Thursday, May 30, 2013

My Trash is Where?

At last our "home goods" delivery has arrived (before our "express" shipment by the way). We received our shipment of home goods on Monday. We unpacked with the help of the 3 Japanese workmen, who were very fast and efficient by the way. Our computer chair was broken when it arrived so we asked them if they could just take it with them since they broke it. The man thought this was quite funny. With a smile and a little giggle he assured us that he could NOT do that. So Tuesday was one of our many garbage days. Jason put it out in the garbage bin on "non-burnable" garbage day. Makes sense, right? Well, we thought all was good in the world too because it was all picked up. Super! Well, on Thursday was our next garbage day. So they kept part of the chair (the seat and the back) and dropped off the metal arms with a sticker on them that said something in Kanji and the number 30. What?! The garbage men picked it up, brought it to where ever they bring the trash around here, decided it couldn't stay and then REMEMBERED which apartment building it came from?! I do not understand this at all!
This morning my doorbell rang. It was Miki. He said, "I am here to tell you how to throw away your trash." Oh boy. We Americans just don't get it. I asked Miki how they knew it was our chair. He said he didn't know either. WEIRD. Either way, they had called Japan Family Housing and told them to come and explain to us what we can and can't throw away with out a charge. I'm guessing now that the 30 had something to do with money...? Miki informed me that we had to call City Hall and make an appointment to pick up our trash. I said, "But Miki, I don't speak Japanese. Will you call for me?" He told me that is what he was planning on doing. On a side note, the entire time Miki was at my house his phone was ringing off the hook. He obviously speaks in Japanese so I never know if he's taking other calls or if all of these calls are pertaining to my trash issue. He finally told me that someone from Japan Family Housing would pick up our trash for us and we could pick it up at their office where we can then either throw it away on base or pay the fee (about 2000 yen - $20.00). He told me that next time we have something weird to throw away to please call him first so that we don't have this problem again. Moral of the story... If it looks like trash and works like trash - it isn't trash!

Reasons I Hate Japan

There are many things that we like about Japan - but there are also things that are not so great.

1. For some reason they don't serve coffee in the morning. The coffee shops don't open around here until around 9:30am. Some even later! These people make their coffee very strong and delicious, why don't they serve it up bright and early?

2. Reading Kanji is too hard. You can't even guess at what it might be.

3. No ovens in a Japanese style apartment.

4. Humidity is terrible. When people report the weather in San Diego or in Wisconsin it says... "The temperature is 75 degrees but feels like 78 degrees" and you wonder, is that really worth mentioning? Out here the temperature is 80, but today it felt like 102. What the heck? How are the oldest people in the world still living here? WHY are the oldest people in the world still living here?!

5. As you all know, they don't buckle their children up correctly in the car.

6. They sew curtains to put over their passenger and driver's side windows so that the sun doesn't blind them but I guess they don't realize that now their curtain is blinding them. How do they check their blind spot?

7. When you walk into ANY establishment every employee there somehow knows you are there and yell out, "Ashamase." This means "Welcome." As I don't mind that - the part I hate is that I don't know what to say back to them. I usually just smile and do a little awkward bow, but it just makes me feel weird.

8. Bowing at one another in your car. When you let someone into the lane you are in, in America we give a little wave as a thank you. In Japan, they bow (They bow for everything). The thing is is that it takes them a little bit to bow (and they do this a few times) so it takes them extra time to get into your lane. So you end up getting in a bowing match thinking - just get over and let's move on!

9. The grocery store shopping is insane. So far we have been lucky. Nothing too far from what we were looking for in our bags when we got home, but today it took Colton and I about 20 minutes to figure out if what I was looking at was in fact brown sugar (what I needed) or if it was a spice mixture.

