Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 12)

The weekend was fast approaching, and with it the Friendship Festival. Every year Yokota Air Base opens their gates to the residents of Fussa, Japan to visit the Flightline, see the planes, listen to music, eat food and visit with the Americans. It is very similar to the County Fair in America except that it includes bombers and fighter jets. It was another incredibly hot and humid day, but bright and sunny. We parked a ways away from the festival area and then strolled down the street until we reached the hangar that was the entrance to the festivities. Upon entering the small backdoor of the hangar we were greeted by an American band playing top forty music. It was really crowded and really loud, but everyone was friendly and having a good time. We slowly made our way through the hangar and exited the large opening which brought us to the food and vendor area. Lots of booths offering various types of food and souvenir trinkets. The Sons of Hawaii had a booth selling shirts including ones autographed by Akebono, the first non-Japanese person in Sumo Wrestling to be elevated to yokozuna (Grand Champion). Akebono is from Hawaii and at the time would spend a lot of time at the Base Pool. Further down the flightline there were some really awsome tricked out muscle cars from the car club on base, and beyond that a Japanese Rock Band. They were really pretty good. Let's see...top 40 at one end of the festival and Japanese Rock at the other end. The lead singer was pretty entertaining as he would say something between songs and the crowd (that was predominately Japanese) would burst into laughter.

Then there were the planes. American and Japanese, new and old. FA-18's and even two F-22's. The Japanese visitors would crowd near the planes so that they could get their pictures taken by family with the planes in the background. I did too. Adam was very thorough at making sure that he took lots of pictures of me in front of the planes and helicopters. Interesting observation about the Japanese: they love to raise their hands with two fingers extended in the traditional "peace" sign when they would get their pictures taken. The Airforce Pilots would stand next to their planes and helicopters and proudly show off their "rides". They also weren't shy about waving the young Japanese women closer to the planes so that they could pose with them for pictures, hands extended in a "peace" sign in just about every one, the male pilots grinning as they got to pose with the attractive Japanese women.

The Yokota Fire Department also had their Aid Truck out for display as well, putting small children on top for pictures and spraying water over the crowd at random times. It felt good due to the extreme heat, but I was busy trying to protect my camera which became difficult to do as there was no warning for when they were going to spray the crowd and suddenly there would be a breeze that would waft the mists of water right into me.

I inquired about the Japanese that were there and Adam told me that they loved to look at the planes and that during a normal day you could find Japanese Photographers peeking over the fence as the planes would come and go to get pictures. A while later we were approached by an older Japanese fellow with a camera and a smile who indicated that he asking if it would be okay if he could take a picture of Abigail enjoying the Friendship Festival.

All in all a very pleasant time. The only disconcerting experience was when I had a Funnel Cake for the first time. The Funnel Cake was wonderful, but as I attempted to move it towards my mouth I discovered that I couldn't do it. I tried several times without success. I didn't have use or control of my right hand. I couldn't even move my wrist. Okay. Obviously I needed to come up with an immediate solution, otherwise I would be carrying this cake around with me the rest of the evening. Okay. Shift to the left hand. Not ideal, but it would work for now. I realized that it was my Multiple Sclerosis, and that I was experiencing a relapse. I hadn't experienced a real relapse in about ten years, but extreme temperatures don't make for a happy MS experience. That is one of the reasons that I got rid of our Spa at home. Hot Tubs are bad for me. After finishing the Funnel Cake, we decided to head back to the Apartment. On the way back to the car, we saw a fireworks display in the distance and then continued our walk. It was then that I found that I had also lost some mobility in my right foot. Trying to walk, I at times felt like Lon Cheney Jr as the Mummy...walk with the left foot. The right foot would drag behind. It was very exhausting and a bit stressful, but we finally made it to the car.

Back at the apartment I dragged myself up the outer stairwell to reach Adam and Megan's door. I was really relieved to be back and able to relax. I sat down to chat with some friends back in the states on Facebook and discovered that I was unable to type with my right hand either. I hoped that when I returned to Washington State that the cooler temperatures would help bring my body some relief from the exacerbations that the MS had thrown my way. Time would tell.