homesick.

This is the sort of thing that tugs at my heart when I know I can't go home anytime soon...

The cutest nephew ever... I just have to settle for loving him from a million miles away...

trash.

The Japanese trash system is like recycling on steroids.... it is ridiculous! I have three, yes three, different trashcans in my kitchen, so I can properly dispose of my garbage. I also have a fourth additional small bag under my sink and that does not include paper recycling.... I never thought it was possible for so much effort to be required in order to throw away a single piece of garbage. Burnables, non-burnables, PET recyclables, mixed paper, combustibles.... all has to be sorted just right or they return your trash to your doorstep with a nasty gram... Japanese may be nice about a lot things, messing around with trash is not one of them.

I now cut cardboard up with a box-cutter (only after properly removing ALL tape from the box) and bundle it up with twine. (See picture above.) This was the work of HOURS of my life that I will never get back... I realize Japan is an island with way too many people living on top of each other, so they are required to be trash-efficient. But, geeze, this is a lot of work! I had better be saving some serious trees with all the effort I exert every time I want to throw something away!

familiar.

Some things are the same no matter what country you are in... not quite sure if that's good or bad...

best valentine ever.

Six-year-olds make the best valentines ever. FACT. My amazing friend's first grade class has been emailing me since I came to Japan. They ask me about Japan and the Navy... lots of funny questions, but really sweet! It is truly amazing to see the world through kids' eyes... I can only imagine what they say in the classroom everyday! This week, which has been quite hectic and not particularly fun,  I received the greatest package ever!

Catherine's entire class made me valentine's day cards... I will keep these forever. My guys thought I was going to start crying on them when I opened the package and realized what was inside...which I almost did...only pulling it together because I had an audience.

 This is without a fact the greatest valentine I have ever gotten...and completely made my week!

sea times.

We have been out a bunch over the past couple weeks. It is incredible how quickly you can fall into a routine... and as overwhelmed as I am at times, it is pretty amazing the difference between where I am now and where I was two months ago. I went from Auburn with no idea of what I was doing, to driving a ship around Tokyo Bay.... talk about a change of pace! 

Being out on the water was an amazing sight at night. There are more stars than I knew existed and the only sound around is the water crashing into our sides.... completely peaceful. It gives me more of an appreciation for where I am and the unique opportunities ahead of me.

I need to take more pictures, but here is one as we were pulling out of Yokosuka a couple weeks ago. I took this picture from the ship; you can see a snowcapped Mt Fugi in the background. Very few days is it clear enough that you can see the mountain... it was a pretty impressive sight to see!

move in.

C-O-N-S-I-D-E-R-A-T-E.  I no longer believe that Americans know what this word even means.... or it's possible that I have just been so overwhelmed by the hospitality of the Japanese, I have forgotten that anyone was ever nice to me at home. They are the nicest people I have ever encountered... even nicer than people from Auburn on gameday... and that's saying something! Seriously, the only rude people here are the Americans that live here... this is a fact that is equally fascinating and disappointing to me. America would be an entirely place if we could pick up just a third of the politeness of the Japanese. A prime example of this was my move-in experience....

These are a few pics from the day... this is all the furniture I have thus far because I had already picked it out at a mom & pop resale furniture store that my sweet housing agent took me to a couple weeks ago. The white cabinets are in my kitchen, the Japanese style dining table will move into my tatami room. This sweet older Japanese couple saved these two pieces for me because I liked them but didn't have my apartment when I first saw them. They then delivered for free, didn't make me pay until they arrived at my apartment, and brought me a gift (see above hand painted platter) just for buying from them.... now tell me which of those events would have occurred in America?? That's right, none.

In addition to this example of extreme customer service, my movers willingly rescheduled for me at the last minute due to a work conflict AFTER they had arrived at my door in my absence..... I was mortified and so apologetic and they acted glad to move their day around for me. AND, they do this all wanting NO tip... it's incredible. My evil Japanese version of Charter Cable even came in super accommodating and brought their own towels to ensure that they didn't scratch my wooden floors while installing everything, set my google up in English for me, and left me extra cord in case I decide to rearrange my living room at some point.

Finally, the best act of the entire day was the fact that my saint of a housing agent, Saito, brought me lunch and spent all day with me translating and helping me unpack. (In fact, she may now think I am an alcoholic now due to the number of wine glasses and shot glasses she helped me unpack.) I would never have been able to communicate with everyone who came to set things up without her... she has been such a blessing to have around... she even signed an email to me: Love, Mom Saito. Someone clearly was looking out for me when they helped me stumble upon her number a few weeks ago...

eating pt 2.

I hate, no loathe, celery. I hate it with a passion and don't even think it deserves to be counted as a food. Even with that much hatred toward celery, I think it may be taking a back seat to a new disgusting a food...  white squid. I love sushi... and really love it here, but this was the worst thing I have ever eaten. I probably committed some inexcusable offense by spitting it out into a napkin, but it was that bad. This was like trying to chew through a white rubber... AWFUL.

white squid... yuck.

Meet the offender... I will continue my love of sushi but will NOT be repeating this horrible excuse of an edible food.

The rest of conveyor belt sushi was quite a success...

you just grab whatever pieces you want to try.

baby squid... actually yum.

baby shrimp... weird that they're looking at you.

salmon roe... like eating giant pop rocks.