Rainy season begins

Oh, so you say it is going to rain for 6 weeks straight?

Bring it on!

 



Remember Wilson - love is a shared umbrella!

I think they'll fit in just fine...

**Disclaimer - It really WAS raining when we started putting on all the rain gear, but by the time the boys were all suited up...blue skies. Photo shoot went on as planned. I'm sure 6 weeks of rainy season will increase our speed with the boots.**

Meeting the neighbors

In Japan, it's customary to bring presents to your new neighbors when you move in. I think it's to show that you are happy to be in the neighborhood and will try to be a good neighbor. So, Nathan and I each learned a few Japanese phrases and we practiced with each other for about 10 minutes before taking our show on the road.

Here was our routine:
We both said "Konichiwa" when our neighbor opened the door.
Then Nathan would say, "Watashi no namae wa Nathan" which is my name is Nathan and then introduce me.
Then Wilson would give the box of chocolates and I would say, "Hajimamishite" which means nice to meet you.

One interesting thing about the Japanese is that there are about a million subtleties when speaking that we just don't know. One of them is that if you are offering something to someone, they will not take it unless you say, "dozo" which is a version of please. As in, please take this. So at one house I forgot to say dozo and the chocolates were held out for a very long time almost touching our neighbor's hands before I remembered to say it - oops!

We went to the 4 houses closest to ours and think the meetings went pretty well. There was much smiling and head bowing as Nathan and I fumbled through our Japanese. I'm sure there were some mispronunciations, but everyone was very kind. The neighbors said some pleasantries to us that we had to just smile at. We are trying to work on our Japanese at home, but have decided that we will try to sign up soon for a college level class they offer on base. Hopefully, the neighbors appreciated our efforts.

For the most part, our neighbors don't speak much English, but our neighbor across the street speaks it really well. His name is Yoshi and he's also the president of our neighborhood. He came over a few nights ago before a neighborhood meeting to say that he was going to introduce our family at the meeting so he wanted to know a little more about us. We thought that was really nice and have been receiving a few more hellos since then. We are really happy to have him as a neighbor!

Here are the boys ready to meet the neighbors! Leo is trying to break into the box. Wilson is closely monitoring his progress.

Here are the reactions when I told them that we were giving away the chocolates and would not be opening them.

Nagasaki

For Father’s Day, Nathan wanted to go on a road trip to Nagasaki. So, we had a nice relaxed morning and then piled into the van for the trip. We were without gps or maps, so we followed signs to Nagasaki. It’s supposed to be an hour south of Sasebo, but the route we went on took about an hour and a half. We were pleasantly surprised that there were no tolls on the road. The tolls here in Japan are insanely expensive. The drive to Fukuoka, which is about 2 hours north of Sasebo has tolls that are over $40 each way! We were expecting some along the way to Nagasaki, but avoided the main expressway. Pretty sure we didn’t take the most direct route, but it sure was a beautiful drive. We were on the coast most of the time and saw tons of islands, rice patties and traditional homes along the way.
Here are some pics from the drive. Not the greatest because they were taken from the car.

These are the 3 radio towers that sent out the command to attack Pearl Harbor during World War II. They are right by the Hario Village housing section of the base, which is also on the way to Nagasaki.

Nagasaki is on a beautiful part of the coast and built on the slopes of the rolling mountains there. We drove through the main part of the city and found Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum. They are both near the epicenter of where the bomb hit. The park is surrounded by some surviving parts of the wall of a prison that was the closest building to the bomb. Peace Park is beautiful and has many sculptures. There is a fountain in the middle of the park and a plaque that dedicates it to those who died in the bomb blast – many of whom were begging for water.

There were a few different tours going on and we were the only Americans there. During orientation, we were told that to show respect we shouldn’t visit during the month of August which is the anniversary of the bombing. I felt a little uncomfortable when we first arrived with the idea that we were visiting the place where our country bombed theirs, but the feeling of peace really did prevail in the park. People were very kind and we definitely get the sense that there are no grudges. We are planning on visiting the museum when we have some visitors who are interested in going.

