Christmas Arrives ... Sort of ...

Did anybody else find themselves having to physically restrain their significant other from putting up Christmas decorations the day after Halloween.  Oh you too?  Good, then I'm not alone.  I made Jenny wait until the day after Thanksgiving, and then it was like a Christmas bomb went off in our house.

Katie and Jenny start with the ornaments

 

 

 

The airplane tree.  A Cichowski family tradition.

 

 

Couldn't find our gingerbread man cutout, so we made "Gingerbread man's feet" as Katie likes to call them.

 

Believe it or not, Jenny's is on the left, and Katie's is on the right.

 

Baking cookies is always easier when you taste test while you work.

Hachinohe Air Show

Ok, just ask my wife, and she'll tell you she married a bonafide honest-to-god, American war-hero veteran.  And if she denies it, ask me and I'll tell you.  Anyway, part of the awesomeness of flying fighters (which is already "can't-stare-directly-at-it-because-it's-so-awesome" kind of awesome) is getting to go to airshows where the common masses stare at you like you are some kind of zipper-suited sun god (thanks to Uncyclopedia for that one:  http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Fighter_pilot

So my buddy Dixon and I (his last name is Kuntz ...) flew a pair of Vipers down to the town of Hachinohe for their local airshow.  I had heard that we would enjoy the celebrity status most commonly reserved for Rock Stars but I was skeptical.  Upon landing however, I immediately understood why Rock Stars are so awesome - people treat them like they are awesome, and they respond accordingly.  Again, I wasn't expecting the kind of reaction that we got.  Several Japanese women handed us a Sharpie and asked us to sign their t-shirts.  On their breasts.  While they were wearing them.  And being the "ambassadors in blue" that we are, how could we say no?  To be fair, the women were all in wheelchairs, and had down syndrome, and our wives were standing ten feet away laughing at us the whole time, but I choose to gloss over those facts in this retelling.

In all seriousness, the Japanese LOVE airshows, and the cameras the average tourist was packing at this thing was easily 5 figures with all the lenses and tripods and other equipment.  And the Japanese women were gorgeous.  And they loved that real-life fighter pilots were taking pictures with them.  My wife told me I wasn't allowed to sleep in bed with her that night because there wouldn't be enough room for my uber-inflated ego after all of it ...

 Katie loved the F-16.  Standard.  Who wouldn't?

 

Katie wanted to know why this F-16 was green.  I had to explain to her that is the far inferior version that the Japanese reverse-engineered and called the F-2.  She said it was pretty.  I died a little inside.

 

All day long people wanted their pictures taken with us.

 

World's finest pair of zipper-suited sun gods.

Last week we also got to head down to Komatsu and fight with some Japanese F-15s.  The training was awesome, but I wanted to take a second and post a picture of the fleet's finest aircraft, 92-3895.  Why the fleet's finest?  For starters, it used to be the 5th Air Force flagship flown by Gen Wright.  But now, it has my name on it ... yeah I'm biased, but it's a SWEET jet.

 

The fleet's finest.  Detractors look on with jealousy.

 

895's crew chief, SrA Chris "Sweetfist" Cerrillo.  895 may have my name on her canopy, but there is no denying that she is Sweetfist's jet. 

Aviation Museum

Not to jump on the stereotype bandwagon, but the Japanese love science.  I know, right?  Like who couldn't figure that one out.  But, they love science SO MUCH, that in every city we've traveled to so far, they've always had a Science Museum set up which is really like an enormous science lab for kids to play with all these giant toys and learn something about science too.  Needless to say, these spots generally become our favorite spots to visit, and (let's be honest) it kind of helps me work out my inner MacGyver.  Fortunately for us, Misawa boasts its own science museum, and it's a stone's throw away from the runway, so it is also an "aviation" museum that sports a bunch of static displays of jets like an F-16 (duh) and even a P-3.  Katie, understandably, goes ape whenever we go to this place.

 

 

 

 

Halloween

I have to admit, this is our second Halloween here at Misawa, and both of the costume parties rocked.  Last year I was Mugatu, and although the Zoolander genre is a pretty easy one to pull costume ideas from, this year, the grownup Cichowski's decided to do a tag team outfit.  Jenny and I both went for max comfort ... and we came up with The Dude and his Bowling Ball.  I know, Jenny could have gone as Bunny, or even better, as a nihilist, but these worked out pretty well.  If only I had the foresight to bring along a cooler of White Russians ...

 

Yes, the chest hair is real, not a part of the costume.  I know what you're thinking ... awesome!  Oh, that's not the word that came to your mind ...?

Turns out lots of the couples at the combined 13th / 14th Christmas party decided to do the joint costume idea ...

The boss and Janet

Vegas went as Sputnik and his wife, Anna, went as a solar system.  Best (and most awkward to turn around in) costume of the night.

Of course, grownup Halloween quickly gave way to kids Halloween the following night, so we took Katie on the annual trek around the base for trick or treating.  Misawa lets all kinds of Japanese kids come on base to take part in the insanity as well, although I don't think they really understand the concept, as most of them come on base in regular street clothes with a pillowcase and just thrust it (the pillowcase) towards you with an inquisitive stare that seems to ask "What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

Katie had a blast, and in keeping with her animal themed costumes, went this year as a bumble bee.  Actually, once she saw the costume about two week out, we had a MAJOR tantrum when we told her she couldn't wear it until Halloween.  She really, REALLY liked her costume.

Katie with her friends Hannah and Cassidy getting a head start on the candy consumption.

 

 

Dixon and Maggie with Katie.  I don't remember if my Dad drank road sodas when he took my brother and me trick or treating, so I'm either a bad father, or he did a great job hiding it.  Or I just don't remember that part of Halloween (and now I hope Katie won't either).

