Thursday, October 29, 2009

Dislocation Adjustments

   Every move has its frustrations. Moving halfway around the world is no exception. We’ve run into several differences in the Japanese and even military culture that take some getting used to. Some of these differences have been fun to learn and discover, while some are just downright maddening. Now, I’m not trying to whine (we’ve had an amazing first 2 weeks on the island)…which is why I’m calling these “adjustments” instead of “frustrations.” Here’s a little compare/contrast, if you will, of how we do things over in O-town:

  • Driving on the other side of the road. Everything that has to do with driving is opposite. We drive on the left side of the road, the driver’s seat is on the right side of the car, even the blinker is on the other side of the steering wheel. (This has been a humorous adjustment. Both Zac and I have turned on our windshield wipers several times as we were trying to signal a turn.) Fortunately the gas/brake pedals are the same, or else we’d be in big trouble.
  • Slurping. It is perfectly acceptable to slurp your noodles. It’s actually pretty necessary – Soba noodles (a noodle soup comparable to Ramen noodles, but much better) are eaten with chopsticks. Yes, they eat their soup with chopsticks. So it’s impossible to do the twirling we do with spaghetti and a fork. We like this adjustment. It makes life easier (although it might be hard to desist once we’re back in the states). And, if I do say so myself, we are becoming quite dexterous with our chopsticks.
  • No room in the inn. Well, not literally. There was plenty of room at the Courtney Lodge (where we stayed for a week and a half before we got the apartment). However, today I went to set up our internet. Mind you, the place is only open on Tuesdays and Fridays (how can I get THAT job?). So I went in, thinking we’d sign up and I’d soon be connected to the World Wide Web once again. Come to find out, there’s no room for any more internet customers on the base. What? I didn’t know the internet could run out of room? We’re number 6 on the waiting list…which means 6 people have to cancel their service on base before we can get hooked up. I might be going door to door this weekend spreading nasty rumors about the internet company so people will cancel. Until then, we’ll still be stealing some unknowing neighbors (spotty) wireless. [Side note: this is more of a military “adjustment.” The company has a monopoly on base. Un-AmericanI think so. If we were off base, we’d be set up with fiber optic miracle internet. If you feel as passionate as I do, write your congressmen ;)]
  •  Off white walls with peachy trim. To be changed ASAP, once the paint store’s mixing machine gets fixed.
  • Time difference. It took us a while to adjust to our new time zone (stay up past 8:00pm). But it still never ceases to amaze me that I can enjoy my morning coffee and pumpkin cake on Friday as everyone in the states is watching Grey’s Anatomy on Thursday night. (It’s a 14 hour time difference from Central time to here…soon to be 15 hours after the US “falls back” for daylight savings time.)
  • Online experience. Minus the fact that we don’t really have internet, our experience is quite different. Many websites, like Google/gmail and even this blog site, come up in Japanese. Eeek. It’s been quite a task to figure out which symbols mean “sign in” and “password.” Even the ads on the sidebar are in Kanji. (Sorry, sidebar ad, you won’t be getting my business… I can’t read you.) On that note, since the genius internet knows we’re coming from a Japanese location, we are unable to access a few sites. For example, we cannot watch online shows on any TV network’s website (ABC, NBC, FOX, hulu, etc.), not even Netflix, which we pay for. I would think that they could detect that we are on a military base (i.e. American soil), and allow us access. [If you believe in our right to view American masterpieces like Grey’s Anatomy and Glee online like the rest of our fellow citizens, write your congressmen] Se la vie.
  • Microwave-less. This is more of a personal problem for us (that will probably be solved as soon as possible).  We don’t have a microwave. It’s not much of an issue, but it’s an adjustment. It brings us back to a more simple time where you bake in the oven and heat water on a stove. It’s enjoyable to get creative…like heating up some Chef Boyardee in a pot. Fun!
Well, that’s a wrap for now. I’ll probably be presenting some more “dislocation adjustments” in the future. It really is another world over here, and even though I make fun, we are really enjoying it here! I can’t believe it’s been 2 weeks already!

Monday, October 26, 2009

We'll be back in a few

Today (Tuesday) is move-in day!! We are finally moving OUT of the Courtney Lodge and into our new (to us) apartment! We don't have a lot to move in, just what we brought on the plane with us, but we have some loaner furniture coming later today and our express shipment coming tomorrow! Things are slowly but surely coming together.

