"all i want is oatmeal"

i love to try new things in a foreign country, especially food - hoping it's good. the easiest way i've found to make it a good experience is when locals recommend something. so a friend in tokyo took cindy and i to a restaurant that served okonomiyaki - japanese pancakes. nothing like american pancakes, although they're shaped in a similar way: noodles, eggs, meat, and topped with sweet/spicy sauce and fish flakes so thin they wave from the air conditioning. sweet enough for breakfast, salty enough for dinner. if someone hadn't taken me to the restaurant, i never would have known to try it. fantastic.

in comparison, living for a few weeks at yokota feels more american than the states could ever be. you won't find any international markets or restaurants at a US military base, but it's a nice change from some of the unique characteristics of the rest of asia: crazy designs for words, funky street smells, and unknown animal parts in some sort of stew. and living on base makes cindy's life somewhat managable, taking care of 4 kids. and it's only a short drive to the outer gate where you can experience some asian culture.

on mothers day, we were staying at a navy hotel in tokyo. we went to an extravagant brunch buffet with cindy and her kids; everything from eggs benedict to pizza; caviar and smoked salmon, pasta, eggs and sausage, lamb, turkey, soup and salad, sushi...but one of my nieces wasn't pleased, in spite of the enormous selection. surrounded by lavish, international, and fine foods, and all she wanted was oatmeal - which of course, they didn't have. but we were resourceful, and found things she would like and fixed up the things she didn't. a ham sandwich made from various ingredients around the room. crepes from the buffet - scraped off the blue sauce and added strawberries and cream from the fruit bar. a bowl of cereal made from marshmallow breakfast bars from the dessert table; we asked the waiter for a bowl of milk and broke apart the cereal pieces into a bowl. and of course, ice cream. so we successfully fed a child with a selective appetite for about $13. ironically, a bowl of oatmeal costs about a nickel. the desire to try new things may be an acquired taste.