Number 14

Project Turkey, which I will explain later, is underway, so at last, I can sit and write. Least I get distracted, let me wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving from Dana, Christina, Catherine, Charlene and myself.

Last week, we had the team from Dana’s work over for Happy Meals. I served hamburgers/cheeseburgers, French fries and a toy! The toy was a racing car for Dana’s track that they got to build and then race. Although it was a late night and the guys had to go to work early the next morning, I think they had fun. I was hoping it would provide them an opportunity to unwind for a short time.

The wife of one of the team came over for a couple of weeks and we were able to enjoy her last few days in Japan with her. We went on quite an excursion with Sandra on Thursday. I was trying to find a place that had some temples at that we could go shopping. I saw what looked like a promising location on a map and we set off. It was a couple of hours drive, but the scenery was nice.

I would tell you the name of the town; except I can’t remember it and the map I have as a souvenir has nothing but kanji on it. We drove around it to scope it out and decided it would be best to explore on foot. We parked in the train station and decided to rent bikes instead. After all, my foot was broken and walking may not be the best thing. Many of the shops in the town were closed and the big temple grounds were open but we could not get inside the buildings. It was rather a bust as far as finding what we were looking for.

The bike ride was amusing because they did not have a bike small enough for Catherine to ride and they did not have a bike with a baby seat for Charlene. We discovered this after it was too late to tell the girls we were not going bike riding and not disappoint them terribly. So, I put Charlene in the backpack and Catherine sat on the shelf over the back tire. It was rather reminiscent of when I was a child and used to give people rides on handlebars. We did have fun and I got a much-needed workout!

While we were driving in, we noticed a couple of shops that looked like they might be interesting so we decided to stop and look. I found a tea set and some beautiful wine glasses and Sandra found some gifts for her family. It certainly made the day seem more successful.

Now, to begin to explain Project Turkey. I have been trying to figure out for about a month now, how I could make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for at least our family and perhaps some of the team from work. I considered many options, but the one I thought would allow me to get all the things I wanted was definitely not the easiest one. When has that ever stopped me?

Saturday morning at about 6am the girls and I set off to meet a friend whose husband is in the military at a base the other side of Tokyo. The only way to get there involved driving through the expressways of Tokyo. Of course, my navigator was at work. We also had 6:30 dinner reservations back in Mito, but I figured it would only be a 3-hour drive or so each way and that wouldn’t be a problem.

Driving through Tokyo was uneventful. My timing was a little off and it was about 9:30am as we were getting out of there. I mentioned it was the other side of Tokyo, well the only map I had of the area was my map of Japan and it was not very specific.

Shortly after leaving Tokyo, I discovered that I was not on the road I had intended. Rather than trying to backtrack, which I really had no idea how to do, I decided to head in the direction I knew the correct road to be. I could write a dissertation on the events that went on between that point and my finally arriving at my destination at noon, how I found the town, but lost it twice, but I would rather not relive it!

It was so nice to meet Ginny and her family and I don’t think I can thank them enough for their patience or help. She was able to get me the stuff I needed and we even had lunch at Taco Bell. (It wasn’t as good as I had remembered!) The girls and I both commented on how strange it felt to be around so many people speaking English. We headed back toward Mito at about 3pm and got to our dinner at 9pm!

During my journey, Dana had been postponing our reservation for dinner because we were going to the restaurant that the Michico-san, the mother of the girl staying with us at Christmas manages. It actually worked out great that we were late, because she was not so busy when we arrived. We had a great dinner and afterwards, the girls folded origami with her while we relaxed and I finished my wine!

Since that concludes Saturday night, I am going to close this Chronicle and begin the next, which you will probably receive at the same time.

Blessings and prayers,
Marion