Birthday/Homecoming/Yokohama

Thursday was my birthday both in Japan and in the states. When it was my birthday in Japan, it was only the 19th in the states, and when it was my birthday in the states, it was the day after my birthday in Japan, so I celebrated my birthday both days :) On my birthday in Japan, I went to work and my students and teachers celebrated my birthday with me. When I walked into one of my classes, the students had written "Happy Birthday Kristen" on the chalk board. They also sang Happy Birthday to me (yes in English), and gave me presents (which was mostly candy and snacks and some handwritten letters). During lunch time, my teachers sang Happy Birthday to me (like I had suspected) and gave me a piece of strawberry cake which was really yummy! And despite what I thought, I actually did have a yearbook picture taken at 1:00 like they had said. So they aren't complete liars :)

Then on Friday (my real birthday in the states), I took the day off of work to pick up Justin!! His ship pulled in around 3:00 and I was on the pier watching the ship come in, waiting for him to get off the boat. Too bad it took forever and a day because they had a problem connecting the bridge that lets them off of the ship. I stood there for over 2 hours in the freeeeezing cold waiting for him. But once I saw him and was in his arms again it made it all worth it. :) We had planned on going out to dinner that night to celebrate my birthday, but because of the fact that he got off the boat later than we had planned, and the fact that I was turning into a popsicle I just wanted to go home. So we picked up some McDonalds on the way and had a nice Big Mac dinner.

On Saturday we spent the day in Yokohama. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, did some shopping, and went on a few rides. We even went up to the very top of the tallest building in Japan. It was 70 floors high. The elevator ride alone made me sick but the view from the top was amazing! Seeing Japan all lit up at night was so pretty, and I swear we could see the Tokyo Tower from there but we weren't too sure. I wish we could have taken a pic but I dont think it would have completely grasped the beauty in the view. After that, we sat and watched some street performers, got some Cold Stone ice cream and explored some more around Yokohama. It was a really fun day and a very pretty city. I have some pics which I will post on here.

Yesterday Justin and I went down to base and bought our Christmas tree. We had fun setting it up and decorating it last night. Its a pretty tree and is just the right size. :) Today Justin had to go back to work, and I had the day off (because its a Japanese holiday) but ended up meeting Justin down on base. When he got off of work, we went and picked up his Acoustic Guitar. I know its supposed to be his Christmas present, but I figure now he gets an extra month of learning how to play. :) Anyways here are some pics. Enjoy! Sorry they are not in any particular order.

Justins new guitar!

Me chillen in Yokohama

Me in Yokohama

In YokohamaOur Christmas Tree!!!

In front of Japans biggest ferris wheel

Justin in Yokohama

Us in front of the ferris wheel

COLD STONE!!!

Getting ready to go

Pretty ferris wheel

In front of Hard RockIn front of the huge tower we went up in

Me in front of the Landmark Tower

Welcome to the world baby Austin!

Bonnie just called me and she had the baby!!! Yay! He was born November 19th at 3:15am. Just one day shy of my birthday. She sent me a picture of him and he is the cutest thing ever!!! Welcome to the world baby Austin Wallace!!! Congrats Jeff and Bonnie and to AJ who is now a big brother!

You cant fool ME!!!!

Today I was at work, and it was just like any other Monday. Well no I take that back, we did get 2 Australian teachers who are visiting for 4 weeks, and also a foreign exchange student from Bulgaria, or is it Romania? I cant remember. Anyways, so I was in the office today and one of my teachers says to me "Kristen, on Thursday at 1:00 make sure you are here in the office, we are going to take a picture for the yearbook." I said Ok but immediately started thinking about how much earlier I was going to have to get up now to do my hair and such. About half an hour later I heard him tell David the exact same thing, except instead of "Thursday" this time, he said "November 20th," I remember cuz I almost said "thats my birthday!" His comment to both me and David didnt phase me because I had seen the students taking pictures last week, for what I assumed were yearbook pictures. Anyways, so later on in the day, a different teacher says to me "You're turning 22 in a few days, you're so young." And thats when it hit me! There is no yearbook picture going on on Thursday at 1:00! They are doing something for my birthday and wanted to make sure that I (along with everyone else) was going to be in the office! I know cuz they did the exact same thing about 2 months ago for Davids birthday. They had told us that there was going to be a meeting, and instead it was a celebration for Davids birthday (I remember that moment too because I remember wishing that it really had been a meeting instead). These people are trying to pull a fast one on me but guess what, I caught them red handed! Great... this is going to be embarassing... I need to call in sick or something on Thursday!