10. Ice cream with black beans. Enough said.

That's all I've got for now. I might update as more come to mind, but I think this about sums it up.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Awase Fish & Farmers' Market

Since we've gotten to the island we have wanted to go to a fish and farmers' market to get some extremely fresh fish and try out some of the different vegetables they have here, one being the bitter melon we've heard so much about. Today we got that chance. Jason got some information from his Gunney that there is one not too far from our apartment. We got up, showered, and got Colton all ready and were on our way. The Gunney said its between the McDonalds and the Convention Center right off he bypass (sounds easy enough). Little did we know that that was about 4 blocks worth of city. Again - we're on a wild goose chase. We pull into McDonalds and notice there is a car with an American license plate (marked by an A for American or Y for Yankee). Jason goes in and asks them in they have heard or know of this so called farmer's market. She said, "Yes. Its not too far from here. We could walk." Jason was soooo excited to be taking directions from a woman, let me tell you! Following this woman's directions, we ended up finding it, unlike the Yellow Box Furniture Store. The building looked just like any grocery store. It wasn't what we were expecting from a Farmer's Market. In Wisconsin they are outside and there are people cooking up egg rolls and tamales and its a busy place. This place was BORING. We went in regardless of the outside just to be sure we weren't missing anything. We weren't! There was barely anyone in the store and the only exciting thing we saw was a whole pig being butchered and separated. EVERY part of that pig was for sale. EVERY part! We left a little frustrated. Colton had to take his nap and was going to be hungry soon so we headed home with hopes of finding a better one on the internet. We did!!

 
 
Here I am picking out some fish from a slew of different choices. We didn't know what was what, but this place knew us Americans were coming! They had English next to the pictures of the fish! Aragatoo! We still didn't know what kind of fish we wanted because as you can figure they don't have fish like Cod or Perch or Walleye. We asked a fellow American for his assistance. You should've seen the fish he had (I forgot to take a picture I was so shocked)! His wife and 3 children were purchasing an entire Mahi Mahi. It was probably 3 feet long and 8-10" around. We couldn't imagine eating that much fish! It was at least 10-12 pounds after it was fileted and only $37.00! Wowzers! So this fine gentleman pointed out some fish that he had tried and said was flakey and mild flavored. We took his word and as you can see from above... I did the picking! You just grab a tongs and put the fish you want in the basket (if they'll fit), bring them over to the cashier and they asked you how you would like it. Skinned and fileted, please!
 
 
 
 
An assembly line of Japanese amazingness! These fine gentleman descaled, skinned, cleaned and fileted our fish for us with a smile. No tips necessary here in Japan, its considered rude! Bonus! We had our 5-6 pounds of freshly caught fish in hand. We were headed towards the veggies to check them out when a man in a little booth caught my attention. He was giving samples. It looked like beef jerky so I took a tooth pick and gave it a try. Hmm... jerky-ed squid. Delicious! The veggies were non-impressive, this place seemed to be a fish place.
 
Jason had read on the reviews online that if one goes to the Awase Fish and Farmers' Market that he/she should try the "lobster set." Jason nor I am a big lobster fan, Jason insisted upon trying it anyway.
 
 
This is it. Half of a lobster, Miso soup, huge Tuna chunks and a bowl of rice. It was 1700 yen. Close to about $16.50. I am still not a fan of the lobster, especially with melted cheese on top. Yuck. Jason ate the majority of it and I don't think it was a mind-changer for him either. Colton enjoyed the scenery and smiled at all the passers-by.
 
 
I know my fingers in the way. Its just how I do.
 
We made the Goatfish that we purchased today (it has a fu-man-chu, seriously!) into fish tacos - San Diego style! They were delicious. The fish was a little fishy and a little oily, but nothing too bad. Tomorrow we will be having the Red Snapper. We are looking forward to it.
 
At the market they had other seafood besides just fish and jerky-ed squid. They had Blue Swimming Crabs and Prawns. The prawns were enormous! They were 650 yen a piece and they still had their heads and I just don't know what to do with that. I'm sure they are tasty, though.
 
 
Jason has a bit a femmy sized hand - we all know, but they prawns are huge!
 
All in all it was a successful day at the market and we will definitely be back!
 
 






Thursday, May 23, 2013

Aeon - A Japanese Super Wal-mart

Mine and Colton's almost daily trip to the Japanese grocery store is always an adventure. I can never plan what I'm going to make ahead of time because its impossible to guess what they'll have. They have (as you would guess) a lot of fish. We like fish and would eat fish all the time except that we don't know what kind it is. The name of the fish (and everything else) is in kanji. So I don't know if its going to be a white flaky fish or if its going to be some disgusting fishy mushy fish (and who wants to eat that). The only thing we've gotten so far from the fish department was tuna and we only go that because that was the ONE fish we recognized for sure. It was delicious, too. Jason broiled it in the oven and left it a little pink in the middle. It was also very inexpensive. About $3.50 for 1.5 lbs. So today when we headed there with no clue what we were shopping for I headed for the meat department first, then I can get what else I need after I know what protein we will be having. Today I skipped the fish department. The other day I got boneless, skinless chicken but only because I recognized it. I have been craving hamburgers so I got some hamburger meat. Jason and I like to make our hamburger patties out of ground sirloin, but try figuring out which is which in kanji. You can't. I bought the stuff that looked the reddest with the least amount of fat...