We'll probably be without internet for the next few days until it gets set up in the apartment. Until then, I'll be cleaning bathrooms and lining shelves!

I'll be taking lots of pictures, so stay tuned!

Did you know?

This is more of an "FYI" post than an update of our life, but a perhaps useful lesson, especially as we near the holidays. I'd like to introduce my friend: The flat-rate priority mail box.


As the name implies, it's a flat rate to send the box, no matter the weight (I think up to 70 lbs...but unless you are shipping a box full of lead, it's probably fine.) The cool thing is you can order the boxes from the post office, and they will deliver the boxes...all for FREE (i.e. box and delivery = free). Then you just pay the shipping.

My interest has piqued on this subject as I have tried to figure out how to get Christmas gifts back to the states. I suppose this is my solution.

(For our moms...in case we still rate* Christmas gifts ;) ) Lucky for us, since we are "military personnel overseas" we have an "FPO" box, which basically means mail gets to us through the normal USPS. So only domestic fees apply. PLUS, the post office gives you a discount on the flat rate box shipping! I'm pretty sure both our moms love a good deal, right?

Besides that, if you feel so inclined to send a soldier/marine/airman (yes- a little military trivia- they all have different names based on the branch of service) that may be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan during the holiday season, these boxes and rates apply. Here's some info: http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2009/pr09_082.pdf#search='fpo'

Unfortunately, the US Health Services (or whoever is in charge) is not using this nifty, thrifty, swift(y) method of shipping...the swine flu vaccine isn't coming to the island until the beginning of December...

Footnotes:


I apologize for writing a post entirely about boxes. Don't worry, I'll be back with more from our ever-exciting life soon (enter sarcastic face)! I also think I've met my allotment of parenthetical phrases for the year. 


*"rate" in the military means "earn" or "can get"...I've forgotten what is normal word usage and what is military talk.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

In the Beginning...

What an awesome start to our stay in Okinawa it has been! The island is absolutely gorgeous, as we were able to experience our first weekend! Our sponsors took us up to the northern part of the island, which has very little "city" but does have some beautiful scenery. The boys went snorkeling while the girls hung out on the beach (it was a little chilly to swim for us.)

The Beach

That little head is Zac snorkeling. It was much more rough than usual.


We also visited the northern tip of the island, Cape Hedo. Gorgeous views. It characterizes a lot of the island - there are many hills/mountains and cliffs around the edge, but many great beaches also.


Cape Hedo: behind those rocks is a ~75 ft. drop




Looking down from Cape Hedo to the coral below




Sunset on the way home


We've eaten alot of sushi and soba (Asian noodle soup) since we've been here, and we're loving it! We're slowly but surely settling in. We will get our apartment and the second of our cars on Monday. I got a car on Friday, so we are finally independently mobile! I can't believe we've been here for only a week! We've experienced so much and are looking forward to much more!

Interesting cultural fact: The Japanese don't have normal cemeteries. They are mostly cremated, and families have collective "shrines" where they place the ashes. This is an important part of their main religion, Shintoism, which places an lar emphasis on ancestry.  We saw a ton of them on the drive north.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Adventures in Time Travel

We made it to Okinawa.

It was a long ride. To be honest, I don't know how long it was. Here's a short rundown. We left out of Seattle at 1 a.m. Seattle time. We landed in Anchorage, Alaska at 3 a.m. Anchorage time. After a 2 hour layover we left for Yokota Air Force Base and arrived there at 6:30 a.m. Yokota time. Then after another 2 hour layover we landed in Okinawa at about 12:30 p.m. Okinawa time. You figure out how long that is.

[Hint: Seattle is 2 hours behind Central time. Anchorage is 3 hours behind Central time. Yokota and Okinawa are 14 hours ahead of Central time...you can see how this gets pretty complicated.]

Oh, and by the way, we landed at 12:30 on Friday afternoon...so I guess we just skipped Thursday all together.

We've had a fabulous time here already, though our bodies are worn out (and thoroughly confused about when to sleep and wake up). Our first night (last night) here, we were exhausted by 7:00 pm and were in bed by 8:30. Our sponsor warned us that we would probably wake up, ready to go, at about four in the morning. Even though I felt like I could sleep days, 3:54 a.m. rolled around, and both Zac and I were wide awake. Tonight we are trying to fight the jet lag...It's almost 10 pm and we're still up...on our way to an almost normal night's sleep.

