Tokyo with the Parents!!!

When we got back to Tokyo, we buckled down and got ready for the parents to make their arrival. We took them all over the place. And what’s better is that they were really good sports considereing the jetlag and general fatigue that comes a long with travel.

Night 1
We took that two-something hour journey from the airport and just chilled in the house for the evening.


Day 1
They got a kick out of the Japanese train system…especially the heated seats…well the heat that comes from beneath the seats. We went to Yokohama to eat at Garlic Joes which isn’t Japanese but VERY tasty nonetheless. At Queens Square the plan was to go to the top of the tower so that they could get a panoramic view of Yokohoama but that didn’t happen because the line was from here to Egypt!!! While they walked around and took in all the Christmas decorations, I was sure to get my Cold Stone fix…line and all!
Christmas Eve
The day was spent on base at the BX and Commissary getting stuff for Christmas dinner, etc. This was um interesting to say the least. Let’s just say two mamas, one kitchen, enough said…we ended up shopping far longer than anticipated…all kids and fathers concerned just sat on the side and let them do their thing…I think we were more concerned with eating.
CHRISTMAS
Everything was fabulous!!! Food, gifts, everything. The parents really enjoyed being mostly on the receiving end of the gift giving…SPOILED…I do recall a comment from a certain mother of mine… “It’s so nice when your kids have jobs!” LOL
Day 4
We headed to the ship for Justin’s promotion ceremony…it’s kinda cute that his mother and I pinned him for his commissioning and for his first promotion. It was a bit weird how everyone was carrying on about “officer’s wife” this and “officer’s wife” that…I suppose it comes with the territory…still weird though. Justin gave us a thourough tour of the ship….ladders and boots don’t mix but the ladies did a good job getting around the ship…
Day 5
We hopped on the train and headed to the Great Buddha statue in Kamakura. And lucky for us, we ran into an old interracial couple (white and Japanese) who raved about the female Buddha that wasn’t far from where we were about to board the bus to head back to the station. So we trekked up the hill to see it. Pretty neat. Couldn’t take any pictures of the Buddha inside, but I did take a couple pictures of the much smaller statues outside.
After that, we headed to the Edo Museum. There was this psycho lady outside the museum screaming at the top of her lungs at a man who appeared to be her significant other. This was definitely one of those moments that I wish I was fluent in Japanese. He was just standing there staring at the ground while she let him have it. I swear it looked like something out of a movie. I asked young couple near us about what was going on. He very bashfully responded, “She’s a little crazy. As a Japanese person, I am very ashamed.” That was indeed a reminder of how Japanese people tend to take responsibility for others’ actions. He had no reason to be embarrassed, but I guess he thought she was making his people look bad. Inside the museum, the man went to buy their tickets while the woman walked to the bathroom like nothing had ever happend....STRANGE! We split up because it would be hard to enjoy the different parts of the museum if we traveled in a pack. I really like this museum…hope the folks liked it too. By the time everyone met up again, the place was closing and I was knocked out on a bench near the end of the exhibits.
Since it was dark, we headed to Akihabura…better known as Electric Town. The parents got a kick out of all the weird stuff that you can find in Akihabura as well as the electronics. We ate at Yoshinoya…which ended up being a less than novel idea. Had to get new waters because the cups were water stained and though we needed 4, there were only 2 forks in the restaurant. We did meet some ALTs there who know some people I know. On the way to the station we got to witness a couple street performances...Here's one buy some guys, one of whom is wearing a girl's school uniform...WEIRD…but normal to me now…clear indication that it’s time for me to go back to the US…hehehe…
Day 6
Was spent at home enjoying leftovers/on the base…that evening we took them to do a little karaoke…We thought they would be too tired and disinterested, but everyone had a great time…I’m thinking about having karaoke at the wedding reception when we open up the dancefloor…any thoughts???
Day 7
At home

Day 8
Justin and I got dressed in our new suits and took them to Roppongi…the high rent district. Ok so, somewhat matching suits and shoes seemed like a good idea at first. The second we stepped out of the house, we both felt really RIDICULOUS!!! The parents thought it was so cute, which made it worse. They enjoyed the Tokyo City View. Since it was Sunday afternoon, we went to Harajuku to show them all the people who get all dressed up in costumes to walk around the area. From there we went to Shinjuku so that they could see all the high end shops and Omotesando hills…6 floors of I-can’t-afford-that…yet!!! My mother really liked the Swarovski Crystal Christmas display in the middle of the mall. I later heard that is was shown on TV in the States so I guess it was kinda a big deal. That's her in the white in front of the tree looking display.

