We made it!

Konichiwa!  It's already been a week since we arrived in Japan.  It's been everything we expected, but not as intimidating as I'd thought it might be.  Most of the time.  :)  We are living on base, which is sort of the training wheels version of visiting a new country.  I have to say, I totally appreciate the training wheels.  We'll be looking for a house off base over the next few weeks, but it has been nice to adjust to the time change and new location without having to learn everything at once.

A few highlights from our past week:

Travel Day

In one word: looong.   10.5 hours is a long time for anyone to be stuck in a chair, especially little ones.  So we had reasonable expectations, and I'm glad to say they exceeded them.  I didn't have to pull out all our snacks and toys, and there was only one moment where Madeleine held the title of 'Loudest on the airplane.'  I'll take it.  We all even napped some, which I count as a bonus.  We flew a military-contracted flight out of Sea-tac (the Navy has two of these leaving Seattle weekly), which was great because most of the plane was full of other families who were also moving.  Many other noisy children.  I felt bad for the single guys... but not really.  :)   Fifteen hours after we left my parent's house early Thursday morning we touched ground in Japan.  Then... immigration line, finding all our bags, 2.5 hour shuttle to base... I hadn't mentally prepared for that part, and was very grateful for all the extra snacks and toys.  We checked into the hotel on base, and were all out pretty soon after.

My only pictures from our day of travel,

Madeleine on the shuttle checking out the Japanese streets.

Our first night in the hotel.

Madeleine fast asleep, Elena watching some Japanese cartoons.

Orientation
This past week has been filled with a five-day class on base called the Area Orientation Brief/ Inter-Cultural Relations (or AOB/ICR... you know how the Navy loves acronyms).  Monday and Tuesday we learned about the services offered on base.  Mostly things offered on every base:  library, commissary (grocery), exchange (non-grocery items, for some reason it's split into five different stores here), gym, etc.  I always appreciate the refresher, and learned a few new things.  There are even some pretty cool bonuses on this base, like a wood shop!

We also slipped off base for the first time during lunch Tuesday to get some cell phones.  It was great to experience a little Japan for the first time.  The woman helping us at the phone store was very sweet, and must have been used to the weird situation of communicating via translator (he was on the phone, so she and Adam would talk to the translator and then pass the phone back and forth).  We are now firmly planted in the culture of technology.  We decided to get an Iphone because they can do some sweet things here (like train schedules, translator apps, skype, you can even buy things with your phone).  I will be slow at figuring out, but it should definitely be helpful.

Back to orientation, Wednesday a few Japanese nationals (that's what they call the locals on base) came in to teach us a little about the Japanese culture.  From how to hold chopsticks to religion, history, local sports, you name it.  They tried to teach us table manners, though I'm sure I will still be making mistakes.  (First rule:  don't jab chopsticks into bowl of rice and leave them there.  Very rude. Of course, in Kamakura my chopstick broke during the meal... so I don't think I scored any points there.)

Thursday we got to take a field trip!  We all took the train to Kamakura, a small town nearby once famous for being the seat of power for the first Shogun (top samurai general).  It was very reassuring to have the instructors guide us through buying tickets, reading the train map, and boarding the right train.  Training wheels much appreciated.  :)  In Kamakura we broke up for lunch; Adam and I tried Okonomiyaki with another couple, which are savory pancake-like fritters with meat, cabbage, etc. in them.  I had the curry okonomiyaki, and Adam tried the seafood version (little shrimp, fish, and misc. tentacles in his batter bowl)  With little grills in each table, we even got to cook our own little pancakes.  They were tasty!  Then we all regrouped to visit the main shrine in town, which the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo had built after he defeated all his opponents and became shogun.  The story about samurais and shoguns was very interesting.

 From the Kamakura trip

Very sweetly, the sign switched to English 

after it showed the Kanji

Both common to see:

bicycles and umbrellas as sunshades.

On our way to lunch

A male and female lion always guard the gate to each shrine,

(that's the extent of my knowledge)

 You can see Adam already practicing his Japanese poses

Random tiny side street

I thoroughly enjoyed being the tourist taking pictures of Asian people, 

when it normally is just the opposite back in the states.  :)

The shrine

On Friday we took the written driver's test (we both passed, phew!) and signed up for our driving test this coming week.  The flashbacks to being 16 are not welcome, I'll be glad to get it over with.  :)

All week the girls went to childcare on base, which was fine for Elena.  Madeleine was not a fan.  I'm looking forward to having them home (aka the hotel) this coming week to get on a normal schedule with real naps, and also to explore a little around base.  First on my list: the library and storytime.

Well that was a jumbled recap of the week.  We also went to a beach this Saturday, but I didn't take any pictures.  Elena made friends with a father and daughter building a sand castle, and it was very sweet how easily children get past the language barrier.  I was just glad not to burn any of the kids, though I did end up pretty toasty.