New Spaces. New Places.

Welcome to our blog! After much thought and consideration we have come up with a name for our new blog to chronicle our next two years here in Japan. My husband Colin is a Naval Aviator stationed here in Sasebo aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard. This is our second overseas tour. Our first being a three year tour with HSC-25 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. We took advantage of the proximity of Guam (and it’s tiny size) and traveled to 9 countries all over the Pacific region. After Guam we enjoyed a 2 1/2 year tour in Norfolk, Virginia where we welcomed our baby daughter, Elin Grace into the family. Fast forward to December 30, 2013, we landed at Fukuoka International Airport and began our new lives in Japan!

The last several months has been filled with what I call PCS fun. PCS stands for Permanant Change of Station and includes all kinds of events that require some serious patience and flexibility as you transition from one military base to another. Add the fact that it is an overseas PCS and you might as well dig out your Gumby suit. The first of three pack outs started in November, first the storage of all the things you don’t want to haul to a foreign country. Next come the trucks to pick up your HHG (House Hold Goods: furniture, appliances, majority of your stuff, and finally the UB, an air shipment of the necessities you lived on while your HHG was in route. Add in the collection of medical records from all over town, a medical screening to make sure you don’t have any conditions that cannot be treated here, the application for housing, government passports, renting our our Virginia home, sending our dog to live with my sister, selling and storing cars, and lots more of exciting stuff. That filled up most of the fall season.

Sending our stuff on a long journey across the Pacific…

We spent Christmas in San Diego with my family before boarding a 747 for Japan. Let me tell you, if you plan on taking a toddler on an 18 hour journey, take some wine. Lots of wine. A case perhaps. Oh and wine for the other of age passengers. Our precious Elin refused to sleep the entire flight from California to Japan. People were in awe (or perhaps aghast) of her willpower to remain not only awake, but vocal for the entire 12 hours. The only good thing that came about was she slept a full 10 hours after we arrived on the 31st.  We even slept through straight through New Years.

Don’t let this picture fool you. She slept for five minutes on the hop to San Francisco. Apparently it was all the rest she needed for the day….and night.

This was more like the majority of our trip. Partying in pajamas in the airport terminal.

We spent the first week wandering around Sasebo City as most of the key offices we needed to deal with were shut down for the holiday week. It was a blessing in disguise as we could take a break and ease our way into our new life here. We spent time dining at local restaurants, traveling with friends to local attractions, beaches and malls and got accustomed to driving on the left side of the road (or the wrong side as my mom sees it).

Elin has embraced the value of a good set of chopsticks. They also make great drumsticks.

By the time we started our AOB or Indoctrination course we were refreshed and ready, unlike our groggy jet lagged peers who just arrived. Indoc basically included some overview of the base, an introduction by the Commander, basic Japanese language & etiquette lessons (like using chopsticks to pick up erasers in the shape of sushi), driving school and test. I think the test was the most eventful activity. My first time driving on the left side of the road was terrifying but after completing the test by backing into a parking space (twice) the instructor got out and asked me to take a picture with him. I figured that was his way of telling me I passed. Right?

Next comes what Colin calls the Japanese drug deal. We bought a car. The way we did it here was pretty interesting. When we arrived we were given a business card by a friend. You know, in a dark alley. ;p Anyway, you call Hiroko, she comes to pick you up at the back gate of the base. She takes you to her lot, you pick out and test drive a car. Then you fill out the paperwork (in Japanese of course) and give her a really large amount of cash. She then drops you back off at the gate and a week later the car is delivered. If it weren’t for the incredible honesty this country is known for I don’t think I would have trusted this sort of arrangement.  But here, it works!

Once we had a car things got easier. We shuffled our way through the housing process. One of the fun things about the military is the lack of communication you often encounter. In our situation it was housing. We received no assistance from them whatsoever in the planning process so we had to go off advice from friends and Facebook. We came expecting a 3 bedroom/2 bath town home, about 1300-1500 sq feet or so, most likely with a yard or the option to use OHA, Overseas Housing Allowance to rent a place in town. What we were “offered” was a second floor, 1,000 sq foot apartment with a tiny balcony and even tinier bathroom. If we chose not to accept it we would have to pay our own way out in town. No exceptions. Wonderful! Needless to say we “accepted” and move-in was nothing short of embarrassing.

Why yes, that would be THREE trucks of crates…

The poor movers spent five hours hauling our belongings up the stairs into our tiny apartment. Colin was out of town so I was left trying to figure out where to put EVERYTHING. It was a sad mess. I remember at one point the foreman shrugged and sincerely told me “We out of room, I uh, am so so sorry”.

Uhhh..

Oh boy.

Oh dear…

There has to be wine in here somewhere!

Well at least the tricycle was found.

After many many tears and maybe a few too many cheeseburgers I picked myself up and sold an entire bedroom worth of stuff. It has taken a week but I think we have about settled in. It’s a small space but we will manage. If anything it will encourage us to get out and do more which is exactly what we plan to do. So far we have taken Elin to Hirado and Nagasaki. I will post about those later, along with some of the fabulous new things I’ve learned about Japan. Despite a rocky start I think it’s going to be a stellar tour for us, this country is already exceeding our expectations with gorgeous views, incredibly polite people and delicious food. I can’t wait to share more!

Here is to new beginnings!

Matane,

Caitlyn