After Shinjuku, we headed to Shibuya so that they could experience the world’s busiest intersection. I guess is it kinda amazing that so many people cross at the same time from all different directions. Just another one of those things you take for granted living here. Everyone was knocked out on the train going home.
Day 9
We stayed in the house and prepared for New Year’s dinner, cleaning, etc. At midnight, we toasted, smootched, and finished watching movies. I watched more movies during their visit than I have seen in the past two years here. Everyone packed up and prepared for the long journey home.
Day 10
I rode the train with them to their transfer point to the airport. They managed to miss the train from there to the airport so when the next train came an hour later, they cut it pretty close at the airport. Thank goodness we added an extra hour to the estimated time to get to the airport, checked-in, and boarded…otherwise they would not have made that flight…lol

Overall, we had a great time. Everything went smoothly and it was nice to have everyone together for the holidays. It will be interesting to see who splitting the holidays will work out once we’re married and all that jazz…!

Let's Talk Thai...and Wedding Bells!!!!

Soooooooooooooooooooooooo….as you all know by now yours truly is a Ford-to-be!!! And the story goes…

Last summer, Justin and I began planning out December trip to Thailand. Wanting to stay away from the sketchiness of major cities on mainland Thailand, we decided to be bougie/bougee/bujie/??? (bourgeoisie) and check out Koh Samui (à la Meet The Parents). All the arrangements were made and we were off to a vacation from cold gray Japan. We flew from different airports so he landed hours before I did. When I arrived at the airport, I scanned the arrival meeting point for his happy, shiny face, but he wasn’t there. Instead there was a man with a sign* who was waiting to drive me to the resort. We chit chatted on the way, and I picked his brain for information on places to shop, swim, and how much things cost on the island. When we pulled up to the hotel, Justin was standing on the stairs. I still don’t understand why he was still wearing winter clothes but he looked nice. The staff greeted me, gave me a wreath of flowers, and we sat down in the lobby/reception area. One of the staff was standing there recording with Justin’s camera** while we talked…weird. I ordered and orange juice and we sat down and talked about my flight, etc. I noticed that he kept putting his hand on the pocket opposite of me.

“So, how does it feel to be in Thailand?”

"Great"
“How does it feel to the in Thailand with your boyfriend?”
"Ummmm...great."

“…how about your fiancé?”

"Huh!"

“I didn’t want to do this like this, but I’m going to try this down on one knee thing…[assuming the ‘proposal position…and action]…Tiffany, will you marry me?”
“Yes, of course!” That’s when the waterworks began.

*See **for *the twist in the plot!

**Now there’s a back story to this tale of wedded bliss-to-be. The reason the woman was standing there with the camera is that Justin put together a movie to document the engagement. The film began in July of last year when he was in the States for school. As far as I knew, he was in Rhode Island. However, he took a trip to Atlanta where he spoke with my parents and bought the ring!!! A number of our friends and family were in on it since July!!! We have this joke about how he can never surprise me, but he got me this time. There were signs EVERYWHERE but I didn’t notice any of them…literally! *The sign that the man at the airport said Tiffany Ford, but I didn’t notice. I just saw the name of the resort and Justin’s name so I hopped in the car. I also received an accidental email which is also documented in the movie. I’m thinking DVDs will be given as favors to the wedding guests.

As for the rest of the days in Thailand, we had a GREAT TIME:

Tearing up the resort’s super expensive breakfast

Visiting Buddhas

Eating Thai food at real restauraunts (dogs under the table and all)

Walking on the beach…the water was CHILLY!

Riding elephants

Pretending to be models...as usual!

Snorkeling while being stung by microscopic thingies in the water...OUCH!

Hiking up mountains

Getting suits made

Eating at a dinner dance show...forgot to get a picture of how cute we were! SHOOT! Dodging tourist traps...getting pants altered for the low low...again no pictures for those...next time!
Checking out the Thai night life and talking to cabaret lady boys…yikes the deep voices threw me WAY OFF!
Haggling taxi fare
and generally living it up!!!

Black Girls About Town: Part Un...

