**MOTW is Banana731**

What is your favorite thing about living in Japan?

What different countries have you traveled to?

If you watch tv, what are your favorite shows?

Do you do any crafts?

What do the Japanese think about the US and our president (just curious, you don't have to answer if you don't want)?

IMac or PC?

What were some jobs you had before children (or if you work now, what do you do)?

Okay, that is all I think!! Congrats on being MOTW!!!

I'm going to ask my usual questions because I LOVE these "awww" stories

How did you and DH meet?

What was your first thoughts of him? Did you not notice him? Did you think of him only in a platonic way? Did he pip your interest? Or did you just want to ravash him?

Will you tell us about your first date with him?

What was it about him that impressed you the most?

Wow thanks, I'm so flattered! :

During my reign as MOTW I promise to work hard for world peace...

Do you have a real name you want to share?

Sure, my name is Brianne

Native of Japan? If no, how'd you wind up there?

No, I'm from the US. My dh is in the Navy this is where they sent him, he really wanted us to come too!

Do you speak fluent Japanese?

Hardly, I get by well enough with what I affectionately call "Nihonglish." I am proud that I speak more Japanese than most military here(they don't really try to learn it, which is so lamely American, IMO) and dh is crazy good at learning languages, he speaks Japanese at home often so I'm trying to get better.

How did you pick your daughter's name? (which I love, btw)

Ah, yes. We had a difficult time with names. We had toyed around with the idea of naming her after an element, my dh is a science nerd and I am a photographer-so we came up with sliver, but we thought that maybe Silver would be a cooler name to us than to her, kwim. So we left that one behind. Fast foward to she's 2 days old and we don't have a name and I brilliantly come up with Sylvia, the rest is history.

How did you pick your mdc name?

Well Banana just happens to be the best name ever! And I am a huge x-phile, 731 is the name of one of the episodes.

Read any good books lately?

Do parenting books count as "good"? I just read Your Competent Child. I am in the middle of reading a robert kaplan book called, Surrender or Starve. It's about how famine in the horn of Africa during the 80's was actually a result of politics and purposeful action of the governments there-fascinating stuff.

Any food/drink you're really missing but can't have since you're pg?

No, I'm a bad pregnant person. Japanese pregnant women eat raw fish, why shouldn't I? :

Bananananana...

Which character from the Breakfast Club most resembles you in high school and why?

If you could, what new feature would you like to add to MDC?

What, in your opinion, is the best/most valuable parenting, pregnancy, or childbirth book?

If you could choose to live forever, would you want to? Why or why not?

Did you do anything when you were a child/adolescent that you enjoyed and don't regret but don't want your children to do? If so, will you tell them about it? Why or why not. (optional: tell us what you did)

Also, since I now know that you are a photographer, I am curious about which photographers you find inspiring.

I think that is all.

What is your favorite thing about living in Japan?

The food is great and the island is beautiful! But the the best thing is that people here are so friendly. They are huge on customer service, when you walk into ANY store everyone yells, "WELCOME"(in Japanese) and "THANK YOU AND GOODBYE"(in Japanese as you leave. How can I ever go back to surly teens at the mall again?

What different countries have you traveled to?
Sadly, my own, and this one. We plan on going to China and New Zealand while we are here, though.

If you watch tv, what are your favorite shows?
I LOVE lost and house. We like American Idol, too : . We get TV shows behind you here, and we don't get all the new ones. They just started showing this one called Pirate Master, I watched 10 min of it and I almost peed in my pants! Is that actually popular there?

Do you do any crafts?
I dabble. I can crochet and cross stich, I am trying to teach myself to knit, it's hard!

What do the Japanese think about the US and our president (just curious, you don't have to answer if you don't want)?

I don't know what the people here think of him. People do protest outside of the bases occasionally, because of the war, but they are very small groups. I'll ask some of the people I know for you.

IMac or PC?

PC

What were some jobs you had before children (or if you work now, what do you do)?

Well I worked lots of menial ones, pizza, cocktail waitress, starbucks, healthfood store cafe. I was a bookstore manager for a couple of years, I liked that one quite a bit. The best was when I was in college, I was a student aide in the photo lab.

Okay, that is all I think!! Congrats on being MOTW!!!

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Well, I knew I liked you for a reason. I was one of the biggest x-phile nerds EVER. I even faked an English accent at one of the Xpo's, so I could get the "special" ticket and meet Gillian Anderson. Oh yes.

How many times have you gone skinny dipping?

Who was your first kiss and how old were you?

What do you miss most from the US?

Is your daughter fluent in Japanese?

If you could pick any actress to play your life story, who would it be and why?

Favorite comedian?

What was the hardest thing to adjust to when you moved to Japan?

have you been to the studio ghibli museum?

That's the studio that makes those Anime's like Spirited Away, right? We live about 500 miles from the mainland ,we haven't had the opportunity to travel there yet.

what was your favorite book as a child?
I loved those "choose your own adventure books", they are so cool! Also the Chronicles of Narnia, I read them again still as an adult occasionally, my favorite is Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

do you have a favorite book now?