And, of course, I couldn't help thinking of my own dad...

Happy Father's Day to Nathan and MrMax!

Oh - forgot to add that this was Wilson's present to Nathan. He made it at daycare and for those of you that can't tell, it's Nathan. Wilson says the 2 sticks at the top are his eyebrows.

New friends

At orientation, we met a family that arrived at the same time as us. So, the boys and their daughter, Lily had tons of fun playing while we were all living at the Navy Lodge and setting up life here. Wilson and Lily really hit it off and were in the same daycare class while we were at orientation. We had a great night going out to Indian food our last night at the Lodge. Lily's mom and I are planning a trip to the zoo this Friday. Venturing out with someone else seems less scary than going it alone with the boys. We're happy to have arrived with them!

Here are Wilson and Lily playing the roles of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.

 

Here is Leo going off to chase a bird - his new obsession.

They also had way too much fun on a merry go round that was broken. Overall, a really fun night out on the town!

We're in!

We've moved over to the house!

We've unpacked our suitcases and had some loaner furniture delivered. I would post pictures, but it's pretty pathetic right now how little we have. Our expedited shipping comes July 3rd with our bikes, sheets and some other stuff. The rest of our stuff isn't coming until July 26th - boo! We're working on getting internet set up and everything like that. Slowly but surely, we'll get there. 

We're missing everyone and thinking of you often!

New car

Here’s our new car.

It’s the biggest car we’ve ever had - seating for 7! No more sports cars for us. I definitely felt pretty old when I was telling a friend how excited I was about the automatic sliding door opener on my key chain – oh, the convenience! We wanted to get a car with more seating so that when we have visitors (hint, hint!) we’ll be able to go places in one car. Nathan and I have been debating whether it is a minivan or more of a station wagon cross over type car. It’s a tough call. It drives more like a car, is an automatic, has a 4 cylinder engine and gets car like gas mileage - those were all bonuses. Please write in the comments section if you have a minivan or wagon opinion – we both love being right, so one of us will be thrilled when the votes are tallied!


We think we got a pretty good deal on it, but it’s hard to say. There is a car lot on the base that is dubbed the ‘lemon lot.’ People who are PCSing back to the States put their cars there and sell them for pretty cheap. We saw a few cars that were tempting and about $750. There is something called a JCI that needs to be renewed every 2 years and that bill is almost $2,000, and most of the cars that were pretty cheap have that due in a few months. Also, there is a bunch of paperwork involved in transferring over the vehicle. We kept trying to find one of the lemon lot cars that we could get excited about, but nothing really looked that good. The fact that we were looking on something called the lemon lot kind of turned us off to that option, as well. We were also under a time crunch because we already had a move in date for our house and it is about 20 minutes from the base, so we needed everything taken care of with the car by then. We ended up going with a dealer in town that came recommended. She works with people on the base all the time, so she knew exactly what paperwork we needed to do. We got a full 2 year JCI, 6 month warranty and she’ll do oil changes and any tune ups that we need for the 3 years we’re here. As people who don’t know much about cars, we felt like this was our best bet. People at Nathan’s work keep telling him we were fleeced by the dealer, since there are cars here that are practically free, but who knows?


We’re still in the market for a car for Nathan to get back and forth to work in, and I think the lemon lot will be good enough for that! Nathan had to give up his dream of scootering (scooting?) to work because getting a license for a scooter is the same as for a motorcycle and seems pretty involved. I think it still sounds kind of fun and that he should go for it, but I’m pretty sure the scooter’s stock has dropped a lot since the onset of the rainy season.


Driving here was pretty wild at first. Since we’re SOFA sponsored, which means we fall under different rules than Japanese citizens or regular tourists, getting drivers licenses was pretty easy. We had to take a 40 question test and could miss 10. I was pretty nervous the night before that I studied extra hard and studied a little more in the morning and also took an extra long time checking my answers - some of you might remember one of the most embarrassing moments of my adulthood when I failed the Oregon driving test last year. I was really terrified of a repeat performance, but I ended up getting 100%! Obviously I was pretty excited - no comment on whether the rumors of me hugging the instructor when he told me my score are true!