Tis the season to be jolly…and Black…hehehe. I contacted the Black women in the area so that we could have an outing in the city. There were only four of us be we had a good time. The plan was for us to go to this big mall on the outskirts of town but two of them (the tall two) had a meeting in the city so we went with them. Rewind: The week before I had been contacted my one of the teachers who lives in my building about being on the cover of the local foreigner magazine. A designer had been sitting next to her in a waiting room and asked her if she wanted to do it. She said yes, so the designer asked if she had a friend who contrasted her well. She thought of me…hehehe. Fast Forward: The meeting we went to was the planning meeting for the photo shoot. Apparently the design team had contacted the two who were with us about being on the cover. So it looks like there was a gap in communication between the designer and the magazine. I wasn’t upset though because it’s good to see some brown faces are gonna be on it anyway. At their shoot, the editor asked them for my information. They want me to do one of their covers…we’ll see. After the meeting we headed out to an amazing Italian restaurant per the recommendation of the editor. The food was sooooooooo good. This is the closest to Italian food that I’ve gotten since I’ve been here…o wait, with the exception of the restaurant in Hiroshima that Michelle and I went to last November. After dinner, we headed to a game center to take some purikura (silly photo booth pictures) before heading home. We’ll have to do it again soon.

November Recap...

An update...Since Novemeber was spent here and not in some super chic vacation spot, here's is a little bit about what I did do this month.

On the 3rd I went to Saga for the International Balloon Festival. Despite the fact that I had a fever and probably the flu too, I decided to get out of the house and do something. Tangerines and a book of French fables have pretty much been my life so I took them to the festival too. I went alone but ended up with some other teachers from my area. Thanks to the wind they weren’t able to race the balloons and the few they were inflated we deflated soon thereafter. That night there was supposed to be a music/fire show involving the synchronized revving of the balloon burners but since it was windy they did the show with the fire only…no balloons….how lame. By then I had left with some other teachers from Saga to check out a street festival about an hour away that had already ended so we had some festival street stall food and I headed back home.

On the 5th, I went to the Sumo demonstration at the elementary school near my office. We din’t get to participate this year but it was cool that the wrestlers remembered me from last year. I guess that’s not to hard though. That night we went to the school's dinner party. On the 7th, I got a group together and we attended the big sumo dinner. I don’t know why I always get placed next to real drinkers. One of the wrestlers went around and poured everyone a drink. Tea for me thanx! While we were talking with him, something told me to turn around. When I did, there was a man seated on the floor behind me with his phone held up to where my butt was in an effort to take a picture. I wanted to throw him and his phone down the stairs. Men here are so disrespectful and when alcohol is added into the equation it magically becomes ok to be a pervert publically...great. So I looked at him in the eyes, put my finger in his face and said, “that’s absolutely unacceptable” in Japanese.

On the 25th, Maggie, her two guests, and I went to the final day of the Sumo Grand Tournament. We got box seats in an attempt to get the best view of the ring. The tickets go on said really early and get bought up really quickly so we ended up with a box in the B section which wasn’t too bad…small for 4 people…but not bad. The flags outside with each wrestler’s names on them were so colorful and some wrestlers were arriving when we walked in. The seats were pretty empty until closer to the end because that’s when the top guys fight. The guy who we ate with at the first dinner didn’t win, but it was still quite the experience. I think my ultimate favorite thing about sumo wrestlers is their hair...nice!!! Oh, and they smell good...hehehe

"Fixing" a PROBLEM!

During the dinner at our office trip a couple of weeks ago, one of the men in the office had gotten intoxicated and was shouting, "I love you. I love you" while hitting me on my back. I told him "No, you don't love me. Love and and like are very different." I asked him not to touch me and he stopped but he kept shouting. He asked how the two were different so we had a quick English lesson. After that he kept asking me (still shouting) why I would't say it back. Then his crazy self stood, and demanded that I say it back because he's the "Boss." I looked him square in the face and said "No, he's the boss," and I pointed to the supervisor of the whole office. He he did like a "forget him/I'll hit him" gesture, so I pulled out my camera and said, "Go for it?" So, he walks over to the man, sits, and chats for a minute then comes back...still wanting to know why I wouldn't say it back. He finally sat down next to me and continued to shout so I moved my seat over some. When he put his arm over the back of my chair and I just knew that I was going to lose it very very soon. I realized that my supervisor was not going to do anything, so I got up and walked out of the dining room. That type of behavior is inappropriate and unacceptable. I tried to be very ummmm "culturally sensitive" by turning and ignoring him, when under normal circumstances that would have been a "IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF MY FACE" moment. Instead of stepping in and saying something, my supervisor just sat around and watched, giggling and translating...like a stupid puppet. I don't understand why they think it's ok to act like that. The office party culture is sick in that people feel that thanks to alcohol and being out of the office they can say whatever they want to you. I don't entertain personal questions or being "hit on" under normal circumstances, and I'm certainly not about to deal with nasty old married men who think that's ok. When we got back to the office, the man said bye to me and I just looked at him like he was crazy.

