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Hello All!
We're doing well and enjoying Misawa's version of spring time. Christopher and Patti get out to the playground almost every day and they continue to enjoy twice-weekly swim classes and weekly playgroups. Christopher is growing by leaps and bounds. His coordination has improved dramatically - to the point where he can even break into a full run for a few steps. He still isn't much of a talker but can pick out any number of animals and objects that Mommy and Daddy ask him to identify. What a difference a few months make: in January he was still waking up three times a night and he required endless rocking and coaxing to put to bed each time. Now he winds down nicely at about 9pm and is happy to put his head on the mattress, nodding off without so much as a small fuss. AND he sleeps straight through the night - usually till 6:30 or even later. While this may not meet the Catholic Church's strict definition of a miracle - it sure seems like one for us. And to top that, the faucet that we call Christopher's mouth has finally slowed to a trickle now that all his teeth are in (well almost all). For a while I thought we'd end up having to send Christopher to school with a bucket strapped under his chin. We may actually have to break down and get Christopher his first haircut soon. While he is well short of a mop - the hair on the back of his head is just long enough to begin to curl. I have nothing against the curl - it just looks odd when he is lacking discernable hair on top.
The weather here is always unpredictable but we have enjoyed several sunny warm days this spring. From what I understand that is about to come to an end with the beginning of the rainy season in early June.
OKINAWA - 16 YEARS LATER
I thoroughly enjoyed my five days in Okinawa though it was difficult to be away from Patti and Christopher. I was fortunate enough to be billeted at Kadena Air Base in the DV (distinguished visitor of course) quarters. For $12.00 a night I stayed in the finest accomodations I've ever enjoyed outside of a high-end bed & breakfast - two huge rooms - three if you count the massive walk-in closet, full kitchen, stocked fridge and dry-goods, the list goes on and on. They even provided a bookshelf stereo system WITH a selection of CD's. Gotta love the Air Force. Kadena also had fantastic restaurants and shopping facilities - which sadly - put Misawa to shame. I managed to enjoy a round of golf - my first of the year. It was ugly (I can blame it on the rented clubs). I also visited my old haunting grounds up at Torii Station. The base itself - buildings, roads, etc... - were all as I remembered but Army Special Forces now occupy the base. I talked my way into a tour of the old operations building which the SF troops now use for administrative and training offices. I can't believe the changes. The most noticeable change around Torii and the rest of the island is the vast number of new resorts, hotels, and high-end vacation homes that have been built along Okinawa's shoreline. The day before I departed Okinawa the island was hit by torrential downpours, flooding low-lying areas and closing roads everywhere. I don't ever recall seeing rain like that in the 18 months I was there. Oh - by the way - the business conference was productive.
FOUR!
Speaking of golf - I decided to buy a season membership for the first time in my life. I figured I would be more motivated to golf if I paid the money up front (it is working so far). I joined Misawa's Gosser Golf Course which for only about $300.00 for us civilians seemed well worth the cost - even taking into consideration that the course is closed for about five months out of the year. I enjoyed my first Misawa golf outing on 25 April with a couple of Navy Chiefs. The old-timers here say if you can't play in the wind and the rain - you can't play in Misawa. So far after three outings I'd say that has held true. Last Thursday for example I played the first nine holes in brilliant warm sunshine with little-to-no wind. By the 13th hole I was playing in a driving wind and rain and the temperature had dropped to the point I could see my breath. My first purchase in the states will be a gortex outfit for golf.
OK - enough about golf
HORIDAYS
The Japanese just wrapped up Golden Week - which is a series of national holidays that are strung together that effectively shut down businesses for most of a week. The holidays are National Appreciation Day (30 April), Japan Constitution Day (3 May), a connector holiday (4 May), and Children's Day (5 May). Think of having Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day all strung together with the vast majority of workers getting a week off from work at the same time. As you can imagine everyone becomes a tourist so roads and especially airports are jammed. The locals on Misawa Air Base learn to plan events around Golden Week since conducting business, shopping, and especially performing out-of-area travelling is difficult to impossible during this timeframe.
LAKE TOWADA
This Tuesday Patti and I managed to spend a day traveling to nearby
Towada Lake - about 90 minutes away in the foothills (Tuesday is the day
Christopher spends in daycare). The drive was very scenic - winding
along a riverbed for part of the trip and winding through Towada City and
surrounding rice fields for the rest of the trip. This was our first measurable
drive away from Misawa City so we were a bit apprehensive - but there were
road signs in English at most major intersections and highway numbers were
cleary marked. We even managed to find a small restaurant at a rest stop
near Towada Lake. Of course, the menu was strictly in Kanji - however we
managed to order curry rice and a bowl of ramen without incident. We ended
up driving the "long" way back to Misawa - but enjoyed seeing part of northern
Japan that has eluded us to date. I hope to take a week of leave
sometime this July which we hope to spend driving throughout northern Japan.
We need to gain some confidence and pick out a few scenic drives to show
my Father when he visits this September.
LADIES NIGHT OUT
Patti enjoyed several outings with the ladies this past week. Patti really enjoys getting out once in awhile and I enjoy having Christopher to myself every now and then since I am definitely "number two" when Patti is around. For their most recent outing the ladies visited a "hot bath" at a nearby resort hotel. As you might recall from a recent letter, hot baths are something of a ritual if not religion in northern Japan; and Patti reports that she thoroughly enjoyed the experience and she intends to make it a regular part of our recreational activity.
B-I-N-G-O!
Our string of luck playing bar bingo at the Tohoku Enlisted Club on Thursday nights continues uninterrupted. In fact so far we have been shutout of the bingo money only one week - and on that night I ended up hitting the slots for over $50. Even after paying for the bingo cards, dinner, and the babysitter I'm guessing we are money ahead or pretty close to breaking even every Thursday night. The Tohoku bin veddy veddy good to us.
DO THIS DON'T DO THAT
As you might know, my civilian pay-grade is considered equivalent to a military field-grade officer - which comes in handy since on military bases rank has its privileges (as well as responsibilities). Anyway as a civilian I am authorized access to both the enlisted and officer clubs on base. After visiting each club several times Patti and I quickly discovered the enlisted club wins hands-down over the officer club - for many reasons. The O-club is smaller, the menu less varied (the food at the enlisted club is far better anyway), they have practically no entertainment to offer, they DON'T HAVE BINGO, and they are even closed on the weekends - that's right - not open on Saturday or Sunday. So for some strange reason - the base commander has found that most of the base's officers end up frequenting the enlisted club - something that is not encouraged for officers to do - but until recently was tolerated. Last week the base commander spread the word that officers were not to use the enlisted club except for official functions. As that policy was relayed by the Director of the outfit I work for, there was an implication that officer-equivalent civilians should also adhere to the new base policy and strictly support the O-club. I managed to refrain my laughter until I left the room and I toasted the new policy with a beer at the enlisted club that very evening. Because of the limited population of Misawa most say it is only a matter of time before they combine the clubs anyway.
HAS IT REALLY BEEN 20 YEARS?
I'll be heading to Maryland this Friday for a two-week business trip then I'll be stopping in Iowa for my 20th year high school class reunion before heading home on 2 June. Although I'm looking forward to the trip I dread the thought of being away from Patti and Christopher for that length of time. We briefly considered bringing the whole family back for this trip - but we came to our senses after reflecting on our experiences from the trip over here in January. None of us are ready to repeat that experience anytime soon. We are, however, beginning preliminary planning for a trip to Hawaii next winter to warm up for a couple weeks.
Guess I'll be seeing some of you on my trip stateside.
Terry, Patti and Christopher
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