I started going to a bible study on base with several spouses, which was refreshing. I have had to learn to be creative cooking in a hotel room with a mini fridge and small kitchenette! (Needless to say, we are ready to get out of the Navy Lodge and into our own house!) Also I have had a weekly dance practice, where several spouses get together with a few Japanese women to learn 12 dances that we will be doing at the Bon Odori festival at the end of July! So excited, this is where I will get to wear my first Kimono! (And dad, stop laughing at me!)
The best part of my week was shopping yesterday with two of my girlfriends! Considering Nick and I have been living out of suitcases for 2 months, I have been going crazy wearing the same clothes and was in desperate need of a shopping trip (especially a shopping trip in a new country where fashion is EVERYTHING!!!) Between dance practice and an interview I had yesterday, time was limited, but Mari and Sarah took me to a mall near the base for lunch and a quick stroll through the stores! It was so exciting seeing all the different vendors that Japan has to offer! Another culture shock for me…like a kid in a candy store for the first time, I was wide-eyed and didn’t know where to start!!! Two things I was looking for were leggings and hats. Every female in Japan wears leggings, they wear them all the time and with practically everything. Now I own several pair, but you can’t get leggings in the States like they have in Japan. They come in every color, texture and design! I found a small boutique that sold 3 pairs for 1000 Yen ($10)…of course I had to get 3 pair…love them!
As for the hats, these I also see everyone in Japan wearing. Again, not like in the States, these hats are top hats, fedoras, vintage hats, commander style hats, etc, etc. I found a super trendy store that had cute girly hats, so naturally since they were only 5000 Yen each ($5), I got 2!
Later that day I decided to tag along with my friend Sarah to IKEA. (Yes, they have IKEA in Japan...this was good news to my ears!) She is decorating one of our single friend James’ house while he is deployed. Since I love decorating and anything to do with shopping, I went, even though we don’t have a house yet and I could not (and did not surprisingly) buy anything for myself! The IKEA in Japan is the very same as it is in the States (minus the fact that all the workers don’t speak English). Just like in the States, it is hard to go in that store and not fill your cart…to the brim…and in Sarah and my case, 2 carts!!! In fact, we got so much stuff for our friend’s house that we almost didn’t fit it all into her car! (Granted, being that it is a Japanese car, there wasn’t a whole lot of room to begin with, but lets just say we had to do a lot of moving around, pushing and sweating to get it all shoved into her car!)
On our way home from IKEA, I spotted another mall that had a sign for H&M (…um hello, can we say, U-turn?). Road signs in Japan are confusing (again with the Kanji, obviously I can’t read it) so we struggled, but managed to get ourselves to the H&M (we did have to ask a girl once we got into the 3 story monstrosity they call a shopping mall, where the H&M was)…I have learned, if I ask someone who is young and looks like they are still in school, where they are currently learning English, they will understand me! 
Shopping in H&M was great because they actually have the standard sizes, like we use in the U.S. Earlier that day when we were shopping in Japanese stores, again I felt like a giant due to the fact that their “large” shoe was a size 7 in the States, and “large” in clothes was equivalent to a small in the U.S….giant or not, I got my shopping fix!
This weekend is the Forth of July, Nick and my first American holiday not in America! Ironic! We are climbing Mt. Fuji Saturday, then attending a BBQ on base on Sunday. More pics to come after our exciting climb of Fuji San!!!
So I totally know how you feel about living out of a suitcase for months on end. Sigh. But, I am super happy for you that you got to shop!!! Way jealous...I don't even think the Montans know what H&M is.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, reading your post about cooking in the Navy Lodge made me think of something I read recently in Military Spouse magazine. It is an article entitled "Cooking Without Pans". They give a few recipes using small appliances (Electric Skillet & Indoor Grill...but I'm guessing you don't have these) but they do say you can use your coffee pot to heat up water to make oatmeal, or you can heat up soup in the pot. They also say you can make pasta in a coffee pot. And I quote: "Ramen noodles can be made in the pot with hot water; let them cook for several minutes before serving. Serve with snow peas & mushrooms for extra nutritional punch. Or cook angel hair pasta and serve with tomato sauce." I honestly don't know how well that would work, but I think you should try this: using your Iron to make quesadillas. You just turn off the steam option and wrap the food in aluminum foil. You can do 'dillas, or ham & cheese sandwiches, or paninis!
Glad to see you are loving Japan. Miss you lots!