Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello everyone! We would like to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! Avery had a Valentine's party at school friday...here is a pic before she left.

In Japan, it is tradition that the female gives a gift to the male. This is a way of her showing her interest in him. So...keeping in the tradition, well.... Curtis and I decided to do nothing for each other.

So since today was a FABULOUS day (weather was PERFECT), we rode our bikes to the zoo that's free to the public and walked around. Then we went to a store called "Homes" and bought a grill for 3900 yen (about $40.00) and came home and grilled steaks! They were so good!

Mochi Tsuki Party

We went to a Mochi Tsuki party hosted graciously by our community (the Wada community)in a local park. Mochi is a Japanese tradition of pounding rice into a consistency that reminded me of marshmallow cream. They top it or coat it in various flavors such as bean paste and black sesame seeds. They are actually pretty good and rather sweet. They also served us curry soup and pork miso soup and all the beverages you wanted. It was sooo much fun and sooo neat to see. Curtis even got to join in on the fun of pounding rice (click to view).


The ladies cleaning up in the street using a hose as a faucet and the storm drain as the garbage disposal.


We also got to meet some of our neighbors and just have a good time. We can't wait for the next community gathering. Oh...did I mention that it was free!!!

On the right are our neighbors, Bobbie and Darrell, also from Nissan formerly in California. They will soon be new residents of Tennessee this fall. We have already started their "Tennessee speak 101" training.

Avery's school results and weekend details

First, let me tell you what we did today.

Deana and I have been searching for some flea market info lately and ran across a website saying that the Tokyo Salvation Army has a Bazzar every Saturday. GREAT! We head off this morning to find it based on this weblink (map link here) Easy right? Nope. The map is not drawn to scale (which really bugs me btw) and there is no indication of North. So, long story short, we (I) guessed and walked the wrong direction for about 15 minutes. When we found out we were going the wrong way, we turned around and trotted back. 20 minutes later, we found ourselves in the middle of a neighborhood thinking that we should give up and go home. Then, with no warning, wha-lah! In the middle of nowhere, there sits the Salvation Army. We found some pretty cool stuff, but I don't think it was worth the time (2hr each way) or the train/ bus fare (3000 yen) to get there. Anyway, Deana got a cool Japanese tea set in a wooden box for 1200 yen. In a retail store, it would have been much more. At least we didn't come back empty handed.

Now, on to the real reason for the post.

Avery has been in school for a little over 3 months now and is doing great! She really enjoys her time in school (5 days a week) and has made several friends that she like to visit and play with on the weekends (when we have time).


As proud parents, Deana and I wanted to put her on YouTube so you could see what she's learning in school. Enjoy!


Avery showing off her smarts...


We have a neighborhood Mochi-Tsuki party tomorrow. We will post pics and explanations tomorrow night when we get back from it. It should be lots of fun!!

Interesting stuff from this weekend

Neat information – for those who are interested.

We didn’t do a whole lot of tourist type stuff this weekend. It actually felt pretty good to feel normal and more like a resident instead of a visitor. I had a work function Saturday night and we went to a friend’s house on Sunday after church (one of Avery’s schoolmates), so nothing huge to talk about. However, we did have some cool stuff happen. We have had some seismic activity this weekend. We started with a 3.8 earthquake that woke us up on Friday morning at 5:00 (web link here). As we were getting up on Sunday, we were hit with a 5.8 (web link here). That was a good ‘un! Then another 3.8 on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 (web link here). I have to be honest – I did not notice this one, but it’s probably because we were out and about at that time.

I took a vacation day on Monday and while Deana and I were out and about, I bought a new set of brakes for my bike (I’ve got a frayed cable and decided I’d rather part with the $$$ and get it fixed than find out what happens when your brake cable snaps in mid-use). Anyway, I digress. I went to my bike to start working on it with parts in hand and noticed it was covered in dust – I even commented to Deana. It was just unusual. I wiped it clean and went to work and didn’t think much more about it. Later, I found out that the “dust” was actually ash from a volcano (Mount Asama) that erupted over 90 miles away (93 miles as the crow flies according to Google Earth) earlier in the day. No one was hurt or injured in the eruption, so it’s not TOO politically incorrect to comment that I think that’s pretty cool. 90 miles away. The distance from Tullahoma to Clarksville, or to Dalton, Georgia in the other direction. That is just amazing to me.

