High School Musical 4

I told you recently that Alex really got into basketball this year. It was his first year that he could play on a “real” team with actual games and practices….although still with no keeping score.
Every Monday evening we had a practice—it was supposed to be for 6 weeks. And every Saturday morning for 6 weeks, we were supposed to have games.

I must say, this was Alex’s first exposure to any team sport with “older” kids. He thought it was the coolest thing to have a coach and to gather together to talk about the game in a time out, and to have same color of T-shirts…the list goes on and on.
The funny thing is, Alex was one of the youngest players. He was five and half when he started. Most other kids on his team were 6 and 7. And guess who is the tallest:) ….well, besides the coach.

But as we all know, being tall doesn’t guarantee success in basketball. Those little guys were FAST!
Now, for Alex, one of his major accomplishments was learning how to run and dribble at the same time. Coordination for this five year old boy doesn’t come easy….
As you may know, Alex is also our “performer”. If he could, he’d audition for a part in “High School Musical-4”-haha. He thought he is Troy from HSM. He thought he could dance in between catching the ball. He thought that when spectators (parents and siblings) clap, he should clap too “because it’s like a show”. He was cracking us up:)

  Alex “flying” through the court (he is #14).

I am so happy we signed him up to try basketball out. It’s good for kids to feel like they HAVE to practice and they HAVE to work on something to become better. I wish they did keep score so that they kids learn to “lose”. 

When it’s warmer outside, hopefully, Alex will be able to practice with Robert, so that he doesn’t forget everything he learned.

Lyana 

Strawberry Farm

You know that story about the kid throwing starfish back into the ocean, and the old man asks “why bother? there are so many that you’re not going to make a difference.”  Then the boy says as he throws one more starfish into the ocean, thus saving its life, “it mattered to that one.” 

That’s kind of how I felt today. 

The Medical group finally got permission to go on the volunteer clean-up trips (don’t ask why we couldn’t go until now), so I went today.  Instead of going to the pig farm like Lyana did last week, we went to the strawberry farm.  However, because of the giant manure pile, it did smell like a pig farm.  (note to self:  do not eat a cheese stick while standing downwind from a mountain of manure)

Two bus-fulls of eager volunteers converged on one small farm.  Much of the work on this farm had already been done by other groups in the preceding days, so when we got there, most of the labor-intensive work was already done, but there was still something for us to do.

We fanned out across the fields, picking up trash and debris and separating (yes that’s right) into plastics and metals.  It was sad to see how the crops were simply destroyed.  Plump red strawberries attached to crushed and wilted stems dotted the ground. 

Truth be told, it was difficult to tell if the trash we found was there before or after the tsunami.  I wanted to keep this guy, but we were not supposed to scavenge (don’t tell anyone, but I kept a rock that I found).

During lunch break I dropped my sandwich.  I also went for a walk on the beach.  Well, I mostly just stayed on the concrete sea wall next to the beach.  If it weren't for that wall, there would be a whole lot more damage up here. 

This is next to an estuary, just beyond the sea wall that separates it from the strawberry farm.  Not much to see here, but then you notice those two concrete blocks on the left side of the picture.  Those weigh at least a ton . . . and they’re not supposed to be there. 

This is the sea wall.  To the left is the ocean and to the right is the forest (you can see the first row of trees bent over from the wave), then beyond the forest is a canal and then the strawberry farm.  The wave wasn’t as big here as it was in Sendai, but it still managed to do a lot of damage where it could.

The elderly lady in the center was the owner of this farm.  This is where that starfish thing comes in.  You see, there were no overturned boats, crushed cars or pulverized homes on this strawberry farm.  There was just a lot of plastic and a lot of metal and a whole lot more plastic.  One of the main jobs we did was pull apart huge piles of muddy tarps, some of which were 50 feet long, and tying them in bundles (like big bowls of spaghetti).

When we finished, and that old lady gave a deep Japanese bow, I knew that what we did today on that little farm somewhere in Hachinohe where hardly anyone knows exists, mattered to her.  Her fields, farm, livelihood were washed away in a flash, and who knows when she’ll be able to get a good crop again, what with the salt from the ocean infiltrating the soil.