I don't know if you can see it, but I think it says 10% off! Again, I think. I just hope its ground beef and not ground pork or something.
So since we were having hamburgers I needed to get buns. As you probably guessed, Japanese people aren't into making hamburgers, so this was impossible. I went to the fresh bread bakery figuring I could find something similar to a bun there. I did! I purchased 2 "buns." I got home and wanted to make sure they were just "buns" so I cut into one. NOPE. There was a black goop inside. Hm... I tasted it. Black beans, again!!! What the heck! Who wants sweetened black beans in a freshly made roll. I want butter in my freshly baked roll!

 
I hadn't eaten lunch yet when I was the store so I ended up getting something at their "food court." Its much better than a food court though, because its mostly fresher. No Burger King or McDonalds. No franchises really at all (unless they are Japanese franchises and I don't know they are). I got some deep-fried deliciousness (not balls this time ;)) They had everything from shrimp to egg plant to squid. It was a delectable lunch to say the least.
 
 
Needless to say, after dinner tonight we will know if Colton and I were successful with our meat selection. Wish us luck!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

What in the World?

So there are a few things that Japanese people do that is SOOOOO strange. For one, they have the same safety regulations for car seats that we have but they rarely follow the rules. There are children sitting on people's laps, sitting in the front seat (they have airbags) and there are children who are basically running rampant around inside the cars. I even saw a baby (which couldn't have been much older than Colton) with her head hanging out the window like a dog. She was smiling, but what do they do if they get in a car accident? I really hope I NEVER get into an accident with someone who doesn't have their kid buckled up in the back seat because there is a very good chance the child will get hurt! I hate it and I think they are nuts!

Another thing is that, although we live in an apartment building, you can't put your garbage downstairs until it is garbage day. They make a separate balcony just for your garbage! Of course Jason is concerned about bugs so we tie up our bags VERY tightly and put them in a secure trash bin. He had to get an air tight container for regular garbage and  a blue bin for recyclables. I agree with him that we don't want to get bugs, but Miki said that it is not a problem as long as you bring your garbage down on the days you are supposed to. There are 3 times a week they pick up trash. So far - no bugs! PS - its amazing how clean the garbage bin is! I swear someone cleans it out after they pick up the trash.

These are the ones I could think of at this moment. I'm sure there will be an update to this blog as time goes by.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Sometimes you're in for a surpise...

I had to run to the mall to get a few things that we needed and had forgotten the last few times we were out. On the way out a saw a donut shop and decided to get Jason and I a couple of donuts. I picked the 2 I wanted, paid the lady and was on my way. I got home and showed Jason my treats. He wanted the one that looked like an apple turnover, or so we thought. He bit into it and was shocked! There was a hot dog in there - with Ketchup no less! Maybe this is a donut for Granny Kagger!

Last night I wanted ANOTHER sweet treat. I swear having a baby does that to you! I went to the Family Mart which is literally 30 seconds from our house and got Jason and I an ice cream treat. He wanted one that we had had another night that we knew was good, but it was the last one so I had to pick a new one for myself judging by the photos on the wrappers (I don't read kanji yet - believe it or not). I got it home and opened it up as we sat down to watch "Look Who's Talking" and took a big bite. Hm.... Black beans? Yep. I had picked out a ice cream covered black bean popsicle. Needless to say. I did not finish it. They say don't knock it 'til you try it. Well, I'm knocking it!



Friday, May 17, 2013

Deep Fried Balls? I'll try those!

