Happy Halloween!!

Noah went on his very first 'Trick-or-Treat' excursion last night! Here he is all dressed up as Stitch--as you can see, he's all excited about the massive amount of Snickers, Hersheys, Sour Patch Kids, and Sweet Tarts he planned on bagging in massive quantities. No, not really, but he played along with Mommy and Daddy's dress-up game with a good sense of humor.

Mommy, Daddy, and Noah actually had a busy night last night. Akiko, who is in charge of one of the English school I used to teach for, asked if we would escort her Japanese students and their parents on base to experience 'Trick-or-Treating' first-hand. So we gathered up a few other American friends and off we went...5 Americans with 30 or so costume-clad (so VERY CUTE!) Japanese kids and their parents, going door to door amongst the American houses saying "Trick-or-Treat!!!!" It was a really neat experience, although Noah thought it was cold...and loud...and not fun, and wailed his desire to be taken back to the car 20 minutes into our night out. You can't blame him--I'd wail, too, if I wasn't getting any of the scrumptious benefits of being out in the cold and wet!!!

We had a really good time, though. I got to see a few of my old students and give them one last hug and a 'good-bye' before we PCS outta here. It's kind of sad actually--for someone who used to cringe at the prospect of a teaching profession, I really did enjoy my time teaching English here and will miss these guys alot.

Well....Happy Halloween from the Dudleys! We hope you have lots to show for your night out--just remember, Reese's cups are our fav and their square little packages fit quite nicely together in a small shipping box to Japan! :)

No Commentary Required

Diving for Salmon...

I'm BAAACCKK! Four 15-page papers in two weeks is a killah I tell you!! :)

Now that I have my proverbial head above water, I'll share with you an actual water adventure that the Dudley family and a few friends went on last weekend. Don't worry....I'll get to the Singapore photos, just decided to play catch-up in reverse order.

So, the Rokkasho salmon festival....a very interesting event to say the least. We laughed our butts off as we watched a few hundred people participate in a 3-minute dive after fish in a large blue pool--kids were slippin' and slidin' and shovin', adults were scramblin', jumpin' and divin'--it was like watching a greased pig catching contest, Japanese style. Chris had dreamed about the moment he would wrangle a fish with his bare hands (he does love his salmon fishing, of course), but realized afterwards that the event selling out of tickets and him not getting one was not a bad thing. I don't know who got the worse end of the deal, actually...both fish and people exited the pool a little bloodied. For the fish's sake, I hope they got in a few well-aimed whaps with their tails before being carted off to the cleaning tables.

Salmon stew...just like in a Campbell's soup commercial--mmm, mmm, GOOD!

Adorable little Japanese girl eating yummy, delicious salmon eggs (GACK!)

Noah had a great view on Daddy's shoulders

Just Mommy and Meeee!

The Kuehns (Tim and Monica) and the Milds (Andy and Keli)

The Great Pool of Salmon

The Wranglers. Ready, Set...

GO!

I got him, Mommy...you go in for another one!!!

(insert Japanese subtitles here)

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Chris turned 31 today...wow, time sure does fly by! I get to pick on him for being "older" but I'm not all that far behind. :)

So, if you haven't done so yet, be sure to wish Chris a very "Happy Birthday." I'm sure he'll appreciate all your warm wishes, your love, your generous thoughtfulness...and your reminder that he's no longer a spry young 25. ;)

Happy Birthday, honey! Noah and I love you very much!

Amanda

Singapore Zoo...

Our first and only posted pic (thus far) of our trip to Singapore...and a cheesy one at that! :)

Chris and I look pretty cute, but poor Noah looks stoned. Probably because about five minutes after this photo was taken, he was passed out and snoozing pretty solidly in that stroller. ;)

When things slow down here a bit, I promise to get more posted. With our slow Internet connection, uploading takes For-EVER!

~ Amanda

Gomen Nasai Present...

You know what's great about Japan?


This:



Not the little booger holding the box of stuff (although he certainly is cute, isn't he?), but the "gomen nasai" box of goodies that we received today. From a guy. That a man would actually think to make an apologetic gesture with a gift (other than when/if he's trying to get out of the relationship doghouse) makes it extra special. ;) Yeah, yeah...I'm so funny.