The farmers there have a long road ahead for them, but if anything, the Japanese are known for their perseverance. 

Here’s what the farm looked like today – a semi-organized mess.

Here’s what the farm used to look like (the neighbors actually – the wave didn’t get them).  It doesn’t look like much, but for them, it’s everything.

When I got home today, I smelled strawberries.  Yum.

Rob

A Different Kind of Therapy

I have learned several years ago that serving others is the best way to forget about your own troubles and start being thankful for what you have. We, the dental spouses, have been complaining enough in the past two weeks about how we are unable to truly go and volunteer with the Red Cross during the day because we have kids at home and our husbands are stuck at work not helping the community either. Our very thoughtful dental commander's wife offered to watch our kids who are home during the day, so that we could go with a group of volunteers and clean up whatever location they they needed help with.

Today was the day. Early in the morning, I packed up my lunch, triple layers of clothes, work gloves, a shovel and a bucket, dropped off Mark at J.'s house and joined a group of about 50 people who signed up to volunteer. Half of the group was civilian, like us, and the other half were active duty personnel who were allowed to take part in the clean up as well.

On the way from where the bus was parked to the beach, this is what we saw.

You can see how high the wave came up.

Emily and I uncovering one of the huge tarps.

It was much more pleasant to be working alongside such great friends (Anna is missing in this picture!).

We were happy to have the help of heavy machinery. They could pull on dozens of nets, ropes, and tarps tangled together and get them out for us to sort through.

Americans and Japanese working side by side.

Emily pulling some nets out. Emily is looking over how much progress we’d made.

We were told to pick up anything metal and throw it into a gigantic pile, which would be moved by special machines later. We were also told that the dead pigs had been cleaned up already.

As we were trying to pull out pipes, bolts, wires from the piles and piles of debris, one of the women found a small pig buried underneath. After that, I couldn't get over the sight of the pig. That made me be very nervous that I would find one. I decided that my best bet was picking up piles of wood/paper stuff and helping the Japanese ladies load them up onto their carts. ...Three more huge pigs were found minutes later....

(Emily was not phased by the dead pigs. I know it looks as if she and I are the only volunteers there—not so).

Emily, Janeen and I, after an hour of sorting through the debri.

As we were leaving the farm, we couldn't help but think how overwhelming this must feel to the farmer and his family. I felt like what we did was merely a drop in the ocean. What we did might have seemed so small but it meant so much to those Japanese people.

The damage I have seen today is not comparable to the devastation that people 100 miles south of us experienced. We are so-so lucky. I keep thinking about it...

When I got home I was exhausted, smelled like smoke and pig farm.

I felt like I was part of the community. Not once did I think about the "hardships" that we are experiencing on base.

Lyana

After lunch on the beach with a million dollar view, we headed to a pig farm. The pig farm was also in Misawa. It originally was a home to 2000 pigs. But after the tsunami, only 400 survived. It was day 3 of major clean up efforts on that farm by our American volunteers. When we arrived, I couldn't imagine what it all looked like on the first day...

Opportunity to help

Today one of my friends on facebook posted this link from Camp Zama Girl Scouts. Camp Zama is located in Southern part of the island of Honshu. It's an Army base. The girls are collecting items to make up special backpacks to donate to Japanese kids.
http://www.zamagirlscouts.org/operation-backpacks.html

That sounds like such a need opportunity to help, especially if you have small children who could pick out small gifts to put in those backpacks. If you are going to mail any of the donations, the address that is given is an APO address--so you can use a USPS flat rate box. Even if you send a package in a regular package, postage will cost you as much as it would cost to send a package within the US.

And don't forget Thousand Origami Cranes group. Maybe some of you would like to learn how to make origami cranes and send them over here as well. Anyway, check out the link. 

Still Here…

I believe I have been born under a lucky star, so to speak. Everything has always worked out in my life—doesn’t mean it was perfect, but it always fell into place somehow in a great way.