Just a 5 minute walk from our house is a place called Aeon. It is a supermarket on the 1st floor and a department store on the 2nd. Its like a Japanese style Super Walmart. Amy - you would like here! On the way in you walk past a sort of "food court." Everything is fresh made - so its a little better. There was a picture of what looked like doughnut holes covered in BBQ sauce and mayonnaise. Miki told Jason that they are delicious and that we should try them. We decided what better time than the present? We got our deep fried deliciousness and sat down. I took a whiff of the bag before opening it just to see if I could guess what I was in for. It smelled fishy. Jason  I had no clue what was in them - apparently Jason did and didn't fill me in. All of a sudden there was something very firm and a little chewy in my mouth. It was in the center of this deepfried ginger and BBQ deliciousness. I said, "There is something hard in here." Jason said, "Didn't you see? Its octopus." I said, "Hm, its good." And that was the end of it. Who knew I liked deep-fried BBQ'ed octopus?

Ramen anyone?

We had so much success with Yakisoba that we thought, why not Ramen? I'll tell you why not! We got to a little place just doors down from our apartment and sat down in one of our favorite little tables with no chairs. We were quickly handed English menus (thank God for that). There was not a lot to choose from. Mainly just "pork flavored broth" with different toppings. Assuming that meant that it came with no meat, Jason and I both ordered meat in ours. When our bowls of Ramen arrived we were shocked to see that we had a big chunk of fat covered ligament in our bowls. Then about 3 minutes later another man appeared with MORE of this disgusting looking meat (our side of meat we ordered). We smiled and said our aragatos but were both pretty turned off. Jason tried it (that's what he does). He said it wasn't too bad and it wasn't chewy. I tried it too. It really wasn't too bad, but bite after bite after bite, we couldn't do it. We left our bowls as empty as we could and headed for the door. Colton was waving bye bye (I was moving his arm - he doesn't wave yet) and we were walking out the door when the man came quickly after us with worry and shock on his face. WE HADN'T PAID!!! We were so used to our Yakisoba success that we forgot we hadn't paid the machine and we had to pay the waiter this time. Needless to say, we felt terrible. Jason said his apologies about a thousand times and the man just laughed it off with us. I guess no matter how bad your Ramen is... you still have to pay.

Just another day on the Island

Today I had a couch and a king-sized bed delivered to our little Japanese apartment. When we told our realtor, Miki, that we were wanting to fit a king-sized bed into our bedroom he laughed out loud. He said, "Nooooo!" We made the measurements and decided it was going to be tight, but well worth it. Especially seeing as how it was the whole reason we didn't have our queen sized bed brought over here. The bed was no problem fitting through the door, it was the couch we were worried about. Jason measured that too and by the looks of it, it wasn't going to fit through the front door. One of our realtors co-workers told us that they do all sorts of things to get them to fit; take doors off hinges, remove patio doors and even hoist over the balcony (even if we are on the 4th floor). Luckily enough - the couch slid right in. One thing I did notice about the Japanese men (the couch and the bed movers) was that they have EXTREMELY hair legs (hehe). They were very courteous and efficient. They were in and out in no time flat. Unlike in America, they gave us a 2 hour window and they were both here right on time! Imagine that! So, needless to say we are glad to be settling in. It's nice to have somewhere to sit in the living room and it will be AMAZING to have that beautiful bed to cuddle up in tonight.

When Jason was at work today Colton and I decided to take a walk around our neighborhood to see what it had to offer (while there was a pause in the rain). We found about 6 different restaurants and a slew of little shops selling all sorts of whats-its and who-dads. I also spotted a barber shop knowing that Jason has to get his hair cut every week (oh boy). When Jason got home I told him about my findings and we decided to try one of the sushi places for dinner. By now it was raining again, so we'd have to drive. The sushi restaurant was not your average sushi restaurant. It was a "sushi-go-round." In other words you sit at your table and the sushi goes by and if you want to eat it, you grab it off the conveyer belt (usually without knowing what you'll be devouring). I was a little hesitant to say he least, but of course Jason just jumped right in trying nearly everything. Jason finally convinced me to try one I had been wondering about. It looked creamy and was wrapped in seaweed. I finally mustered up the guts to put it into my mouth only to find out it was American style egg salad! What the heck?! Who puts that on sushi. Jason tried one that had salmon and salmon roe! No way was I eating that. He said the eggs didn't pop or ooze or anything in his mouth, so it was quite enjoyable! I did not try it.
On our way home I dropped Jason off at the aforementioned barber shop. Colton and I returned home where I fed him and put him to bed. Jason arrived home soon after and told me this story: I walked in and there was one man giving someone a hair cut. I said, "Does anyone speak English?" One man just nodded his head. Although this gentleman said that he spoke English I am not sure that he did. I sat in the chair and told the man, "Military." I let the man cut my hair and when he was finished it looked like a military cut (and it was only 800 yen). I was pumped because it was so close and so inexpensive that on my way out (I don't know why I even tried to tell him this) I told him that I would be back every Friday from now on! The man seemed very confused and tried to me (I think) that they had a holiday on Monday and Tuesday. I continued to try to tell him that I would be back on Friday. He grabbed a calculator and entered 95 and showed the screen to me, he said something in broken English which I did not understand and everyone in the room laughed so I joined in, said bye-bye and was on my way. Moral of the story: Keep it simple.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Reasons I love Japan

