Japan

There are so many stories to be told about Japan.

First- the story of my family. Growing up an "only" child - with three half brothers all 14+ years older who never lived with us - family has always been something of which I wish I had more. Most of my grandparents passed when I was young and Dad passed in 2003. So having family around has always been one of my goals. I'd like to end up near them, end up marrying someone with a huge family, and end up making a big family as well. So, going to Japan to visit my brother Scott and his wife, my nephew and his wife, and my niece with Mom was worthwhile beyond measure. Scott has been in the Navy for 25+ years and he was being celebrated at a Change of Command for the USS Lassen in his final days as the commander. It was amazing getting to see him in his professional setting, uniform and all, and hear what his men had to say about his leadership abilities. Spending time with Sonja and getting to really know my nieces and nephew, their personalities, and the type of people they've become was priceless.

My family fights dirty! ;)

Wrapping paper roll ninjas!

On top of that, we were in JAPAN. We went to as many temples as possible. We ate as many different types of Japanese cuisine as possible. And we payed SO MUCH IN TOLLS. Seriously. The tolling is ridiculous.

I don't have near enough time to write any of my stories, but I wanted to share some of the photos. It was like being deaf and blind. The street signs made no sense to me. No one spoke English (nor do I think they should- I'm just saying it was a tad bit overwhelming- my first Asian country). And there are literally people everywhere. There is no alone time except maybe in the temples. And space is a luxury only for the extremely wealthy. Superficiality is an issue there. So is suicide. The children are quite independent at a young age and you will see 5 & 6 yr olds by themselves on mass transit going to and from school. People are very polite. No one talks on the train... no one. It's silent (except for the McClelland family, of course). My favorite temple was the Bamboo Temple (will add pics later). I got my temple book there - which you get monks at each temple you visit to sign- and it's so beautiful signed.