The past 12 days, more specifically, the past 6 days, have been one of the major trials in my life, mostly emotionally.  I will try not complain, but I have been quite overwhelmed with decisions and thoughts lately. I am simply not sure how to cope with this uncertainty. I don’t believe leaving at this moment is necessary but I also don’t know how to go back to my normal life. I have packed some of my bare necessities into the suitcase, just in case our “voluntary departure” becomes mandatory. That makes me feel better like I am prepared. My household inventory is done, pictures are with my documents on a CD, all documents are in order and ready to go. I have a printed out a list of things I need to grab if I have an hour to pack. And now I just need to give myself a self talk that I will not panic and stay cool IF the time comes to leave.

Things have definitely changed in Misawa. Still “CONSERVE, CONSERVE, CONSERVE”.  We’ve got to keep our house rather cold (although we do turn the heat on for nights in the kids’ rooms). My showers are no more than 5 minutes, and no more using a hairdryer (good thing my hair is rather cooperative these days).  We are supposed to do only one load of laundry per day and not during peak hours in the mornings and evening. Cooking is encouraged to be done in a microwave (I have no idea how to do that well!). 

The reason why we need to conserve our electricity is because as a base, we are allotted a certain amount for our use. Right now we are given 70% of what we normally get, I believe. If we go over that, we’ll be taking power from the rest of Misawa residents, who are also trying very hard to conserve electric power, kerosene and gas. Voluntary evacuation is also a way for the base to save power. With a thousand dependants gone (especially with lots of kids) not as much cooking, cleaning, bathing and laundry will have to be done.

The saddest part for us is cancelling of so many events. Ski trips—cancelled, kids’ events—cancelled, youth sports—cancelled. I am looking to find out if Japan Day is cancelled—it was supposed to happen on April 2nd. Some church activities have also been cancelled—like our Relief Society Birthday dinner (a big dinner event for the ladies). Basically, there is very little to look forward to at this point.

Alex has been very-very sad that his basketball season got cancelled. Poor thing doesn’t understand why his weekly practices and games stopped. Playing basketball was his new thing that he really got into this winter! It’s hard to tell the kids that we cannot go to the library, or bowling, or Weasel’s Den (an indoor playground with slides), or to the movies because there is no electricity in those buildings. Everything looks so normal on base after the earthquake, yet so many things are not the same.

Schools are doing a good job with keeping things normal. No computer use and no hot lunches—but that doesn’t bother the kids. Katya’s class has about 10 kids right now after 6 left. Very few high schoolers are leaving to the states. It’s mostly people with little kids who are not in school that opt to go on a “vacation” for 30 days.  I made up my mind that the reason WHY people choose to leave is none of my business and it’s not going to bother me. If it is because they are scared, because they were planning to take a trip in a month anyway, because they hate Misawa and are trying to get out, or because they just want to have a free trip—I am not judging them. Everyone has their own situation to deal with.

Well, this sounded like long-long vent on my part. Sorry:(

I just wanted to give you an update  on how things are going, but everything came out so negatively. It’s not that bad. REALLY. I bought some fresh strawberries off base today. Mark went to his Japanese preschool again. I filled up with gas today, although only 10 gallons are allowed to buy at a time, my gas tank is full.

 (This is what it looked like 10 days ago at the gas station)

We are having our friends over for dinner tomorrow night—they are moving next week. Kids play outside after school for hours. 

(It snowed a week ago, but now it’s all melted. Still very cold during the day though.)

And we should go find a movie to watch with Robert (who wants to be known as Rob now). Life is trying to be normal:)

(Mark still takes occasional baths:))

Mata ne,

Lyana

Acte Gratuit

Check our my friend's blog. She's got a lot posted on the way things are developing here in Misawa. And her feelings are very similar to mine in terms of why we decided to stay.


http://actegratuit.blogspot.com/


(Emily, I am expecting a dozen of non-baked cookies for acting as your advertising agency).

Decisions, decisions....

