歓迎!

Okay, let me first apologize... I have no internet in my room of any sort, so my facebook stuff has been via my brand new iPhone 5 (yes, I caved... but I still prefer the Android). Now, let me dance for you like the monkey I am and write about my adventures!

First I just want to say that this is a screenshot of my cell phone company website...

・・・怖い。 (I'm scared)

After an eleven hour flight from Seattle, I safely made it to Japan... and no further emergencies encountered. I was met by my sponsor and another member from the clinic who were gracious enough to drive me to base instead of making me take the bus. That night, me and a few other people from the clinic went out to eat... all in all, a very good introduction to my new life.

The next day was all mine, so I decided to explore a little. In my ethnocentric view, I figured that there would be English translations under all the Japanese signs... but guess what?! There are none! Using my own superior sleuthing methods, I was usually able to determine what the store was by looking in the windows.

My first stop was Hamazushi, which serves "conveyor belt sushi"... Everything was written in Japanese except for an English menu, and I had NO CLUE what to do. The instructions given to me were as such:

My face/expression were like:

And so I sat there, anxiety building up, as I wondered what I was supposed to. Sushi rolled past me. Was I supposed to grab it? What about the little computer screen right by me, with pictures of sushi on it to click?



Hesitantly, I raised my finger to touch the screen with images of sushi but thought better of it... what if I was ordering something insanely expensive? Quickly putting my hand down, I then went to reach for a sushi plate off the belt, but pulled back as I feared that I was taking someone else's sushi and would promptly be chastised, asked to never return, and then kicked out of the Navy. Looking for guidance, I stared at people at other tables who stared back at me. No luck there. Fortunately there was a green button that was labeled "Call", so I finally resigned myself to pressing it.

The waitress came but unfortunately spoke no English, but she tried her hardest. Both of us speaking our native languages really didn't get us anywhere. Eventually an English-speaking waitress realized the problem and explained that I just took the sushi that I wanted off the conveyor belt, or if I wanted a specific type of sushi, I ordered it at the table-side screen. A little song played when my sushi made it to me. Easy as that! (Wiki article here). As a side note, not many people actually speak English here, which means I need to start learning more Japanese.

So sushi in the States is not the same as sushi in Japan. There aren't any sushi rolls here, but rather it seems to be more of the sashimi variety (that is, a piece of fish on top of a bed of rice). The wasabi included was more of a hint rather than a little blob on the side. Overall I enjoyed it but I also missed the cream cheese/avocado/volcano roll style of the good ol' US of A. Also, no spoons... you just drink soup directly from the bowl.

After that, I headed down and explored the grocery store. I didn't really know what half of the stuff was, but they had a huge fish market. I also went upstairs to the "fashion plaza" and looked at their clothes... actually ended up buying a little dress, jacket and purse. I'm sure this store was the equivalent of a TJ Maxx.

The last interesting thing is that there was a plethora of vending machines. You couldn't walk more than 50 feet before hitting another vending machine, and they seemed to be filled mostly with some form of coke product (no Pepsi!), green tea drink or coffee drink (which is served hot!). THERE WAS EVEN ONE WITH BEER. No, I didn't get any.

Also, if you wanted a white cat wearing a shrimp head and strawberry outfit holding a flower, I've got you.

I looked this up and found out its name (えびな/Ebinya), and that it is a mascot for the city of Ebina ("Ebi" means shrimp). I guess the "nya" part comes from "nyan" which is the sound cats make here (not meow!). The strawberry outfit is because Ebina is known for their strawberries.... the more you know! You can watch an entire video dedicated to it here if you're really, really, no, I mean really, bored because it's in Japanese. Speaking of cats in sea creature outfits, check this link out... freaking hilarious.

Later that evening I went to the Officer's Club. I was literally the only person there besides the bartender (who asked, with a rather pitying look, "Was I meeting someone?"), but apparently it's rather hit or miss on Saturdays. Maybe another time... they had a free happy hour buffet that I definitely took advantage of.

And that was it for Days #1 and #2... Have been feeling really sick lately with bronchitis, so I haven't done too much otherwise.