So there are a few things that are pretty cool about Japan that I didn't know:

1. The spoons are a better shape - they fit nicer in your mouth
2. Yakisoba is delicious and Jason and I feel we could eat it every day. We won't though because it is not so healthy.
3. We love sitting on the pads on the floor at the short table when we're out to eat because it is sooo much more comfortable for Colton. He loves it.
4. The packaging on stuff is so much easier to rip open then in America. Its not as crinkly sounding either (if you have a baby who is a light sleeper you will understand how important this is).
5. Tatomi (spelling?) room in our apartment. With a softer bamboo floor and a built in divider it works great as a play room for Colton and doubles as our guest bedroom

These are just a few of the things that I found that I love so far. I'm sure there will be more to come.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Our Last Night in Silence

Getting ready to move into the apartment tomorrow. So excited! I went and dropped off some of the smaller items after Colton went to sleep tonight and the Ferris Wheel that we can see from our balcony was all lit up and moving (surprisingly because it is thundering and lightening like crazy). It was a sight for sure.
Getting out of this one room hotel room was something I thought would never happen. It seemed the days were just slowly dragging together to the point that I thought today was Tuesday and filled out Colton's 6 month shot paperwork as if it was (no big deal, the women corrected me). Now that we are finally leaving it seems like we weren't in lodging for that long. Looking back I won't think about how terrible it was being in this 1 room ridiculousness, I will remember that here is where Colton had is first peas and carrots and also cut his first tooth!
Bon Voyage Westpac Lodging - we're movin' on up!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Um... Not so much.

We went to our apartment today to take some measurements to see if we could upgrade to a king size bed and still have enough room to walk in our bedroom and open the closet doors. We met our realtor and his co-worker. The co-worker is interesting because we met her at the "Newcomer's Brief" we had to attend when we first arrived on island. When Miki met us at the apartment the first time to show it to us he had mentioned that she had wanted us to be HER customers because sometimes Japanese people get a "feeling." She had gotten this feeling about us and wanted to see us again so she tagged along for the measuring. Maybe Japanese people really do get a "feeling" because Colton and this lady really hit it off. He was smiling and playing with her face while she held him (which she insisted upon). She was very sweet.
We decided we just barely will have enough space for a king size bed, but now are unsure that the couch we bought will fit through the front door. Miki and his co-worker said sometimes they have to hoist it up over the balcony. On the 4th floor this will sure be a treat. If this happens I WILL take pictures. All in all a pretty uneventful day if you could say that. We did not spend more than 1 hour in the room all day and still didn't get that much accomplished thanks to the Marine Corps and their wonderful sense of organization. I'll fill you in on if and how we got our furniture into our teeny tiny Japanese apartment.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Can someone point me in the direction of the Yellow Box?

Yesterday Jason and I were bored and decided to start our look for furniture. We looked on base at mattresses because we didn't know what to expect out in town for that. When we were there we were referred to a place called Yellow Box. We were told by the gentleman that it is "easy to find." We took some shotty directions from him and were on our way. We drove and drove and drove and did not feel we were getting any closer. We were searching for any of the cars around us to have "yankee" plates as they are called here. They are different than the nationals plates. If we found one of those we knew that the people in the car would speak English and perhaps they would know what we were talking about. Luckily, we spotted one at a stop light. Jason jumped out of the car and quickly asked them. The light turned green so we pulled up beside them so they could finish telling us THEIR version of the directions. I say their version because every set of directions we got were different. We followed their directions and still did not find the Yellow Box Furniture Store. With Colton snoozing in the back the entire time we decided we better head home so as he didn't wake up and have a fit.

