Get Meat

 During our last year in Misawa we went to a fall festival in nearby town.  The festival was pretty obvious as it was called the Beef and Garlic Festival.

 Even if the festival had been horrible the drive and scenery would have been worth it. 

 I'm pretty sure the town was called Takko.  It was a ski area if I remember correctly, but this was the fall and it was still green. 

This was the building where the beef was cooked. 

 This is how we knew.  It was so nice of them to translate it for us.

I believe this banner says Beef and Garlic Festival.  Of course I have no clue but the Japanese are so kind to have self explanatory illustrations everywhere.  Unless of course the illustrations are not related at all to what the signage is saying,  then you'd probably end up looking like a total ass.(try a Japanese toilet seat)  

 Even though we bought our beef from a counter outside..... in the building where the grills were this was also.  Now I'd never seen anything like this before, and I haven't since.  I don't know how I feel/felt about this.  I'm glad they are using every bit of the sacrificial cow?  I'm glad they are wearing masks?  I wish the cow could have been in a separate building?

 So here we were ten feet away from the carcass cooking our beef. 

 And here we were eating our beef ten feet away from the carcass.  

The Japanese weren't really fazed.  Neither were the hairy canines they grilled with.  

Then there was the garlic.

 And there was a bit of garlic for sale. 

 And there was a bit of garlic with faces. 

And there was a big garlic bulb, larger than humans.

 Then there were the whole roasted fish.  I cannot be positive but I'm fairly confident that I snapped a photo of every instance we saw this type of dish for sale.  It still just seems so shocking for my uncultured self.  

 No clue what these were, there was no illustration.

 There were children performing.  Garlic spitting contests. And another experience for my list of things I can never forget. 

Covering the festivals has been fun.  I have a couple more to share.  

Then You Grab a Fish With Your Hands

I don't know what made me think of this.  I was just looking through fall months of the past and stumbled upon these photos.  The Salmon Festival.  Many people stationed in Misawa probably went every year, and I believe there were several towns that had a Salmon Festival.  But we only went once.  It was an experience, and maybe we intended to go again, but I'm not heartbroken that we didn't.  

 Once upon an October weekend we drove to this popular festival.  We had one ticket for a salmon.  I knew you just picked one out of a pool.  But the logistics of how this would happened escaped me until the event was nearly over.  There were large pools made from tarps.  

People gathered around in various types gear.  My husband sported his waders.  Everyone was kinda excited and amped up around the pools.  I waited from afar.  Nervous.  

 Then a whistle blew. Children, elderly, brave souls of all ages jumped in.  Some barefooted.  Some booted.  To say it was a mad dash would be correct.  To say it was a cluster would also be true. 

 Then I got it.  You jump in. You grab a fish. Bam!  

I'm no activist but... those poor salmon.  It brings to mind the expression... fish in a barrel.  But these were in a tarp pool.... and still as ill fated. 

So Dave grabbed a slippery live fish with is hands.     

When in Rome and all that.

Man had conquered fish. 

 So we had dinner.

Then I watched mouth gaping as our pregnant salmon was killed. And was speechless as the crowd of Japanese oohed and aahhed over the row.   

Over the shock and amazement of this ritual I reminded myself this time in my life was an experience.  

Then we grilled the fish and ate dinner.  The End

P.S.  I have one other experience that is equally as shocking and possibly offensive... I'll share that one next week to get it over with.  But just a little tease.... 1. an entire cow 2. a spit

Friday Flashback

While I'm getting ready for our long overdue appointment to have family photos taken I was thinking about our photos in the past.  

2004

2008

2009

2010

2011

The last time we had photos taken was in June of 2011 before David left on his deployment.  I cannot remember why we didn't get photos done last year.  But I'll be happy to get some more recent photos up in frames.

Flashback Friday

Gotta love baby pics from 5 years ago. 

I'll tell a story next week.  Right now I'm trying to deal with the huge lot of green tomatoes.

Friday Flashback

This past week we happened to start talking about the remodeled housing in Misawa.   We knew it was going to be redone right after we moved out because they saved me a lot of cleaning when we moved out.  I was only required to clean the appliances.    

