A Day Trip to Little America

Sunday, September 19th was a day I have been anticipating for about two months. I would like to preface this entry by saying that I am thoroughly enjoying myself in Japan (if you couldn't tell by my previous entries), but I was in desperate need for a little Americana. And by Americana, I mean mexican food.

Train @ 8:30am...someone isn't happy

The 19th of September marked the annual Misawa Air Festival, a showcase of the US Air Force and Japan's version of military air forces. From what I hear, this year was far less crowded than last year and the ratio of Americans to Japanese was way more cockeyed. Because of the absence of the Thunderbirds from the line up this year, more Americans opted to skip town, so the base was overrun with Japanese.

I'm not usually one to be super impressed with air shows...I mean, after living in San Francisco for four years and watching the Blue Angels practice all week during Fleet Week and then watching them again on the weekend, other air shows just seem a bit repetitive. Of course each one has its showcase feature, but the Japanese are known for erring on the side of caution, so watching the planes take off, take a 360 loop and then land wasn't really doing it for me. So why did I even bother taking the hour trip to Misawa via train? The FOOD!

I don't think it's a secret that I'm not a huge fan of Japanese food. Don't get me wrong...I love me some ramen and I just ate so much food at the nursery school's monthly birthday celebration that I'll probably be in a haze for the rest of the afternoon. But for the most part, it just doesn't get me salivating. Since our destination was a US Military Base, there was promise of food not available in the rest of the country such as Burger King and Taco Bell. I guess Japan has yet to truly appreciate the wonders of mexican food, so Misawa would be my saving grace.

Breakfast at Taco Bell

When we arrived at Misawa Station, instead of following the droves of people on foot, we opted for a taxi that dropped us off at the front gates. Vendors selling curry and ice cream were tempting, but I had my eyes set on a bigger prize. We hadn't been inside the gates for more than three minutes before spotting the commissary and we immediately made a beeline for it. Now, keep in mind that it is about 9:30am at this point, but no "standard appropriate mealtime" was going to stop us. There had been rumors spread about Taco Bell's line being about four hours long and trust me, I totally would believe that. The Japanese love to wait in line; their motto is, if it's a long line, then it must be good. Well much to my surprise, there was no obnoxiously long line and I walked right up and ordered my Crunchwrap Supreme no problem. I disappointed myself when I realized that I forgot my US money but all was well...Japanese Yen was just as acceptable.

We had decided before entering the base that this entire day would be dedicated to eating food. It would be a marathon of sorts of eating. I paced myself by only ordering the Crunchwrap Supreme, thinking that I would have plenty more options once we got to the tarmac. There was even word about an entire area with tents featuring food from every state. I had to assume that somewhere in those tents would be the mexican food I had been lusting after all day. But once we stepped onto the tarmac, all I could see was Japanese food, Japanese food, Japanese food...if you've been keeping up with entries, you know how much I love my Japanese matsuri food, but my little Californian heart was set on a big ol' burrito with a side of rice.

Our stand out group...
note the booths of Japanese food

While we walked up and down the tarmac, we realized that we stuck out like nobody's business. With two of us being blonde and one giant in the group, we were easy to find in the mass of dark hair and average height. After checking out the inside of planes, making jokes about the missile launchers on display and dancing (and of course, singing) to "Danger Zone" in honor of Tom Cruise, we set out in search of the mythical group of tents that would hopefully deliver us what we desired.

In the end, we found tents that were serving American dishes, but it was limited to hamburgers and hot dogs. We heard through the grapevine that one tent was serving tacos, so Kendal and I made it our business to put ourselves in that line. As we walked up, however, they had just sold out. Sad, sad day. I was consoled by reminding myself that we were having dinner at the mexican restaurant that was right outside the base (I was told not to immediately raise my standards for this place to those that I hold Californian mexican to...but it was promised to be oishii). But I was let down once more when we arrived at its front door at 3:30pm and the restaurant wouldn't open until 5:00pm. At that point, we were all beat and decided to ditch the idea of eating mexican food in Japan.

Clearly IMPRESSED!

I had cut my losses after finally returning home with a homemade chocolate cake from the Enlisted Spouse's club and a bag of Cheeto's for my partner-in-crime (who I later found out was in Misawa that same day...sneaky Yasuyo). And even though I didn't get my mexican food, I still had a delish Crunchwrap, enjoyed a beer (although it was a Japanese beer...), and spent some time with some great people. The decision has been made to return to the base another time when I'm free to really enjoy the Americana of the place and to make sure that we are there around 5:00pm.

Funny Story: Every Tuesday night, Jessica's English Conversation Class is offered for young adults and adults. The annual Jr High and High School trips are quickly approaching, so my classes have become inundated with students. Last night we practiced "getting to know you" conversation and one of the questions we practiced was "What's your favorite food?". Most of the students answered with "sushi" or "ramen", but one high school boy surprised me with, "My favorite food is..taco". After making sure he meant "taco" and not "tako" (which means octopus in Japanese), I burst out laughing in complete disbelief that he actually chose tacos for his fav food!

In other news...RENEE ARRIVES TONIGHT! As of right now, her plane will probably land in about an hour or so, which means she'll be arriving in Takko around 9:30 this evening. Plans include touring around Takko and the Aomori area, a trip down to Kamagaya to pick up our wonderful friend Kate, and then a weekend in Kyoto! Not sure if Japan is prepared to handle this, but we'll see. Stayed tuned :)

Next week: As soon as Renee flies her little behind right on out of here, we will be welcoming in the next wave of guests: the Gilroy Delegation! That's right, Greg, Alannah and Queenie Lauren will be here for the annual Garlic & Beef Festival and this town couldn't be more excited..as am I!