This has been a long week. A VERY long week. The children are doing remarkably well considering the circumstances. I have been with them 24/7 this week; and we are still alive:)

Robert has been working every day, he is at work even today and will go in tomorrow. The frustrating thing is that what he is doing a lot at work is reading a book. I know! That's what I am thinking....They have cancelled their patients and are doing tasks that need to be done randomly. Med. group people are also not allowed to volunteer for clean-up.

Two days ago (wow! seems like forever), our base commander announced voluntary departure ("evacuation") to all dependents to the states. Voluntary is just that--if you want. Many people have been complaining of how nervous they are about earthquakes, how kids are shaken up, how it was cold without power, not being able to cook food, etc. So, the DOD decided that to ease our hardship, we could be offered a free ride to the states and back. The deal is that we'd have to stay in the states for 30 days at least, and then, if things get better, we'd be able to come back. And they needed our decisions FAST so they could count how many planes to order to come in. From Misawa, we'd be taken to one "safe haven" location, such as HI, AL, Guam, Korea and then from there with a short or long (couple days) layover, we'd be flown to the states, and then to your final destination.

When it was announced, the schools were still closed, we had many unknowns about in what manner everyone will be able to leave, for how long, how we'd be able to come back, etc. It was a lot to think about. We had a lot of questions on our mind. Why they would offer a "voluntary" evacuation? Do they accept the conditions on base, around Misawa to get worse? If they do, how much worse? How would the departure of many people/personnel from base would change the base? What about our food supply if Yokota (a base in the South, where our bread comes from) is evacuating as well? What if the schools don't stay open?

Our main question was also how safe we are from the nuclear plant disaster. At this point, our comfort about that issue lies in the fact that we are 235 miles away from the Fukushima. That is around 380 km. The air around Misawa is sampled continually, and we have the winds favoring us at this time of year--NW winds blowing from the land into the ocean.

Believe me, this is a very hard decision to make. And the fear to make a mistake is horrifying to me.

After considering all the factors, talking it over and praying, we have decided to stay. For now. If anything changes for the worse with the radiation, my choice will be obvious.

We went out to lunch today--off base. Things are almost back to normal, at least they seem. Gas lines are still very long, some restaurants are closed. But everything else looks the same.

Please continue to pray for the Japanese people to recover from this disaster soon and for those who lost everything.

Our young pianist

***I wrote this post about a week ago, but never got a chance to post it. I am struggling right now to move on from what happened and actually start living and planning life again. I do not understand this feeling, but I feel very guilty for even thinking about fun things, planning any trips or events. We have to be soaking in one day at a time….I decided to go ahead and post this entry…in the midst of all that’s happening:)***

Katya is a girl with many talents:) We all know about her athletic abilities (Hello, Striped Ape! but that’s another story), about her fantastic spelling and reading achievements, and about her dancing abilities, comparable to Robert himself. Piano is one of her “aces”, so to say, to pull out in front of Alex and show off (in a good way, most of the time).

Katya’s winter recital was held on February 27th, at Mokuteki Ballroom. Ms. Bridget, who just had a baby 3 months before then, had a dozen students who performed.  Katya and I printed out special invitations to give out to some of her friends. She even gave one to her teacher, Ms. Smith and to the principal, Mr. Sterry:)

Katya played two pieces. She had to memorize one of them. I think one of the good qualities that Katya inherited from both Robert and me (I know! I am sooo humble!) is the ability to focus and not be afraid of the stage. (We won’t start listing here all the chances that Robert and I had in our childhood to perform…hahahaha) Anyway, Katya holds herself great on stage and does her best.

Great job, sweetie! We are all very proud of you:)

Before the performance.

Alex wanted to look “extra fancy”, meaning he wanted to wear a belt and a tie.

After the performance.

