Dad, Come Home Soon

Larissa has some fine clothes from her favorite stores back home like Justice, and Limited Two. Cute Stuff that you cannot find here.

Renie is the only tuba player in the band.

Ready for school.

This has been a hectic week with Rene being gone. I know I do most of the running around, but evening functions are getting crazy. Last night was Renie's band concert. He looked so handsome with his dad's tie, which by the way I had to log into U-Tube to learn how to tie a tie. After three times, I finally mastered it. Larissa won Citizen of the Month and received a certificate today. She was dressed for the occasion, but it was a surprise. After a month in a half, my boxes from the states finally arrived. The kids had an early Christmas. Larissa loved all her clothes and shoes. The days here remain a cool 45 in the morning, warming up nicely through the day. School will be wrapping up soon, so the kids remain busy with school work. Renie continues with good grades, however baseball trips around Japan are making his life stressful. He has to hustle to get work done before he leaves. He leaves for Misawa at midnight tonight. They will travel through the night and come home Sunday. I am proud of him for making an effort to keep up with his honors classes and play sports. I don't remember my high school classes being this rigorous. Oh, maybe it was because we didn't have honors classes.

The Hybrid Flu

Rene is currently in Chicago for the week. Well, I hope he can return home. Japan is already monitoring those entering into the country by scanning them for a fever. If their body temperature is high, they will be quarantined. I told Rene, just stay in your hotel room. This virus is spreading and sounds pretty scary. Folks back home: wash your hands, don't go to Mexico, and wear a mask like the Japanese people. Oh, and don't eat pork.

Everybody is Singing in the House

By: Larissa

Karaoke Fun

So much fun!

My interesting Kiwi drink

Rene loves Karaoke, it gives him a chance to bring out his talent (he, he)

Kathrina and Rene

After just three sips of Sake, I was ready 

Karaoke and Sake, need I say more-

Weird Science

Larissa explaining her project to Sakura.

Riley explaining his project to the girls.

Larissa, Miya, and Sakura eating the earth.

YWES new playground

Larissa had her Science Fair yesterday, so we took our Japanese student along.  As with any Science Fair, there are always some very interesting projects.  Larissa and her group powered a calculator using lemons.  The evening was planned with activities and fun.

Tranquility

Today is a beautiful day here in Fussa Japan. The leaves are filled with beautiful colors, the air somehow seems clean or maybe it is just my imagination. Everyone continues to go about their day. Many again are preparing to leave for their next destination. Moving trucks are in sight and bags of unwanted items are being put by the tree to be picked up. This will be us next year. I have a bottle of premium sake Rene and I will drink the day before we leave here. Even though we sit in a country full of hustle and bustle, the base is a reminder of small town America. Our Chili's is about to open and everyone seems to be happy and content. My days of feeling homesick are slowly dwindling away.  Maybe it is because I have been fortunate enough to go home twice, or maybe it is because of all the new friends I have made here, or all the bad news I here on GMA every morning. Who knows, but now I am beginning to understand why so many retirees settle here. No violence, no guns, nice weather, good food and great people.

Air Space

Pictures from the new tower

We also overlooked the fact that there was no school today.

Today we took our Japanese friends on a base tower tour. You may think that leaning about controls and air space might be pretty boring, but actually it was quite interesting. This is a tour that requires special permission and we were granted access in the control room and new tower building. We learned the in's and out's of how tower controls operate in action. The only downfall was the weather. It was a cold rainy day. Nonetheless, it was an interesting tour. We ended our day with a cold picnic and gifts.

DCC

A taste of the show. Sorry Atilano and Raymond, wish you were here.

My Little Cheerleader

Camp

Learning a routine

Dance time

Today we had a visit from the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.  As we all know, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders are American icons and the most famous cheerleaders around.  Most little girls only dream of meeting the DCC.  These girls were perfect, beautiful ladies all decked out in blue and white.  They potrayed a high level of flexibility, energy, and entertainment.  I had never had the opportunity of being up close to a DCC.  Their uniforms were amazing.  They worked with the girls for an hour (cheerleading camp), then did a show for the audience.  Larissa had a great time and was able to ask them questions and get autographs.  Go Dallas!

