It's like a huge, idyllic small town. Everybody knows everyone else, or at least knows someone who does. The kids all play together. And for the most part people are happy to help each other.
We have schools and parks, a grocery store and a library, churches and playgrounds. We even have an annual town festival, you know, those mini fairs towns host to get people to come spend money and see what the town has to offer. Ours is called Friendship Day.
And yet, despite the cotton candy, carnival games and non-profit organization fund raising booths, Friendship Day reminded me why this base is unlike any small town in the world.
At ten o'clock in the morning we open the gates up to any Japanese citizen who wants to come on base, buy our tee-shirts and sample our pizza. By noon, walking from the Red Cross fundraising booth to the post office was like negotiating an obstacle course built of foreign nationals. The closest thing most Maine town festivals get to foreign nationals is a family of Canadians gone south for a vacation.
Later in the evening, the girls and I went to see one of the many outdoor concerts held throughout the day. Looking around, we saw dozens of women in beautiful yukata, light cotton kimonos.
The concert was a Kiss cover band based out of Tokyo. I saw Kiss, and they were Japanese. Idyllic small town? Maybe, but this is not Leave it to Beaver. I could try to describe them. But I think this video is more eloquent than I. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc7zw8FhdCY
We ended the day as all festivals should end, with fireworks. And even those reminded me I wasn't in Kansas anymore. The show lasted half an hour and included fireworks shaped like cubes, fish, smiley faces and Hello Kitty.
This photo borrowed from my friend Amy. Check her out. Buy her stuff. She'd be pretty awesome even if she wasn't my friend. http://amyarvinphotography.smugmug.com/.
I leave you today with a quote from that expert on neighbors Mr. [Fred] Rogers, "If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person."
This photo borrowed from my friend Amy. Check her out. Buy her stuff. She'd be pretty awesome even if she wasn't my friend. http://amyarvinphotography.smugmug.com/.
I leave you today with a quote from that expert on neighbors Mr. [Fred] Rogers, "If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person."
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