Guess what...

....is just a mile or so down the road from where we'll be living????

The big blue!

This is a re-cap of the last 3 days! We've gone to the ocean every day, so it's a hit! The house is finished and so it is just a matter of time; hopefully by Wed or Thursday, we should be moving in. I can't wait to get out of the TLF's! I can't help but laugh at the people who complain about being in them for a week and a half. I'm like, "lady, I've been here 7 to 8 weeks. I'm really not the person to be complaining around!"

There's these shipwrecks up on the beach. If look down the coast you can see Hachinohe.

Apparently people comb the beaches in search of glass floaty things. I don't know why. I found this, it didn't make the cut though!

umm....I guess we went to the house sometime during the weekend

You can't swim on this part of the coast, because you'll probably die. And most people try to avoid that.

We all love the coast for different reasons...I have a special reason to like it because it has a basketball hoop. These are the first ones I've seen off base so far. I want to play the Japanese some time, but first I need to learn how to ask, "Can I play basketball with you?" lol

Cheese Roll

Guess Where???


You guessed it, a ramen house! Mom and I had been wanting to try another Japanese restaurant. We had heard some good things about this place, but also that a cockroach was spotted recently. The cockroach didn't bug me to much, just don't think of insects while you eat!

I was surprised to see a TX licence plate on the wall, along with a lot of other state plates. Apparently when Americans leave Misawa they write a note on the licence plate and leave it at this restaurant.

The Ramen Bowls were huge!!! So big, they made us put on life jackets before they would serve us our bowls!

A restaurant on the bottom, and a house on top. Is that common Mrs. Kim?

Also, is it the polite thing to drink the broth when the noodles are all eaten? That's what I thought, but nobody else was doing it.

Pacific Fishing Trip

The other day Day and I went a Pacific Fishing Trip. It was fun. On the drive to to Hachinohe our Japanese driver was sort of speeding...like 110 clicks in a 70 click speed zone!

The view on the water was very pretty. I can't think of anything prettier than watching that sunrise. It was breath-taking, so much so I forgot to take a picture!

The boat was a little bit smaller than expected, and our fellow Americans were throwing a fit. I couldn't believe how jerky they were being to the Japanese. Sad.

This was my least favorite job....baiting the hook!

The boat behind me is the one we thought we were going to be on, but instead we went to a smaller one!

I had a lot of fun. I was also very glad I didn't get sea sick. I wasn't looking forward to being sick, but had prepared myself psychologically; running Facebook status' through my head "Jared is a sick-sea dog." But I didn't get sick, so life is good!

I know it looks like I'm eating my thumb, but that it is really beef jerky

This is the SMALLEST fish that we caught, I know there has been rumors that they weren't big, but they were so big that the whole boat nearly sunk. Oh yeah. I had to cut the line to save every ones life. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!


After we would catch a fish, it would be thrown onto ice. After we had docked we found out that the sea people don't clean the fish for you, that you have to do it yourself. I had my knife that I bought in California so Dad and I headed off to clean the fish. We stopped off at the Chapel office so Dad could work on something for a minute. I sat in the car with our supposedly dead fish. To my surprise I started to hear flapping in the back. Perplexed, I go and check it out. To my horror the sea bass had gotten out of the bag and was striking out on his own across the floor of the van. The little rascal took a bit of effort to catch. He almost got under the seat before I could nab him!

Inside the House

Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been pretty busy! Please forgive the grammar and whatnot, I'm in a hurry!

We got to go into our house on Friday. It looks really nice. It should be finished before to long and very soon we should be moving in!

Exploring the closets

Already doing handy jobs around the house!

All of us in the kitchen

The sink is a little bit low....and there is no dish washer...I may need to get a chair for doing dishes!

The command seat


The inside is very pretty and I can't wait to be in it. I'm sure there will be many more pics to come as we are able to move in, I'll try to get some more on here tomorow. And now, I'm really tired and want to go to bed!

The Other 1/2's Adventure in Misawa

On Thursday, I think it was, Mom took the younger four to the Farmer Market, while I finished up school at the TLF. It had been a while and I had finished school, played some Jared vs Jared basketball, watched the news, and was now starting dinner when I got a phone call from Dad.

They had hit a curb and it had blown the tire. Dad drove out to the Farmers Market and replaced the tire with a snow tire we had. i know I have said this before, but the roads are so tight here it is often a scary ride...no matter who's driving! And the particular spot that they were in (by the Shinto Shrine) is especially tight and narrow!

When they did get to the Farmers Market they bought plenty of fruit. And apparently there were animals....

I heard reports that this pony grabbed Nolan and tried dragging him in the pin

Um....I think this is at Universe (it's like Japan's Sam's Club)

Back to the Farmers Market! lol. A little Onsen for your feet...just your feet. I think a lot of people would be annoyed if you went all of the way.

*Note: Onsen's are the hot water springs that are all over this part of Japan. You usually go into an Onsen without your clothes...I know. I wonder if I could get in with a swim suit.*

It's what everyone wants to do!

On Friday we went to the train park off base. We met with some friends and played and had a lot of fun. We started to play tag and I noticed a couple of Japanese children (a boy and girl) watching with interest. So I walked up to them and said "excuse me, do you speak English?" in Japanese. I figured I may as well get the basics out of the way. When the girl answered no, I attempted to ask them if they wanted to play tag with us; using hand gestures. The girl got the point, but the boy didn't want to play.

The little girl played and seemed to have a lot of fun. I went to get a drink of water from the drinking fountain after I'd played for a while. The drinking fountains aren't like America where you have to put your mouth to the nozzle and siphon the water. It shoots the water WAY up in the air. After squirting myself in the face a few times I realized this was greatly amusing the two Japanese children, who were watching.

