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!