Katya’s special friends—Hannah H. and Colton L. came to see her play:)

A Weekend To Remember

2:46 PM 9.0 earthquake struck 80 miles east of Sendai, Japan.  Sendai is about 170 miles south of here.  I was at work, in my office.  I had just finished treating a patient and waiting for the next one.  I noticed slight shaking of my office and as the movement intensified, I got up and to stand in my doorway.  Looking down the hall, I could see others had done the same.  I remarked that it felt larger than usual.  The shaking intensified further until I had to brace myself from falling down.  There was an overhead page: “This is real world weather warning:  we are in an earthquake; take shelter.”   (Oh, so that’s why the whole building is moving.)  Soon the overhead lights and emergency exit signs starting flickering, then they went out, replaced by the faint orange glow of the tiny overhead bulbs powered by the backup generator.  I waited for a few moments, expecting the power to come on any second.  Not to be.  The metal shutters were down over the doors because the base was in the middle of a military exercise (practicing for war, etc.), so we couldn’t even get out of the building.  Through the windows I could see children playing basketball across the street and cars driving around, as if nothing serious had actually occurred.  Then we had the first aftershock.  And then another.  Now they finally opened the shutters and initiated an evacuation due to potential fire issues in the hospital(lots of oxygen and other flammable gases running through pipes there).   We stood outside for a good 30 minutes, not knowing what was happening.  More aftershocks.  The trees were swaying but there was no wind.  At times I felt like I was back on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico – I don’t have my sea legs yet.  Soon the all clear was given and we were allowed back inside.  Electricity was still out.  I tried calling Lyana but the phones were down too.  I’ve felt lots of earthquakes (little ones of course) but nothing like this.  Even the local Japanese Nationals we work with said that this was different. 

We were finally given the release and I headed home.  I noticed that all buildings were in tact (thanks to excellent building standards here).  At home the kids were frazzled a  bit.  Katya had been walking home from school and had to sit down during the earthquake.  Alex had already made it home, so he just took cover where he could.  Amazingly, only a few items fell off the shelf or the piano. 

Then it was time to open the 72-hour kit. 

Batteries, flashlights, radio: check.  Food?  Plenty.  How long will food in the refrigerator last?  Who knows.  We still didn’t know how bad this thing really was because we had no communication with the outside.  No way to contact family. 

Time for Boy Scout training to kick in.  I gathered our three coolers, and filled them with the most essential (and most expensive) food from the fridge.  Then I buried them in a big mound of ice and snow in the backyard.

This was my kitchen for the weekend.

Saved everything except the ice cream (it lasted one more day then we had peach ice cream soup for dessert).  We ate like royalty for the next two days.  Our goal was to consume the most perishable items first, then if the power stayed off we would move onto the canned goods and other nonperishables.

Here’s Mark finishing off the cottage cheese.  He loved that headlamp.

Friday morning Lyana put ribs in the crockpot.  They were fully cooked by the time the power went out.  So we had them for dinner.  Saturday morning: cereal with milk (still cold thanks to mother nature).  Lunch: grilled chicken and attempted Potatoes O’Brien (wrapped in foil – didn’t cook all the way so saved them for later.  We had a couple of friends over whose husbands had been called in to work due to the situation.  Dinner: veggie pizza burgers and veggie sausage patties (better than you’d think) and Pillsbury crescent rolls (yes, all cooked on the grill) and “skillet” Potatoes O’Brien (same ones from lunch – this time slightly edible but not very tasty, so saved them for later).

Sunday breakfast: in an attempt to normalize things as much as possible, I made pancakes.  I just placed a cookie sheet on the grill and voila, a griddle.  I thought they were pretty good.  Lunch: used up some cheese and lunch meat and made sandwiches.  Before dinner, the power had come back on, but we still had a bunch of meat to use so we had the same two families over (this time with the husbands) and I grilled burgers, hot dogs, yakisoba meat and we had oven baked (yay for ovens) sliced potatoes with onions and green beans.  Oh, and rice curry.  I also tossed the leftover Potatoes O’Brien on a skillet (this time on the stove).  Finally cooked them all the way and yes, we ate them all. 

On Saturday, around 10:00 AM, I got my first glimpse of what had happened.  I went into the hospital and a few computers were connected to generator-powered outlets.  I didn’t have much time, but I saw a couple of headlines.  I was shocked.  I quickly sent out a couple emails and then updated my facebook profile.  That’s all I had time to do.  Then I had to go about assisting with accountability of the squadron.  All present and accounted for. 