So yesterday I didnt go to the festival like I had planned. When I woke up it was raining and I was in no mood to go out in it if I didnt have to. So I stayed in, curled up on the couch under a blanket and read my book (Breaking Dawn). It was an almost-perfect rainy day. A perfect rainy day would have been me and Justin curled up on the couch watching Friends and our favorite movies all day long :) Only 4 more days until that is possible :) Yay!

P.S. Chargers lost...

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I cant believe Christmas is just around the corner. All the stores have Christmas decorations out, the NEX is selling fake Christmas trees, Christmas ornaments and stockings and right outside of our train station there is a Christmas tree (not a real one) set up full of lights! Justin and I are going to get a fake tree this year. Could you imagine us trying to carry a real one home on the train and then up 204 stairs?? Haha that would be hilarious, it would be a present in itself if we could manage to get it home! Actually Sanae said that they dont really have real Christmas trees, most people just get fake ones anyways. Despite that, its such an exciting time of year. My birthday is just in a few days (although it doesnt seem like it), then Justin gets home, and then its Thanksgiving, Bonnie and Jeff have a little boy who is due to arrive any day it seems, then Christmas day, New Years and mine and Justins one year anniversary! Wow all of that in a matter of about a month and a half!

Another exciting event is the Charger/Steeler game this weekend! If there was one person I could watch this game with it would have to be Justins stepdad Kevin, although Im sure he wouldnt let me into his house to watch the game with him with my CHARGERS jersey on :) I wish I could watch the game on Daddys new big screen tv over webcam, but its on right when I wake up to get ready for work :( Oh well nonetheless GO CHARGERS!

Today I went to the curry festival at Mikasa park. It looked like a lot of fun, if you understood what was going on or could read the signs ;) Sanae had to work today so she couldnt be my guide at the festival so I went alone. It was crowded with people and booths selling all different kinds of food and curry. There was also entertainment such as a magician, and dance show. I didnt stay for long, and didnt dare wait in the very long lines to order any food. Tomorrow there is another festival I am going to go check out. Its a Japanese culture festival. There activites include tea ceremony, calligraphy, Kimino, origami, flower arrangement and much more! Its an all day event so hopefully I will be at this festival longer than I was at the curry festival today! Then its off to work Mon-Thurs, and I took friday off to pick up Justin! Yay! Only a few more days!!!

Brrrr...

Well I dont really have any exciting news, but Samantha doesnt like it if I dont post, so heres another one for you Samantha! =)

I guess I can talk about the weather. Its getting flippen c-c-cold!!! Waking up at 0530 is a pain in the butt as it is, but now having to get out of my nice, comfortable, warm bed and enduring the freezing cold at 0530 is not fun. Its also hard to stay comfortable. I am freezing when I leave my apartment, and then I get on the train and its crowded with so many people that its so hot and stuffy that I dont even want to breathe for fear of contributing hot hair to the stuffyness. I suppose its only going to get colder though, so I should stop my complaning now. Im excited cuz my mom sent me a bunch of winter clothes, along with a few things I ordered online, so Ill be getting those the day Justin pulls in :) Only one more week of freezing my arse off walking to work. The other morning I walked into the office and the teachers were laughing cuz I was all bundled up. They said I looked like a stuffed animal. Haha. They say it doesnt really snow in Yokosuka. "White crap," as my Dad calls it, AKA snowflakes fall from the sky, but pretty much melt before settling on the ground. Ive never lived in the snow before so this will be a new experience for sure!

Just to answer a few questions about the Everett idea, it hasnt been finalized that we will be going there yet. Justin just requested that that is where he would like to be stationed, so they can either accept it or deny it and send us elsewhere. Seeing as his soul does belong to the Navy, we -not really me so much, they cant tell me what to do, thank god!- pretty much have to do and go where they say lol. But where ever we are going it will be next August when Justins TAD is done in Japan.

Ummm.... I cant really think of anything else... still on the 4th Twilight book and its just as amazing as the rest... other than that just couting down the days, hours and minutes until Justin gets back!

