Week One - I've traded my high heals and Coach bag for my sneakers and backpack!
Rule number one for a military spouse, don't leave home without your ID. Well I have learned my lesson the hard way on this one. Upon arriving at the aiport in Baltimore on Wednesday Nov 30, I realized I did not have my ID and call frantically back to friends who found out that I left it at the house by accident. I board the commercial flight from Baltimore to Seattle with stops along the way in Kansas City and Denver. I arrive at 11:30 and proceed to the USO & AMC to check in. This is the first place that I realize how big my mistake of leaving my card at home will be. I am able to check in to attempt space A travel the next morning but am not permitted in the USO for the night - they do agree to keep my luggage. At 4:30am I learn that I (and about 40 others) are not able to get on the space A flight. ( I realize in hindsight that with the holiday, there were many people trying to return to Japan). The next four hours, I work with Jake and the airlines to make other arrangements to get to Japan. I would have had to wait another week for the next Space A flight. Thankfully the USO office allows me to take a nap and get a shower at their facility. I leave that night for LAX and then around midnight get on a flight to Korea (13+ hour) and then the next morning to Okinawa. So six flights, over 25 hours on the plane, but thankfully I arrived on Saturday morning into the loving arms of my husband.
The next two days are a blur as I try to catch up on sleep and jet lag. Monday morning Jake went back to work. I have spent the week adjusting to my surroundings, unpacking and exploring. I have walked 25 miles in 5 days (my only way around when Jake is at work). Beacuase I do not have my spouse ID, I cannot get on the base or go anywhere on base without Jake. Since he has been at work, I have been exploring the local area. The base is only 1.5 miles from our house and the closest beach access is 2 miles. The area we live in is surrounded by locals with small homes or apartment buildings. Our building is 5 stories and has only 10 apartments. From our balcony I can see the ocean. We are on a hill so our view goes on for miles. Futenma air base is about a mile away and you can hear planes and helicopters all day. The other big adjustment for me is the barking dogs and roosters that crow around 3am each morning. Jake has been very patient with me adjusting to normal sleep hours, the first few days I was tired around 8pm and woke up around 2-3am. The weather this week has been in the 60-70s and mostly sunny. We have had several days of cloudy/overcast skies too. Storms come up quickly here on the island. The wind is very strong on the island and makes the doors/windows rattle sometimes. I attended a newcomer brief one day this week and learned some valuable information about the island and the culture here. Tuesday night we were able to see the Harlem Globetrotters perform at Kadena Air Force Base. Jake has been enjoying home cooked meals every night. We have mostly been eating American food purchased from the Commissary on base but we made benimo (japanese purple sweet potato) one evening. Tonight we are going to a holiday concert on Camp Foster. The warm weather here makes it hard to believe that Christmas is only a few short weeks away. We do have a Christmas tree and received our first Christmas card in the mail this week.
Fun "facts" from the week:
1. Everything is in metric and celsius here. I have been "cheating" using online calculators to find out what temp to put the oven at.
2. At our apartment, there is a switch that turns on the hotwater. It is taking me awhile to get used to having to turn on the switch each time I shower or want to do the dishes - and then of course to shut it back off each time.
3. All of our appliances here at the apartment have japanese writing on them, luckily Jake has a "cheat" sheet so that we know how to use most things.
4. Interesting - the toilet seat here at our place is heated. It made me jump the first time I used it!
In future emails I intend to keep you posted on our adventures and hope to share interesting culture we experience here together. If you have any questions or want to know anything specific, just let me know. Natasha
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