The Big One

Wow. It's been a crazy past few days. At our house we're thankfully back up and running with power and heat. The ground is still shaking. And shaking. And shaking. Who knows when that will stop. We're counting our lucky stars that we are safe and not suffering the devastation that so much of the rest of the country is in the midsts of. I hear the tsunami wave was "only" 18 feet high along the coast of Misawa and didn't get close to our house, although (from the rumblings I've heard) the fishing ports here and in Hachinohe are destroyed? I have no idea what the real damage is around here, but I'm sure we'll be finding out soon. I'm sure I'll be writing with updates soon.

I wrote my last post 2 days before all heck broke loose. To think that was just a little hiccup before the real thing...

Shaken!

There was a magnitude 7.2 earthquake today 120 miles off the coast of Japan. Luckily it was far enough away that nothing bad happened, but we still felt a big shimmy! It was seriously around 2 minutes long. Definitely the biggest earthquake we've felt during our time in Japan so far. There have been a couple of aftershocks, so we've had a motion-filled afternoon. The ride has been kind of fun!

Thank you, earthquake, for happening where you did and not 100 miles to the west. That probably wouldn't have ended up being very fun.

A Note on the Yen Rate

The yen/dollar exchange rate has gotten increasingly sucky over the last two years that we've lived here. From what I've heard, a year before we arrived in Japan one could exchange a dollar for 120 yen. When we first arrived, the rate hovered at just about 100 yen to the U.S. dollar. As of today, a dollar will only buy you 80 yen. Not cool!

What does that mean? It means we're paying 20% more for everything we buy with yen than we were two years ago. It means our rent rate hasn't changed, yet it now "costs" $400 more a month to live in our house. It means I now do 90% of my grocery shopping at the commissary on base instead of 50/50 like I used to. It means we go out to eat less. It means the ridiculous costs of traveling in Japan are even more ridiculous (like $900 roundtrip for the two of us to take the 3 hour train ride down to Tokyo, for example. If anyone wonders why we don't take more fun weekend trips down to Tokyo when we're bored up here, that's why.)

Japan is already an expensive country, and a lame-o U.S. dollar doesn't help. I'm thankful we have the option of buying our food, gas, household goods and other day-to-day stuff on base with American money since I'm pretty sure we'd be broke if we had to buy all that stuff out in town.

We're crossing our fingers hoping the exchange rate will go back up soon!

Update (With a Mustache Bonus)

We're kicking along with daily life. I have nothing interesting to write about, but here are a couple of little random things I've been meaning to mention and haven't:

1. I have revamped my "Project 365" blog and turned it into a "Project 52" for this year. I think I'll actually stick with this one since it's more structured and fun. I'll post at least one picture a week (more if I'm inclined) surrounding a particular theme set forth by Digital Photography School. So if you'd like to follow along (or do one of your own and share), please do! Here's the link.

2. Corey grew a mustache for a little over a month as some kind of very strange group requirement for a snowboarding trip he went on a couple weeks ago. I think the point was so that they would accumulate snow mustaches as they went down the mountain... or something. I can't say I fully understand (or appreciate =P) the "look."

Ok, that's it for now. Winter is kind of boring. I need an adventure...

Our Watchful Snowman

We've got winter magic going on up here in Misawa! Puffy white snow has transformed the world. I'm so close to being a snowy-winter-loving convert. I'd be on board with it 100% if it weren't for having to drive on icy roads. I think that's something this California girl might never be fully comfortable with.

Corey and I went to Swan Park this weekend to play in the snow. While we were there, we threw snowballs (or more accurately, Corey threw them while I threatened horrific consequences should he nail my camera with said snowballs), watched the swans and ducks freezing their behinds off in the partially-frozen lake, and watched kiddos sledding down hills.

At the top of a big hill we built a little snowman. When it was time to leave, we made him a perch on a railing overlooking the whole park where we left him to sit and oversee all the winter fun. For the rest of the season, I like to think our little guy will be happily watching over us and bringing us snowy good cheer and safe-driving...

... unless the sun comes out and he melts.

I folded a lot of laundry today.

Told you.

Snowboarding

Winter is very late to arrive in northern Japan this year. We've gotten some snow in Misawa now, but nothing big. The mountains nearby are doing a little bit better, but there are still some ski resorts that haven't been able to open and every weekend we hope rain won't come in and melt away the few precious centimeters there are. What's up?! It's January!

Anyway, Corey has been a couple of times, and I joined in for my first trip on Thursday. We went to Okunakayama, which is my favorite place because it has a nice big bunny slope (where I spend most of the day). The weather was gorgeous and although the mountain was pretty crowded, we all had a good time.

Corey's gotten SUPER into snowboarding and is dedicated to working his skill-level up. I, on the other hand, have more of a recreational attitude towards the sport (aka, I stink and don't particularly have a great desire to improve). I definitely enjoy it, but my favorite part is being on the mountain and taking in the views. I'd really prefer to just stay on the top of the mountain and take pictures all day, but I guess that's really not the point (plus, there's no way I'd bring my dslr up with me so I'm left with point-and-shoot photography which isn't nearly as fun).

Corey's leaving tomorrow for boy's snowboarding trip up to Hokkaido. Three or four days of non-stop snowboarding... sounds like fun (for him)!