Sights to see

 Things move at their own pace here.  You can't do much till you take the Newcomer Orientation  on Monday (usually, since Monday was a holiday, ours was on Wednesday.) You can't drive till you take the Friday class.  Then you have to pass a test to get your license and you can't register a vehicle without a license.  We are purchasing a van from off base, which adds a week and a mound of paperwork to the process.  Sigh.  Anyway, when you get here, you already know you will be on foot for a week.  It isn't the end of the world, and the base is only 6 miles long, so it is all doable, just incredibly inconvenient at times. (Especially if you have to buy groceries for a family of 7!)

However, it allows you to see fun trees, like this one!  They do some neat tree cutting.  

Walking the crew to the food court for dinner.

I think it is nice to see walking and bike riding as a way of life.  I think it is great, but I'm not a fan of hoofing it in the heat, or schlepping 50 pounds of bags from the commissary. So you know I am counting down the days till I am mobile!

Dan and I were able to take the Newcomer's Orientation on Wednesday. It was instructional for the morning, and a driving tour for the afternoon.  We got a little tour of the base, and then a trip out in town.  The bus windows were horribly dirty, so I didn't take many photos from the bus.

This store front was neat enough, I took the chance.  Sorry about the awful blurry blobs; that's all from the bus window! 

We stopped by the train station to learn how to buy tickets.  I'm not sure I'll ever be able to use the machines, but the ticket window folks usually have enough English (I was told) to get me what I need.  This was across the street and so pretty. 

My "I was there" shot. 

This is the bus statin outside the train station.  Dan is enjoying donuts from the pastry shop on the corner.  It is always good to know where to get tasty donuts!

We had 20 minutes to stroll the area.  Fun! The little blue signs had the name of the shops in English, which was mostly helpful. 

I just liked the "Mojo Curry" sign. 

Awesome supermarket.  You could not tell what a lot of things inside were.  A lot of the products had no distinguishing information on them in English or pictures.  But it was bright and fun!

The bus drove us to this iconic bridge.  I guess it is a big spot?  It was pretty, but we couldn't get off the bus, hence the awful picture through the window.  I'm sure we will go back sometime for a better photo.

The Orientation was mandatory and from 8:30- 4:30.  They did provide free child care for the kids, which was nice.  It was like an all-day date for Dan and I!

And did I mention that while Dan and I were Orienting, the movers were delivering our household goods?  Yep.  We could look down from the window on the 2nd story where our class was, and we could see the movers moving our stuff in!  It was crazy.

I thought it would be nice to not have to do it, but it wasn't.  The 3 older kids were there "helping" our Sponsor, and I think they just made up destinations for the boxes.  Nothing is where it belongs.  And the Japanese movers are happy to unpack for you.  I had though it would be nice to have the kitchen and books unpacked.  Um, no.  No, it was not nice at all.  I thought they would just unpack and stack, but they actually put the kitchen items away.  They put them away in random places.  I am going to have to rearrange the kitchen at some point.

Same with the books.  We had a book shelf in each room.  However, the books were not unpacked in their designated rooms.  So they books are all jumbled together in the wrong rooms. Those also will have to be rearranged sometime.  It has helped me realize that I like unpacking directly to where stuff belongs.  That way, when the box is empty, I am done with it.  Now, once the boxes are empty, I will still have a ton of work left.  And let me tell you how motivated I'm going to be by then.... Not at all!

But it is all part of the adventure!  Semper Gumby!