moderate. ly hard.

After living here for 2 years you can find yourself in a rut. Staying on base is way to easy and comfortable and to be honest getting bundled up for a day traipsing around Tokyo, finding your way on the train and playing charades at every restaurant you order from just doesn't seem that "fun" and appealing anymore. You end up telling people you live in Japan, but all you do is drive to Chili's on base and drive home, maybe stopping at Baskin Robbins on your way home for a little "culture." So some days/weekends we have to force ourselves off base. Well we had a day off over the holidays and woke up with a wild hair (me more than Tdub) to go on a hike. So we sent out a quick text to a few friends saying we were leaving in 20 if they could get ready in time. Surprisingly, 3 were able to get their act together in time (if you knew these friends it would be even more, surprisingly.) ;)

We loaded up some sushi we had in the fridge, 4 trail mix bars, 2 nalgene's of water, lonely planet book with map and directions for hike and 4 chu-hi's. Now mind you we, thought we might need a little snack or two on the hike.

Lonely Planet listed this hike at easy to moderate. Now I am not sure who they had come to Japan to find, write and do this hike, but it must have been Aron Ralston (before the 127 hours) or someone he hangs out with. There was nothing easy about this hike. :) Its said it was a 4-5 hour hike...maybe. if you sprint the whole thing. and they fail to mention you have to hike about an hour to get to the "start" of the hike. a very smug ex-pat overheard our conversation on the bus and said in a very smug like voice, "oh, you're just now starting your hike?" yes, very smug ex-pat, we are. now once the sun started to go down in the middle of our hike and we were very cold and racing the sun to the bottom of the mountain we realized why "smugger" had made such a comment, but we are adults, and did I mention, she was very smug?

We got to the top of Mt. Otake-san in about 2 1/2 hours for a great view of Mt. Fuji-san and overlook.

Tdub and I realized we were the only ones out of our friends that had brought food (remember that whole "got ready in 20 minutes" thing? yeah, hard to remember everything on the list with that little time. too bad that's the first thing T and I think of...we don't care where we're going or what we'll see when we get there, but what do you think we will eat along the way? ha!) that food that might get eaten, was devoured. all of it.

After taking some pictures and nomming on sushi and the chu-hi's that saved the day we then found out it was 4 more hours to the bottom if we kept going. uhhh...not a hard decision to turn around and go back the way we came. It was a fun adventure, an excuse to get off base and no matter if the task is easy or hardly easy it's always more fun with fun company and a few chu-hi's.

Lonely Planet, call me if you want your hike rewritten, by a normal person.

pound it.

A couple weeks ago I was invited to a Japanese friend's house to make some "mochi". Now, if you are not familiar with mochi, you aren't missing much, well you could get into a great debate with a Japanese person over that because they love their mochi. After watching, learning and helping to make it I kinda like to think of myself as a professional mochi maker and should go on the road with this new found talent and love and have a mochi taco truck. I have to say it was a lot more fun to make than it is to eat. :)

Mochi is sticky rice that is steamed, then pounded out to make a sticky paste type flour substance (Mr. Atkins diet would have a heart attack.) and then that paste is pulled and stretched apart to make it into sticky balls (better than Schwedy balls) and either filled with sweet bean paste or put into sauce, soup, etc and so on. Mochi by itself doesn't have a real strong taste, actually not really a taste at all. like I said before...lots more fun to make than to eat. :)

here are some pics of our day making mochi...
The rice is in these wooden grates being steamed for hours:

Then the rice is "kneaded" to make it more paste like in this wooden bowl.

Then pounded into a pasty flour. Because it's so sticky there are two people working on it. One pounding and one throwing water on it after every hit so it won't stick to the hammer. art i tell you, art.
The professionals at it:

the sous' at it: (we don't look quite as graceful or don't think we helped at all in actually making progress on the mochi pounding but they were sweet enough to humor us and let us try.)
Chelsea:

Lacey:

Kay B:

Me:

Thought I'd go for the the "make loud grunting noises and maybe you'll impress them with your sound rather than your skill" technique.

