Nihon e yōkoso (Welcome to Japan)

I am not going to lie, I wasn't sure we would ever get to today.  It is August 1st and we were up before the sun to get to the airport to catch our flight to Okinawa.  All the paperwork is in order, Wesley has been checked in and loaded on the plane.  The only thing left is to follow suit.  Buckle up!

It didn't take very long for everyone to crash!  Except for me.  I swear I think Jim was asleep before the wheels were up.  I will say this, the plane was super nice.  We had lots of room and plenty of media choices.  I could barely keep up with all the food that was being delivered.  All in all, not as bad as I had envisioned.  

At our first layover we were able to get Wesley out of the prison kennel for a much needed bathroom break.  Of course that took forever because he was too busy running around acting like a total crazy dog and sniffing EVERYTHING - 1000 times.  After he finally took care of business we had the unpleasant job of trying to get him to go back in the kennel.  I brought along a few treats to entice him, but he was not falling for it.  Finally he put his head down and we were able to nudge him inside.  I promise buddy, this trip is almost over.

Thankfully the next layover was pretty quick.  We landed just a little past seven in the evening on Okinawa and after a fairly painless process we were able to gather up all of our many many bags and caravan with our lovely sponsors to our new home.  For those not in the know, when you are stationed on Okinawa you are matched up with someone who is already here to help you get around until you can get your license and vehicle and sometimes housing.  We were lucky and already had a house and Jim was able to get his license when he was over here in June.  So our transition already had a head start!  Which is a good thing because in just a few days, Jim was set to go back to the states for 6 to 8 weeks!  First things first, I need to get my license and we need to buy a car!

In Japan you drive on the left side of the road.  Hopefully I can remember to do that - but have to admit I am extremely nervous!  The cars in Japan are for the most part - TINY!  Jim and I went car shopping and decided on a mini van.  Sigh.  I really really wanted to avoid getting a mini van.  However, there is just no way around it.  We plan to do as much exploring as we possibly can and therefore we need a vehicle large enough to get us there without the kids maiming each other.  Hopefully our second car can be a fun one.  I certainly hope so because after driving on the tiny alleys side roads and trying to park without the aid of my backup camera, I am going to need something that doesn't take up much space.  

The night before Jim departed we decided to head down to an area of town called American Village and try our luck with a local restaurant.  Thankfully the locals are used to the dumb Americans and we were able to figure out how to order once we figured out how to get a spot at the counter.  Kids used to love going to eat at a restaurant in Pembroke Pines that had sushi plates going by on boats.  Okinawa has a similar concept except it was on conveyor belts.  It was a HIT!

  

Jim left us to get settled in our house with a tropical storm bearing down on us (it just brushed by) in order to get back to DC to go to a conference.  I was supposed to join him, but since we had just moved to Japan, that was not going to happen.  He was able to have his family come up for the big finale - a Parade in honor of the newest Generals at Marine Barracks.  It was good that we had been able to show it to Lucy and Ben earlier in June so they had an idea of what was going on.  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we were trying to figure out how things work.  Lilly is super excited because there is a HUGE mall just down the street and a girl her age living next door.  Lucy and Ben are sick of each other so we are hoping there will be some younger kids living nearby.  It is pretty quiet up here so far but I am sure that will change once school starts. 

The tropical storm that brushed by us was a perfect reason to try our first outing.  Our neighbors were going to Sea Glass Beach and asked us to join them.  Of course the weather didn't really corporate, but apparently it rains quite a bit here so we just rolled with it.  We found quite the haul.  We can add it to the Jamestown collection.

We found some shells too!

One thing that is taking some getting used too is the number of GIANT snails that live in our yard.  A few days after we got here, we decided to gather them all up (67) and paint a strip of pink nail polish on the shells, take them down the steep hill behind our house and see how long it takes for them to come back. 3 days in case you are wondering.  Oh, fun fact, the snails themselves aren't poisonous, but their slime is.  Thankfully, Wesley is afraid of them so we shouldn't have to worry about him eating one.  

Thought we would give you some perspective to how BIG these things are!!

Also how many there are!! Those are snails in that drainage ditch - not leaves!!

I may have mentioned in the previous post that we had friends here from Yuma.  It did not take long for us to get the kids together.  One of the first adventures was to head up the Island to a local waterfall.  Since I had no idea where we were going I let Sabrina drive and boy was I glad I did.  The trip took us on the express way and down some pretty narrow streets and some streets that didn't even look like streets.  How did anyone ever find any of these places before google maps? The one we originally were heading to was closed because of excess rainfall (did I mentioned how much it rains) so we headed to another.  This one also had a rope swing.  Kids were in heaven!