Related news stories

So, for those who care to hear about it, that was our weekend. No pictures to post or funny fish stories, but pretty cool stuff by my standards anyway.

Have a good week!
Curtis

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!

Ok...so I am walking down the sidewalk, it's pouring down rain, and I am looking down at my feet (as many people do here). I was approaching the local "fish market" and felt compelled to look up just in time to see this nasty thing hanging out of the tree about to slap me right in the face. I still can't decide if it was the "catch of the day" or "customer repellent". You can be the judge....

It was FREE!!!!

Today, after church and lunch with friends, we decided to go visit a zoo that is free of charge! Our hopes weren't very high being that it was free, but we thought...ahhh...let's check it out anyway. BOY were we surprised!

The zoo was located in a park area and had 24 exhibits. They had red pandas, giraffes, zebras, a camel, baboons, chimps, penguins, lions, tigers, and bears....oh my! You could get closer to the animals than I have ever been able to get. We had a good time. Check out the pictures below.

The Red Panda

This peacock was just roaming around the park checking everyone out and looking for food.

One of three chimps at the zoo. There was a man talking to one of the chimps and it must have gotten angry at him because the chimp turned around and stuck its bottom to the cage and then ran off. I was waiting for the poo to fly.

The tigers and the lions were in cages next to each other and we were standing about 3 feet from the cage. The way the cage was designed there was no way the animals could reach through the bars but if you were dumb enough to stick your hand in...well...you're on your own there.

A black bear!?!?!?! Who said you had to go to the Smokies to see one?!?!?!

"That's right....I am the king....The Lion King baby!"

These animals are soooo massive! Their paws were as big as my face!

the penguin exhibit was not enclosed. We could actually jump in and swim if we wanted.

Need I say anything on this one...eewww!!!

These were chickens at the petting zoo. Yes, you read that right. At the petting zoo they had chickens, baby chicks and mice for you to pet and hold.

Avery and I holding baby chicks. They were so cute! Avery wanted to put some in her pockets to take home.

Apparently this is a sign indicating how not to hold the baby chicks. I'm not sure what clued us in on this one....maybe....the sweating squawking chick in the circle on the right...who knows.

Ninja Warrior!!!

OK folks...hold onto your hats, because you are in for a real treat. Curtis, Avery and I all went into Tokyo to Muscle Park for Curtis to try his hand at Sasuke or Ninja Warrior.

Some of you may already know that one of my favorite TV shows to watch in the states was Ninja Warrior on the G4 channel. It is a Japanese show where people race against a clock going through many tough obstacles that tests your strength. I had said that I wanted to go see it being filmed once we came over to Japan. Well, it turns out that only participant's families can attend and the location of Mt. Madoriyama is a secret to cut down on spectators. So, the next best thing is a place called Muscle Park in Tokyo that has 4 of the obstacles set up where you can try your ability to compete against the clock.

This is the Hand Bike.....
This is the Cliff Hanger....

This is the Salmon Ladder...

This is the Pipe Slider...
So....here he is.....our personal "Ninja Worrier" CURTIS BREWER! See the link to YouTube and watch him go!

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=0yMQgh7EIE0

After the excitement of Muscle Park, we started to walk around the outside of the mall that it was at and saw a street entertainer. But not just any street entertainer, this one had a red faced baboon. It was quite cute and talented. See the pics below.

Then we were off on our walk back towards the train station and you'll never guess what we saw... the Statue Of Liberty!!! In Tokyo?!?! It was actually a large replica of course but it sure is strange that I had to come all the way to Japan to see Lady Liberty.

Here is a really cool building that Curtis had to have a picture of. It is the TBS building (Tokyo Broadcasting Station).

This building is actually about 40 stories tall, although it probably doesn't seem to be...

Kite Flying Adventure!!!

Before we did much of anything today, Avery and I went for a bike ride.

Isn't she CUTE???

Deana (bless her heart) woke up sick in the middle of the night last night. Avery has been out of school with Pink Eye (Ketsu Maku En) since Wednesday of this week. Whew!! What a week so far… WELCOME BACK!!!

