Flat (Stanley) Ryan

My friend Brooke's daughter Ryan sent us her take on the classic 2nd grade project "Flat Stanley." Hers was, of course, named "Flat Ryan." She arrived to great fanfare here at the Wagoner house and we wanted to show Flat Ryan a great time so that maybe when she goes back to Brooke and Ryan's house in Charlotte, North Carolina, she will tell them what a great time she had here and the full dimensional Brooke and Ryan will come visit us!!!!  I will let Flat Ryan tell you about her visit here.

Hi everybody! I knew I was coming to visit the Wagoners in Japan, so imagine my surprise when they opened up the mail with me inside and I was at a US Post Office! How nice for our servicemembers and their families to be able to have a connection to home without any extra mailing costs!

My friend Olivia, who is in 2nd grade like Ryan, wanted to show me a little bit of the base. This is an old air plane that is at the front entrance of the base. You should have seen it at night! It had Christmas lights all over it and even a red nose like Rudolph!

Olivia goes to a really nice school called Matthew C Perry or MCPerry for short.

Her teacher's name is Mrs. Sellers and she's super nice! She said that Olivia's class is doing a "Flat Stanley" project after the holidays. I wonder if she will send her "Flat Olivia" to Charlotte!

Olivia is a Brownie and she had her "Rededication" Ceremony tonight. She bought me a friend "Flat Yoko" to bring home to Charlotte with me. Flat Yoko went on the rest of my journey around the base and Japan with me!

This was a billboard on the wall with lots of fellow flat people!

Audrey takes Japanese lessons out "in town" (code for off base/in Japan) at Kumon. There are American kids who take Japanese and math and Japanese kids who take English and math. Audrey is doing great and read a lot of signs for me when we were out and about in Japan!

These are the three Senseis (Japanese for "teachers") at Kumon. The owner is on the right, closest to Audrey and she speaks great English. The other Senseis are super, super nice and have helped Audrey so much! Olivia used to take Math and is taking some time off right now, but she is going to go back in the spring.

These are some of the Japanese students. Audrey said that one of them is on a very high level of English speaking and her current read aloud lesson is the Declaration of Independence.

There is a large library of Japanese books and a few English books. That anime' character that I am sitting by is all around Japan. Miss Sue doesn't know his name. Before I forget, let me tell you that I'm bringing back some old homework of Audrey's. It's so awesome that she is learning how to read and write Japanese!!!!

Audrey usually gets to go to 7-11 after Kumon. I was excited for a slurpee, but she says they don't sell them at 7-11's in Japan. She said there's other fun stuff though! I am bringing home some of their Christmas flyers for all of their goodies.

Audrey's favorite treat is some kind of ice cream. She says she gets something different every time. Sometimes she strikes out, but sometimes she finds a new one that she loves!

I am bringing home this gum. It is so delicious! It is like chicklets, but in different fruit flavors and it doesn't stick to your teeth. And the super funny part is that they include a small package of post-it notes so that you can wrap up your gum to throw it away. The Japanese are super big recyclers, but everything that can be burned ("combustibles) is burned, rather than put in a landfill. So they like you to wrap up your food scraps in paper so it is easier to burn.

The next day we went "Out in Japan" to see some super fun Japanese sights and interesting signs! Miss Sue tells me that the hardest thing about living in Japan is the language barrier because not only do they not speak Japanese (well, Audrey does a little), but they can't even sound out the words on the signs.

There are lots and lots of railroad crossings in Japan because so many people ride bicycles and use mass transit instead of cars. I'll show you how you can tell which way the train is coming when the bars are down later. Oh! And another thing! Even if the bars are not down, you have to stop and look both ways before crossing the train tracks.

We went to the Wagoners' favorite shop, the 100 yen, or Daiso. It was a beautiful day so Claire got to wear her favorite dress one last time! :)

There is usually a holiday display at this store right when you walk in the door. Gigi thought it was super funny to be taking pictures in a store!!!