I asked Dave if he had seen the renovated kitchens in the 2 bedroom H style house we lived in for those four long years.  I remembered finding photos on facebook on a page that has photos of base housing on most bases .  It took me a few minutes to remember how to locate the facebook page, but then I showed Dave.  The change is drastic.  Everything I used to complain about has been changed.  Go figure!  But our experience wouldn't be the same if the kitchen has been wonderful.  I lived through streaky linty stainless counter-tops.... and hollow fake wood cabinets... and a washer and dryer in the kitchen (hence the lint).   I thought I would look back at the kitchen... since the kitchen is the heart of a home right?  

 This was the day we moved in.  The counters look clean eh?  I quickly learned they were terrible to keep streak free!  Did you notice how tall the upper cabinets were?  That's no optical illusion!  I could barely reach the bottom shelf.  

This pass thought counter got TONS of use!  You'll see sometime when I blog about the dining room.  Which was super small.  Anyhow. You can sort of see in this photo how HUGE the kitchen window was above the sink. 

 On the opposite side of te kitchen window was the washer and dryer.  I promptly had to take those doors down.  The dryer wouldn't open and the last drawer in the kitchen couldn't open either.  It was a good idea though because there was always dryer lint on the counters.   Now to the memories.....ahhh memories!

 This kitchen was well lived in.  You can see... I couldn't paint but the room was bright and cheery with lots of little homey touches.  Like those fake little plants on the window sill.... those fell in the dishwater one day though....

 Usually I like a clean neat countertop, but having my things on the counters made the room feel a lot less pink tile walls-ish.

And my little pig husband and wife kept me company while I did dishes.  I bought them from the Yen store and I loved them.  They've long been broken though. sad.

 Whether making Chicago style dogs on the fourth of July.

 Or baking Christmas cookies... it was always someplace that made me happy.  I really learned to cook in this kitchen.  In the past when I had worked outside of the home I did alot of convenience foods... or cheater meals.  

In this kitchen I learned my way around the kitchen.  

I learned how to cook and bake from scratch.  I learned how much I could add to our household's success by cooking well and planning meals.   I found out that I really enjoyed creating something delicious, and I discovered how great I felt when I knew I had impressed Dave and could obviously tell how much he appreciated a hearty delicious meal after a hard long day of work.  

 I learned how a cozy home felt.... watching out the window while I washed dishes.  Watching rains fall, or snow fly.  While I was warm inside.... with amazing smells filling the house.  

 It was just Dave and I, and we learned how to enjoy each others company.  Celebrating together the two of us became enough.  That was a tough thing since I grew up with big family gatherings for every holiday... women filled the kitchen busily preparing a meal.  I learned to appreciate this new feeling of just the two of us.  I learned to feel comfort with him by my side, instead of letting homesickness take over and ruin holidays and special days.

I'm not extra fat in this photo... I was 7 months pregnant.

 I learned that I am organized and efficient.  I put together a lot of holiday meals on my own.... and damn, if I told our guests dinner would be at 3, the table was set, food ready, and we were sitting down at 3!    But I also remember the first Christmas in Misawa when Sean and Sandy came to visit.  Having Sandy helping in the kitchen was so nice.  One of my favorite memories. 

 Getting ready for baby Nathan.  Dave and I worked together to put together two weeks worth of dinners!  We were so proud of ourselves.  

 Sanitizing baby bottles and nipples and pacifiers.  

 Giving Nate baths in the kitchen sink for the first four months. 

 These are my fondest memories.  Once Nathan was part of our family.  I just loved having this little guy underfoot.... or nearby while I worked

 This little chicken magnet kept him occupied many evenings while I prepared dinner.  

 In Misawa I really got comfortable making a holiday dinner.  That bird looks amazing eh?

Somewhere in the world of missing photos is a pic of me smiling big showing off my first cream pie... and many other memories I hope stay fresh.    What really happened there in that kitchen, was alot of learning and growing up and the wonderful memories we made as our family went from two to three members.  It was such a fun time for us.