Shipwreck beach

Once upon an adventure in Japan the Ellis Family set out for a well traversed path for a place called Shipwreck beach. The directions we chose, and trusted, were horribly, horribly wrong. We had heard that the trip should have taken no more than an hour, so when we hit the 2.5 hour mark we knew we were nowhere near the right place. Instead of coming home we decided to stop at a Japanese rest stop, go potty and regroup. When the boys finished (cause you know we are faster) we decided to look at the racks of flyers, all in Kanji. Then Marshall made an amazing discovery. On the back of a DoCoMo (cell phone company) flyer was a map of the entire prefecture (like a large County). It was all in Kanji, but it showed where we were at that moment. The highway system was on there, and we knew what highway we were on, and found the one where we were going. Yay Marshall!!!!!

After a little over an hour, we arrived at the parking area for the beach. We walked for about a mile and a half, picking up sea glass, neat pieces of wood and stone and eventually got to the shipwrecks that the beach is named for.

We have been back a couple of times and always find or see something new. We will go back several more times before we depart Japan and will certainly remember this as one of our favorite places in this amazing country.

Our latest pests...I mean pets

Some people would not think that these things make good pets, but we think they are very cool and they are super-easy and fun to care for. Marshall had seen these at the mall and a few other stores, but they were really expensive and we opted not to buy any. They are called Kabutomushi or where most of you are Rhinocerous, Staghorn or Hercules Beetles.

One day at work, one of my senior NCOs asked me if I was still interested in getting some of these and I asked, "How much and what is the catch". She said no catch, they would be free and that all I would have to do is go pick up the cage, food and beetles at the Youth Center on base.

Unbelievably, the Youth Center had a 25 gallon aquarium full of beetles and gave me all the food and items I would need to care for them. They said they didn't even know how many there were left, but we counted 4 males and 5 females when we got them home. We happened to be having a party that night, so we just left the new pets in the living room. We didn't have any gambling or make the beetles fight or anything, but somehow they were still the center of everyone's attention. The males are very territorial though, and they were pushing each other off of the logs and food cups.

The beetles started passing away almost immediately, but we did have a few that lived for several months. We found ou that they only live for about 6 months as an actual beetle, so it wasn't our fault, lol.

When the last one died, Summer and Marshall took the aquarium outside to empty the wood/dirt and disovered 6 "baby" beetles (pupa) in the debris. We don't know how long they have been in there, but we found out that they live in this state for almost a year. We fully expect to have new Kabutomushi beetles this spring to show off.

Our Lunch Guest

Today was a pretty typical Sunday. I spent my morning running around making sure everyone had pressed clothes, fixing little girl hair, and locating that missing Patton Leather shoe. Somewhere in all the morning chaos I managed to obey when God told me to put something in the crock-pot for lunch. Then off we went to church; practicing the morning music along the way. Once at church Ryan and I had to wait to do our sound check because the computer that controls the sound booth was down. Typical Sunday morning stuff.

Well the sound check delay caused us to miss Sunday school. So we were sitting in the sanctuary talking with friends and in walked an older Japanese gentleman. Ryan greeted him and the three of us started talking. He introduced himself as Kiyoshi Osada. He spoke English very well. We found out that he was visiting from the west coast of Japan. He had come to Misawa on the bullet train to get inspiration for his writing. He is a poet by trade. He was visiting different regions of Japan to study the dialects. He said they provide great material for his poetry. Church was about to start so Ryan asked him to sit with us.

During church I again heard that small still voice and this time it said to invite him home for lunch. I protested a bit saying “but God the ironing board is still setup in the living room and I did not get a chance to do the dishes before we left”. But God pressed on and I ran out of excuses. So I had Ryan ask and he accepted.

On the drive to our house I asked Osada-san where he learned to speak English so well. He said that he studied it in school as a boy but really learned it when he went to college in Miami. Well hello! God is so cool! He could not believe that we were from Fort Lauderdale. We spent the weekend reminiscing about Florida, The Miami Dolphins, Bush Gardens, and of course Disney.

During lunch Ryan pulled out a Root Beer and offered one to Osada-san. He was very delighted and said he had not had one in about 25 years. Then he started asking about other sodas. He was so excited when Ryan found a Mountain Dew in the cabinet. By the end of lunch the man had about four different cups in front of him. We had so much fun giving him a taste of soda, cookies, and even an American meal with forks, which he had not had is such a long time.

After lunch Ryan showed him Google Earth which he had never seen before. He showed us his house and then we showed him South Florida. He was amazed and had a great time looking at his college and the beaches he went to in the 1980’s as a college student. What a blast!
When Ryan drove him back to his hotel he gave us a gift of one of his poetry books. I can’t wait to have a friend at church translate some of his poems for us. What an exciting and unexpected gift this man was for us today. I could tell that he had a great afternoon also. He said that today he went to church to praise God. He was hoping to find some Americans to talk with because the base was so near, but he did not plan on making new friends. We were sure to exchange addresses and phone numbers. I am so glad that I chose to obey God this morning. The results are always awesome when you are obedient.

Maddison’s Birthday

Maddison turned 5 on April, 2nd. For many months we had been psyching the kids up for the move by telling them that soon after we arrived in Japan it would be “birthday season.” Maddison was so excited that her big day had finally arrived. For her birthday she received many cards and emails, a Japanese doll, and a Dora bike, and her second Webkinz. The bike and Webkinz were the big hits.

Yes, we did let her ride the bike in the house, but it was just for a minute. We also have a tradition in our family that the birthday person can choose what or where they would like to eat dinner. Well of course she choose the Japanese McDonald's. She did stick to the usual chicken nuggets not daring to try the shrimp burger. Happy Birthday Maddison! We are so proud of you! You are a beautiful, happy young lady and we are blessed that God entrusted us with you.

Changing Of The Tires

So this is an activity that I never dreamed of participating in. But apparently they make tires for the different seasons. Who knew? OK, so I am not really that blond. But it was strange to look for a minivan to buy based on if it came with an extra set of tires. This is our Toyota Emina.

Once the snow melted Maddison helped Ryan change to our summer tires.

This is Ryan's SUV it is a Toyota Surf with All Season tires. Now that is a nice feature. One out of every ten cars on base is this exact car, same color and all. I think I see him everywhere I go. I took a picture of his favorite sticker. Bald is beautiful!

Spring Cleaning or The House of "Ralph"

With the beauty of spring exploding all around, it gave me a tickle to see the houses throwing up fabric items. Well I guess one sure sign of spring’s arrival is when all the locals air out their bedding. It was amazing that every house in town did this on the same day. It was like they all received the same newsletter. I found myself driving around just to see how wide spread the homeowners association was.

It's Potty Time

With my love of ceramics I guess it is only natural that I am intrigued by items made of porcelain. OK, so these may not be beautiful works of art worthy of a museum but they do bring many giggles to our family. It is amazing what one culture has managed to do with a potty. In many public restrooms you will find potties that play music while you go. I guess that is to disguise any sounds that may disturb others or cause them to think that you are actually going to the bathroom behind that little door.

Then other restrooms have the “camping pot” as I like to call it. This is simply a somewhat glorified hole in the ground. I don’t really understand why a culture as refined as this one would have such a crude device. Sorry that the water looks "yellow" the color of the tolet gave it that tint. I PROMISE! Maddison likes the “mommy and me” stalls that have a big and little potty together. I am partial to the ones with seat warmers and bottom washers.

The potties in our house come complete with a faucet where you can wash your hands as the toilet bowl is filling. I prefer to use the sink! Yes, it is true that I have found myself taking pictures of in the strangest things in Japan. Check out my giant baby on a Japanese changing table!