Day in Review and More Pics

Konichiwa!

So yesterday was an eventful day and I feel like I got a lot accomplished. First, I had my dr. appointment where I got to meet my new doctor.  I was very anxious about this because not only will this guy be my Family Practice Physician (FPP) , he also acts as my OBGYN since I am not "high risk"... and, you guessed it, could be delivering the baby as well.  Apparently they do it all here. I was not at all comfortable with the idea of a FPP doing my prenatal care and/or delivering my baby, but as soon as I met him I liked him.  He entered the room saying, "You can't possibly be 24 weeks pregnant, you're much too small - isn't this your second child?"  :)  I liked him instantly!  Not just because of that, but he also did things other OB's hadn't in the past, like, A) Actually READ my chart in advance and know my history so I don't have to answer the same questions, B) Asked good questions that were not on my chart, and C) Had an actual bedside manner.  He lives right down the street from us and just moved here himself so we joked about our new "cinder block houses."

After lunch and naptime I took Wyatt to the 100 Yen store (in the picture on the left).  I stole this picture off the internet, but the store looks the same, only smaller.  It was very Japanese.  People kept talking to me in Japanese and I would just nod or say "Sumimasen" (I'm sorry)...

Anyway, this is the equivalent to the Dollar Store in the States, but WAY better.  I had so many things on my list to buy and they had every single one of them!  Including a curtain rod and little ruffly curtain thing for my kitchen!  There's a picture below of the kitchen and my new curtain in the corner. The kitchen is really small, but funcitonal and I like it!  Excited to get some plants in there, too.

The 100 Yen store is a little misleading, though. 100 Yen is roughly 1 US Dollar, except that the exchange rate right now is like 89 cents to the 100 Yen.  And then there is the fact that things in the store aren't actually 100 Yen, as the name indicates.  They are actually 105 Yen.  ???  So really you are paying about $1.20 for each item.  But whatever. It's still a great store!

And here is another picture that I really like. Jen and I went on a walk the other day.  If you go out the front gate of the base and cross the street and walk just 2-3 blocks, look what awaits!

Isn't it pretty??  It has been a gorgeous week since Monday, when it finally stopped raining!

Also, here is a picture of our backyard.  Many of you have been asking for more pics of the house, and I like this view.  We have a very big backyard but there is a busy road right in back of it which can sometimes be loud.  There are these crazy Japanese motorcycles they have here that are very, very loud and there are a lot of police/ambulance sirens as well.  But all in all, it is very nice and has room for our patio set when it arrives.  There is also a storage shed area to the left, which is creating the shadow you see. That will be perfect for our bikes and lawnmower.

Our New Home...

Here is a picture of our new home on Camp Lester.  Stop Laughing!!

I realize it is... a little different than our last few homes.  But it may help if I explain that housing on Okinawa has been built to withstand the many typhoons that come through this tropical paradise.  So, homes here are primarily built out of concrete, which doesn't exactly lend itself to curb appeal.

It needs a little "sprucing up."  A little TLC, if you will.  But overall I think it will fit the needs of our family while we are here.  I have big plans for flowers and plants in the front to make it look pretty, as well as seasonal decorations. 

This is the dining room... I am standing in the living room taking the picture.  This space has come a long way since Thursday.  We (read: Tommy) painted the living room over the weekend - the color is more of a dark beige and less of a poop color than what the picture looks like.  Sorry, the lighting was a little off on the camera!  We also hung matching curtains (one is pictured here... the ones in the living room aren't pictured) and my sister-in-law, Christy, brought us this beautiful wall hanging from India, as well as the place mats on the buffet. 

On Saturday my wonderful friend Jen took me to this hole-in-the-wall (literally) shop where you can pick your own fresh flower stems and make your own bouquet.  I only paid 500 Yen for this bouquet!  That's a little over $5.00 in American money!

We are looking forward to getting our "big" shipment of household goods in a couple weeks so that we can add some more personal touches.  I'll post more pics later... until then, feel free to post your comments on how I can spruce things up in here!

The Story of the Naked

Tommy's Sweet New Ride... The Naked!

I mentioned in my last post that Tommy had decided on a '98 Daihatsu Storia.  True, except that he had first seen this 2000 Daihatsu Naked (yes, that's the actual name of the car!) and fallen in love with it. Except the salesman told him the engine was super small... like 56 cc's or something.  In Japan, they would put this in the Yellow (read: slow) Class category, which requires a special license plate.  Which, on an island that doesn't have a speed limit above 60 KILOMETERS, probably isn't a big deal, but I don't speak engine.  All I know is, Tommy thought he should get something more practical since we have #2 on the way. 

