Flora and Fauna

I am discovering that Japan has some interesting (read creepy) creatures living here. I suppose if I hadn't grown up in such a dry, land-locked state, I would probably not be so disgusted by the enormous bugs that take up residence near my home. However, we cannot change the past, so...ewwww, gross! As you can see from the picture I have met the largest beetle I have ever seen outside of captivity (okay, so it was dead when I found it but it was obviously alive at one time!). Also, we have a wooly, well-fed, genius of a spider, who has spun a web about 7 feet in diameter (no joke) anchored on ether side by our house and a dead tree behind our house. Sigh. I guess I won't be going back there until it starts snowing.

Since I didn't want to just gross you out, I also posted a picture of the new orchid that was a house-warming gift from some of our awesome new friends in Brian's squadron. I thought I should show it off before it dies at my inept brown-thumbs. I have the internet now though, so I am armed with the collective "knowledge" of any gardener who cares to post about the proper care of plants.

On that note, fiber optic internet rocks! 1 Gbps for less than what I was paying for 12 Mbps in the States?! I will brave the spiders. It is worth it. Now if I just had a US IP address, I could stream HD video from Hulu, Netflix, etc. I guess nothing is ever perfect.

We Have Landed

Three weeks into our Japanese adventure we have finally found a house! I am starting to feel settled again! Maybe too settled.

More things I love about Japan:

5) Onsens (Hot Spring Bath Houses). Wow, I could make this a habit. Gender controlled bathing in your birthday suit in mineral water straight from the ground. There could be no better way to spend an evening. I think I might have been a snow monkey in a previous life.

6) Snow Monkeys. I haven't seen one yet, but I will before I leave! I hear they like to attack women and children but leave men alone...crafty. We shall see my friends...we shall see.

7) The "car bow." This happens daily because driving on the tiny streets of Misawa is a cooperative effort for all involved. I like the car-bow way more than I like being honked at/flipped off/shot at. Perhaps I shouldn't directly compare Misawa to Phoenix anymore. I feel that it might not be fair...low hanging fruit and such.

Category: Old Things That Are New to Me

1. Coffee Jelly Frappuccino. This little delight comes from none other than our friendly neighborhood Starbucks. Apparently in some parts of the world, people like to suck coffee-flavored gelatinous texture through their straw. Oishii desu... ka? Actually it wasn't that bad, though I am quite confident that it will not replace the Latte in world popularity any time soon.

2. Fast Food That Doesn't Make My Stomach Sad. Box lunch available outside Kabuki-za. I love this box lunch thing they have here! All the food is so fresh; no preservatives; just the right amount. Oishii desu. Definitely.

3. Polite People Following Rules and Self-Regulating. Imagine that--self-regulating. Now, I have to assume my primary reader is American, so I feel I should explain what "self-regulation" is: Public areas, including public transportation, well used but super clean! Streets with a million bodies/vehicles all going different directions but merging and coexisting with ease. Natural, orderly lines where appropriate. You know, basically, taking responsibility for yourself. Novel, I know. According to Brian, I should have been born in Japan. I have to say, I do find it to be a comfortable place to exist (obvious communication boundaries aside).

4. Kabuki-za! Standing room only for us, still worth it! The Kabuki we caught was called Kaijin Besso (The Sea God's Villa) and included beautiful staging and dress. Unfortunately, as we do not (yet) speak Japanese, we required an "earphone-guide" which basically told us in English what was going on, but even still, it was great! If you are planning on visiting us and want to go to Kabuki-za, you will need to visit us before May 2010, when, from what I understand, they will tear down the old building and rebuild another Kabuki-za in its place.

Ohaiyo Gozimasu

The view from our hotel room. Yes, the buildings are really that skinny.




We have finally made it to Japan! After enjoying a wonderful week of visiting friends and family in O'ahu, we headed for Japan yesterday. We are staying in Tokyo at The New Sanno for a few days before continuing on to Misawa.

First the Birds, then the Bees...

In case there was ever any question that this apartment is in fact the epicenter of the third ring of Hell, I now have the swarm of bees to prove it (okay, maybe flies would technically be more indicative of Hell's exact location...moving on). An apparently very confused group of bees set up shop in a two-inch hole in a stucco wall 4 stories up. I can assure you that there are no live flowers to be found anywhere near this location. It must be hard to make a living as a bee in Tempe. Almost as difficult as I expect it must be for the mountain lion on A-mountain. Sadly, this group of bees met an early demise when the pest removal "experts" that the building manager hired declared them "half African" and they were eliminated. However, I like to think that their lives weren't all for naught...they live on as a cleverly worded blog title (...fine, just a regular blog title). Que sera sera.

Oh, and, as a side note, since it has been so long since my last post, a quick update: we have entered the final 3 weeks of my (2nd) undergraduate college career, Brian will be back from Korea on the 6th of May, our household goods will make their way toward Japan on the 11th of May, my last final will take place on the 12th of May, and Barack Obama is speaking at my graduation on the 13th. Don't expect another blog post in the next month.

"Adventure is just bad planning." --Rould Amundsen

Well, ASU has started classes once again. As Aristotle wrote, "Education is the best provision for old age." I ought to be pretty well provided for by the time I am 27! :)

Before school started I took a trip to CO and visited family and friends. You can see more pics from the visit here. Special thanks to the Lumpps for the wonderful peaches and cream cobbler and to the Floods for the delicious home cooked stew! I definitely won't be eating so well back in Tempe!

Mom and Dad rode with me for a return trip to Tempe. We saw the Grand Canyon and the Petrified National Forest and the Marco picked up some nasty bacteria in Santa Fe (no pictures necessary). I would not recommend staying in the La Quinta there, although the La Quinta in Flagstaff is fantastic.

I came home to find that I have a squatter on my patio, whom I have named Gerdie (see above). This doesn't upset me too much, since the patio is too hot for me to use at the moment (Mom and Dad can attest to this since they were in Tempe for a few hours at the end of our road trip and were entirely too happy to be leaving due to the "oppresive heat"; Coloradans don't know heat!). So back to Gerdie, I guess something in this household will probably be having babies soon (not me!). :) Never can have enough pidgeons in the world right....riiiiight. Lazy bird. Apparently she thinks she doesn't have to build a nest since she found a nice flower pot in which to roost. Sorry for the poor quality photo--I took it through the glass. She looked a little angry, so I didn't want to risk getting pecked!

Even though Tempe is hot right now, at least it isn't in the hot seat! I want to take a moment to send a shout out to everyone involved in the series of unfortunate events I like to call the Democratic National Convention. Sorry AR! Wish you were here!

Quick update on Brian, since he never bothers to post anything: he is busy. He is now one of the schedulers for his squadron so in addition to flying several times a week, he has the full-time, underappreciated, overworked job of scheduling everyone else's flights. To me this is sweet irony for the many years of resistance he has provided to my feable and futile attempts to plan everything! J/K, love ya Brian! I am proud of you! Also, he has a new call sign, "JOKER" and he will be heading to Red Flag Alaska in September so hopefully we will post lots of info/pics about that next month.

Colorado and Invisibility Cloaks

Hey everyone! I am visiting Colorado for a few weeks before school starts again and Mom, Dad, AR and I got to go see the Rockies play the Diamondbacks. Pretty fun!

Also, Invisibilty Cloaks, I knew it was coming!