We left San Diego early on Monday, April 21, 2008, and arrived in Japan in the early evening on Tuesday, April 22, 2008. There is a 17-hour time difference.
We have been in Japan for 10 days now.
Our last month or so in San Diego were quite hectic -- we went to Hungary and to Rome for 2.5 weeks, I spent a day in the hospital with a kidney stone, had to get glasses for a sudden (and unexpected) problem with my eyes, and had to work with movers, etc. I am glad it is over.
Our trip over was uneventful. We were able to use accumulated miles to upgrade our seats so that the trip from San Diego to San Francisco was via first class; the trip from San Francisco to Tokyo was business class. Having never flown anything other than coach, this was pure Heaven! I wish we could do that all the time. One of Ric's co-workers, Karthik, kindly picked us up at the airport (so we didn't have to take a bus for the 2-hour ride).
Since arriving, we have explored the base, the outlying area, enrolled Daniel in school, looked for houses, and attended a week-long orientation course. I'll address these in order: (1) the base is "little America" -- it's like living in Mayberry RFD: you can walk to EVERYTHING and all the faces are already becoming familiar; (2) the area outside the base is FASCINATING; very crowded, very busy, and bustling (think of Chinatown in San Francisco but MUCH MORE crowded and in Japanese!); (3) Daniel is doing well in school but, unfortunately, he has had subsitute teachers almost the entire time because his teacher's son was ill and then she received word that her father is/was dying; (4) the houses here are SMALL -- we were advised that we were entitled to about 1,600 - 2,000 sq. feet so we brought a lot of furniture with us (it will arrive in about 3 months), however, the houses here are generally only about 800 to 1,200 sq. ft. so we will be squeezing everything into very smallrooms; and (5) the orientation course let us know about various services the naval base provides or that can be found on base, it also taught us a little about Japanese culture (and "forced" us to take a train trip, by ourselves, and report back to the class on it), we also took (and passed) the written portion of the Japanese driving test.As you can see, our time has been absolutely filled. Next week, I have to work with the health care side of the base to see if I can keep my U.S. doctors and to verify the Japanese health coverage we have. We will also take our behind-the-wheel driving test (one drives on the left side of the road in Japan -- wish us luck!). I will also get to take part in a field trip at Daniel's school -- I love getting to be a "mom helper."
We will also continue to look for a house. Right now, we plan to live off base for 1-2 years, then move on to the base and be here for our last year or so. Living on base is really convenient -- you can walk to everything (school, shopping, library, movies, doctors, restaurants, etc.) but it just seems as though we are not really experiencing Japan if we do this. So, we plan to live off base, get a taste of Japan, then move onto the base for the conveniences it provides before we'll move back to the U.S. Housing does, however, present its own dilemmas. As noted, apartments/houses are generally about 800 sq. ft. We have two full queen-sized bedroom sets, office furniture, living room and dining room furniture, as well as a bunch of not-used-often stuff (like Christmas & Halloween decorations). If they had been a little more up front with us in San Diego (we may be entitled to more square footage but that does not mean it is available), we never would have brought so much stuff. While we can easily get rid of our living room and dining room furniture (they are old and worn out), I don't really want to get rid of our bedroom and office furniture (too expensive to replace when we return to the U.S.). So, we'll have to hold out for a house that is at least 1,200 sq. ft. and, even then, live in very crowded conditions!!!
We ventured to the "electronic district" of Tokyo last weekend (about 1 hour on the train). You wouldn't believe it. Thousands of people walking the streets. They say the discounts here (for electronics) are really good but I did not see anything that fantastic (as to prices). It was, however, an astounding area. We went into some game stores (stores that sell games for Nintendo, etc.) and they were 5 to 9 storeys tall! The same is true for other types of electronics. Amazing that there is such a market for all this stuff. I have also learned that not all arcades are for children. The Japanese love (LOVE!!) to gamble. So, if Daniel sees an arcade, I have to check it out first since it may not be appropriate for his age!
As to our "field trip" for our orientation class, we went to Kamakura and saw the "great Buddha." It is a lovely place (I am attaching a photo of the Buddha and a photo of the sandals he wears when he takes his reputed midnight strolls). We had a lovely day touring.
Other REALLY interesting first impressions of Japan are: the toilets and the vending machines. The toilets are really high-tech (warmed seats, built-in bidets and blow-dryers, music, etc.). The vending machines are also high-tech -- you can find virtually ANYTHING in these vending machines hot or cold drinks (in the same machine), hot noodles or rice, umbrellas, cigarettes, etc. Do a search on http://www.google.com/ and you'll get an idea of what I am talking about!
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