Being so terrified of the written portion, I really didn’t have enough time to be nervous for the actual driving part. Nathan and I both passed that part with flying colors. I think our week of driving practice in South Africa on the left really helped. We got all of our turns in to oncoming traffic out of the way there! After about a week of driving on the roads here, it feels really normal to be on the left. The things that bother me the most are the shifter and the wipers are done with the left hand and the turn signal is on the right. So, lots of times when I’m turning I’m will accidentally hit my wipers. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but for now it’s the rainy season, so I haven’t gotten too many weird looks! I also always get in to drive on the wrong side. It's so weird having the steering wheel on the right. The signs are still pretty foreign to us. On our recent road trip to Nagasaki, the further we got from Sasebo, the less English and more Kanji was written on them. We will have to start studying our Kanji before venturing much further!


Whew – I’m sure this was more than you ever cared to know about getting a car and a license in Japan! We’re sure glad to be done with the whole process.

Huis Ten Bosch

Huis Ten Bosch is a Dutch themed park in southern Sasebo on Hario Island. It's right next to the biggest housing part of the base, called Hario Village. Today, we took the 30 minute shuttle bus from the main base to Hario Village and walked over to the park. We were happy to get off the main base and had a great day. It's been gray and drizzly the past few days, and we've been warned that the rainy season is fast approaching. Today, though, the weather was perfect - maybe even a little too sunny. Not that we're complaining!

The Dutch theme seems a little random, but it's due to the area of our island of Kyushu where the Dutch landed around 1600 to trade with Japan. The park is modeled after a Dutch palace that has the same name and also a 17th century medieval Dutch town. It's really beautiful! There are a few rides, but mainly you just walk around and enjoy the buildings, flowers and food.

Here is the main hotel, the Watermark, facing the bay.

There were some really cool ships in the bay that were part of the park. Leo, of course, liked the lion on the front of this ship.

Wilson picked the pirate ship to play on.

Kids were having so much fun running around like hamsters and falling down in these inflatable ball things. It was pretty hilarious watching them.

Snack break to escape the heat! The man in the background is demonstrating some of the looks we get when we're out and about. The Japanese sure aren't shy about checking out the blond kids! They're very sweet though, especially the school-aged girls who love saying hi a million times and waving and smiling like crazy at Leo and Wilson.

Leo's first time in a bounce house - loved it!

We only saw a fraction of the park today, so there's much more for us to explore. We're definitely planning on going back sometime soon. Huis Ten Bosch was a hit!

Haircut!

We knew it was time for Wilson to get a haircut when someone at the daycare asked which kid was mine and I described him as the kid with the big hair. The humidity is really crazy here! If anyone (Ely?) has tips for managing the new fro I'm sporting, please share.

And, here are some shots of the boys being cute on the playground.

Wilson always says he's flying to Japan when he gets on this space shuttle. Not sure he's grasping that we're in Japan already or what space shuttles actually do.

Some new foods

Our sponsor's wife took me shopping the other day at a local farmer's market and at the larger commissary in Hario Village. It was so neat to get off the base and see the countryside while driving - this is the time of year when they start flooding the rice patties and they were everywhere! The farmer's market surprised me because it was a permanent building, but different farmers bring their crops there everyday (I forgot my camera or I would post some pics of it!). I was really surprised by how many of the fruits and veggies I had never heard of. We had a good laugh as I tried to guess what stuff was like. I stopped trying when I guessed something was a spaghetti squash and it turned out to be some kind of melon.

She helped me pick out some of the pre-made things for dinner that night. By the time I got home, I had seen so many new things that I totally forgot what she told me about them.  Nathan and Wilson were good sports and tried everything with me anyway! I will try (pathetically, I'm sure!) to describe what they were.