We looked and looked, but nothing else caught his eye.  He eventually settled on the Storia and we filled out the paperwork to buy our cars.

Except all weekend, he kept talking about how cool the Naked was.  He looked it up online, and it is a concept car dubbed an "urban assault vehicle."  Right then and there, I knew he wanted this car.  He kept holding out though, telling me the Storia was fine, and it was no big deal... all the while, still talking about how great the Naked was!

Over the weekend we went to the ATM 13 times (no joke) to pull out the money for our cars, which we were supposed to bring in today.  Here's the stack of cash, all in $20 bills!

Today we went in and the Naked was still there, calling his name.  I kept telling him to buy it, that it wasn't too late to change his mind. Finally he went and talked to the salesman. I could see the wheels turning in his head.  Finally he decided to buy it, and I'm so glad he did - he is so excited about his Urban Assault Vehicle!  And it's way more fun than the boring Storia. What other time in our lives will be able to buy something so impractical, but fun? Plus... who can resist a car named The Naked?!?

My Sweet New Ride

Today we bought our two cars!  There are about 10 bases on Okinawa, and Tommy works on one and we live on another, so we had to buy two.  There are very few new cars on the island - not that we would buy new - but just to put things in perspective for you.  The used car lots get their cars from mainland Japan and sell them here on the island.  Some are "normal" looking, but most are what I would call "island cars." They are pretty funky looking!  The more Westernized cars seem to have a higher markup from what I could tell, so it's in your best interest to buy Japanese style. 

Here's my Sweet New Ride!  It's a 2000 Mitsubishi SRS. I would liken it to a small SUV/minivan crossover.  The interior is very roomy and nice, but obviously the Gold color leaves a bit to be desired! :) I'm hoping it drives ok.  You don't get to test drive them. They have 300 cars crammed in this teeny tiny lot, so it's impossible to move them around.  But it comes with a current Japenese Car Inspection (way more stringent than anything in the States) and a one-year warranty.  Any suggestions for naming her? 

Sweet, huh?

Tommy bought a little blue 4-door '98 Daihatsu Storia.  It's pretty cute but it was all the way at the other end of the lot and it was 92 degrees out, so I ddin't go back for a picture!

Driving... to He** and Back!

Here is the first of what I assume will be many "stories" about my adjustment (or lack thereof) to Japan.  This is the tale of my first driving experience in Japan.


By now you all know that I passed my driving test and was given Professional Driving Status.  That is to say, they consider ALL Americans to be Professional Drivers.  What this actually means is that you are basically at fault for any and all accidents that would occur with a Japanese National. So what seems at first to be an honorable title is really... not so much so.

Anyway. I digress.  So this morning Tommy went to go file the claim for the approximately $7,000 the Marine Corps owes us for our move.  Wyatt and I stayed here and we were to meet him and our Sponsor here at 9:30 to go to the housing office to finalize our housing offer.

It stopped raining for about 90 seconds so I took Wyatt out to the playground.  It has rained every day since we got here!!  Our Sponsor calls me and tells me Tommy is hung up still doing paperwork but that he is going to take me to Kadena Air Force Base so I can do the housing stuff.  Fine, no problem.  So we load up in the car, but I am getting nervous because it is already 9:45 a.m. and the appointment is at 10 a.m.  What happens next is the sort of thing that can only happen to me.

Subsequent timeline of events, with internal dialogue in italics.

9:45 a.m.Sponsor decides we should take the Expressway to Kadena. 

9:47 a.m. Sponsor gets lost trying to find the Expressway and we hit a Dead End road. Stress level: Yellow.

9:51 a.m. Sponsor finds an alternate route to Expressway

9:56 a.m. Sponsor gets off the Expressway and pays 200 Yen toll.  Really? Was that worth it?

9:59 a.m. Sponsor attempts to enter Kadena AF Base. I notice Sponsor does not have his Military ID but instead has only his Stateside Drivers License and Gold Card (Internal document with rank).  I ask him about it and he tells me he forgot his Military ID at Camp Futenma in his camis.

Umm.... how in the Lord's name are we supposed to get on the Air Force Base without your ID?!?! I start to majorly freak out.  The housing office is on the other side of the base and we are already going to be late!  Don't worry, he tells me, piece of cake.  What kind of cake are YOU eating? Stress Level: Orange.