Another thing we really needed to do was get the kids registered for school.  Lucy and Ben were going to be attending Lester Middle School so we headed down there to check in and see what classes they had available.  The guidance counselor noticed I was wearing a UNCW t-shirt and commented that she is also a graduate.  This is really not all that surprising since a large percentage of DODEA employees are either former military, dependents or spouses.  Given UNCW's proximity to Camp Lejeune it is an easy college choice to make.  But I digress.  The counselor and I played the obligatory "Do you know _____" game and found that we in fact did know quite a few of the same people!  I got a warm fuzzy that she would make sure the kids were taken care of when it came to class selection.  Ben and Lucy made thoughtful choices and we all left feeling pretty good about the upcoming year.

Lilly is starting her Freshman year at Kubasaki High School.  I still can't believe she is in High School!!  WOW!  Where has the time gone.  Seems like not that long ago she was a baby and now this!  When we got out of the car, the first thing to greet us was one of two dragons.  I tried to get her to stand beside it, but she was not having any of that!  She was also able to get all the classes she needed without having to fight for them.  Sadly her counselor and I didn't have the same connection so we really don't know if she got the Onslow County hookup.  But we felt pretty good nonetheless.

In case you are wondering, yes, Jim is still gone.  Kids are getting buttoned in on the sports options.  Ben is playing baseball, Lilly is trying out for volleyball and Lucy has decided she will go back to swimming.  Once our household goods arrive she may branch out into soccer - we forgot to send pretty much all of our sports equipment in the express shipment so we needed to wait for cleats, socks, shin guards, etc...  Ben's feet have grown so I didn't feel badly about buying new baseball cleats but I refused to buy a glove or bat.  We are lucky to have friends who will let us borrow some stuff.  

Finally!  I may be in the minority about this, but I think the first day of school has to be the most highly anticipated day of the year.  I know it is Christmas or Birthdays for the kids, but give me a first day of school to really get me in a good mood!!  It is an EARLY morning here in Japan.  The bus comes at 6:30 but they get out before 2 every day except Tuesday (which is 12:50).  So I don't feel too bad for them.  Everyone was up and out the door without too much drama.  They even let me snap a picture!  

One thing I really wanted to make happen before school started was to get the kids SCUBA certified.  Well, that isn't really true.  A new friend reached out to me about having Ben get certified while her son and another friend were doing it.  It was like the perfect thing to do the week before school!  So I quickly signed up all three kids.  Unfortunately the instructor's husband had emergency surgery and she needed to delay the class.  Since Lilly was trying out for the JV Volleyball team every day after school that meant she was not able to take the class.  The instructor said that wasn't a problem since she taught this class all year long.  Lilly ended up making the Volleyball team so she will have to take the course once her season ends.  

Lucy and Ben made it through the 1/2 of the classroom portion of the course with flying colors and then had an extremely long pool session.  Even though they were hungry and grouchy they could not stop talking about how much fun they had.  I can't wait for them to experience what diving in the Ocean is like.

Labor Day Weekend was fast upon us.  Right after we arrived my friend Sabrina asked if we wanted to join them for the weekend at Okuma Beach Resort and Recreation Facility.  They had made the plans six months ago with some friends and now her husband was out of town.  Since it was just her and her kids and since our kids all get along great, did we want to go?  Ahh, YEAH!! Our household goods had shown up that week and the last thing I wanted to do over the long weekend was unload boxes.  So the kids and I loaded up the mini van and headed about 1 1/2 north to Okuma.  The place is awesome!  The kids pretty much had free range.  All the families' kids got along.  All the adults got along.  It was pretty much the absolute best thing we could have done.  So thankful we were asked and able to join in the fun!

Kids on the water obstacle course

Participating in the water war

Ben loading up his shirt with water balloons

Lilly giving as good as she got

Lucy nailing Nic

A little perspective of the area.

Technically the end of the weekend was September but I am including it in this edition because the bulk of the weekend happened in August.  It's my blog, I make the rules.  The final night we were there, the kids participated in a "color run."  By the end of the weekend, Lucy was totally sold on adding soccer to her sports plate.  Not only is Nic on her team, but her new friend Olivia also plays.  Lilly said she was even interested in possibly joining in the spring!  
There were several things we could have done on the North end of the Island, but we decided we needed to get back to all our boxes and of course Wesley.