The rabbit died

So Friday I was at work, and one of my Japanese English teachers came over to me holding a book called something like "1000 phrases every American knows." The book had American phrases, with the description of the phrase and what it meant in Japanese. She asked me if I knew what the phrase "the rabbit died" meant. I looked at her puzzled and said" Um... you have a dead rabbit?" She started laughing and said "No it means you're pregnant." So I looked up the phrase online come to find out, "Around 1927 it was discovered that if you injected the urine of a pregnant woman into a rabbit, there would be corpora hemorrhagica in the ovaries of the rabbit. These bulging masses on the ovaries could not be seen with out killing the rabbit to inspect the ovaries, so invariably, every rabbit died, even if the woman wasn't pregnant. The phrase, "The rabbit died," came to be a euphemism for a positive pregnancy test after the late 1920 and early 1930s." (http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/pregnancytests/a/rabbittest.htm)
I happened to be online with my mom, so I decided to ask her if she had ever heard the phrase. So I said, "Mom have you ever heard the phrase the rabbit died?" and her reply was "Yes, it means you are pregnant. Are you trying to tell me something? Am I going to be a grandma..." and before I could even explain to her my reasoning behind the question she starts freaking out that Im pregnant! Hahah it was pretty funny. I went up to my teachers afterwards and thanked them for my mom assuming that I am pregnant now. Anyways it was a good laugh in the office that day ;)

I just got home from grocery shopping, and while I was walking home I realized that I only have to go grocery shopping ONE MORE time by myself and then Justin is home!! That is so exciting! That just means I have that short amount of time to finish the last twilight book, which is somewhere around 800 pages!! Eeek I better get started on that tonight!!

Well the Navy rejected our Greece idea, they said it would be too expensive to send us there, and that we can choose anywhere on the west coast meaning San Diego, Everett or Bremerton. That was an easy decision.. Everett :) We are going to get a duplex with my BFFE! Justin and Jeff will be stationed on the lincoln together, and Bonnie and I get to be together! Justin and I are so excited, and so are Bonnie and Jeff, we cant wait! :)

I bought our Thanksgiving meal tickets tonight. I made reservations at the A club on base for 7:00 on Thanksgiving. They are serving... Appeziter- Shrimp Avocado Tartar, Soup- Cream of Pumpkin, Salad- Cranberry Spinach Salad, Fish- Grilled Yellow Fin Tuna, Entree- Roast Turkey with Gravy, Baked bone-in Ham, Caddie Yam, Roasted Mx Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Cranberry Sauce, Fresh Breadbasket, Dessert- Pecan Pie a la mode. Sounds yummy I cant wait!!! Mine and Justins first thanksgiving together! Aww :) Well I have a lot of reading to do so I better get started!!

Justins helo ride

Justin got to go up in a helo the other day, and he sent me some pics today. Just thought Id share, they are pretty cool pics. He loved the ride and was pretty stoked he got to go up. Im not much of a fan of helo's, they scare me for some reason. Haha anyways.... enjoy!

Before takeoff


Taking off from the deck


The boat


The blue water, its so pretty!


Directing the helo to land


Spot 5 where they landed

Musings

1. 2 weeks till Justin gets back! Yay! I can not wait, not only to see him, but to get all the awesome packages that my parents and my grandma are sending me! Not to mention its my birthday weekend ;)

2. Justin and I are looking into orders overseas for next August. Maybe Greece, or somewhere like that. Im not happy with you California, or America for that matter, for several different reasons... and no its not because our soon to be President is African American, Im not racist.

3. I think we are going to do Thanksgiving on base. There are several different places on base offering Thanksgiving meals, and it just seems like the easiest thing. For one, I dont know how to cook a turkey. Second, we dont have an oven. And third, even if I did know how to cook a turkey, and we did have an oven, its not a holiday for me so I wouldnt have time to bake one anyways. It will be nothing like the home cooked meal Im used to, or my Great Grandmas gravy, but it will suffice :)

4. I have decided I am going to buy Justin an acoustic guitar for Christmas. I know Justin reads this, but dont worry, I asked him first before just going out and buying him one because, although he has never mentioned that he wants one, I thought he might really like it, so I wanted to make sure before I impulsively bought him an expensive gift that he wouldnt use.

5. The detective on my case contacted me to let me know that my case is being reviewed by the deputy district attorney. It will then be decided whether or not my case (along with the several others it happened to) will go to court and if so, my detective told me to be aware of the possibility of having to testify. Dont worry Nicole, we havent forgotten about you, and justice will be served :)

6. I am almost finished with the third twilight book. I am going to buy the final one over the weekend, and am determined to have it finished by the time Justin gets home. Thank you again Christina for saving me hours and hours of boredom by recommending this awesome book series!! I have become deeply consumed in each book that time has flown by! You are a life saver when it comes to how to spend the lonely hours of a deployment! I love you forever!!

Thats all folks... for now ;)

An interesting day...

