We found the mall?!

Yesterday we left our hotel (our 10 days of free lodging from the government was up) so we moved in with our friends to their townhouse until our house is available. So after we settled in, we went to this neat little cafe' by their house which is directly by the seawall! The seawall is literally a wall that is next to the sea. The military is constantly going out to paint it, but the next day there will be tons of new grafatti. The weather was really beautiful.... 77 degrees and sunny! Such a beautiful island!




The seawall. What an amazing view!


Yay for wearing tank-tops and flip-flops in February!



Yes, it says gum syrup. It's their form of sweetner for teas. It's really thick but it does the trick! I thought it was pretty neat.


After the cafe' we went to drop my car off to get fixed. It seems like a few years ago someone put really cheap tint on the back window and it has since bubbled up and it made it impossible to see out the rearview window. A little dangerous! So I brought it in and who knew it was so complicated to remove. Anyway, four hours and 10,000yen $100) later it was all fixed. In the mean time we had tons of time to kill so we ventured out to find Jusco, which is like a mall,/department store. VERY different from in the states, but was cool to walk around and explore. I couldn't figure out the store though. Instead of being separate stores with walls, they had these little stalls with signs, which I assumed meant it was a separate 'store' from the rest of the mall. Prices were hefty and the styles were less than desirable (my opinion at least). We went to the grocery part of the store and the bakery was awesome! you get a little carry basket and pick up whatever items you'd like and bring them to the register to pay and have them bagged. Joe and I grabbed a pastry for a quick snack. Afterwards we wandered around to an area known as "American Village". It has all sorts of little shops selling "American" clothes, clothing styles, and food. Then suddenly the clouds rolled and and down came the rain so we called it an early afternoon and headed back to our friends house to just relax before going to pick up my car.



I've also discovered the Japanese LOVE vending machines! They're literally everywhere you go. This really doesn't show justice of how many vending machines of little toys there were, because it was on the other side of the wall- seriously, there were hundreds of them! They also have them all over the roads with tons of drinks and little snacks too.







Last night we also found a Indian Restaurant that was really good!!! Afterwards the guys went out to mingle with some other people but I was exhausted (I haven't been able to stay awake past 9:30pm) and they weren't going out until 10:00, so I opted to stay in and catch up on sleep. It did wonders and today I was able to sleep in until 8am... a new record!!! Anyway, that's about all for now. Until next time!

Joe's new box car :)

This is Joe's new car. It's a Suzuki Wagon R Wide Turbo... aka... small box car :) He really think they're fun and figures he can really only get away driving one of them here in Japan! It's a good size car for the island and will come in handy when we need more space for things (i.e.- groceries, scuba gear, visitors, etc.).

So in less than a week we accomplished passing out license test, buying two cars, finding a place to live, clearing the dogs from quarantine (unfortunatley they are still in the kennel until we get our house on the 9th), and a bunch of other little things. We're pretty proud of ourselves for accomplishing all that we have in such a short amount of time!

I'm still battling the 16 hour time difference. Today was the latest I was able to force myself to sleep in... 7am. The other days I've woken up between 4-5am and was unable to go back to sleep. My body is finally adjusting and hopefully it'll fully be on track soon! I was getting these "tired spells" at random times during the day, but the last few days I've been able to push through without taking naps.

We've ventured out on our own into town (just a little bit!) and found a great Chinese restaurant (yes they have all different Asian food here- we went to a Korean hibatchi place the other night too), and today we drove to Camp Foster (the Marine base very close to our base and hotel) and ate at the Macaroni Grill... yes they have the actual restaurant on base! On Kadena, our base, they have a Chilis... along with a ton of other fast food places such as Taco Bell, Burger King, Anthony's Pizza, Robin Hood, Subway, Dunkin' Donuts, Pizza Hut, Baskin' Robbins, Manchu Wok, and some other places I can't even think of!!! It's sad to say, this base has more to offer than the entire town of Columbus, MS had to offer!

To get an idea of the size of Kadena AB, 24,000 people reside on the base. That does not include how many people actually work on the base because tons of people live off base. Then there are 5 other Marine Camps in the area with thousands of people residing and working on those bases too. So you can imagine how many American's are running around the island (it's only about 70 miles long and 4 miles wide), but there are still plenty of Japanese people too, I'd say a fair mix.

