Hello again! It's been a few days since my first entry. We received some of our stuff from the US yesterday so that was nice. The Army allows you to send some of your things in advance of your household goods. We put together some clothes, bedding, towels, toiletries, dishes, cutlery, etc. We had been using paper plates and some plastic dishes that the Army lent us so it is nice to use our own stuff. We have some friends here in Japan. Some of our closest friends, the Mizushima family, we met the first time we came to Japan in 1994. I was a teacher at a Japanese high school and Hidemi was the head Japanese teacher there. We hit it off right away and soon became friends. We had many, many wonderful times with them. Hidemi's wife, Masako is an excellent cook and would prepare feasts in their home. They came to the US a few times and have traveled to Europe, Vietnam and other interesting places. Hidemi is a poet and Masako is a piano teacher. They have two grown children, Yoko and Ushio. Yoko has lived in Jacksonville, FL for many years. Ushio lives in Tokyo and leads a rock band in his spare time. (I think the band is called Stewart. They just released an album that can be found at Virgin records.)
When we arrived in Tokyo, they were the first people we visited. They invited us to their home. It is unusual to be invited to the homes of the Japanese but we are like family to them. The Japanese do not entertain at home because typically the homes are very small and crowded. The norm is for people to meet at restaurants or parks or karaoke bars. So we have always felt fortunate to be invited to the Mizushima home for some of Masako's cooking. We took the train and when we stepped out of the train station gate, Hidemi was standing there. He said that he had predicted we would be on that very train and therefore had just arrived but we knew he must have been waiting for a while. It was a short walk to his home and it was a great feeling walking into that familiar and warm house. Masako was waiting at the door and greeted us with a huge smile and hugs for all. Masako's 97 year old father lives with them and Masako is his nurse. He greeted us with an enormous smile and said, in English, "Hello, welcome!" He had been practicing this for several days. It was very sweet. He is a wonderful man who loves to laugh and smile. We call him Grandfather. We stayed for about 6 hours and ate some of our favorite dishes, like burdock root and beef, shrimp and crab croquettes, tofu with soy, green onions and fish flakes, grilled salmon, onigiri, and more. Of course there was some ice cold Kirin beer. Hidemi and I love to drink together. We always have a good time and this occasion was no exception. Ushio arrived just as we finished our meal so we got to have a good visit with him too. It was a splendid evening for all. Maddie even enjoyed the food and liked riding the trains. We made some plans to get together again and called it a night. Maddie had her first day of school the next day so we didn't want to stay too late.
I wanted to say a little bit about drinking and driving in Japan. The blood alcohol level that will get you in trouble in the states in .08. In Japan, it is .03. If you have one beer, then that pretty much puts you over the edge. If you are caught, they take your license away and fine you about $10,000.00. It's even worse on the base. They do random breathalizer tests when you enter the gate. If you have ANY alcohol in your system then you are considered DWI. Even if it is less than .03! So the basic rule is that you do NOT drink and drive. EVER. In fact, you don't even drive the day after you have been drinking so as to ensure you don't have it in your system. At first I thought it was rather strict but after you get used to it you understand what it is all about. There are so many people walking and riding bikes! You have to be completely aware of everything around you when you are driving. It would be a nightmare if people were driving after drinking. It's pretty easy to plan ahead with a designated driver or just refuse to drink if you have to drive. Thank goodness for the trains! I guess that's all I have to say about that.
That's it for now. Love to all.
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