10:02 a.m. Air Force man will not let us through the gate and tells Sponsor he must go get a visitor's pass to enter the base.  Sponsor then tells Airman that I will be driving the car and shows him my Military ID and ONE DAY OLD Japense Drivers License. 

I'm sorry... did you just tell this Airman that I AM DRIVING this vehicle?!?!? Panic seizes me but I try to remain calm.  Airman tells Sponsor that he is not allowed on base at all without his military ID.

I'm sorry... did you just tell me that I have to drive ALONE with my TWO YEAR OLD SON across base and find the housing office?????  Stress level: RED

10:07 a.m. Sponsor pulls over to the side of the road and hops out. Gives me directions that consist of "turn left at Air Squadron 234 and right at III MEF 4234 Wing" and tells me he'll wait there.

Excuse me????  I look at him like he has totally lost his mind. Which he has.  I have never driven in Japan.  Or in any country that drives on the lefthand side of the road. Ever. The steering wheel is even on the other side of the car!  This isn't even our Sponsor's car, he has borrowed it from someone I have never even met before. Have I mentioned I am not a good driver, even in the States?!?!

For the love of all things holy. I have no choice. I am totally late and I hate being late, and we have to get housing done today. 

10:09 a.m. I get in the drivers side and signal to turn out of the parking lot.  Except the signal doesn't turn on, the windshield wipers do. On full blast. Wipe, wipe, wipe, going like 100 wipes an hour.  Stop it!  I am so confused, but it finally dawns on me that the windshield wipers are where the turn signal would be on an American car.  I can't figure out how to turn them off, and I for sure can't figure out whether I am supposed to turn the signal up or down to signal a left turn!  Stress level: BRIGHT RED

10:11 a.m. I finally get the wipers/signal business straight and I turn left out of the lot.  Turning left is easy here, but turning right is like a Left turn in the States.  Keep in mind that this base is HUGE.  The road I am on is 5 lanes across (two in each direction and a turn lane) I start driving and relax a little bit, but then my cell phone goes off.  It's against Japanese and U.S. laws to talk while driving, but I'm worried it's Sponsor and that I have already messed up so I signal to pull into this parking lot to look.  Wipe, wipe, wipe.  It's only Tommy so I ignore it.  Very large mistake.

10:17 & 10:20 a.m. I realize I am very lost.  I followed his directions to a T but there is no Housing Office. I pull over and call him.  Twice. Eventually I ignore his directions and go the opposite way and I find the Housing Office.  Every time I turn on the turn signal the wipers go off.  Wipe, wipe, wipe.

10:27 a.m. I roll into the housing office parking lot and load up the backpack of paperwork, 2-year old, sippy cup, Goldfish crackers, and purse.  I promptly drop my purse and everything spills out of it in the lot.  Sweet.

10:31 a.m. I approach the (male) receptionist.  I explain that our sponsor was late and apologize 14 times. Then he looks at the appointment sheet and tells me, It looks like Kumi called your husband and rescheduled the meeting for 2 p.m. today.

Life stopped.  My heart stopped. Excuse me?

He repeats the same thing again. I remember the cell phone call I ignored. My eyes fill with tears.

He takes one look at me and says, "I'll try to see what I can do. It will be okay."

Fortunately, they got another counselor to meet with me and everything with the appointment turned out fine.  I made my way out of Kadena AF Base - I still got lost again, but I eventually made it.  And I only hit one curb, to which Wyatt said, "Oh, gosh.  Driving all done, mommy?"

We can only hope so, son. We can only hope so.

Domo Arrigatou!

This means "thank you" in Japanese.  Actually, there's a third word, Goziamu, or something, that goes with it, but I have no idea how to spell it, so I left that off.  Anyway, this will be the post of what I am THANKFUL for here as we wrap up our first week on Okinawa.  And what a week it has been!

First, I am ridiculously thankful for our friend Jen and our sponsor, Josh and his wife Kayla.  They bought stuff for us prior to arrival. They picked us up at the airport. They hauled us around in their cars.  They helped me get the cats to the kennel\ and the vet. They have made us breakfast, taken us to buy food, and gone out to dinner with us.  They've babysat our kid and wiped my tears when the housing fiasco came down (read on).

Here are some pictures of us last night with my friend Jen at a local Sushi restuarant. We even sat at the tables with the traditional Japenese-style seating with mats on the floor.  Yummy!