That's all for now, it's time to unwind with a few episodes of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (Joe bought me seasons 1-3 on DVD for Valentine's Day (I LOVE watching the show even if I've seen it numerous times). Catch ya later!

Yay for wheels!

On Tuesday Joe and I went to the safety course for both driving and scuba diving. It was only about an hour and a half long and the test to get our international driver's license was only 15 questions long. Joe and I both got 100% and we got our licenses that afternoon.

We also met up with the person selling my car and it took about an hour or so to transfer over the title and sign-up for insurance. The Japanese do things differently here. You pay for driver's insurance upfront and it lasts one year. You also pay for automobile insurance and it is good for two years. Fortunatley the car we bought just had the automobile insurance renewed so we don't have to worry about paying for it until 2011. Here's my car... nothing amazing, but then again no one buys anything really special here. It's a 1997 Toyota Celica.

Joe will buy his car today. It's some silver boxy looking car that he really wanted. He said "where else except here in Japan can I get away with driving one of these things?!" and it's true. You see them everywhere here, but in the states you'd be ridiculed forever if you drove one. I'll post pictures when he gets it. Here are some other pictures I've taken, nothing too exciting because we've spent most of our time so far on base in briefings.

This is us sitting business class for the 15 hour trip. It was so comfy!

This is what everyone refers to as the "ferris wheel". It's very similiar to the Eye in London and I guess it overlooks the island! We can't wait to go on it!

This is us driving through the gate to our base. There are 5 gates to our base. It's HUGE!

This is the toilet in our hotel room. I have NO idea what all the buttons say or do, but all I know is that it's heated and keeps tushy's warm... which I don't know why you need it since it's already in the 70's here.

This is the hotel we are staying at. It's called the Costa Vista and the people are so friendly and the views are amazing. It's located at the top of a really high hill!

We walked down the really big hill from our hotel to go to this little trolley that sold pizza (before we had a car). It was YUMMY. The stinky part was walking back UP the hill afterwards.

It's a little hard to tell, but across the street from where we ate, we could see the people running the Okinawa Marathon! It was pretty neat to watch. Oh and that white boxy looking car is pretty similiar to the one Joe is getting ha :)


Joe happy to be in Okinawa!

Oh and a few pictures from dinner the night before we left in Seattle/Tacoma! We're lucky to have such good friends!

Beth and I! We had a great time catching up! Love ya girlie!

Boys will be boys. Marc and Joe enjoying seeing eachother the first time in two years.

We're chugging right along...

Many people keep asking if we plan to live on or off-base. After much debate, we decided at this point it would be best for us to live on-base for several reasons:
1. It's a quick commute for Joe to get to work- 10 minutes (the base is HUGE... I never realized there weren't even any stoplights at Columbus... there are tons at Kadena... the biggest base I've been on ever by far).
2. We are struggling to get out bearings both on and off base!!!! It's a little overwhelming, but I think with time we'll get used to everything.
3. Hopefully it'll be easier to meet people!
4. I'll feel safer living on base when Joe is off on missions and I'm home alone with the pups.
5. The house is pretty big in comparion to houses off base. The Japanese are space limited so everything comes in one size - tiny.



Now, don't assume getting a house on base was so easy! We decided we wanted to live on base, but then the drama started this morning when I went to the housing briefing. Joe had to go to his in-processing meeting, so I went by myself and an hour after I sit through the boring slide-show of them explaining to me how to properly recycle... I get informed there is no more housing available on Kadena (our base)! I march up to the lady asking why, because two weeks ago we had friends have the option of choosing from 4 different houses!!! I also talk to her because I had submitted our housing application last month and she did not have it on file. Thank goodness I had a copy of it and she allowed me to post my application for last month. This worked to our advantage as you'll see in a bit.

I call my sponsor, Jeff, and he picks me up (I hate not having a car and need people to drive me around everywhere) and tell him there's no housing available. He thinks thats ridiculous and calls housing to get the scoop. They tell him there is 1 unit available but it will go to the first person on the waiting list and they would call them this afternoon.

I patiently wait and finally at 2:30 we get a call saying we were being offered the last house on Kadena and also had the option of looking at a house over on Camp Lester (a marine base). Thinking we should check out our options (we heard that some housing on Kadena is old and yucky and that some housing on Lester is new and awesome), we rush over to Camp Foster (another Marine base) to pick up the keys. This was a struggle because the camp is divided in half by a city road so you have to go off base and then back on base. Complicated. The housing office closed at 4:00 and after driving around in circles, we finally ran into the office before they closed to get the keys.