So here's the story:


Our car began to give us some mechanical trouble awhile back, so we took it in to a Japanese repair shop in hopes that the mechanic could fix the problem without it costing us a lot of dough. Turns out, the car is doomed to be recycled into scrap metal and spare parts...the needed repairs far exceed the car's value plus the added cost of reinsuring it. When we offer to pay for the inspection (keep in mind it took the guy a couple of hours to diagnosis the extent of the problem), the mechanic graciously refused and apologized for not being able to help us. So, we thanked him and left.


Then, I get a call this afternoon from the mechanic, apologizing profusely and telling us that he still had our title (I assume he used it to get price quotes on parts) and if I would tell him where we lived, he would come by and drop it off. I told him it was no problem, we'd be in the neighborhood later and we'd pick it up ourselves. When we go to pick it up, he's waiting for us with the title and a nicely wrapped box containing the items you see above. "Gomen Nasai...I'm VERY sorry," he repeated and handed Chris the box and the title. We hadn't even noticed the title was not in the glovebox of the car, probably wouldn't have noticed until we actually drove it to the junkyard, and we weren't really concerned about it anyway. The mechanic, on the other hand, was VERY concerned based upon the number of apologies (and the box) he gave us.

So, the box contains this cute little hand towel set. Very nice towels, actually. But that's not my point. Here's what I find so great about this little anecdote: a) The mechanic performed a couple of hours worth of work on our vehicle and when he realized that he wasn't going to get paid for a repair job, he still didn't want any form of payment for his time; b) He apologized for not being able to help us; c) He offered to come to our house to drop the title off (granted it was his mistake, but that was still a very nice gesture; and d) He had a "gomen nasai" goody box ready and waiting for us when we came by to pick it up. My first instinct was to politely refuse and tell him that it was really no problem, but then I would have been perceived as rude. Funny how that works here... :)


As much as I'm ready to leave Misawa, this kind of thing is why I've come to love and appreciate the Japanese people so much. It's not so much about the gift, but the gesture. I've dealt with plenty of repair shops in my time (former insurance adjuster here, if you recall), and this is not the norm--mechanics typically don't make a point of "investing" time and money in customers they can't get a return on in kind. M-a-y-b-e if they thought you could potentially bring them business for their "kindness," but this guy is aware that we're leaving in a few months. He fully realized that return on investment opportunities--in the form of referrals and additional repair jobs--were slim to none.


What a NICE guy. I know when relocating often, they say that there are at least three professionals you wish you could always take with you (if they're good): your stylist, your doctor, and finally...your mechanic.


I'd say he's most definitely trifecta material. Arigato gozaimasu, Date-san!!

Our Art Gallery Conundrum...

Today marked our last big Asian bazaar shopping spree before heading back to the States - we FINALLY purchased a tonsu (a large wooden step chest), picked up a limited edition print of two koi, a sandalwood carving, and a painting highlighting two beautiful cranes taking flight before Mt. Fuji. Our home has officially become an eclectic tribute to our international travels; everywhere we go, we make it a point to return with gorgeous pieces from that region. Sakura (cherry blossom) pottery and scrollwork from Korea, aboriginal paintings from Australia, hand-woven fabrics and watercolors from Thailand (we actually watched the artist as he worked), silk obis and furniture from Japan, and stuff from W-A-Y back...carvings done by members of an Indian tribe in the Pac NW (we watched them make these too). And that's only half of it. In addition to the international art I've failed to mentioned, there's also the beautiful pieces that Eileen has done, specifically the oil of me poised atop a fallen log at Deception Pass, that hold positional significance throughout our home--adorning walls in the foyer...the livingroom...the hallway...and our bedroom. So very cool.

Soooo...there in lies my conundrum. I have an art gallery for a house and we've run out of room. :) Half of our stuff is lying on and around the bed in the guestroom. My goal for house hunting in Hawaii is to find a house with enough walls to hang everything. I think I'll be sad if I have to pick and choose. :( I also am in need of some serious recommendations for positioning and paint color. I'm TERRIBLE at layouts, color, and design, so I think I'll be employing the use of the people at This Young House, http://www.thisyounghouse.com/ (thanks Jamie for the recommendation!) once I get there. I so love their ideas!

Once we get settled there and I get some good advice, I'll be sure to post pics of all the stuff we've accumulated in the last five years. It'll blow your mind. Once Chris retires from the military, I'm sure we'll need a 4,000+ sq. ft. home to house our collection. It's certainly become quite the past time!

Love to all,

Amanda