Prepping for Japan

I lost my previous blogs - we'll have to see where they disappeared to - more likely that I forgot my username and password...oh well, a new start in blogging matches a new start in my life.

The second set of movers are on the way over to pack up 1000 lbs of those items that I absolutely need to have in Japan when I get there. The items include my new fax/scanner, miscellaneous cold medicines, ironing board, iron, and most importantly 2.5 cases of newly purchased wine!! Ok, I guess I could have lived without most of those items (excluding the wine) directly upon our Tokyo arrival. I should have called this move the items-I-forgot-to-pack-up-in-the-first-move- move.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. After graduating from language school on 26 June (thanks Uncle John and Aunt Taihee for making the trek down here!), I prep'd the house for the BIG move - it took the movers two days to pack and move EVERYTHING. Mike and crew were amazing!

I headed to Washington, DC for a few days of vacation and work over the 4th of July weekend. I stayed with dear friends Susan and Henri, and we literally had some sort of social engagement every night for 6 nights straight! I was really making up for lost time having been secluded for the past year and a half in a tiny classroom with only 4 other students to pass the time with. The work portion of the trip was equally satisfying as I developed more contacts both in the intelligence field and the Japanese self-defense force. I had lunch with MG Nodomi - the Japanese Defense and Military attache. He was a gracious host, although a little taken aback that I was going to be the only female attending the Japanese War College. Yeah, it's going to be a psychologically tough year. Not only am I female, I'm half Korean - that's going to go over like a fart in church. "shi katta ga nai" - loose translation - "C'est la vie"

After DC, I had one night of restless sleep on my makeshift bed in my empty house. The next day a fabulous high school friend flew down from Washington state (leaving behind a hunky husband and 3 gorgeous kids) for a girls weekend! We literally haven't seen each other in nearly 15 years - although I feel like she's always with me since we talk frequently. We soon discovered there was a reason why God kept us apart during our potentially naughty girl years. Men were tripping over themselves to bask in our sunlight. We got free drinks and desserts wherever we went. I had wanted to take us down to Los Olivos for winetasting - we made it to Paso Robles and were having such fun with a hunky young Egyptian god (the other female server was equally charming and fun, just can't remember her name!) that we ended up spending 3 hours chit chatting, eating and drinking. Ok, so the next stop was Solvang - the place where a large portion of the movie "Sideways" was filmed. I had made reservations to stay in Solvang since it is very close to Los Olivos (remember my entire goal was to get to Los Olivos). Because our stay in Paso Robles was so lengthy, we missed all of the wine bars in Los Olivos. We, therefore, wisely chose to find a spot near the hotel for a bit of winetasting and dinner. Within 2 minutes of us sitting at the wine bar at "Wines of the Valley", men were coming out of the woodwork! It was a super fun evening, and we met the most wonderfully funny, interesting, and engaging people. The wives of these googling men were so incredibly gracious as well to allow their husbands to behave in such a manner!

We then met Jacques and Diane (sounds like a John Cougar-Mellencamp song) at "Cabernet Bistro". They are the owners of this fabulously decadent restaurant tucked away in Frederick Square - please go there if you get the chance. The food, the wine, the servers are all fabulous. Jacques came out and gave us the recipe to a delicious carrot/potato puree he served with some fresh off the boat sand dabs!

Thank you for making it to the end of this blog. I felt the need to catch up. I hear the moving truck and need to start directing!! Ja matta...