Today (Saturday) Avery was feeling 110% and Deana was feeling 40%, so Avery and I went to the park with her kite that we bought in November of last year. The forecast for today was windy, so we were hoping the wind would be enough to lift her “spirits”. Her “spirits” by the way had a 74” wing span and needed a 70 mph wind to get airborne…

Seriously…Who designs a kite that needs a hurricane to get airborne?? Avery and I went to a park on the top of a hill (about a half mile from our house) to see if we could get her albatross of a kite up in the air. When we got to the park, there were several people already flying kites that were “normal” size. No one was flying our “oversize” kite size…

After several attempts and one good unintentional tangling with a neighbor kite, we finally got ours in the air.

Whew. Okay, seriously, let’s stop while we are ahead. No? Want to keep going do you? Okay. Two neighbor tangles and one tree climbing experience later, we finally called it a day. (I really did get it tangled in a TREE)

Over all, it was lots of fun and worth it, but we did step on a few toes during the process…

On the way to the park, we saw a home being deconstructed and Avery wanted to take a picture. I guess this is how they make room for new houses. Seemed to be NOTHING wrong with this home before they started tearing it down.

This photo was a pretty cool one that Deana took on the way back to Japan. It is somewhere off the tip of Alaska - notice it is 90% ice...

And Aunt Pat - this photo is for you. Avery grabbed the camera and insisted that she had to take this picture for you. She loves her clock (even if she can't tell what time it is).

Our first "event" of 2009

Well, we made it home with no major problems (no delays at all in the airports). When we arrived home the first thing Deana did was hit the shower to wash off the plane "funk" and I commenced to hooking our Vonage modem back up and turning on our computer. Everything booted up great and worked wonderfully. We made a quick post and a couple phone calls and it was off to bed.

Next morning. Come downstairs, turn on the computer, turn on the heat, turn on the TV, turn on the coffee pot, sit down at the computer...Stare at a blank screen. WHY IS MY COMPUTER NOT WORKING??? ARRGGGHHHH!!! Apparently, the grim reaper paid my monitor a visit during the night. Computer seems to be functioning correctly (based on sounds), but nothing on the screen. Great. Just terriffic. It sure would have been nice to know I was going to need a new monitor 2 DAYS AGO.

So, I got to go shopping for a new computer monitor today. I biked down to the nearest electronics store (about 2.5 miles down the road) and stopped in to see what they had. I found some monitors in the center of the store from $300 to $500. Refusing to pay that price, I kept looking and found a small selection of monitors in the back of the store that were $150 to $250. AH HA! I had no idea if these were new, used, or broken, but I was about to take my chances. I thoroughly inspected them and made sure I was buying a monitor that was not going to blow up as soon as I turned it on in the States (different voltages in Japan - some items designed for Japan will fry when you plug them in in the USA).

The next step was to start my fine art of price negotiation in Japan. I'm so good at it that I thought I would let you in on how it's done.
First - Go find any sales person. This may prove harder than it sounds as many sales people will avoid customers that don't appear to be able to speak their language.
Second - Lead the sales person to your item of choice and point at it (if nothing happens, just keep pointing).
Third - Eventually, the sales guy will ramble something off that is completely incomprehendable. Simply respond with a smile and "Hai". If the sales guy says something else, simply repeat "Hai". For emphasis, you can even say "Hai Hai".
Fourth - Follow the sales guy to the counter and watch him fill out paperwork that reminds you of your last house closing.
Fifth - After he rings up the sale, pay what ever he types into the portable calculator and shows you

Easy, huh? I hate not being able to try to "deal" with the guys. It can be done over here if you know how. I have no know how. Oh well. What I ended up with was a "display" (a.k.a. used) 19" Dell LCD for $160. Higher than I could have gotten one back home a couple days ago, but a real steal here. I'm pleased with it anyway.

Okay, silly post, but what can I say? I'm bored, not tired, and I don't want to watch Cool Runnings on TV with Deana, so I thought I'd blog for a minute.

I hope you all have a great week.

Curtis

...And we're back

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we are back in our cozy home in Japan after a WONDERFUL trip home. Everyone was so inviting and happy to see us. We had such a great time seeing everyone (well, we saw almost everyone). We (Deana and I) were particualrly impressed with the reception we got from our church.

Give us a couple days to get everything unpacked and sorted out and we'll be right back to posting like usual.

The Brewers