We made it! Since the last post, we have been very busy and have had a lot of adventures. The moving out process went very well and we were pleased with how well they packed our belongings and furniture. The first 2 days, one person came and hand packed everything in our house into boxes. The 3rd day, they sent the muscle who moved everything out. This took much longer than we were expecting, as they had to pack everything into international crates. The crates have to be packed a very specific way, with no wiggle room or extra space and have to weigh 1000 pounds. We ended up with 6 full crates with some left over that they were going to repack at the port, so our total poundage was about 6400 pounds! Must be all the clothes and shoes. :) We expect to get this delivery end of September.
After we were all moved out, we started a 10 day road trip adventure. We hit up Chicago, Baltimore, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City. We saw a lot of great friends and also made new friends along the way as well. We ended our tour at Kenny's parents house who had a little going away BBQ for us and who also let us take over their house with our re-packing and organizing process. I left my car there as well. It was tough saying goodbye to my good old Jetta, but we spent a lot of quality time together on our road trip before leaving and I know it will be in good hands while I am gone. :)
The plane ride was 12.5 hours! It actually went by very quickly. We were so lucky that Kenny had accumulated upgrades with all his travels and so we were able to sit in business class with the lay-flat seats. It was spectacular, however going back to economy seating is going to be difficult, haha. We arrived at Tokyo airport and gathered our excessive amounts of suitcases (see pictures) and were on our way to Yokosuka. On the drive, I noticed many more similarities to the U.S. than differences, including lots of people texting/talking on cellphones while driving, haha. The terrain is very similar to the D.C. area - lots of hills and lots of green. The weather is also very similar - HOT and HUMID. We were told we were lucky we weren't here a few days ago when the temperature was 103F and humid.
Currently, we are staying at the Naval Lodge on the Yokosuka U.S. Naval Base. This is making the transition a bit easier, as internet and cable TV is available. We will be giving housing information this week and should be able to start looking for houses this weekend. The Naval Lodge is basically a glorified hotel room, but very large with lots of storage and a kitchenette. We do have a great view of the water and saw a beautiful sunrise this morning. We will probably be staying here for 3-4 weeks before we find our permanent housing.
I haven't seen much of the Japanese culture yet, as we are quite sheltered on the base. The base is very industrial and not much to look at, but I suppose I wouldn't have expected much different. I am so very glad we get to live on the Japanese economy to get more of the local experience. However, I will say that it is very reassuring that "little America" is available to us at any time. We toured the base last evening after unpacking. There is a very large commissary which is basically like any U.S. grocery store and the Navy Exchange is basically a department store. There is also a very nice gym and track right on the bay, so you can work-out with views of the water.
Today, we have orientation and expect we will also start the housing process and be taking our international driving test. Tonight, we plan on going off the base and seeing more of the local Yokosuka area. More posts to follow!
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