We then drive all the way to Camp Lester and look at the house. It looked sketchy from the outside, but we figure hey, don't judge a book by it's cover. We open the door and it looks like a prison. Dark cement walls, little tiny rooms the size of a cubicle... overall, it was the worst base housing I'd EVER seen. No offense to marines, but the Air Force treats us well and I will never complain about AF base housing EVER again. Seriously, we were absolutely disgusted with the house and didn't need to think twice about turning it down.

We drove to Kadena to check out the other house, but there were still people living there. They are movin out this weekend but were kind enough to let us see the house. What a difference! I would say it was a 5 star in comparison to the other house. I mean, in no means is it anything amazing, but it meets our needs perfectly. It's in a coldasac with tons of kids, but that's ok. It's a two story, three bedroom, two and a half bath little townhouse style place. A backyard that we can put a fence up (which I hear they're hard to come by...) and a spacious kitchen with a little nook to put a computer on. All in all, will work out great! If in a year we decide we find a place off base we really like, maybe we'll move. But for now, this gives us time to settle in and adjust to the island life :)

Tomorrow we take the driving course and hopefully pass our tests! I bought my car today! A cute white Toyota Celica :) Here's the lowdown, everyone here buys used cars and pretty much cycles through them in this huge lemon lot. Everyone buys/sells them for about $2-3k and you have to take into consideration the JCI (Japanese car insurance that is up every 2 years), road taxes and drivers insurance. One car down, one to go! Joe isn't being picky, just wants something that will get him to and from work. Little cars are pretty much the norm since the roads are pretty small and narrow!

Anyway, those are our adventures for today. Who knows what tomorrow will hold :)

We made it to Okinawa!

Just a quick little update for anyone who follows us on the blog. We made it to Okinawa!!! It was a pretty long trip... it was 10 1/2 hours to Yokoya AB (in Tokoyo) and then we stopped for about two hours to refuel the plane and then another three hours down to Okinawa.

We landed around 7pm and it took about an hour to go through cutoms, clear our dogs and gather all our luggage. Our sponsors picked us up and took us to the Kennel on base to drop off the pups. They have to stay until Monday when the vet clears them. Thankfully all the run around getting all their paperwork done was a success!! They were cleared and do not have to do the 180-day quaratine. They do however have to stay in the kennel until we move into a house (we're currently in a hotel off-base).

Our sponsors took us to our hotel, which may I say is really beautiful, and we immediately went straight to bed!!! It's a good thing we landed in the evening so we could sleep off the exhaustion and then wake-up in the morning almost pretty much adjusted to the 16 hour time difference (we are 15 hours ahead of central time). Yep, that's right, we're living in the future! Pretty neat!!

Today we spent most of the day seeing the town. Our friend Jimmy took us around the marine base (Camp Foster) to get us our cell phones (they're way crazy fancy and I'm pretty sure I'll never use half the features... I can watch Japanese tv on it if I want to...), showed us around Kadena (our base), looked around at the used cars, and bought some snacks from the amazingly nice commissary!! We also had our first Japanese meal at this place everyone called "The Vending Machine Restaurant". You walk in, look at the pictures, put your money in a machine, push the button of the picture displaying the meal you want, and it spits out these little tickets you hand to the people and then they bring you your food to the table. As many of you know, I love pasta/noodles, and yes you guessed it, I ordered a big bowl of noodles!!!

Anyway, we're just resting a bit before going out to a BBQ later tonight and meeting more people. So far we're really enjoying it here! The weather is sunny and in the 70's, there is SO much to see and take in but it's all really neat!!!! I'm so excited!!!

And we're off!

Just a quick little blurb...

We're killing some time at the USO in the Seattle/Tacoma Airport before we board for our flight. Check-in was a little hectic but amazingly easy. The dogs are already taken and I'm just crossing my fingers they don't stress out too much. It's going to be a long few days of travel. It's about 12 straight hours of travel time to Yokota AB, we will stop to re-fuel and then fly down to Kadena (Okinawa) which is another few hours. We will lose a day, so when we get there it will be Friday morning local time. We will be 14 hours ahead of central time!