I am bringing home those treats for everyone in Ryan's class.

Then we went for a drive. Miss Sue took this picture at a stoplight. The houses are not like American houses, but after your eyes get used to it, you see how beautiful they are. The yards are small, but perfectly landscaped. I thought Brooke, who I know was a landscape architecture major at Iowa State with Miss Sue, will really like it when she comes to visit!!! Sorry the picture was blurry, but the camera was focusing on me because I was the closest image. But I'm also so pretty, so it worked out perectly.

We came around a bend and I was able to see a glimpse of the Inland Sea. This is only about 5 minutes from base.

I wasn't feeling well, so I asked them to pull over when I saw this sign. It was a pediatrician's office, but after I got some fresh air, I felt better.

I wanted a drink before we got in the car and thought it was super funny that Tommy Lee Jones was on the vending machine!

We got to the Wagoners' favorite beach and I had to use the potty. Imagine my surprise when I saw what the potties looked like! The Wagoners' call them "squatty potties." Miss Sue said it's not hard once you get used to it, but the girls still like to use "Western potties" when one is available when they're out in town. They said to look for the "Handicapped" sign and that is a Western potty.

We went to the park by the beach first and there were some Japanese teenagers and the Wagoner girls asked if they would take a picture with me. They were very excited to do so!

Then Yoko and I went down the roller slide. She went faster than me!

The Wagoners' said that there are roller slides all around Japan and some are super, super long. They think that the longest one that they've been on is about a quarter mile long. This one was shorter and kind of rusted, but still fun.

WHEEEE!!!!

Audrey loves to climb trees and wanted to show me my first big view of the sea.

Here's another view. Claire took off for the beach!!!

This is Tsuzu Beach where they go and hunt for sea glass. Claire found the first pieces while we were taking pictures! Even a Japanese pottery piece!  Everyone found sea glass....well....Gigi handed Miss Sue a few rocks and sea shells. :)  I am bringing the sea glass we found that day back with me.

Yoko and I hung out on the sea wall while they hunted sea glass. It was a beautiful day!

Audrey wanted to do some jumping shots. :) Claire is jumping with me!

I'm not in this one, but Miss Sue liked the picture. I like it too!

I see why they love to go to Tsuzu (or as Claire calls it "Sea Glass") Beach. It was such a super fun day!

There's a tunnel that connects two parts of the beach. The Wagoner girls like to run through it and yell "ECHO! ECHO! ECHO!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Here's a fun sign that tells you what you can and can't do at Tsuzu Beach.

Luckily one of the "Do's" was take pictures!!!!!! :)

It was getting dark, but the girls wanted to go on the swings one last time. Gigi had Yoko and Claire had me.

But then Gigi wanted me too!!!!!!

I was hungry on the way home and saw this sign. Kentucky Fried Chicken!

Olivia took me to see "The Colonel."

So, on our way home, we were stopped by a railroad crossing.  It's hard to see, but if you click on this picture and look beneath the round light, you can see an arrow pointing to the left. That's how you tell that the train is coming from the right, traveling to the left! Funny, huh?

On our way into the gate, I was surprised to see a member of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) as well as a Marine. Apparently they have both at the gates so that they can help translate for each other because lots of Japanese work on the base as well. They were super nice to take a picture with me!

We got back to "Home Sweet Home" and I was pleased to see the Christmas decorations (the gummy Santa and tree) on the window that I sent, along with a whole bunch of other stuff, to the Wagoner girls. I had a GREAT VISIT and I hope that I will come back again WITH Brooke and Ryan....not through the mail, but in their suitcase!!!!!

WHEW! Wow! Sue again here. That was a super fun time with Flat Ryan! Thanks so much for choosing us for your project! I will mail Flat Ryan and the stuff she told you about (and probably a little bit more) tomorrow priority mail, so it should get there in about a week. Seriously, listen to Flat Ryan!!!!!! We would LOVE for you to come visit us!!!!!!!!! Love you guys! xoxo