The following Monday, I told my supervisor how I felt about the situation. I didn't expect him to do anything about it but I felt that it was important for him to know that it was an inappropriate and uncomfortable situation and I didn't appreciate how he just sat there and watched. He said that he would talk to the guy...who by the way is my supervisor's boss. He spoke to him and called me to say that the man wanted to apologize to me the next time that I was in the office. Well today was my lucky day. My supervisor came to me and asked if I would go with him to one of the meeting rooms. With a super sad face the man was like "I'm sorry I acted like that. I did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I will never behave like that again. I hope we can continue to be friendly. Please forgive me. I'm really really sorry," all while bowing over and over. So, I just looked at him and nodded my head as my supervisor translated. I really wanted to tell him to get a life and never speak to me, but I suppose that would have been slighly (hehehe) inappropriate. Needless to say, I don't have any intention to really talk to him. Sadly, he's been put in the box with the other idiot in this office who I can't stand.

19-hour Intro to Thailand: Part One

My flight landed in Bangkok at 5:00 am and my flight to Japan was at 12:30 am Wednesday…19-HOUR LAYOVER!!! So, I made my way up to the immigrations desk so that I could do whatever it was that I needed to do to be able to leave the airport as a transit passenger. It felt really good to be able to leave the airport without luggage. I went to the tourism desk to check out the transit tour packages they had. There I met a little Thai man named Nat who coordinated the tours. I looked through a book of like 50 tours, of which only like 7 were available. I chose the Bankok Temple Tour and that’s where the adventure began. He went through the map of the tour and told me about the English speaking tour guide, air-conditioned car, etc (both of which were necessary because I don’t know any Thai and it was HOT!) Then we started discussing the price and here is where things got interesting.
The original price he gave me was somewhere near $150 US, so I looked at him like he had lost his mind. Before my trip I had already researched the cost of that company’s tours so I knew what was up and I let him know that I knew what was up. So this fool leans in on the desk, lowers his voice and says, “OK, well let me tell you what I can do.” RED FLAG! Is it just me of or do those actions usually mean something shady/illegal or the hook-up (also usually shady and illegal) is about to ensue??? If your answer was YES then you guessed right. He says, “We can book you a hotel so that you can have a few hours to eat breakfast and rest. The tour guide will pick you up from the hotel. And this is the price.” He punches it into the calculator and turns it in my directions…$75. WHAT?! Now let me get this straight, by including a hotel room the price is cut by half…Um…does that make any sense? NO, didn’t think so. But I took it after interrogating him about the integrity and legitimacy of that company. He assured me that because it’s an office that is contracted by the airport that it’s safe. He also mentioned that I would have a female tour guide. So, I said sure. He wrote down all the information about the hotel, tour, and airport for me in Thai and English and took me down to the taxi stand so that he could negotiate the price for me.
On the way down, two other airport employees looked at him, said something, and they all giggled. So I looked at him like, “Would you mind letting me in on the joke,” because some things are universal and recognizing that you are the subject of someone’s conversation is definitely one of them. So he turns and says, “Oh, they were just asking if you were my girlfriend.” I looked at him like, “P-lease, “ trying my hardest to hold back a major neck/eye roll. It was really strange that the taxi area consisted of a row of cars, a neat line of drivers waiting for their next customers, all being conducted by a number of men in uniform. My driver stepped up and I automatically felt a sense of alarm because he bore a remarkable resemblance to my ex-boyfriend from college…creepy. Luckily, we bypassed all the raggedy taxis and stopped in front of a bright orange one that had the new car smell and black leather seats. I got in and we headed for the city. The driver drove like the cops were chasing him up the highway. As soon as we hit the toll road, his foot hit the floor. I was sitting in the back freezing because the air was blasting, staring at a mosquito that I didn’t want to bite me, while telling myself over and over that I will ok and he would not wreck the car killing us both. Just as I was starting to calm down and get used to swerving in and out of traffic at no less than 90 miles per hour, he pulled over on the side of the road and got out…WHAT!!! He went to the truck, got a white rag and a bottle of something. Trying to be cool about things, I sat there thinking, "Ok, maybe he's Muslim and about to pray." All the while, I was scanning the dashboard covered in Buddhist stuff. Then he opened the hood...WHAT!!! If that taxi was on the fritz it was all his fault for riding down the highway like a maniac! On his way back to the trunk after closing the hood, he peeked into the car and grinned...looking like a psycho! He gets in and we continue the journey...