Easter 2009

A pony ride before lunch.

Finishing up with lunch at Tama Lodge

Matsarika and Larissa

What a leap for the eggs.  These eggs are filled with some nice prizes.

A bunker that still stands today.  

Having some fun at Archery

The petting Zoo

First of all, I would like to wish everyone back home a Happy Easter.  It is 5:54 in the evening and I am sitting at my computer wraping up our day.  We spent our Easter at Tama Hills.  You may recall, this was the same area we spent our Easter last year.  Tama Hills was an arsenal that dates back to 1938 before WWII.  Proscessed bombs were stored in numerous concrete bunkers throughout Tama.  Many of these bunkers and other reminders of the war still remain today.  This place is loaded with history and has been preserved quite well.  Tama hills was upgraded in 1982 to a new lodge, outdoor recreation facility and support facilities.  Tama hills is maintained  and operated by the 374th Force Support Squadron at Yokota Air base. 

It's snowing Cherry Blossoms

This morning Rene and I tagged along with a group of around 12 runners. We ran a mile and a half from Fussa gate down to the path of the Tama River. The weather this morning was breathtaking and so were the Cherry Blossoms down the river. We must have ran around 8 miles. Japanese lanterns lined the path of the Cherry Blossom trees. We finished our run around 8:30 and by this time the path was filling up with bikers, walkers and runners. What a beautiful river at this time of the year. Even in this populated city, beauty surrounds this place every where you turn. I am saddened that we had not done this sooner. Rene and I are now eager to buy our bikes so we can bike to Tama Hills. The longer I am here in Japan, the more discoveries we seem to make that make me enjoy this country more and more each day. I will be sad when it is time to go.

Our New Student

Today, we began our weekly English lessons or play dates with our new Japanese student.  Her name is Sakura and her mom pays us 4500 yen ($45.00) a week.  Today was a get to know session discussing hobbies and questions on what Sakura enjoyed.  She is 10 years old and enjoys art. She can speak English moderately well and enjoys playing with Larissa.   She is an only child and has been with my neighbors family for a year.  My neighbor is moving soon, so we were more than happy to take over.  We will have her for the year.  What a great experience for Larissa.  

Sakura

Exploring this beautiful park

The French Embassy

Embassy families and Japanese enjoying the Cherry trees

Two Embassy children

Room Service for the kids as we left for our dinner.

Some of our friends enjoying the Escoffier dinner

Rene made friends with our waiter, Gustavo from Mexico City

Our second dessert of the night:  Cherry and Dark Chocolate Tart, Ginger Bavarian Mousse, and Wild Berry Parfait

The Cherry Blossoms are in full season here in Japan.  As you travel throughout Japan, the cherry trees can be seen in every direction.  They are abundant on the grounds of many parks.  We had a nice weekend at The New Sanno and did some exploring down the streets by the hotel.  We came across this nice park.  As we walked the park we began to notice the many different sounds of languages from all over the world.  As kids played, it was evident that this was the gathering place for many embassy families.  French, Australian, and Spanish were some of the languages we picked up on.  These kids were gorgeous, and roamed around the park freely.  We enjoyed the breathtaking cherry blossom trees and the beautiful surroundings.

Rene and I also attended the Escoffier dinner.  Escoffier is named after a french chef.  We had heard from friends that is was a dinner to experience at The New Sanno hotel.  This was one of three events they have yearly.  For $65.00 a plate you get an eight course meal and wine with each course.  The menu included lobster cake, soup, Japanese snapper, Ravioli au Chef, Sorbet, Sautteed Filet of Beef, Salad, and Dessert.  By the third course Rene and I looked at each other and thought, "How in the world are we going to make it to the 8th course".  The layout, service, and entertainment was made for a king.  We sat at a candle light lit table for two and had 2-3 of our own waiters.  It was great!  Needless to say, we walked out of there feeling like a balloon ready to burst at any moment.  The food and wine were excellent.