Week 11
Hard to believe it is already my last full week in the office. Life flies when you are having fun! This week was very productive – even if we spent most of the week wondering if a full government shutdown would take place on Friday (Saturday for us). Yet another experience I did not put on my goals & objectives!
Monday was a good day at work. We celebrated Month of the Military Child and had the CMC come to speak to the SAC, Pre-Teen, and Teen kids at Main Base, and another senior military officer spoke in Hario. It was interesting to hear the questions the children had and how the CMC addressed those concerns, such as “How do you make sure the ships don’t run out of fuel?” We also dealt with a case of vandalism in the center…that was a new one for me.
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| Award time! |
On Tuesday I finally turned in my complied data from the MB SAC, MB CDC, and Hario CDC programs regarding parents working hours. We watched the Bollywood version of Aladdin tonight with the teens…very fun. And then I had the opportunity to meet Lauren’s baby boy Andy tonight. Benedryl gave me a good night’s sleep.
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| Holding baby Andy for the first time! |
Wednesday morning we stuffed Easter eggs. It didn’t take long at all (thankfully) – although it turns out almost half of them were missing! Then we ran through all the possible furlough scenarios. I hung out in the teen center today before Girl Scouts, and helped to recruit people for all of our trips. Girl Scouts went well…and they loved the Pictionary game!
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| Learning the Girl Scout Law |
Today we found the missing Easter eggs, so I spent a few more hours stuffing all of them. Healthy Habits today consisted of Caesar Salad…yummy! I also went and got my hair cut today on base. The Japanese ladies were very nice, but constantly talked in Japanese (which I still can’t really understand).
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| Some of the thousands of Easter Eggs I helped to fill! |
Friday Ms. Alisha was out so I took over the Teen/Pre-Teen lead position. Lets just say it was a baptism by fire kind of day. In the end it was all worked out, but between over ratio trips, people showing up late, furlough drama, schedule changes, program adjustments, etc. etc. it was a very full day. I also did Stations of the Cross by myself today at the church (since no one else signed up).
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| The church on base... |
Saturday was day six of another long workweek, but it was a fun day. We went to an indoor water park where we had fun with the teens and pre-teens. The water slides were just crazy enough for me, and the lazy river was also fun. It was pretty small…but still an experience.
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| Me in my ugly, rented swim cap! |
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| Alisha having fun in the lazy river! |
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| Underwater shot of my fellow staff member! |
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| The lazy river... |
I also checked out the onsen upstairs (which, mind you, you are supposed to be naked for but I played dumb and kept my swimsuit on) the water was nice and it was a unique experience for sure.
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| In the onsen - I was the only one there... |
Throw in some good food and it was a successful day. I’m looking forward to enjoying some more spring break adventures with my kiddos.
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| Yummy lunch!!! |
We also learned today that the furlough is not going to take place, at least as long as the government employs me. Honestly, I was looking forward to experiencing a furlough and the new demands on the staff, but because of everything that has been going on in Japan all of our CYP staff had been deemed essential, so we expect that there would have been little to no difference in the care our children and families received.
A very full, and fun, week in Japan!