Kite Runner is the book I recommend most now, but I like so many books it's hard to pick a favorite as a grown up!

do you have any pets?

I have a long-haired cat named Ningo, and a turtle, named Turtle(thanks Sylvia!)

what super hero power would you want?

The power to make others do what I say.Don't worry, I'd only use my power for good.

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yup thats it. i plan to go there someday but not for like may years. i am a huge fan of the movies they make and have most of them on dvd including some not sold in the united states (got imports and a region free dvd player)

i have a friend going there this summer i am hoping he brings me back something cool!

How did you and DH meet?

We met through an acquaintance in high school. Eeek!

What was your first thoughts of him? Did you not notice him? Did you think of him only in a platonic way? Did he pip your interest? Or did you just want to ravash him?

I thought he was very cute and witty and charming, but the person who introduced us told me that he was "very religious", to turn me off of him because the person who introduced us had a thing for me(apparently.) So I was cautious, since like most teenagers I didn't want to hang out with someone who only talked about God. Well, it turned out that our friend was full of it. DH was not a zealot, just a person with a faith(what a lame thing to come up with though, right?)

Will you tell us about your first date with him?

We had a picnic in his front yard, it was very sweet, He made me Matzo Ball soup.

What was it about him that impressed you the most?

He treated me like a goddess, I was 16, how could I not be impressed?

Hmmm, everyone is coming up with good q's, I'm not feeling very creative.

How long will you be in Japan?

So, will the new baby have dual citizenship? (I'm guessing probably not because you're on an American base?)

Are you going to VBAC? (I have a friend who VBAC'ed on that base.)

Has your dh ever considered a station in beautiful Yuma, AZ? :

What does he do in the Navy? Is he career? Do you like being a military wife?

Do you have any photos of you & your family you would like to share?

http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z.../The%20family/

These are all pics(except Ningo) from the Churaumi Aquarium. It's the 2nd largest aquarium in the world.

What causes are you passionate about?

Birth, Breastfeeding, Human and Civil rights. World Health. Those are the big ones for me.

What top charities would you donate to if you won a bazillion dollars?

That's a tough one. I love that there are so many great charities with huge donation coffers out there for major problems, like AIDS in Sub-Sharan Africa. But I think that there are problems with throwing huge amounts of money at the "big" social issues, without addressing underlying issues like basic health care and poverty. These types of infrastructure problems can only be solved internally by a country's government, and that stuff is important for any real lasting change. I like donating to charities that do specific things, like provide mosquito nets in Malaria hot spots, or food banks in the US. But I'd definitely have to hit up the big ones like Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders,or the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and of course Childbirth Connection and LLL!

You know what would be really bad a*%? To start my own charity that helped pay for the cost international and Domestic adoptions, so that people that are not wealthy, but have love and homes to give children would be able to so without declaring bankruptcy. That would be awesome!

What kind of maternity leave & breastfeeding laws does Japan have?

For BF, as far as I know, they advocate it, but nowhere near as much as the US does with programs.(I know that doesn't say much!). I think it's only because they don't have to. LLL is huge in Japan, huge groups with lots of money and members all over the place. Most women here nurse, not often in public, but I think that's a modesty issue for moms. There are little nursing rooms in almost every store. LLL leaders that have lived here have told me, they have never gotten anything but smiles while nursing in public, though, even while nursing toddlers. You rarely see a baby being bottle-fed here.

I don't know much about maternity leave here, but I will ask my neighbor and get back to you.

I don't have any good Q's, as usual, but am sitting back and enjoying listening to the convo.

Which character from the Breakfast Club most resembles you in high school and why?

hmm, I hung out with the skaters, so maybe Judd Nelson's character, but my parents didn't give me cigarettes for Xmas or smack me around.

If you could, what new feature would you like to add to MDC?
how about a tab I could press that would make chocolate come out my computer, or I would make it so you could access all the smilies without clicking on the more button. I'm easy to please.

What, in your opinion, is the best/most valuable parenting, pregnancy, or childbirth book?

For me personally, The Birth Partner, by Penny Simkin, but I would say Ina May's Guide or Henci Goer's Guide for pregnant mamas. Each brings something different, but equally important to the party, so I can't say one over the other.

If you could choose to live forever, would you want to? Why or why not?
It would be cool to find out if there are aliens out there, but no way. It would be lonely and sad after a while, and you have make room for new people who come into the world.

Did you do anything when you were a child/adolescent that you enjoyed and don't regret but don't want your children to do? If so, will you tell them about it? Why or why not. (optional: tell us what you did)

The things I enjoyed I don't have any problems with my daughter experiencing. I think you should have all kinds of experiences in life so you never feel like you missed out.

Also, since I now know that you are a phorapher, I am curious about which photographers you find inspiring.

I love Sally Mann's early work. I love Gregory Crewdson too. I like totally creating the photograph in the way that you envision it, creating the work itself and not just the photo.

I think that is all.

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Sweet!