That first night was the hardest.  Every few minutes there was another aftershock, some rattling the windows and shaking the furniture.  We could feel them all throughout the day on Saturday too.  Saturday night I had another chance to get online and update family and friends back home, as well as check out the news stories.  I saw a cnn.com slideshow and my heart sank.  Sheer devastation.  I couldn’t believe all that had happened just down the road practically.  I yearned to help, but there was nothing I could do.  I had to wait until the base here was even operational before even considering anything.  I was comforted to know that many countries were already sending aid.

During the day on Saturday, there was little to be done.  We had very little gas in the cars (never let your tanks run below half, especially in earthquake country) so we couldn’t go anywhere either.  When the power went out, there was still a load of laundry that needed to get dried, so I rigged up a clothesline in the front porch.

Saturday night: more aftershocks.  Same intensities as before, but more infrequent.  Finally took a shower.  A cold one, but I didn’t care.  I was grateful just to have water.  I had no complaints.  My inconveniences were nothing compared to the loss and destruction suffered by so many others south of here.

Sunday morning: beautiful sunny day.  Warm too.  Got up to the  maybe 60s.  We had an abbreviated church service and then a meeting where some of us discussed ways to help.  The earthquake and tsunami affected hundreds of miles of coastline, including dozens of coastal cities.  One of those cities was Hachinohe, a 15-30 minute drive from here, was hit hard as well, but most of the food and provisions have been diverted further south to Sendai.  The others, and I agreed, decided that we needed to get donations of food, clothing and blankets to Hachinohe so a small food and clothing drive was initiated and today the first delivery will take place. 

Sunday afternoon the power came on, exactly 47 hours after the quake hit.  We still didn’t have phone or internet, but TV was working so I could watch a little bit of news coverage.  I am still in shock.

We had another tsunami warning just an hour ago.  This time it was only 6 feet.  But to an area already decimated by the ocean, it might as well be 6 meters again.  I hope and pray the earth will rest now.  (I wrote the post on Monday, but was unable to post it then.  Now  it’s Tuesday night, and we just got internet back in our home so I can post it.  That second tsunami was actually 10 feet) 

On Monday I was finally able to get fuel for my truck.  The line was pretty long, but it went fast.  I only had to wait 15 minutes or so.  Today, Tuesday, I heard from several people that they waited in line for 2 and a half hours.  Needless to say, we are trying to conserve all our resources while sending as much as we can down to the survivors of this tragedy.

It is unknown what the next few days or weeks will hold.  I will keep everyone posted as I can.  Even right now I am writing this post not knowing when I will even be able to publish it.  (That was yesterday)

If you want to help you can.  Donate to the Red Cross or your church humanitarian fund.  And pray.

Rob.

Japanese McDonald’s

I have decided I am going to try to post some pictures of Japan-not just about what we are doing and places we go. So let me know what you would like to see.

I have a file in My Pictures called “Shots of Japan”. I collect there basically all the pictures we take of nature, people, places around Misawa. The following pictures I took were from McDonald’s. We do have one in Misawa. It accepts Yen and US dollars! It even has a drive through. Its dollar menu (100 yen menu, technically $1.20) has such items as McPork on it:)

McDonald’s in Japan is more expensive than in the states. For Double Cheeseburger combo meal, for example, you’ll pay $6.70 or so. Anyway, we go to McDonald’s rarely. It’s still unhealthy even in Japan:)

Lately, our McDonald’s has been running this advertisement of different hamburgers naming them after certain US states. A month ago it was Idaho Burger—they put a hash brown patty on top of the hamburger.

Then it was Miami Burger—with chips on top. Manhattan Burger is next:)

What I have to smile about is the name “BIG AMERICA 2”. Sad, but true.  The only question remains in my mind, “Why “2””?

Lyana

P.S. What Misawa AFB really needs is a fast food restaurant like Panera Bread. Soup/sandwich/salad. There is a huge demand for that kind of food here. HUGE! Unfortunately, preparing fresh American style food is probably too expensive because of transportation cost…. I’ll be dreaming of you, tomato-basil and rye bread….