Getting Busy

Time should start to fly by a little faster now for the both of us. Jon's work schedule has changed, again! He is now working a funky 24 on, 48 off, 24 on, 48 off, 24 on, 24 off, 24 on, 72 off. I know it's confusing, but it allows them more long breaks...which in turn means we cna get out an do a little traveling. Then again, Tracy is now working-Not as a nurse! Since there are only 2 nursing positions on this base (and I have applied for both, and interviewed for 1 so far with no decisions made yet), I signed up to be a substitute teacher (Crazy idea)!
Well, the phones have been ringing. Last Thursday, the phone rang 4 times for dates for subbing. Today was my first day subbing, and it went well. Before I could even get out of the office, I was given 3 more dates in the coming week...not a bad start, 8 dates scheduled for $101 a day!
Between teaching and coaching, I am sure time will begin to fly. I should also find out in the next few weeks if I have a college class to teach as well....if so, that is 2 nights a week of teaching for 8 weeks!
I am starting to think that my Master's degree in Nursing should be in Education (seems to be working so far)!

The swim team that Tracy is Head Coach of, is getting ready for the first meet of the season (the season here is October-May). I will be taking my 3 assistant coaches, as well as 30 swimmers to Sasebo Naval Base on October 15, for a meet. Unfortunatley Jon has to work a 24 on the 14th, as well as the 16th, so he can't go with me, but at least he will have a quiet house for the day! (Tracy leaves base at 0545 to go to Sasebo, and is scheduled to return after 9pm)

Other than that, not much is going on here. The weather is starting to change to cooler. We had a Tropical Storm pass-by last week, and it brought much needed cooler temperatures with it. It has been in the mid 70's daily, with a cool breeze. We have been able to turn off our air conditioning, as well as open all the windows with the decreased humidity....thank goodness.
This weekend is Jon's first 72 on the new schedule, so we are hoping to get away for a long weekend, but we will see. The game plan right now is to go camping at the beach, but a probable storm out in the ocean may change our plans. If it does, we will find something to do....

Goofing off in Hiroshima

After wandering around the peace park, we walked around Hiroshima on our way to the Hiroshima Castle.

We found a little street mall, and also grabbed some lunch (we were looking for American food)

We also stopped on our way home and grabbed a much needed pick-me-up for the drive home

Funky little "vintage" shop
The smell of the store reminded me of the smell of my grandma's house in Torrance
Kind of like 60 years of collectibles, with dust

I call this "vintage" yard sale crap...it's all American, so the locals buy it up

Beagels & Geleto (Name of the restaurant)
This was yummy...everything is served in a bagel
This was the "American Burger", it was some sort of salami, provolone cheese, an egg, lettuce, tomato, onion and thousand island dressing...it was so good.

"American Soda"....I love Hansen's
Too bad they were Y350 each (~$4.50 a can)

On our way to the Castle, we passed by the Pelace Mall
Vitamin Water was there promoting their drink, so we stopped and got a free bottle
Even though the water was gross, we did not care, it was ice cold, and we were HOT!

We found this restaurant along the way
it reminded us of Kim...We miss you!

Had to take a picture of this...In town, the 7/11 are called 7i holding
This Seven-Eleven was found underground in the walkway that leads you everywhere in Hiroshima!

HEAVEN!!
Closest Starbucks to us is 75 minutes away!!

Heaven in a plastic cup
Tracy's order: Venti Black Iced Tea, unsweetened, extra ice, no water
Jon's order: Venti drip (boring)

Hiroshima Peace Park Memorial

On Saturday, September 10, 2011, we got up and decided to head off base for the day. We got in the car, and headed north on R188 to Hiroshima. We figured we would visit the Peace Park, and see what else Hiroshima had to offer, other than an airport and baseball. It took a little over an hour to get there, since we took R188, it would have been faster to jump on the Sanyo (highway), but with the tolls, and the exchange rate at 75, we decided it was better to save our $100, and take the back roads. Not a horrible drive, just a lot of stop-lights!

Once we got to Hiro, finding the Peace Park was easy, finding parking was not-we kind of made our own spot, and prayed that we would not be towed, ticketed or booted...luckily, none of that happened!



