What? Me Worry?

My only encounter with showy chrysanthemums this fall was a small display near Toshogu Shrine in Nikko. Did someone remember to drag the newcomers to the chrysanthemum exhibit in Yokohama while I was off exploring other parts of Japan? I have to stop worrying about things like this and savor each remaining day in the months left before the Ancient Mariner retires and we leave Japan.

He's downright gleeful about retiring, in case you wondered. He says things like "Next week I'm going to Seoul for the last time" and then does a little tap dance. When I discovered our property manager had executed a 15-month lease on our house without checking with us, I thought he would hit the roof. Where are we supposed to live until the tenants move out on August 31? "We'll spend the summer driving around the United States, visiting relatives." Maybe I should change his name to Alfred E. Neuman. What? Me worry?

I, on the other hand, cringe when I even think the word "last" let alone say it out loud. I am not the least bit gleeful about taking my last trip to the kitchen or fabric district in Tokyo or glimpsing the jizo statues at Hase-dera for the last time. The thought of saying goodbye to my Japanese friends has my stomach in knots. Some things are better left unsaid.

JAW Farewell Party Takes the Cake

Twenty-three American Navy officer spouses visited Tadodai House today for the final event of the JAW year, a delicious farewell luncheon catered by our remarkable Japanese friends.

This was our first gathering since the March 11 earthquake/tsunami and it was a bittersweet reunion since five of our American members will be leaving Japan permanently this month and next. At first I wrote "leaving Japan for good" but the word "good" does not come close to describing how most of my friends feel about moving on to their next duty stations.  Living in a foreign country for nearly four years has made me a bit more sensitive to the subtle nuances of the English language and how open to misinterpretation our word choices can be.

Normally I'd include pictures of smiling Japanese and American military wives to illustrate a post like this, but this Japanese sailor captured my attention while we were lining up for our obligatory group photo in the garden behind Tadodai House.  He is turning away after offering advice to the young photographer so I managed to catch his profile.

In a nation known for producing thin people, he is strikingly so.  One could almost say he takes the cake when it comes to thin.  Except he couldn't take the cake at Tadodai House because I managed to knock over the yummy marble cake Hiroko-san made.  I was remarking on the cake's height and gesturing to make my point when my fork tines achieved contact with and toppled the masterpiece.  Whoops.  Gomen nasai, Hiroko-san!