Quakes and Lanterns

Konichiwa! 

Konichiwa! I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend! We have been trying to enjoy the summer months in here in Japan as much as possible and this week was no different. Let's get you up to date on what we have been up to : )

Here in Japan earthquakes are common occurrences. From what I have heard there are a can be a couple earthquakes a month. Since we have arrived in Japan we actually have had two earthquakes. One big one and a smaller one that you didn't really even notice. I would say that I experienced my first earthquake but that is not entirely true. The bigger one measured a 7.3 magnitude and was in the Southern Sea of Ohotsk . Dennis was at work, and felt it, but I was mowing the lawn and didn't feel a thing. I think with the bumpiness of pushing a mower along I could not tell the ground was shaking....haha!  I'm not going to worry too much because I am sure I will feel plenty in the future. Hopefully, not any scary ones.

Big Buddha

This past Thursday I was invited by the wives of the squadron to go to a Seiryu-ji Buddhist Temple to commerate the beginning of the Obon festival. This is a three day festival in Japan which honors their ancestors. During this time, many Japanese return to their home towns and visit ancestors graves. At the end of the three day festival paper lanterns are lit and floated down the river symbolically showing the spirits returning to the land of the dead. The temple we visited had hundreds of lanterns around the grounds in honor of the festival. All I know is I would not want to be the person that had to go around and light each one of these candles. The temple looked beautiful with all the lanterns and the Big Buddha lit up. There was also a special ceremony by the monks and were praying in a Georgian chant like manner. It was neat to get to participate in such an important holiday in the Japanese culture. 

Monks performing special ceremony for Obon Festival 

Big Buddha all lit up! 

I hope everyone has a great Monday! And to all my teacher friends in Florida....enjoy your first day of school!

Until next time....
Breanna

Hachinohe Beach

Konichiwa!

The past two weeks have mostly been filled with unpacking, meetings, picking up things for the house, working out, and catching up on sleep. So this week we were lucky enough to meet some really nice people at the Crossfit classes we attend on base and they invited us to go to the local beach with them on Saturday. We were told to take advantage of this warmer weather while we can since most of the year it's cold and snowy here in Northern Japan. So we packed up some chairs, Kendall, and got in the car and headed toward the beach. We went to a town called Hachinohe which is just south of Misawa and about an hour car drive. The beach was very different from the ones I grew up with in South Florida. The sand was a darker hue, with lots of shells, and it was surrounded by tall boulders and rocks. It was really a beautiful view from the grassy area where we made camp and it would be amazing to go in the morning to watch a sunrise.

When we arrived we were in awe of how huge the waves were and rough the sea was. They are always showing commercials on our TV network warning you about swimming in the ocean in Misawa so we knew it had to be pretty bad. The waves were about 15 feet tall and the water was ice cold. There were some brave souls from our group that went swimming and even tried to kayak, though most attempts were unsuccessful. Dennis and I were satisfied about going in just ankle deep.

It was Kendall first time at the beach and he had a great time. He was a little frightened of the waves and would run away at the approaching surf, but overall, I think he was happy to be out with us. It was great going to see some of the local sites of Japan and hanging out with some new people. We are thinking when we have visitors from the states we will need to take them to this beautiful beach.

Kendall and Dennis 

I hope everyone had a great weekend and is enjoying the last weeks of summer. To all my teacher friends, have fun getting ready for a new school year : )

Arigato,
Breanna

Konnichiwa!

We have finally arrived in Japan! After about 5 months of moving from Phoenix to Alabama and visiting lots of Family in between we are back in the far east. This time we were allowed to bring a very special member of our family Kendall Jackson. He was a trooper after two straight days of flying underneath the plane as cargo but he is so happy now to be with us in Japan.

When we arrived in Japan we were greeted by the 13th Fighter Squadron with a very nice warm welcome from husbands and wives. We then preceded to drop Kendall off at the kennel and arrived to our lovely 90 degree hotel room. It is rare to find air conditioning on base and we will be living without it in our home for the next 3 years. The key to success is box fans and that most of the year it's cold enough to where you don't need A/C. There is a rumor that they are going to get air conditioning base wide but not sure when that will be done. Until then, I will be sitting in front of fans and hanging out at places on base where they do have air conditioning. 

One of the things that is the hardest to get used to at first is driving on the other side of the road. It goes against everything you have learned in the states. Not only do you have to drive on the other side of the road but the steering wheel is on the other side of the car. I still catch myself going to the wrong side of the car when getting in and I just try to play it cool. I guess as long as I am not driving on the incorrect side of the road I will be good. We did purchase one car already. It's a cute Japanese Toyota Raum and it's perfect for me. And don't worry....I already ordered a Gator sticker online for the back of it. The Gator Nation is everywhere! 

On Friday we were able to move into our new home. It's a two bedroom, one bath and it's perfect for our little family. We have a backyard for Kendall to run around in and actually live right next store to another Golden Retriever named Wally. We are still unpacking boxes and waiting on my household goods from Florida to arrive but it's nice to have a place where we will be staying put for a while. The house is stark white right now so I am thinking about painting while Den is at work. He, like most men, think it's fine all white but I'm thinking we need some color to make the place feel more homey. I will post some pictures once it's a little less messy of the place.

I'm sure some of you are thinking...."Breanna, are you going to work while you're in Misawa?" The answer to that is yes. Instead of being a full time teacher I have decided to substitute teach. The reason for this is so I have flexibility. Dennis will be gone a lot while I am over here and a lot of the times he will be going to some really cool places. (Gaum, Alaska, Singapore) I want to be able to hop on a cargo plane or tanker for free and visit that place as well. That way we can have some more fun adventures together. 

I think that's all I got for now everyone. I hope you all are enjoying your summers. Shout out to my amazing sister who competed in her first Crossfit competition and placed 2nd! You amaze me with your athleticism. Love and miss you all! Please, keep in touch ; )

xoxo,

Breanna 

PS-If you want our new mailing address just shoot me an e-mail at BreannaLHayes@gmail.com and I can send it to you : )