Catching up ... Tea Parties and Other Activities

Man oh man, why does it seem like we can only catch up with the blog on a four-day weekend? Probably because there just isn't enough time in a normal two day weekend to do all of your catching up AND post on the blog. Something has to give ... so I guess it's the blog. Spare me your ridicule.

So on that uplifting note, let's catch up on the activities of the singing Family von Cichowski (minus the lederhosen and Alps). When I first came back to the fam after the Korea adventure, I wish I could say that I got knee deep in traveling around Japan, but really, I just wanted to hang out and see my family AT HOME (and get to work on my masters program ... thanks AF for cracking the whip on that one ...). And what sort of activities might we embark upon for family time? Pizza and Tea Parties! "Of course!" you say.

Jenny had a great idea for letting Katie make her own pizza and get her involved with the baking process, and maybe (just maybe) it would get her to actually EAT DINNER. But I digress.

Katie and Jenny make a Pizza

Yeah, she likes cheese.

Waiting for the Pizza to cook.  Yep, that's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly on over her shoulder.  Am I the best Dad ever, or what?  You gotta start with the classics ...

After dinner, we watched while Blondie blew up the bridge and shot Angel Eyes, but Katie admittedly got pretty bored with the final shootout sequence.  What can I say, Sergio Leone isn't for everyone.  We'll try again later with Once Upon a Time in the West.  Maybe Peter Fonda and James Brolin will win her over.

A few days later we got to rock out to a killer tea party.  It was THE event of the Misawa social Cichowski scene.  I think even Katie's dragon got one of the exclusive invites.  Of course, Mom and Dad were pulling labor for the night, but we got some photos of the glitterazzi ...

 

 

'09 Beef & Garlic Festival

I love October in Japan...not only is the weather amazing, but there is a festival dedicated to two things that I absolutely love: Beef and Garlic! Another reason I may love it so much is because it's advertised as a "Texas Bar-B-Q deep in the heart of Aomori!"

This year the festival was on the first weekend of October and we headed to Takko Town with some friends to partake in some great food and fun! The set up is great, you roll in with your ticket and exchange it for boxes of sliced beef, garlic and veggies...then buy a couple more trays of beef...and head out to the grills. They toss a big lump of fat on a hot grill for you and everyone just dumps their trays of food, grabs some chopsticks and starts cookin'!

We got lucky and were able to catch a prime spot - a grill right next to the entertainment! We laid out a mat and brought out some chairs to make a day of it. We had a great time eating and hanging out with friends.

The local garlic queen and the garlic queen from their sister city of Gilroy, CA were also there. Katie had a great time dancing with them both! There were traditional Japanese dances, a line dancing team from Misawa, children's carnival rides and even a "Garlic Santa?" Well, I'm not sure exactly what he was, but it was an interesting costume!

We had a really great time and were sad to think that this may be our last Beef and Garlic Festival. Below are videos of a traditional dance...and a not-so-traditional dance. Enjoy!

Catching up!

I know we've already got a "Back in Japan" post, but I need to take you back a couple of months now...

While Katie and I were in the states this summer we were lucky enough to be able to spend a week with Trevor's parents in Florida. We had such a great time shopping, going to the beach, playing at the park and just being tourists! Katie loved spending time with her Oma and Opa and talks about them all the time now.

One cute story of something that happened while we were there, was that Katie almost had Laura convinced that she could tell time! :) (I may get some details to this story wrong since it's been a little while, but on the whole the story remains unchanged...)

There's a clock in the living room that chimes on the hour and Katie really took notice of it. While eating breakfast one morning, the clock begins to chime and Katie says "it's 7 o'clock!" And, sure enough, it was. Later while sitting at the table again the clock begins to chime and Katie says "it's 10 o'clock!" And...sure enough....it was! By this time Laura looks at me and says, "are you sure this child can't tell time?" Even I was unsure at this point. Did she actually think to count the chimes? Could she really read the hands of the clock? Later that day the clock begins to chime again. Katie says "it's 6 o'clock!" Come to find out, the first two were just lucky guesses. This time it was not 6 o'clock. :)

Here are a few pictures of our time in Florida.

Back in Japan - at Children's Land!

After 6 months gone for Trevor and 2 months gone for Jenny and Katie, the family is back together in Japan. I have about two weeks off from work for "reconstitution" with my family, which is basically a fancy Air Force way of saying "Hey, re-introduce yourself to your wife and kids." Not that I'm complaining, because it means two weeks of free leave for me.

So one of the things we decided to do was take Katie to the "Children's Land" in the nearby city of Hachinohe. They have a bunch of fancy rides, and a small petting zoo, so we thought we would share some pictures of the rides and animals that we saw.





We stopped at the Merry-Go-Round first, and Katie INSISTED on riding the red horse with Mommy. Got a video of it below as well -



Then we checked out this elevated bicycle/car contraption that went around part of the park. What you can't tell (or maybe you can) is that these "cars" are designed for either a) midgets or b) Asians, of which I am neither. Thus, I was basically kneeing myself in the face every time I tried to pedal this thing. The Asian moms in the cars behind me were NOT amused, but Katie got a kick out of it.





Mocking my peace sign? Then you've obviously never taken pictures in Asia ...

Then we decided to check out the monkey house, goats, pigs, rabbits, and turtles - in other words, all the animals in the farm kingdom that are kid friendly and don't mind being poked and prodded ad nauseum.









Getting to hold the rabbit and then walk around with the giant turtle were definitely the highlights of Katie's day, but we decided to check out the Ferris Wheel before we left. Overall, not a bad Saturday morning!