Second, I am thankful that today we received our Japanese driver's licenses!  We both passed the test and are now considered Professional Drivers by Japanese standards.  Ha!  If any of you know me, you know that is FAR from the truth :)  Tommy thinks I should take the 8-hour remedial driving course on Saturday....  We hope to purchase our cars this weekend sometime.

Third, I am thankful that while it was a very, very stressful proccess, I think we have finally found a place to live.  It has been a long 24 hours.  We received a call yesterday while we were at our Orientation that they had a housing offer for us (we are required to live on base right now - a subject for a later post).  After some technical difficulties getting through to them, we learned that they had offered us two places, but both were in Towers Units (something we did not want - been there, done that in college) and - the
KICKER - did not allow pets.

Yes, you read that correctly.  Neither offer was pet friendly.  So my cats, who I paid about $2,000 to get here and sweated, swore, and cried over getting them on the plane, and who have been sitting across the island in a 3x3' kennel for the past week, were not going to be able to live with us.

I immediately started bawling. It was horrible. I was so upet. And I was in the middle of this Newcomer's Orientation crying my eyes out.

Of course all this happened at the close of business, so we had to wait until this morning to do anything about it.  It was a long night. Tommy went to the housing office in person to talk to Kokomo, or whatever her name was, while I was taking my driving test.  She offered us some Tier II (read: soon-to-be-torn-down) multiplex units that were pet friendly and gave him the keys so we could go look at them.

Again, I started bawling.  I do not want to live in housing that is going to be torn down in a year!!!!

I was so upset.

We decided that Josh (sponsor) and I would go look at them while Tommy took his driving test.  I felt so bad for Josh.  Here I am sitting in his car crying with my 2-year old kid and he has to drive me around to all these places that I really do not want to go to.

Fortunately, before we ever went into the first place, we ran into a neighbor there who gave me the 411 on the cul-de-sac.  He put things in perspective for me by giving me the high and low points. Ultimately, I decided to give it a chance, and I am actually happy to report that the first place had been spruced up (I won't go so far as renovated) quite a bit.  The butt-ugly hospital-tile floors in the other two places had been replaced with hardwood floor (or laminate) that was very nice, and all the appliances had been replaced with new or near-new ones.  The yard was nice and there is a great playground very close to the place.  The only real problem is that it only has one very, very small full bath.  With the soon-to-be second addition to our family, this will be very tight given the toddler toys, the infant bath, etc. that will be crammed in there.  But, it will do.  I felt much better after that, especially since the other two units were - well, let's just say... not updated like this one :)

So, I think we've found housing.  Tommy is doing some unit check-in things right now while I stay here with Wyatt, who is napping.  Then we'll move on with that process and hopefully get to move in on Monday or thereabouts.

Wish us luck!!

Finally, Some Pictures!

This morning Jen picked us up and we went over to one of the beaches that is close by so Wyatt could burn off some energy.  The beach has a really cool Pirate Ship playground!  Oh, and it just happens to be on the East China Sea!  We are looking forward to heading up north soon to see the "prettier" beaches... although this one was pretty nice, I must say!

This is my ever-so-helpful friend Jen, who has been a lifesaver for us! She helped us out so much before we got here and of course since our arrival!  We are off to get pedicures later this afternoon :)

Time/Weather in Okinawa

Many of you have been asking me some basic questions about time change and weather so I figured I would post some of that info here.

Time Change - In general, if it is night in the States, it is daytime the next day here in Japan.  We are about a 1/2 day ahead of the States. I posted some world clocks at the bottom of the blog if you are thinking of calling. From Central time, you add 14 hours and from Eastern time, you add 13 hours, although that will change a bit once Daylight Savings Time changes for you all because we don't observe that in Japan.

Weather - Japan follows the same weather pattern as Iowa or Virginia in terms of the seasons, although in general it is warmer and more humid on Okinawa.  We are on the same latitude as Hawaii if that helps you out any.  It is fall here but ranges from 75-88-ish degrees right now. It was hot and humid the day we landed but yesterday cooler and less humid.  But my ankles are still ridiculously swollen!!  I've heard "winter" is mild - obviously no snow - but 50s/60s the norm.  I can handle that.  Summer is very, very humid (think Iowa/Virginia on crack) from about May-September.  Like, you don't leave your house humid. Glad the baby is due in February. :)

We woke up at 3:30 today so I guess changing our schedule around will be a little harder than I initially thought, but we're making progress.  This morning we are going out to breakfast with our sponsor family from Tommy's unit and then going to get our Japanese cell phones activated.  Some people from his unit that just moved back to the States left their phones for us so we just have to buy the monthly phone now.  Not that I know anyone I would actually call in Japan yet, but Tommy is very excited about getting these and they are relatively inexpensive compared to the States, so whatever. It'll come in handy when I'm lost.