We'll be staying in a hotel until we find a house or decide to move into a house on base. As soon as we get settled in we will be in touch with everyone! We plan to set up Skype or Vonage to stay in touch with everyone in the states!

Talk to everyone soon, and yes, I have lots of updating to do (the wonderous adventures of the paperwork trail for our dogs, our fun times in Seattle, etc.) and when I get a chance, I'll update photos!!!

Eventful trip to Atlanta

Joe and I drove to Atlanta today to take my car to the storage center since we can't take it overseas with us. Joe drove my car and I drove my dad's car (which is quite fun zipping around in the little sports car). It took about 3 1/2 hours (it seems like every where we go takes 3 1/2 hours!!!) and there were a few highlights from the little trip.


On the way there, I had a slight moment of road rage!!! Ok, let me explain. I'm trying to merge off the highway (along with a stream of cars behind me) and I look over and there is a girl in a huge SUV in the way (of course the other lane was clear but she had no driving manners to get over to let all the other cars merge on). Instead, she slows down and I slam on the brakes so I can merge behind her. After I get behind her, she SLAMS on the brakes. I look in the rearview mirror praying the cars behind me would brake in time before hitting me. Immediately my reaction is to blare the horn. A little secret of mine is that I secretly LOVE using the horn, but I only use it when I really need to! I laid down for quite a long time hoping to get the message across to stop slamming on the brakes! Some finger motions were exchanged and some interesting facial expressions while the other drivers are becoming angry as well. Well, turns out the rather large girl was slamming so she could go get some McDonald's! I'll leave the part out where she made some racial motions towards me, but anyway...

The process of dropping my car off was fairly easy. They did the most thorough inspection I've ever seen. Made a diagram of the car and noted every single dent and scratch. Needless to say the diagram looked more like a cheetah after being noted of every little ding! (Gotta love hail damage).

On the way home, I was trying to follow the directions according to the GPS but Atlanta city drivers are INSANE. The speed limit was 65, I was going 80 and everyone else was whizzing by me at speeds so fast I didn't even have time to see them in my mirrors. I ended up in the exit lane, which took us to a realllllly bad part of Atlanta. Bad as in Joe and I literally considered running the red lights/stop signs because we felt as if we were going to get robbed if we stopped. We no kidding saw two prostitutes working the corners (one literally crying as her pimp was screaming at her for who knows what), and what I can only assume was a drug selling exchange/meeting. A car suddenly stopped on the side of the road and the guy got out (while the care was still running) and went and "shook hands" with some other guy... and then walked back to his car. Sketchy?!

Praying the GPS would lead us back to the interestate, we made it through alive!!! On the way home, Joe was busy making phone calls to all sorts of people on base trying to get answers as to why we didn't receive our BAH allowance this month!!! Long story short, they're ripping us off by this scam of "changing" payment dates to different times of the month. I've never heard of any place making you pay rent after the month is over! So basically we moved out the end of January, and have been staying with my parents since then! So we SHOULD have gotten our BAH the beginning of February, but they took it claiming that it goes to pay JANUARY'S rent. Ummm does that make sense? I don't think so! Because if we needed to go rent some place right this second, we wouldn't have the money to because they took it!!! UGH the military can really make conveniences inconvenient!

Anyway, that's my rant for today. Tomorrow is my mom's birthday and we're going to PFChang's (mmmmm!!!) and then Thursday we're back to Columbus for lots of last minute things. Thennnnn Tuesday we fly to WA and then Thursday we're off to Japan!!!! Whew!

Haha...

Go figure. Joe talked to his commander and they agreed it was pointless for him to "sign-in" everyday when he has no duties to really carry out at the office. He was literally ust going in to write his name down and then going home. Since we're in Huntsville, it's considered to be in the "local area" (within 300 miles of CAFB) so he doesn't have to take leave.

Well, since he's not technically on "leave" they called him this morning requesting him to come in but couldn't disclose why. This means... pee test. So poor guy has to drive 3 1/2 hours back to Columbus and then turn around and drive back! The lady wanted him there by 1:30 and he left at 10:15am... so we'll see. I didn't go because I didn't have time to shower or get ready. I can get ready quickly, but not that quick!!!

Needless to say, it won't be his last trip back to base. We will have to go once more for his final our-processing briefing and to pick up medical records and all that good stuff. We just can't say good-bye to good ole' Columbus yet!!!