Well I guess it was inevitable with the laws being as they are here that eventually one of us would get a traffic ticket off base. Mike was running late one morning and since it was still summer break all the kids were at home. I took Abby in the car with me to drop Mike off at the train station just a mile down the road. With banana bread in the oven and the big kids left with specific instructions to be good while I was gone for a couple of minutes I headed out the door. Since our little road to the train station does not allow for very many places to turn around we always turn up the very last street where there is a tiny parking lot that I can pull into, let Mike out, and turn around to go home. Well, on this particular day there was a police trap set up right when I turned down this street. I wasn't speeding but apparently I had disobeyed a sign that was posted before the turn that said I was not allowed to turn right between 7:00-8:30 am. Honestly, I never really noticed this sign before and even if I had I am not sure I would have thought that it meant what it did. Unlucky for me there was a police man who spoke English so there was none of this playing the dumb American card which usually doesn't work very well here anyways. After telling him I needed to hurry back home because I had bread in the oven and kids at home he quickly wrote me out a ticket for 7,000 yen (about $90) and I left pretty upset. It is really hard sometimes to live in a country where nothing is intuitive and you are treated like a third rate citizen. I do believe that most Japanese people are kind and considerate but they are also very nation minded and because of that foreigners are not seen as equals at all. In fact most people here see everything in black and white. The way things are done here are done because that is the way they have been done forever. The rules are the rules and there are absolutely no exceptions. Well, I was given one week to go and pay my ticket and my local post office. Everything can be paid at the post office through their bank that is inside. It was a busy week and I waited until the last day to go and pay it. I got to the post office before it closed but didn't realize that the bank inside the post office had closed a half hour earlier. The lady inside was kind enough to call the number on the back of the ticket to see what my options were. Option 1 said I could go to the Yokosuka Police Station on a specific date in September during a short window of time and get issued a new ticket with a new due date OR I could go with Option 2 where I would basically do nothing and wait for a new ticket to get issued to me in the mail with a 800 yen additional charge. I opted for the later option and we will see what comes of all of this. Needless to say I have been very cautious about paying attention to signs I normally don't pay any attention to so that I don't run into this situation again.
August 14, 2011
I love to watch Abby play. She has become quite an independent and creative little girl. On this particular day she took all the dress-ups out of the toy box and got inside it like it was a car. She was dressed in her swimming shirt and hat because she was going to the beach. I quickly grabbed my camera and tried to be discrete but as soon as she saw me she just put on the cutest little smile. I love this girl.
August 15, 2011
Mike and I spent our 13th year Anniversary having dinner at a really great Italian Restaurant (Marlo's) right near the water. We got there a little before the restaurant opened so we took a walk along the beach and walked out to the rocks. The sun was setting and it was just beautiful. We enjoyed the peace and quiet and the awesome sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. I couldn't think of any place I would rather be than with Mike at that very moment. It was simple and perfect.
August 25, 2011
Both of the boys participated in the Raingutter Regatta for cub scouts this summer. With not very much time to prepare the boats Mike and I both worked together to help the boys with their boats. Mike bought the spray paint and painted the boats while I helped the boys decorate their boats with some fun rub on letters. The boys used some pirate stickers to decorate their sails. Andrew's boat was the Silver Bandit and Peter's boat was the Golden Pirates. Both of the boys won some of their races and in the end I was just grateful that they didn't continue with more heats because it was SO HOT outside and there was hardly any shade to sit in. I think the boys had just as much fun eating from the bake sale and being with their cub scout friends. The pumpkin muffins were so delicious and I have already been asked when I am going to be making those. It made me think of fall and that made me happy. It's too bad it is still so humid here. Fall still feels like it is far away.