Our New Home!

 

 On Wednesday, the housing office called Chad with the 2 housing options we had to choose from. We couldn't look inside them until Thursday but we were so anxious to see them that we walked across base to look at them from the outside. We first found the Marek Park neighborhood and from the outside the places looked pretty decent. We didn't find our exact unit since they all looked the same, we figured if we've seen one, we've seen them all! Then we went to find the one in Washington Heights; this time we found the exact unit that they were offering us. We weren't really impressed from the looks of it. We really didn't like how our balcony was facing someone else's balcony. It did have a nice park directly across the street where you could see the ocean in a distance, that was nice. After that, we decided we wanted to find our unit in Marek Park. So we walked and walked and finally found it! We both fell in love with it! It's located in a culdesac, where none of the units have been moved into yet. Our balcony wasn't facing someone else's; it actually faces a hill, which isn't the best view but better than someone staring at us! It had covered parking right out front. It just looked newer. We left it feeling pretty confident that was the unit we wanted!

On Thursday at 8AM, we went to the housing office to pick up the keys to check out the places. The unit in Washington Heights was still getting renovated so they were unable to give us a key. They told us that it had the same floor plan as the one in Marek Park. So, we went to go check out the one in Marek Park. My first impression when I walked in was that it was huge! Chad and I stayed in an apartment back in MI that was tiny, so this was big to us! It had 2 bedrooms, a laundry room, an office, lots of closet space, and a huge wonderful kitchen! We fell even more in love after we saw the inside. It's wonderful! We decided not to even give Washington Heights a consideration since we really liked this place.

We had to attend a housing briefing on Friday. They just went over how to recycle, fire safety, and paperwork. We move in on Thursday! I can't wait!

We're still working on getting a car. I hope to have one next week! 

Trying New Things

On Sunday night, our sponsor family took us out to dinner at CoCo's Curry. I've never had curry before, let alone Japanese curry. It was actually really good! I guess it's a really popular restaurant around here. Before we had gone, several people had recommended that we go there! After dinner, we went to check out the PX on Foster. It was pretty much a smaller version of the one on Kadena. When we got home, it was around 9 or 10PM and we were ready for bed! We're still trying to adjust our bodies to the time change. 

Chad had to go in to work at 6:30AM on Monday. We still don't have a car yet, so that leaves me stuck in the hotel all day. Let me tell you, it gets pretty boring just sitting here. I am able to skype my family back home in the morning which is really nice! But once everyone in the states goes to bed, there isn't much to do! We only have a few American stations on the TV in the hotel and of course there was nothing good on. Chad and a guy from his shop picked me up for lunch. I had already ate so I just went a long for the ride. We went to a place called Sukiya. I am not sure what it was called that Chad ordered, but it was a bowl of rice, beef, and cheese. It was pretty good! We also tried miso soup. It tasted a little too fishy for me! Later that night, our sponsors came and picked us up again to take us to American Village. I really like that place! It's a cute area full of different shops and a huge ferris wheel! It was fun to see at night, everything was all colorfully lit up! We went into the Sega building which is a huge arcade. It was pretty cool! After walking around there for a bit, we went to a chinese restaurant called Dragons. Chad and I both ordered the sweet and sour chicken. I don't like the sweet and sour chicken that I have ate back in the states, but this was delicious! They gave you so much food too! They had an area where you took your shoes off and sit on the floor to eat, but those tables were all taken so we sat at a normal one. It was a really fun night, especially after being stuck in the hotel all day! 


We should know more about our housing situation within the next couple days. They will give us 2 options for housing and then we have a day to tell them which one we want. I am unsure how soon after that we get to move in... hopefully soon! Tomorrow, Chad & I will go to the newcomers briefing and hopefully get our drivers license!

Shogun Inn

We have been staying at Shogun Inn, which is the hotel on Kadena AB. It really isn't a bad hotel room! We have a kitchen with a full size fridge, microwave, sink, lots of cupboard space, and even a dish washer! The living room is separate from the bedroom and then of course there is a bathroom. If we were staying here for a few weeks, the only thing I wish it would have is a stove. There is a laundry room on every floor that is free to use for guests. It's pretty decent!