I know how to entertain younger children, having four younger siblings, and I did House of Faith where I worked with hundreds of kids under the age of 12. I KNOW how to make them laugh. Acting stupid works at the house, at the schools, and it has been proven to work in Japan! lol

So I shot myself in the face a few more times to make them laugh. But then the boy walked up and turned off the water. I assumed he was going to show how to do it. He turned the water on again, full pressure, and put his hands in it...consequently spraying me with water. That really made them laugh. And so they did it again and again and again and again; until I was thoroughly soaked.

Oh well, it was bonding!

D2

There has been rumors....

....That Lady Liberty was spotted in Japan. They are confirmed! lol We drove out to Oriosi (a town near bye Misawa). On the outskirts of town was a park with the Statue of Liberty. It stands at the same latitude as the original in New York. It is also the largest in Japan...I didn't know they had very many of those here!

I don't think it is the same height as Lady Liberty in NY, because she seems a little bit shorter and to have gained a few pounds, but it is still really cool.

I've always wanted to get a picture in front of the Statue of Liberty...but never expected to do it in Japan!

There was a lake and a beautiful nature walk. There is also fishing, I don't think it can get better than that!

This has been voted the best picture of them all

There was also a park with a super long slide. The parks a lot funner here than State-side, but the parks are also a lot more hazardous than in America. I guess you can't have both!

Shiny threads like these have started to appear around the rice fields. We guessed it was to keep the crows away as harvest time neared.

Last Week!

Alright, a quick update from last week!

Monday-(this will get its own post) we went to the Statue of Liberty Park.

Tuesday-We continued to work on school. My math/science arrived! Yay! I wrote an essay on Saigo Takamori, maybe I'll post it. I also have doing a lot of research into Japanese Feudalism. Last year for school I studied European feudalism, and so I plan on writing an essay of comparison.

Wednesday-Same old! I've been doing books on the culture, listening to my Japanese tapes, and math. I also did extra research on rice farming and wrote an essay on that. I really like to write; I don't think I'd ever want to go into the business. You'll notice that I've started labeling a lot of the posts since I've been in Japan as, "Jared Meets Japan." A friend suggested I write a book about my time here in Japan. I figure in a few years I'll go back, collect all of the posts with that label, edit it, and then try and get it printed as a book. It's worth a shot!

Thursday- I did school while Mom and the younger four ran to the farmer's market (which is just down the road from where we will be living). They had an adventure, and that deserves a separate post!

Friday-I finished research for the Japanese feudalism and wrote the essay; I did more for school that day, but for school that was the headlight! We then met some friends at a park off base, which will also get a separate post!

Saturday-We mostly hang around! lol

Today-Arielle and I helped out at the Sunday School kick-off. It was a carnival/luau sort of show! We went to church, Dad preached. It was pouring rain! That about sums it up!

Never Forget

It is hard to imagine it has been 8 years since 9/11, the biggest terror attack on American soil ever. I still remember that morning very well. I was 7 and it seemed impossible to me that someone would want to kill Americans; but as I've gotten older I have realized that there is evil out there. That there is people who are consumed by their hate for America that they would kill thousands of innocent people every day if they could. I am writing this to remind us to never to forget, but also to never let it happen again. There are still people out there bent on killing us.

The terrorist would kill millions if they get the chance, we cannot let them get that chance. That is why we shouldn't allow N. Korea to get away with testing nuclear weapons. That is why we must remain strong in the face of Iran and all other hate filled radical groups who hate liberty and freedom.

The fight for freedom is one that will always be fought, from generation to generation. So, as a generation, let us rise up and continue the fight. The fight that our fathers started during the Revolutionary War, and that our brothers continue in Afghanistan. With one voice let us say, "We will not fade away into the darkness, we will not be defeated, we are Americans so let liberty ring!" Despite what comes against us, we will stand.

Air and Aviation Museum

On Sunday we went to the Air and Aviation Museum. I was surprised when we entered and realized this was going to have a LOT of stuff to do!

I love the Japanese, and their little cars!

As you can see the grass is well kept up! lol

Inside they had all sorts of things to do. This was a pulley system. Alex lifted him and Stacia with no problem using the pulleys.

This is a mimic helicopter.

Flight simulators. Arielle and I did good, we nearly crashed landed, but we straightened it out. And I accidental turned off the throttle while in mid air, but other than that it was a good flight!

You know those little needle things that you put your face in? They had a full body sized one of those. Yay Longhorns! I wasn't sure if the horns meant something bad here, so I etched it out very quickly!

This would shoot you 26 feet in the air

This would spin around...not fast though.

This globe was rotating. There were little lasers that resembled guns (ironic) and you would "shoot" the country you wanted to know about and information on that country would pop up on the screen.

No Gravity! I'm FREE!

There was a music festival outside. We bought meat on a stick...I can pronunce it, but I can't spell it right now, maybe later! This made their day! They even gave us one free one after we had returned a few times for more. They laughed and smiled and were very friendly!


There was so much to do in there! We barely scratched the surface, and I don't have time to write more about it right now. A lot of the rides and stuff was stuff that astronaut trainees would do. I had a lot of fun!

Saturday

On Saturday we went on a road trip to Shiriyia light house. It is about 50 miles North of us, but it took us 2-3 hours to get there. Why? Well the speed limit is slow. Also we were driving on very twisty and narrow roads! It was funny, we got to the light house and was just starting to take pictures when a man pulled up on a motorcycle and started to wave frantically that we needed to leave. Bummer!

The Light House

The Setting Sun

The Moon over the ocean

Here is one of those roads!

Wild Horses. That's right, Wild Horses!



A Texan must have helped with the translations on that one!


The drive home was fun, but it was dark. The roads were narrow and the only light s you really had were the vending machines along the the road! We were originally looking for a shipwreck, but didn't find it.