the sound of election season... Japanese style!

For the last few weeks, Anthony and I have been wondering about announcements that seem to go on every day. At first it seemed like the same time every day, 1200 or 1500... then it seemed that it would happen intermittently. Lately it seems like it is all the time. Ohiyogozaimas.... dit dit dit gozaimas... dot dot dot gozaimas... konichiwagozaimas.... every other word gozaimas. We thought it was one of the car dealerships we live near. Finally, driving to work, I had the "fortune" to witness just what was making all the racket. A van outfitted with many megaphones and a lady in white gloves sitting in back with the windows open and a microphone in one hand. And plastered on the side, pictures of what must be a candidate for office. AH.... here it comes again... must be winding down, only been 10 minutes since they drove past last...

You know you are living in a foreign country when...

you make sure you have enough money in two sets of currency in your pocket at all times.... We go out, and we automatically ask, do we have enough Yen/Dollars? Never know what you are going to be up against. Even on base, certain places take Yen, others Dollars. When we pay our car fees, for instance, we pay on base, but have to make sure we have Yen. Go figure. It is a strange experience.

And you know what is annoying? Yennies. the Japanese version of Pennies. They are light, almost like they are monopoly money and made of plastic. There is absolutely no reason for them, except to take up space. My hubby uses him in his gaming night as extra pieces when he runs out.

POC:AWE

Just got back from Shimode Mall where we watched Pirates of the Caribean: At World's End. Awesome movie! Worth the trip down there and back. We ate at the food court and had a hodge-podge of food. Ant ordered these fried calamari balls... not popular with us... He also went to McD's and ordered a Big Mac Combo. I had the veggie noodles-Miso soup. Driving home, I think we were behind a drunk Japanese guy who kept swerving all over the road. He finally pulled the hell over.