This coming week when the base opens on Tuesday we have to attend newcomer's orientation, housing orientation, get our medical stuff straight, take our driving test, buy our cars, etc. Tommy also has more stuff to do for work in terms of checking in. After seeing some of the housing yesterday I am just anxious to get our housing offer and get our stuff and get moved in.  Wish us luck!

I will try to post some pictures of Okinawa soon!

We've Arrived!

Sorry for the delay in updating.  Let's just say I wasn't really... in the mood... to post yesterday when we arrived :)   Everything went really well and I have no complaints whatsoever about the flights, etc, but I hit a wall yesterday afternoon and was totally exhausted. However, after a good night's sleep and a nice hot shower, all is well again.

To recap, we toured Seattle on Wednesday before leaving for our flight and got to see the Space Needle, the Waterfront area, the world-famous Pike Place Market, etc.  It was really fun. Seattle seems to be a great city - I'd love to go back and spend a few days there sometime!

Wednesday night we went to SeaTac airport and checked in for our flight to Japan.  Seems there was a typhoon coming off Mainland Japan, though, so they changed our route a bit and ended up flying us into Anchorage, Alaska (now I can say I've been to Alaska!  I was sad I did not get to see Sarah Palin, though. )  and then onto Yokota, Japan (mainland Japan).We had a pretty hard time getting Wyatt off the plane because he fell asleep about 30 minutes before landing... so that was fun when he woke up.   Let's just say that is the biggest tantrum he's ever thrown in public.  Good times!

I got to take the cats out of their carriers for a few minutes in Yokota.  By that time they had been in there for nearly 20 hours, so they needed a stretch.  They flew under our seats so their carriers are SMALL. Then we went on to Okinawa, Japan, the island we'll be living on for the next 3 years or so.  By this point we were pretty much delirious, so I don't actually remember a whole lot about this part except that I was able to get the cats through Quarantine with little effort (I have to take them in on Tuesday to get their paperwork checked, etc., so it's not over with yet) and we eventually managed to get all our bags.

There was quite the welcome crew waiting for us when we arrived!  My friend Jen was there to great us, who was really the only person I was interested in seeing, but Tommy's sponsor from his unit was there as well and showed up with two of the other 2nd Lieutenants that Tommy went to school with in 29 Palms this summer.  I don't remember even really talking to them although I know there was some sort of conversation!

They loaded up the cars and took Tommy to check in to his unit, while Jen took me and the cats to Karing Kennels, where we have to board them until we get housing since there are no pets allowed where we are staying in temporary lodging.  Then we checked into the Westpac, which is like a nice motel on base where we'll be living for about wo weeks until we move into housing.  By this point Wyatt was totally exhausted, so he went to sleep at about 3:30 p.m. Japan time and didn't wake up until 3:30 a.m.!

Tommy and I weren't much further behind Wyatt. I was asleep by 6:30 p.m. but woke up at 2:30 a.m. and have been up since. I think we'll get our sleep schedule straight tonight though and should be all set after that!

Today we spent the day with Jen. She took me to visit the cats, to the commissary for a few food items (although his unit bought us a lot of great food... yummy!), and we ordered in Indian food.  It was great to catch up with her and see her house, meet her neighbors, and see some different types of base housing!

That's it for now.  Will post more later - we have a busy week ahead!

Leaving... On a Jet Plane....

Thought you might get a good laugh out of this picture.  This is us in front of the Richmond International Airport, getting ready to fly to Seattle for the first leg of our trip!  We thought we were traveling light but it is amazing how much stuff you accumulate (or that the movers forgot to pack)!

We had:
6 checked bags of luggage
5 carry-on bags (one for each of us, plus our two laptops)
2 cats (they are in the bags on the stroller- you can see Tenga looking out of the pink one!)
1 stroller
1 car seat + the roller for it, which we ended up having to take off several times
1 husband
1 2-year old
....and a growing baby in the belly!

We all made it safely, but you can imagine the cluster that was getting through check-in and, especially security, when they made me take the cats out of the carriers and walk them through the metal detector!!!

But that is a story for another time.  Let's just say that we were definitely "those people." 

But tonight will be the real test, when we check in for our international flight and fly... for nearly 20 hours.... to Japan!

Wish us luck!!