Mochitsuki Ceremony or Mochi Pounding

Well, we are definitely getting into the culture here in Japan!  We attended a Mochi Pounding ceremony that was put on by the Japanese here at the base.  Mochi is a traditional food served during the Japanese New Year celebration.  Mochi is made of rice that is pounded into a paste, molded into shape and served.  As you can see from the pictures - we were pounding the rice to make mochi.



The kids "pounding the mochi"!

During the celebration, they also had traditional Japanese dancers and of course the drums.



And...some not so Japanese dancers!

 They also had games set up for the kids to play... as you can see Michael was having fun with this toy!

Another tradition is to have your name written in Kanji which is supposed to bring you good fortune for the new year - we each had our names done so hopefully we will be ok!  This is Ally having her name written...

The traditional Japanese decoration - the equivalent of our "Christmas tree" - is called the kadomatsu.  It is bamboo decorated with some pine branches and is really pretty.  We also ate a lot of good food and tried Sake for the first time.  Tony enjoyed it, but it burned going all the way down for me!

Finally, no party could be complete, Japanese or American style without some cotton candy!!!!

December 2010 Homecoming

Tony had to leave us once again the day before Thanksgiving because North and South Korea decided they didn't want to get along....again.  It was sad to see him leave but we were able to get our Christmas tree up with him before he left.


Ally hanging ornaments!




Michael putting the Angel on this year!

Nick also played guitar at his school's Holiday program.  The guitar class played Christmas carols in the front of the auditorium to welcome guests to the holiday concert.  They did a pretty good job.

Finally, Dad came home!  He got to fly in this time so we went to meet him at the hangar.  It was nice to see him getting out of a jet again!




Tony Flying-In



 

Mandarin Orange Picking & Kawazu Seven Waterfalls Hiking

Our next tour for November started out with Mandarin Orange Picking.  There was a grove on the side of the mountain and we were allowed to eat as many oranges that we could eat in one hour.  The tour guide said she had a prize to whoever ate the most oranges... so Ally, never backing down from a challenge, ate 8 oranges in an hour!  She won a piece of chocolate and couldn't even eat it because she felt so sick!



The Wildlife!  Watch out!

Next on our tour was the Kawazu Seven Waterfalls hike.  It was really pretty and a nice day for a hike!  We got dropped off on the side of the road and our tour guide started out taking us in the wrong direction.  Once we figured out the right way to go - we stopped for a bathroom break.  Only problem was since this was out in the middle of nowhere - there were no regular toilets in the bathroom... Ally and I had to squat and pee in the hole in the ground "traditional" Japanese toilets!

Next we went to Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.  We went up to the top of this crater via what looked like a ski lift.  When we got to the top you could see down inside the crater and they actually had people down in the center doing archery.  We walked around the top perimeter and got some fantastic views.



Ally and I on the Lift.




580 Meters is roughly 634 Yards



 Here are some more pics of the kids with the view - which was kind of cloudy that day!

 

Hibiya Park and Tokyo Chrysanthemum Show

When Tony got home we went exploring so that he could see some of Japan.  We ended up at Hibiya Park which is just outside Tokyo where there was the Annual Chrysanthemum Show going on.  Chrysanthemum is the royal flower of Japan.  There were different types of Chrysanthemum's all over the park - it was beautiful!

This is a view of Tokyo from the park - it was almost like sitting in Central Park in New York and looking out at the City.

This is a picture of a garden house that was really pretty in the park.  There were artists sitting just below where we took this picture and they were sketching this scene.  My picture was a lot quicker but their paintings were really pretty.

Tony and Ally in the Garden House!

We also just enjoyed some time relaxing in the park - it was the best part of the day!

We also went downtown and ate some lunch at a ramen noodle shop - it was a little awkward because they didn't have big tables - it was like a lunch shop.  So, Michael and Nick ate together, Tony and Ally ate together and I got to eat with some stranger... good times!

October Family Fun!

October was really busy for us.  Let's see... where do I begin.  Started off with me attending the Bad Girl Ball - which is what the spouses do while the husbands are away...our squadron's theme was Austin Powers so this is my rendition of psychedelic... don't laugh too hard!

Moving on, we find Nick playing jv football for Zama High School...#59!

Ally is having fun on the Atusgi Blue Dolphins Swim Team!



Ally on the block for her relay team!



Ally is bottom row third from right.

Next we find Michael playing soccer...before the elbow incident...he fell off of his rip stick and dislocated his elbow and chipped the bone.  We spent the night in a Japanese hospital which was interesting.  Everyone tried their best to communicate with us but we did a lot of charades stuff.  He was in a soft cast for five weeks.



Go Michael #2!




His scream could be heard throughout the neighborhood!

 Halloween came which found us trick or treating without Dad still.  Mom had the brilliant idea of blasting Michael Jackson's Thriller song which caused us to not hear colors (music played over the loud speakers on the base while they lower the flags) everyone was stopped and showing proper attention and Nick and I were jamming away to Thriller (how embarrassing)!  We also ran out of candy fast... never seen so many kids!



Michael was a disabled scary man and
Ally a crayola crayon!




Nick taking over the role of "candy hander-outer".

 Finally....Dad came home!  His stay on the boat was extended a few days due to the typhoon that was passing through the area but he made it!  We missed you and are so proud of you Dad!

Tokyo Sightseeing



This is a model of the Tokyo Tower we were in!



Our next tour was in October of the great city of Tokyo!  We started out at the Tokyo Tower which has an observatory 150 meters above the city.  It was a cloudy morning so we didn't get that great of a view.

     

Tony was still not back from sea to go with us on this one!



This is a view of the city behind the kids from
the tower.



One more view looking down!



  

 




 



Ally in front of the guarded entrance to the
Imperial Palace.

 Our next stop was to view the Imperial Palace.  Unfortunately, the Emperor only comes out to greet the public two times a year - on his birthday and the Japanese New Year.
   

A view of the mote surrounding the palace.





  
Next we went to the oldest temple in Tokyo called Sensoji.  There we inhaled the burning incense to cure what ails us.  We said some prayers and we each received our fortunes.  Nick and I got good fortunes but Ally and Michael's were not so good.  The tradition is you tie your bad fortune on a string there basically asking that they take the bad fortune back.  I'm not sure that worked for Michael seeing how a week later he dislocated his elbow!



















Our last part of the day was taking a cruise down the Sumida River that runs through Tokyo.  It was very relaxing cruise after our long day of walking.  We ended at the Hamarikyu garden park which was very pretty as well.