To Be Continuted...hehehe

Hyderabad: Day 8

My flight was at 11:55 pm on Monday so Jostna, Cate, Sohil and I spent the afternoon going back and forth to the tailor to pick up the clothes that I had gotten made…each time we went they weren’t ready…and I was cutting it pretty close because Cate had secured a ride with Taj to get to the city, and ultimately the airport. I made it back in time and Jostna even went to the grocery store to pick up some Chai for me since I was tied up and the tailor’s and hadn’t gotten it earlier. That was really sweet of her.

The Swedish group left today. So Cate and I hitched a ride in their bus to exchange money so that I could get in some more last minute shopping and to search some more for a black Kashmir shawl for my aunt. We didn’t find the Kashimiri shop that folks were claiming was in the area and I wondered if we were going to be able to get any funds because we showed up to the bank during the afternoon prayer and the man who exchanges currency was Muslim. So we waited until he came back. Since it is my last night here, Cate treated me to dinner in Banjara Hills where we ate more Biriyani, shrimp something, rice, naan, YUM! The soccer (uh football) game was on so the other guests and the servers were are all preoccupied, craning their necks toward the TV screen in the restaurant. The servers were so busy, in fact, that when Cate asked for something hot to drink they claimed they didn’t have any. She even asked for hot water, and even that took a while to make it to the table.

Taj met us in Banjara Hills and before going to the airport he took us to a couple stores so that I could try again to look for the shawl. I didn’t find it so I left the money with Cate and she said she would get it for me and send it to Japan…so sweet! I was really sad to leave and when I got to the aiport I just wanted to just get on the plane so that I wouldn’t have time to sit around and think about how much I didn’t want to go back to Japan. Too bad for me that there was over an hour of sit around time before my flight.

Hyderabad: Day 7

Here's Raju, the caretaker's dog, looking sad to see me go. Luckily, for him and me, I still have one more day here. It's Sunday, and everyone went church this morning. Four of us hung around and slept in. With the institute empty we had to find something to do. Cate had a headband and everyone was feeling energetic...perhaps from the tea that I love so much.

So, we did some Richard Simmons style workouts in the courtyard. FUN! I really love the picture of Cate...she looks like an old school capoeirista with her head band and gold jewelry...hehehe

When everyone returned from church, we changed into some Indian clothes and headed out for some more sightseeing. Our first stop was the Qutub Shahi Kings' tombs in Secunderabad, on the other side of the city. The architecture is absolutely amazing. Oddly enough, one my favorite things there were the paths of sand that were littered with pieces of glass bracelets. Those things are dangerous...beautiful, but dangerous. So, of course I had to take a picture of the ground. We made a pit stop at a vendor's stand and bought chips and drinks. I bought the Masala Lays because I wasn't feeling quite adventurous enough to try the Mint Mischief Lays...doesn't sound too appetizing but they were probably good like everything else here!

After the tombs we headed over to Golconda Fort. That place must have been something back in the day because it's ruins are a sight to behold. I'm sure people don't think much of it, but how amazing would it be to live next door to such a beautiful piece of history. We walked up to the top and stopped every now and then to take advantage of the vista for photo ops. As the sun began to set we headed back down to the base to watch the light and sound show. As some of you may know about a month before my arrival, there had been a bombing at a light show in a park. So, everyone was a bit uneasy. After the light show, we all headed to one of the more upscale restaurants in the swanky party of the city called Banjara Hills. The Swedish social workers took care of the tab after dinner, which was really sweet of them.

As was the case every time we boarded a bus, there were dance parties throughout the day. On the way home we passed through a neighborhood where the men were doing their nightly celebrations of Ganesh. Our bus driver decided to take the back streets home in an effort to avoid the traffic and we ended up stuck in the middle of the street for about 15 minutes. Their statue was mounted on a big truck and our bus was pretty big so there was a nice little bottle neck. So the celebrants took the opportunity to try and get us to get off the bus and dance with them. They looked like they were having so much fun. I know that I'm going to miss the sound of singing, drums, and laughter when I get back to Japan.