....and then I hit their door with all that power...what can I say?...baby got back!

then we learned how to make them into the little ball pastries we are familiar with...the most common mochi on the market is filled with a sweet bean paste like we are learning here...

mochi, anyone?

sweet friend, Midori-san.

Midori and her husband and their very large radish from their garden. ha!

This day is going down in the books for one of the best in Japanese culture I have had yet. Thanks, Midori for a very sweet day, pound it!

Christmas-ed out!

The Christmas season is something I always look forward to, it's wonderful, beautiful, meaningful and eventful (sounded out: event-full). I/we attended 9 Christmas parties in a little more than 2 wks this year. Now, I like to party as much as the next girl, but geeze, a little ri.dic.u.lous. I was d.o.n.e. With so much Christmas hype going on and the hussle and bussle of presents and decor and candy and food, parties and functions, it really makes you realize what a culture of "doing" we are, instead a culture of "being."

I don't know that this is what Jesus hoped Christmas would become. A season that sometimes brings out the worst in us as we fight the crowds and shop the sales, wrap presents and send packages, prepare for Santa Clause to come or have 1,000 Christmas get-togethers that all have the pressure to bring the perfect gift to exchange. I don't know that he hoped we would be so tired and spent by the time Christmas actually came around that we were ready for it to be over and forget to actually celebrate in His birth, His life and the freedom that brings. The other night I was putting up my Christmas decorations and I have an adorable nativity set made of Kokeshi dolls (traditional Japanese wood painted dolls) that I was wrapping and putting in their box. I realized I had set that out a month ago and really hadn't looked at it again. It, as everything in my house, becomes something I work and live around, rather than something I notice and appreciate. I'm realizing I move and do and live and work and most days and just get by, rather than slow down my roll a little, and dare to be interrupted, or appreciate the little reminders of beauty and love in my life: like my little Japanese baby Jesus doll that reminds me why we celebrate Christmas or the hug from my husband "that I don't have time for" while I clean the kitchen, or the stop in visit from a neighbor that needs to talk, but I gotta get to the store before it closes. I want to be a human being not a human doing. This crazy Christmas season was a good reminder that i need to hit the slooooww down button a little more often and let myself just be. I am thankful for friends, I am thankful to have the opportunity to party and be busy and that life is full and not lonely. i'll try to slow down and appreciate a little better next year...here are a few pics to document the fun we did have this season with our Yokota Family...

Had my Japanese students over for a Christmas party...

Taught them the game of "Snoop" for their gift exchange. Because they are such a kind and polite culture it is really hard for them to steal or snoop on each other's gifts in gift exchanges...it's pretty cute.

#1 squadron Christmas party:

this is what happens when you live overseas and your clothing options are not only limited but near to impossible to find clothing that fits the American girl's curves. :) good thing we all like each other.

=love.

#2 squadron Christmas party:
yes, i am wearing the same dress as the last party, to put your mind at ease. kinda tacky i realize...but remember the above mention...limited options. :) crossed my fingers all the way to this party that i'd be the only one in it. :)

hey, at least the shirt is still on. baby steps. baby steps. :)

My culture club Christmas party:
They learned to line dance. Japanese women + country line dancing = awe.some.

We spent the Christmas holiday in Nagano again this year with about 40 others, shredding the powpow and having a great time. When it's just the two of you, you open presents for about 30 minutes and then just sit there and stare at them or each other. so we had more fun playing in the snow. But in true Chapman fashion, we would hate to miss a holiday dinner, an opportunity to make and eat everything that is bad for you aaaand you have an excuse to use real butter cause it's Christmas dinner! So we had a dinner for 16 friends that would also be skiing with us and we would hate for them to miss the opportunity for real butter also. so we did Christmas dinner before we left for the pow.

a white Christmas!