Our first full day in Okinawa was great. It's already feeling like it's going to be okay to live here for a few years. (Yesterday was a little overwhelming...I mean a lot overwhelming. I think I have material for a year's worth of blogging explaining all of cultural differences that we've noticed in our first 36 hours.)

We got good news this morning: our express shipment has arrived, which means we will have some necessities (and some Halloween decorations...of course...) as soon as we move into permanent housing. Can't wait to have my good ole coffee pot back. For some reason, having just a little portion of our stuff made me feel much more at ease in being here, and one step closer to making this home.

Our sponsors have been incredible and took us all around the island today. We started with a local lunch of (super cheap) soba/okinawa noodles at Dragon. Then, we went to another base to check out cell phones. (Umm, I think they're a little behind on the cell phone plans...for a normal US priced plan, you get about 45 min. a month, no mobile to mobile and no free nights and weekends. It's like a flashback to the early-90's-with-the-Zack-Morris-huge-mobile-phone plan.) Then we made a stop at another base to look at the "lemon lot" - basically a car lot on base where people are trying to sell cars. We then went to base number 4 of the day (or maybe back to a previous base...they all look the same to me) for FosterFest, a little festival with some entertainment, food, carnival games, etc. We wrapped up the day with dinner, frozen yogurt, and a tour of a base apartment.

We've only been here one day, but it already feels like a while. I don't think we really feel like we live here yet, but it's amazing how fast we are getting there.

Well, I made it to my 10:00 pm goal, so now I'm going to rest my poor tired body.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Sayonara USA

What a wonderful whirlwind of a month. There is so much to talk about, I don't even know where to start. So I'll go backwards. Right now, Zac and I are sitting in the USO lounge in the Seattle airport. After a semi-long flight to Seattle, we have a few hours before the flight leaves for Japan (it leaves at 1 a.m. Seattle time, 3 a.m. Texas time). It should be a long night, but maybe we'll be just exhausted enough to sleep on the plane.

Last night, we had our last dinner at the Taste of Texas (a great steakhouse in Houston) for our last "taste of Texas." The four months in North Carolina made us realize how much Texas is truly our home, and we will miss it dearly for the next few years! It was so wonderful to be able to spend a few weeks there with all of our friends and family!

This has been a long week of goodbyes...But Zac and I couldn't feel more blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family offering so much support and so many prayers. We are confident this will be an amazing adventure, but we will miss sharing the day to day with so many of y'all!

I will get pictures and stories up as soon as I can of (what Zac calls) our "Farewell Tour." We tried to take as many pics as possible! Hopefully we'll have internet access soon, and I'll update on our Okinawa arrival!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Our Future Honba

[Honba = Home in Japanese]

We're off to Okinawa, Japan October 14th. We don't know much about our future home, but to give you an idea of where we're headed, we'll share the research we have.

Okinawa is a small island on the southern-most tip of the Japanese islands. Basically, it's nowhere near the mainland - it's about 950 miles from Tokyo. It's just about as close to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia as it is to the mainland.

Weather-wise, it's tropical. The coldest it will ever get is about 55 degrees. So it's sayonara to sweaters and pea coats. BUT we'll have year round beach trips and scuba diving, which I'd trade for cold weather any day. (It will be interesting how a palm tree will work as a Christmas tree, though....;))

The island has over 10 U.S. military bases. Zac will be working on Camp Schwab, which is in the middle of the island. We will probably live on Camp Courtney, which is a little further south. (See here for a map of the island.) Housing is very different than here in the U.S.! Amenity-wise, since we will live on base, everything will be Americanized. Architecturally, everything's concrete and blocky... When the first typhoon rolls through, I'm sure I'll appreciate the strong, concrete walls. We'll either live in a mulitplex or a highrise apartments.


Lovely, right?

We're already on the list for a three-bedroom "house." It will probably be in the high-rise, since we don't have any pets. I guess it's pretty standard, but I think the washer and dryer are in the kitchen! Ha! Maybe I'll end up liking it...I can do laundry and cook dinner at the same time...?

It won't be too long until we get to see it in real life! We are so looking forward to being there, but enjoying our last few days visiting friends and family!