We woke up this morning with a photo of a google map on our iPhone and thought we had this in the bag. Jason had routed a trip that seemed to make sense. On our way we encountered 2 hiccups. The road was detoured with no detour signs of how to get back on the road. We did a little maneuvering and found our way back just to shortly see another detour sign with no way back to the main road. We had turned around and were thinking of giving up when we saw the road we had been looking for all along! We took it. We had driven for about 1 hour (when google said it should take us 20 minutes) when we finally arrived. It turns out it was worth the trip. We found a couch that we like and set up delivery for Friday!!! I can't believe we will soon be getting out of this temp lodging.

We decided we better ask someone inside the store how to get home since we took a wild and crazy way there and didn't want to try to re-do that horror story. Jason saw on the map that it looked relatively straight. Just one time that we had to turn, seems easy enough. So we ventured on our way. We soon realized that the roads we were on did not match the directions we found and NONE of the street names were the same. For some reason we just kept going. Luckily Jason's iPhone has the compass on it so we could tell that we were at least headed in the correct direction. It took us 10 minutes to get home! If someone asked us how we did it or if we tried to retrace our steps we probably could NEVER do it again, but when Jason spotted the Sergeant Major's house on Camp Foster we were elated. We couldn't believe we were already home! If anyone asks you where the Yellow Box is... just tell them you don't know.

Here is Colton modeling our couch! Its a little stretched out. He's really not that fat (although even he was, he'd still be pretty darn cute don't ya think?)

Friday, May 10, 2013

Yakisoba Anyone?

After doing some running around today dropping off paperwork at different offices all over this island Jason and I found ourselves with a little free time. We decided to try to find a sushi or noodle house to try. We drove to a semi-familiar area right off base looking for a particular restaurant (a recommendation) near a "big blue building." We exit the base and see 2 large blue buildings. One is on the left and one is on the right. My prediction is that this will happen often. We decide to wing it and find a parking spot. We get the stroller out of the trunk and continue towards the main road. We see a little Japanese man walking his dog and Jason decides he's going to ask him if there is anywhere to get Yakisoba (an Okinawan specialty item). After he corrects Jason's mispronunciation he points us in the right direction.
Let me set the scene. Jason, me and Colton with Colton's HUGE stroller (the umbrella stroller is still on its way here) walk into this little Japanese restaurant. There are 2 doors to get in. The first door opens onto only a sink where we wash our hands and then finally open the second door to enter the restaurant. We follow the people ahead of us (thank God for them) and choose a picture with a number on the front. We have to pay a machine and give the ticket that comes out to the woman behind the counter. Jason wanted the official "Yakisoba" there was a photo, but no number, thus causing some confusion. After much laughter on both sides, we had paid for our food and Colton and I were headed to find a seat while Jason got our sodas. I rolled the monstrosity of a stroller through the aisle the best I could but I was running over everyone's shoes and saying, "I'm sorry" in English because I haven't learned that Japanese phrase yet. I was a mess and everyone knew. There were booths and tables like any other restaurant, but there was also a spot you could sit on the floor with little mats and take off your shoes. Colton and I opted for this! Jason took the stroller and parked it outside so it was out of the way of everyone. After he came back and got settled in (after hitting his knees on the table and my laughing had everyone looking our way) we realized we were number 10, but how do you say "10" in Japanese? How will we know when it is our food that is ready?! Luckily the man behind the counter figured we had no clue and motioned in our direction when it was our turn. Our food was delicious and we had so much fun trying to figure out what we were doing. Did I mention you get a chunk of deep-fried hot dog that is cut to look like a little piece of a squid? We were so happy to have been successful that Jason wanted to try his hand at some Japanese. Aragatoo gozaimas - Thank you very much! (I'm not sure about the spelling). He practiced a few times and then on our way out he turned to the man, bowed and mumbled something similar to the phrase above. This made me crack up and in turn Jason did too. Anytime you leave somewhere laughing you know you had a good time.