The thing on the left was a ball of rice in the middle with a kind of a soggy bread type outer casing. There was a sweet stuffing in the middle and it tasted kind of as if it were dipped in soy sauce. We really liked it!

The square thing on the right she described as sushi but not with raw fish. There was a lot of rice and in the middle I thought she said it was a mixture of veggies, but we definitely tasted some kind of (Nathan says tuna) fish. It was an interesting taste and definitely more exotic than the other piece. We both agreed it was pretty good.

For dessert, we got this bun that was filled with a red bean paste. She told me these were really popular and everywhere.

The bread was like a really light butter roll, and the insides were a very thick paste and a little sweet.

We ended up finishing the bread, but decided the bean paste didn't taste too great to us.

The last new Japanese treat we tried we found in the candy section of a convenience store. I told my guide that we liked dried fruit and she said we would love these. They were from a vegetable (or fruit?) that looks kind of like a radish before it's cooked. They tasted a bit bitter and sour and Nathan and I weren't big fans.

Guess who loved them??

If you've made it this far, thanks for bearing with me and my awful food descriptions! I'm sure this will be a post that I can look back on in a few years and laugh at when I actually know what this stuff is. Oh well, we're still learning here!!

A (mostly) smooth transition

Overall, our transition to Japan has been pretty easy. Being on the base has helped. The commissary carries American products. The base is small enough that being without a car isn't too inconvenient. Everyone here speaks English. We have yet to fully throw ourselves into the Japanese culture, and from what I can tell if you end up living on base you don't really have to at all. We are excited to jump into the culture, learn the language and find some good authentic food, but for this past week it's been kind of nice that not everything is so new.

Since the time here is 13 hours ahead of the east coast, functioning like normal humans during the day has been our biggest hurdle. For the first 3-4 nights, the boys (and us, but less so) would wake up in the middle of the night and start bouncing off the walls. We tried to keep them up during the day, but trying to wake a sleeping baby from a deep sleep is harder than you'd think! Then if you actually do get that baby up, sometimes you wish you hadn't. So, our second day here, we all took naps from about 2 pm until 10 - big mistake! Starting a few nights ago, we finally have 2 kids who are sleeping through the night and getting back to a regular schedule. Nathan and I are still going to bed pretty early and we're all facing the day at around 4:30 or 5 in the morning. It's kinda weird putting Leo down for his 1st nap at 7 am. We'll get there!

Wilson's been a trooper and excited for every new opportunity and park we meet. Leo's always been our sensitive guy and has been a little more hesitant to embrace our new surroundings. He hasn't been eating that well and clings to his bottle and Nathan and I as much as he can. Nathan and Wilson went with our sponsor's family to a really neat park today and Leo and I hung back to have a more low key day. We're hoping with some more time or maybe when we get settled in our new house he'll start feeling more comfortable.

Nathan and I are attending a 4 day orientation starting this Tuesday. It's here that we'll get our driver's licenses, cell phone options and other necessities like that. They also take us on tours of the city and the other base that is about 30 minutes from the main base, Hario Village. We're excited for that and hope to learn a lot more about Sasebo.

Our move in date for the house is June 14th. We're getting some loaner furniture that's installed and taken away by the Navy because our stuff isn't supposed to show up until mid-July. It'll be fun to move out there, with or without our stuff.

We're starting to car shop and thinking about taking the plunge with a (sigh) minivan. Nathan's getting excited about the idea of a scooter for his short 20 minute commute. There are tons of scooters here, so he'd fit right in!

Nathan went in to work a few days last week and has been checking in and meeting some of his new co-workers. He gets next week off for the orientation class but will then start his work full time. I'll have him come on a do a guest post to describe his new job once it gets going.

Overall, we've had a pretty good time here. The weather has been pretty perfect. We went to the pool yesterday and the boys had a ball. There's a great library here and we had fun in the kids section there. Posted everywhere are activities to do with the boys, so it looks like we'll have plenty for them to do and lots of other kids to meet.