Entrance to the Peace Park Memorial Museum. The clock on the right shows how many days it has been since the A-bomb was dropped, and how many days since the last nuclear reading was



Bell from Nagasaki



It says, "Mourning the lives lost in the atomic bombing, we pledge to convey the truth of this tragedy throughout Japan and the world, pass it on to the future, learn the lessons of history, and build a peaceful world free fro nuclear weapons"



The fountain monument. If you look closely, the lines on the top, show the time of 8:15 which is the time of the bombing. This fountain provides light for the monument below it. The rubble around the fountain is actual roof tiles that were found during excavation of the monument.

Us in front of the fountain

The bottom of the monument. This smaller fountain is being lit by the larger fountain above.
The pictures on the wall, show what the town looked like after the bombing.
The walls are mosaics of 140,000 tiles...one tile for each person killed in the bombing.

A-bomb dome across the Motoyasu River

Bell of Peace



Close up of the A-bomb dome



View from the back of the dome. The dome still has original rubble on the ground around it.
There are large pieces of concrete and bricks with broken re-bar sticking out.

On our way to the Hiroshima Castle...yep this is a moat that goes around the castle!

Jon and Buddha

Taken from the 10th floor Sky Lounge in Hiroshima
You can see the entire Hiroshima skyline

Fukugawa English Contest



Downtown Fukugawa

  Last Saturday, August 27th, Tracy was given the opportunity to judge an English speaking contest in nearby Fukugawa. Fukugawa is approximately 75km south of Iwakuni, and of course, the quickest way to get there is via train.
The trip took about 90 minutes each way, and cost Y2580 (approx $32).
This years contest was the 20th anniversary. The contest is open to elementary, junior high and high school students throughout the area. The contest is used to judge the students on how well they speak English. There were 2 other people from the base that went, both of them are English tutors to Japanese elders. One of the Japanese students went with us as well, as our translator.

Fukugawa station

When we arrived in Fukugawa, we had a short 5 minute walk across a bridge (over the train tracks) to the community center where we would be having the contest. Prior to the contest, the head of the English Committee took the 4 of us judges to an all-you-can-eat Japanese Buffet.
This buffet was interesting and confusing at the same time. Since I am still not sure what anything is, I took a little bit of everything. Some of it was good, like the chicken balls (panko crusted chicken pieces that are fried). Some of the food is a little scary, like what I thought was beef with broccoli, but it wasn't. I have no idea what it really was. It was some kind of meat, and it did have broccoli, but it was in a sauce that was gelatinous...kinda reminded me of canned dog food. At that time, I was done eating. Thank goodness for white rice!


Map of Fukugawa



After lunch, we headed back to the community center, and the contest began. First up was the elementary students, of which there was one that participated. The young girl was in the 6th grade, and told a story about a little flower bud. Her English was better than I had expected.


Can you figure out which train to where, and how much?

 Next up was the junior high students. This time there were 10 students, and so the competition was going to be tough. We were to grade them on not only their English, but there facial/hand expressions, how they interact with the audience, the flow/rate of speech and their general appearance. Each student was allowed to pick their own topic, and they were supposed to memorize the words in English (most of the
teachers are English speaking). The students were only allowed 5 minutes to give their speeches. After the Junior high students, it was on to the high school students, and there was only 6 of them. Most of the high school students talked about their travels as an exchange student, and the places they saw. I have to admit, the junior high students did much better than the high school students. At the end of the competition, the top students in each category was awarded, as well as the best overall.
After the competition, the head of the committee handed each of the four judges two envelopes. We were told the first envelope was to reimburse our travel fare, and the other envelope was our gift. None of us opened our envelopes until we were home. The first envelope contained Y2000 (~$25). The other envelope had Y10,000 (~$133.33). Not bad for a day off base, and a couple hours of judging English.

2011 Marine Corps Ball

Here it is, my official 2011 Marine Corps Ball Dress. Yes, this is the official color as well. I was invited to attend the 2011 Semper Style event held on base. This was women-only event held at the BX (Base Exchange). It was a fun night with models showing the new trends in ball dresses, there were professional fittings, hair and make-up demonstrations, (I actually got a professional make-up makeover), and then there was the "custom" option. The BX teamed up with Cynthia-styling, and offered custom dress options, which is where I found this dress. I was torn between 2 colors at first, black and dark navy blue. The day that I went in to order my dress, I saw it in watermelon (which was cute) and this, daffodil. I could not resist it, I had to have daffodil. Even Jon agreed that daffodil was the color. So I did it, I ordered my dress in daffodil yellow. It should arrive here on base sometime in October. Now to start figuring out what to do with my hair. For those that don't know, I went and had 3 inches cut off, as well had my hair thinned...it was time!