I have a Sad....

Most of you know that I lived in Japan for two years.

It was my first duty station when I enlisted in the Navy.

Living there was wonderful. Its a beautiful country. Working on that tugboat for two years was a blast.

Taking the crowded trains around the area, seeing the sights, visiting other small towns on the coast. Going to Disneyland where all the zombies in the haunted house were Caucasian, and the whispering Japanese completely unnerved you. Until you went back into the park and listened to "Its A Small World" over and over again in Japanese....

Crowded Tokyo, with its hoards of people, and shopping, and restaurants, and hoards of people...

Kamakura with its ginormous Budda,

The Black Ship festival we spent a week at, "celebrating" the first landing of an American on Japanese shores... (some of the Japanese are still questioning THAT move).

Fuji, in all its glory

the awesome food, especially Gyoza! and Yakisoba!. Standing on the street eating Yakitori from a Yakitori stand, and drinking Asahi beer. And, believe it or not, the freshly made "Stick dogs" (Corn Dogs) that were made in a small shop directly across from the Yokosuka base. (I wonder if they are still there)

Drinking sake with the JN's (Japanese Nationals) that came to our annual picnic on the base. They drank the American Beer, we drank the sake. Fair trade. The baseball games were fun, too.

The usually mild and awesome weather. The cute little school girls trying on make up in McDonalds.

I could go on and on.

But I'm in tears, a little.

Maybe a lot

Devastation is hard. Earthquakes, Tsunami, fires.

I've spent a long time thinking about Japan, today...