Flashback Friday: Living in Japan

If it weren't so late (I've been so swamped fulfilling customer orders [and checking out Hello Kitty gumball machines at Costco] I almost forgot about Flashback Friday!), I would dig up some of my old photos from Japan and scan them in for you.  Someday I might do just that.  In the meantime, let me share a few of my favorite things about Japan. 

I lived in the small town of Misawa, Japan for two years (from age 19 to 21) while serving in the Air Force.  When the C-130 landed on Misawa Air Base, I couldn't wait to get off that plane and start exploring off base.  After the mandatory in-processing, I wandered the halls of my dorm, hoping to find someone to take me off base and show me a little bit of the town.

Quickly enough, a nice airman named Russ took me out for my first peek at a very strange and foreign land.  He was a great tour guide.  Since he was dating a Japanese girl, he spoke the language pretty well and I loved hearing him communicating with the locals.  Pretty soon, I was picking up word and phrases myself.

I remember vividly the strange new smells and sights.  I took in the vast differences between the United States and Japan.  We checked out everything from clothing stores (where an extra-large Japanese shirt was just about my size--and I only weighed 100 lbs at the time!) to the grocery store (where watermelons were tiny and went for about $8 each, Fuji apples were as big--or bigger--than our grapefruits, and whole raw octopi were laid out on ice (ewwwww!).  Japanese restaurants all had plastic versions of their meals displayed in the window.  The side streets and alleys were NARROW--really narrow--I didn't see how two cars could fit without scraping each other, but somehow they managed.  Construction vehicles were like Match Boxes compared to the hulking machinery back home.  Everything was different and new. 

Soon, I was craving a visit to Tokyo (a 10-hour drive south).  My bff Rene, my roommate Sue and I decided to drive down for a long weekend.  In Japanese cars, there's an alarm bell that chimes if you exceed the "safe" speed limit, which (if I remember correctly) was around 60 km/hour (that's about 45 mph or so!).  Need I say that we drove for 10 hours with that bell chiming?  After a couple hours, we hardly even noticed it ;o) 

Tokyo was a wonderland of lights and people and amazing places.  Harajuku was like a dream come true--an entire section of the city (kind of like a borough of New York) was completely punk.  Punk music, punk stores, punk people (very cute on the Japanese, teehee)...love love LOVED IT! 

Clubbing in Tokyo was quite an adventure.  Each trip, we would find a couple new clubs to try out.  They were really big into the decor, which ranged from posh and frou-frou to just plain weird.  Wish I had pictures of those places! 

If you ever get the chance...see Japan!  You won't regret it!  I'm going back someday (when my little guy is old enough to keep the memories).  If you go, let me know; I'd love to hear about your adventure!

smooch!
s

Miller&Miller Photography