The Trip

Well, we made it. We have begun our new adventure in the Ocean State. We finally arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, USA on August 26, 2007. I'll try to sum up our trip, but it was so fantastic, that it might take two or three posts! First in this post, I'd like to say a few things about Japan and our gaijin adventure there. We spent 3 years, 6 months and 22 days in Japan. It was some of the hardest, most challenging, most wonderful 3 years of our lives so far. Maybe that sounds a little dramatic, but it's true. I never in a million years would've guessed I would be able to live overseas. I never even thought about that as we joined the Navy. (There are only two bands overseas as choices for us, so it didn't seem like much of a possibility). When David came home in October of 2003 and said, "We're going to Yokosuka, Japan", I thought, "yeah, right, very funny." 2 months later, we were flying into Tokyo for heaven's sake. It was all such a dream, and in a way, it still is.

We made it through the first few days in Japan by sleeping. The time change got all of us a bit crazy. We had to get on the waiting list for base housing, so after about 3 weeks in Japan, we moved out into "the economy". We lived in Shonan Takatori. It was about a 15 minute drive from the base, on a good traffic day. (Once it took us just over an hour to get home!) A few facts about our move in. It was January...VERY COLD in Japan in January. These homes have very little insulation. Our household goods had not arrived from the states yet. And...David left on the ship for 2 1/2 months TWO days after we moved in. I think I have PTSD (post traumatic stress...) from all of this! :)

The heaters in the home were electric, and worked great, but we had heard horror stories about the electricity bills. Most people use kerosene heaters because they're cheaper. I was, of course, terrified of these things and could never bring myself to learn how to use them. So, I turned the heaters on only in the rooms we were actually in. The bedroom would get heated up, but then it would get really hot and dry. So, I would turn the heaters off after the kids went to sleep. We were all in the same room since David was gone and the bunk beds were in a million pieces waiting to be put together. The kids and I found our thermal jammies, about 4 thousand blankets, socks, and the whole smash, just to stay warm. Going to the potty in the middle of the night was just COLD! (This picture is one morning in our family bedroom with the kids in their thermal jammies.)

We survived of course, and when David got home, from tropical ports, I might add, it was starting to warm up, and the house was all set up and organized. He missed all the fun stuff though, he spent two months throwing up trying to get his sea legs.

We had wonderful cute neighbors, mostly little old ladies who loved the kids and their blond hair. It was a fun experience, but we were ready to be closer to the base and work and the grocery, etc. We lived in our house for 6 months and moved on base into a three bedroom townhouse in August, 2004. I don't think I even have a picture of our house in Shonan Takatori. It was a fun and great experience.