So today was my first day back to work after my week vacation and it was an interesting day to say the least. First off, when David walked in to the office this morning, he said hi to me. I was surprised because him and I dont speak to each other unless absolutely necessary. He asked me how my week off was and I told him that it went by too fast, and then he went on to tell me that he got lectured (as he put it) on Friday. I was surprised, but not surprised at the same time. I asked him why and he said first they (the vice principal and one of the english teachers) told him that he wasnt dressing appropriate, which when he told me that I didnt understand. He has come to work everyday in slacks, and a short sleeved, button up, collared shirt. Some of the teachers come to school in jeans and a t-shirt. Anyways so he needed to change they way he dressed. Then they went on to tell him that he needs to change his teaching methods. Im not sure exactly what they said to him, because he was telling this right before our morning meeting so he didnt have much time to talk about it, and I didnt want to pry after the meeting was over. He told me that they basically reviewed his job description with him again, and told him that he wasnt doing a good job at it.

After hearing about that, I was sitting at my desk and an announcement came on over the intercom (in Japanese of course) and all the teachers in the office stood up and bowed their head. So I, not wanting to be rude did the same thing. There was a long moment of silence, and then an announcement came on again and the teachers sat down. When I looked up at them, they were all crying. I asked David later what had happened (because he speaks a little Japanese so I figured he might have understood what was going on) and he told me that one of the teachers from the school passed away over the weekend. All of the teachers left early today, dressed in black, so Im assuming they were going to the funeral. Anyways it was an interesting day, and not what I expected my first day back to be like. I just hope my "lecture" isnt next...

Last day of vacation

Well today is my last day of vacation and I cant believe its already here. I dont know how, but my week off flew by! Probably because I read 2 amazing 500 page books (thank you again Christina!!!), went on a tour, and got to see Justin on webcam! Ugh I dont want to go back to work tomorrow, I mean I love my job, but work is work. Only 18 more days until Justin is home though! And Im sure time is going to fly because I still have 2 more books to read to finish the Twilight series, and work will keep me busy and before I know it, I'll be standing on the pier holding another Welcome Home Bruce sign! (haha Christina he still gets props for the one we made him in San Diego. Our sign is famous! :) Justin said the other day his DIVO was introducing him to some other officers and said something to the officers like "You should have seen the sign Bruce's wife was holding when we pulled in to San Diego" haha of course it was only the most awesome sign because it was made by two of the greatest people in the whole world!)

So yesterday Sanae and I went on our bus tour. I woke up at the ungodly hour of 0445 and got ready for our long day ahead. I met Sanae and the Oppama train station at 6:00 and we started on our ride up towards Tokyo. While on the train, we passed through stations like Shibuya, Harajuku and Shnjuku. Then we got on the bus and drove through Tokyo and I got to see the famous Roppongi, which Ive only heard about but never been to. We also passed by the Tokyo Tower. The tour took us to the Tokyo Aqua Bay line, and we got to drive through a tunnel which was under water! Then we drive through Chiba Prefecture to go to Kamogawa SeaWorld, which aint got s*** on San Diego SeaWorld, and to the Mother Farm. Sanae kept comparing Chiba Prefecture to that of Ohio, or Indiana back home. It was nothing but hill and farms, the complete opposite from the tall buildings, colorful signs and crowded streets of Tokyo that we just came from! I was excited to go to the Mother Farm because on the flyer it said you could milk a cow. Dont ask me why, but all I remember when I was little was wanting to milk a cow. It was all I used to talk about, just ask my mom. Maybe she can tell you where the fascination came from, but I never did it. So I was so stoked that I was going to be able to finally live out my childhood dreams of milking a cow! Well we got there 15 minutes after the last cow milking event ended. I was sooo bummed! But instead I got an ice cream, fresh from the cow across the street who produced it! Haha it was delicious! I have never tasted ice cream so good, and so fresh in my life. Mmm. After that we headed back to the station, but this time to the Tokyo Station! We got back there around 7pm, and had a fun hour and a half ride home. To say the least, I was completely drained when I got home. I cant wait till Sanae sends me the pics. I will post them on here as soon as she does.

Justin has been in Guam for the past few days. It was so good to be able to talk to him, without having to worry about the cost of the phone card, or knowing that it was only going to be a 2 minute phone call because he'd have to go back to work. Seeing him on webcam was great too! He sent me a lot of pics, from Korea, and of him working so I'll post a few of those on here. They leave Guam tomorrow, only to head back to Yoko! Yay!


Justin in Korea


Gettin ready for the Korean Reception onboard the USS George Washington


Vice Admiral of US Forces Korea with Justin and some friends


Justin and Mills


Justin hard at work (wearin the yellow)