because its main street is lined with clay-walled warehouse-style buildings and is reminiscent of an old town from the Edo Period.  We only spent the afternoon so we stayed in the warehouse district.  We saw all the sights and I really need to get back over there to pick up some Christmas presents.

One of the biggest draws on the street was the Toki no Kane.  It is a bell tower that has stood for centuries and still rings four times daily.

Of course, the kids were most excited about Starbucks.  This one is another branch that was designed to blend into the surrounding Edo style of architecture.  It may look ancient on the outside, but the inside is the perfect mix of old and new to create a very peaceful and beautiful structure.

Last year, I decided to commit to trying to learn some Japanese using Duolingo.  I am happy to say that this month I extended my daily streak to 365 days!!  I can't say that I have learned much Japanese and my accent is truly horrible.  BUT I have done it for an entire year - so yay me!  I do find that I can pick out some hiragana symbols and have learned a few more words/sayings.  

I promised I would steer clear of anything volleyball related, but I do have to mentioned this one thing.  Lilly got Hoco proposaled (is that even a word?) after one of the home volleyball games!  It was super cute.  She will hate me for saying it, but it was.  

Recently the Yokota Air Base allowed bird scooters to be allowed on base and there are several parking stations near our house.  So of course Jim and I had to try them out!  Reminded us of our fun year in Arlington!!  

The next weekend Ben and Jim went on a Boy Scout camping trip to Chubusangaku National Park in the Southern Japan Alps, better known as Kamikochi.  According to Jim, this place rivals the best US National Parks (he said it reminded him of Zion National Park in Utah).  It was really cold (low 20s) and the scouts woke up in ice-encrusted tents, but Jim and Ben said they had blast. Plus there were snow monkeys in the park ... Ben said they invaded the campsite during breakfast and the park rangers had to use firecrackers to scatter the monkeys!  Crazy.  One of the pics below shows the band of monkeys on the prowl. 

 

After the boys got back from "roughing it", I took a trip back downtown to the Starbucks Rostery.  I swear I normally don't go to Starbucks that often.  At any rate, this time it was for a tour of the facility, which is one of the largest Starbucks in the world.  We were greeted by our host for the tour and given a pretty through description of each level of the four story building.   The interior of the building is centered around a 56 foot high copper cask decorated with 2,100 handcrafted cherry blossoms and leaves.  The first floor mainly focuses on the gift shop, baked goods and of course, coffee. One of the employees gave us a brief run down on how the beans are prepared for roasting and also told us they roast all the beans for all the starbucks coffee in Asia! We were also given a sample of a recent coffee blend.  There are (small) bags of Jamaican coffee beans here that sell for over $100.  Nuts. 

The second floor is all about tea.  There is a main counter, a seating area and of course a retail space.  We were given a short introduction of how they prepare the matcha tea and given a sample.  

The third floor is mainly a seating area with both inside and outside tables. The biggest draw of this floor is the ARRIVIAMO bar. We were given another sample of coffee - by this point I was practically vibrating out of my seat from all the caffeine! It was very educational and I gained a new appreciation of just what goes into the coffee production/preparation before it ever gets brewed into the delicious concoctions we all love!

The last thing on our agenda this month is of course  HALLOWEEN!! Thankfully the kids are all still interested in doing some dressing up and even a little trick or treating.  Lilly and her bestie decided to resurrect the dinosaurs from two years ago.

Lucy and her friends opted for low key costumes and a haunted house.

While Ben fulfilled a life long dream of Jim's and dressed up as a USMC pilot!  He wore this twice this week, once for "Dream Job" day and again for trick-or-treating.  Amazingly, the flight suit and boots almost FIT!  😳

Jim and I decided to ride around and soak in a little Halloween Flavor after we had our ONE trick or treater for the night.  We had to cut it short, because the kids had a Halloween "after party" at our house and we needed to make sure things didn't get out of hand.  Next stop November ...