Finding an apartment

When Jason checked into his new unit here in Okinawa we were told that on base housing was 98% full. Jason was elated, I was optimistic. We had heard nothing but good things about living off base and were excited to see what Japan had to offer. We contact a few different agencies and saw 9 different apartments in 1 day. This is Jason's style of doing things. We saw some American style apartments that were huge but very old-fashioned. It was almost as if the Japanese people decorated them thinking that is what we like but were a little off base. We saw some Japanese style houses. We decided we wanted a Japanese style. They were must smaller, but so much prettier and, for lack of a better word, fun! We decided to go with one that is a 2 bed/1 bath with a Japanese prayer room. The toilet and the bath tub aren't in the same room and our toilet has about 15 different buttons we can push on it (again, all in kanji). Japanese people don't use ovens so we do not have one of those. I think this will take some getting used to. The 2 main walls in the living room are nothing but windows which look out onto the ocean. Its beautiful. I cannot wait to move in!


(this is our realtor Miki)

After we decided that this was our place we had to meet with the realtor at his office to sign the lease and go over some paperwork. We obviously do not know our way around and cannot read kanji so we cannot follow directions because we can't read street names, we had to meet an agent in the parking lot right outside the gate onto Camp Foster. We find the woman we need to follow and end up at an office (if you can call it that). It was probably 85 degrees in there and humid! Colton was up past his bed time, was hungry and was cranky. The agent, Miki, told us that it wouldn't be longer than an hour so I was confident I could keep Colton happy until we got back to our temporary lodging. Colton was hungry, did I forget to mention that? When Colton is hungry he MUST be fed! I asked if there was anywhere I could feed him and was ushered to an area towards the back of the office. I told him I needed to breastfeed him. Although Miki spoke VERY good English he did not know that word. Jason continued to act it out for him. Miki was young. Upon realizing what we were talking about he got very panicked and quickly ushered me to the aforementioned sweaty bathroom. I found myself sitting on a pink toilet, in a sweaty office in Japan and I thought to myself, "I didn't think I'd be doing this today."

Moving around the Island

Upon settling in to our surroundings and beating the jet-lag (it wasn't so bad) we needed to get a driver's license and a car. We were told that Jason could not take his driver's test until he had been on island for 30 days, we later learned this is not true (welcome to the military). Either way, I took my test and passed on the first try! Let me tell you, it is something to adjust to driving on the other side of the road on the other side of the car. When you see cars driving past you, you swear they are empty because you do not see the driver where he is supposed to be. After many attempts at turning on my blinker and actually turning on the windshield wipers, I feel I am now finally getting the hang of it. Although today we test drove a car that we ended up purchasing and I was driving on the wrong side of the road. The owner of the car didn't even mention it. Good thing it wasn't during busy traffic (not a car in sight). Driving on base is one thing, but when we are beyond the gates of sanity Jason gets VERY nervous and makes grunting noises because he isn't used to being on the other side of the road either, it doesn't help that the stop lights are red and green at the same time sometimes. Either way, we ended up with a 2001 Diahtsu Move. Its pretty sweet. It has an engine the size of a go-cart. This means less road tax, more gas mileage and a smaller tank. Its a win, win, win!


My first Japanese experience

So after flying a ridiculous amount of hours and stopping in a ridiculous number of airports when we finally arrived on Japanese soil we were more than elated to say the least. My first stop was the restroom, a pretty normal occurrence. I did my business and was headed to the sink to wash up and head out to get some food when I realized I didn't know how to wash my hands. The faucet was there, the sink was there, but there was a lone button on the side of the sink that had nothing but kanji to explain itself. With no one else in the restroom to take the lead I pushed the button and waited for water. Nothing. I pushed the button again and waited for water. Nothing. Finally, a lady came out of the stall, walked up to the sink and put her hands under the faucet and water came out! That's all there is to it I guess so I followed suit. I put my hands under the faucet and got water too., how exciting! I then put my hands under the soap dispenser that was on the sink (a style I had never seen before) and no soap. So there I was again, hmmmmm... a lady nursing her daughter saw me struggling and said, "Oh, you have to push up on the bottom of the soap dispenser to get soap." Oh boy did I ever feel like an idiot at this point. Let's chalk it up to sleep deprivation?! Jason begs to differ!  I still don't know what the button on the sink is for, but it is on most sinks here in Japan. I guess I will never know.