First fews Days

Our first few days in Okinawa have been pretty uneventful. Chad went to meet the people he'll be working with on Friday morning. Someone from his shop came to pick up later in the day to give us a tour of the base. He also took us to the Commissary so that we could buy some groceries. We have no car right now and aren't able to get one until we get our driver license over here. To get our license, all we have to do is take a written test, that I have heard is pretty easy. I believe we take that test on Wednesday at the Newcomer's briefing, so hopefully by the end of the week we'll have a new set of wheels! I hope we also have a house by the end of this week or at least have a move in date. Living in a hotel with no car is getting old pretty quickly!

We are in walking distance of the BX, so we went there on Friday to get cellphones. We both ended up getting iPhones. We were both droid users before so we're trying to get used to the iPhone! The BX here is huge! It is 2 stories tall; on the bottom level there is a food court (Burger King, Taco Bell, Baskin Robbins, Subway, and some other places), a bunch of Japanese vendors, and other stores. Take the escalator upstairs and you enter the actual BX. It's pretty cool. We've been told that if you see something that you want, to buy it right then. If you wait, it won't be there when you come back to get it!

 

Other than that, we haven't been doing much. We are trying to get adjusted to the time change. Yesterday we were wide awake at 3AM! We took a nap at about 4PM and set an alarm to wake up at 7PM, otherwise we would of slept all night. In order to get our body used to the time difference, we dragged our bodies out of bed and went to dinner at Chilis on base. It wasn't that bad of a walk from our hotel but it was still a hike! 

I can't wait until we have a car so we can actually go see things! I'm kind of scared to drive on the other side of the road here. I can totally see me turning into the wrong lane!

We made it!

After a long 24 hours of traveling, we finally made it to Japan! We flew out of Dallas, TX to Chicago on Wednesday morning. By the time we made it to Chicago, our flight to Toyko was already boarding! I wish we would of had a little longer layover just to have time to stretch our legs and walk around a little bit. We were one of the last people to board the plane and I had a row of 3 seats all to myself! Chad ended up moving by me; it was nice to have a row of seats to ourselves so we could lay down. I was hoping to sleep on the plane but I could not get comfortable, so I barely got any rest during the 11 hour plane ride. They played movies and TV shows the entire time. They fed us 2 meals, a snack, and constantly were offering water to us. It really wasn't as bad of a flight as I thought it was going to be. When we got to Toyko, the airport was crazy! There were people running around everywhere, we had to fill out these custom forms, and everything was just a mess. It was crazy to figure out what we needed to do. We also had to pick up our bags from baggage claim and recheck them. We had 8 bags total, so it was not fun dragging them through the airport! Finally, we got through all the checkpoints we needed to get through and we had to wait about an hour for our final flight to Naha to leave. At this point, I was soo exhausted! When the plane took off, I put the tray table down in front of me, laid my head on it and fell asleep within minutes. After our last 3 hour flight, we were in Naha! Our sponsor picked us up from the airport and took us to the base, where we checked into our hotel. It was 10:30PM on Thursday evening and we were ready for bed!

About to Set Sail!

I haven't updated my blog in over a month! I really hope to get better at it when I'm over in Okinawa so I can share my experiences with family and friends! My husband and I start our adventure next Tuesday... that's only 5 days from today! I can't even believe it! Today, the movers came to our house and packed all our household goods up. They brought their own boxes and material and packed everything up that we wanted to send with us. It was pretty nice! It only took them a total of 3 hours to pack all of our stuff up. We don't have a whole lot as we are still newlyweds. I'm interested to see how much more stuff we have when we return 3 years from now!

We were told we would get 2 shipments, an express shipment that would be flown by plane and then the bigger shipment of our household goods that ships by boat. Somehow we got screwed out of the express shipment! I was pretty bummed about it at first, but there's nothing we could really do at this point. Our stuff should be there no later than September... pray that it's earlier! Chad and I both have 2 suitcases each that we'll be living out of until our stuff arrives in Okinawa!

Not a whole lot has been going on. My husband is home on leave so we've just been spending time with family and friends. We are getting ready for our wedding reception/going away party that will take place this Saturday. I'm excited for it!