Buying a car in Okinawa

We finally have our car! We got it on Tuesday but we've been running a lot of errands so I haven't had time to come and talk a little bit about the process. When you buy a car out here, you have to wait a few days for the dealership to take care of the details for you. At the dealership they set up your JCI (Japanese compulsory insurance), your license plates, and your other myriad of paperwork. Just like in the states, you make payments on your car but rolled into your payments is also your insurance.


There are different types of license plates in Japan. So far I've yet to really figure them out other than the yellow license plates take a while to get going. I'm also pleased to mention that our car is not one of those. It's a speedy little thing and came with sports racks. Yes. For the most sporty people ever. Now we can load up all our surf boards, ski equipment, and hockey sticks!!

Affectionately dubbed, Risa, our new car is very easy to drive. Well.. It would be easy to drive if it weren't for the fact that we now have to drive on the left side of the road from the Western passenger side. It also doesn't help that the turn signal is now on the right side of the steering wheel.

I've now driven twice and only on base out of paranoia that I will crash it into anything and everything. I'm also very concerned that my stubborn brain will cause me to turn onto the wrong side of the road. So far it hasn't happened. What has happened is me turning on the windshield wipers every time I need to turn. I also can't figure out what the speed limit is anywhere because the speed limit signs are few and far between. Most of the time I just go with traffic till I see a sign.



Look familiar?

Luckily, they sell the Echo out here on Okinawa. It's the four door version of my old car and every bit as familiar with the exception of the steering wheel on the other side of the car. It was nice seeing one on the lot. I got in and sat inside for a bit and felt right at home. Unfortunately it's often rainy and windy here and the Echo didn't do so hot in the rain and wind so we went with a car that would be safer in a storm. That doesn't mean that every time we pass a dealership I don't look out the window longingly at my old friend...

Some important news:

After today, I will be without internet for quite some time. We're moving into our apartment tomorrow and as excited as I am going to be, I am also going to be so very bored! Sims 2 is going to get a ton of use and so is the PspGO. Luckily we also live walking distance from shops and the beach is pretty much right outside our back door. Hopefully it's all enough to keep me from going crazy until I can share pictures and stories.

Until then, please feel free to send me emails and post on my facebook. I'll have something to look forward to when I get back online. :)

Japanese apartment shopping (2)

Here are some pictures from an apartment we looked at. . The rooms are smaller than most American rooms but the apartments themselves are very nice.

This particular place lacks a tatami room, which is okay by me. As much as I'd like to have one, the care for tatami mats and shoji screens would just be too expensive and too much work.

One of the largest differences between Japanese homes and American homes is bathing and the layout of the bathroom. In traditional apartments, which is what we have been shown- the bath and shower are separate from the toilet, as this is seen as rather icky. It makes sense to me. Who wants to step out of the bath into toilet dusties?

Next to the tub, which you can't see very well in the photo, is a place to rinse and wash yourself before using the bath. As you can see, there is a drain in the floor. This is so that you can fill the tub nearly to the rim and get in and also so that you can wash before entering. Japanese baths are not for washing but soaking and relaxing. A nice deep tub is a bonus for me since my back is always sore.

The kitchen is much smaller. This one had lots of cabinet storage and a very small convection style oven. The door in the kitchen led to a large wraparound balcony. All in all it was a very pretty place and very well kept. This isn't going to be our apartment. It was too far away from town and in a nice residential area. We wanted something more walking distance.

The place we looked at today was amazing. The girl who showed us the apartment was very nice. It was kind of funny though. There was another girl in the apartment and they oooed and awed over my hair and said I was kawaii. I was so flattered I just kept saying "Oh oh! Thank you thank you so much!" and giggling. We've picked our apartment and pictures will be soon to follow once we move in. I'll give you guys a little teaser though:

In other news, we went to a 100 yen store today and I found what I've been seeking for a very long time. Those of you who know me know all about my obsession with the anime Nana. So of course the first thing I look for at the store is the famous strawberry glasses. Well... I have finally aquired them!!

Squeee! I also got a cute cellphone strap and some cappucino flavored cookies. Just as I had hoped and dreamed, 100 yen stores are the coolest place I've ever been. I plan on visiting one with a good chunk of change once we get our place so that I don't have to buy all the expensive stuff at the exchange.

That's all for now! I'm going to go get start some laundry and go outside and read. It's a beautiful day!

Apartment shopping

When we had our housing brief, we were told there was no room in the base housing. We were given permission to go out into town and look. At first I was unbelievably disappointed. My mind was filled with a million thoughts...
How would I make friends? What about our furniture? Japanese apartments are small! If I need to go out I most certainly must drive there!!

I was also excited. The opportunity to live in a traditional apartment was too tempting to pass up. We looked at two apartments and found them to be the most beautiful places with nice views and exceptionally big rooms, even for a Japanese style place. The first had a tatami room and was brand new. The second was only just recently renovated. It was also beautiful. No tatami room but lots and lots of space for our things, including a very impressive walk in closet.

Everyone we talked to about it said that living out in town would cost us most if not all of our paycheck. With that knowledge we went and looked at one place on base that we could take even though it wasn't a mandatory house.

After seeing what was available out in town I assumed I would find a similar quality available for us back on base.

...I was sadly mistaken. The only unit available was one that people turned down. It was big. Much bigger than anywhere we've lived before but it was outdated, quite drafty, and felt very lacking.

We are waiting on a woman from the real estate agency to come and pick us up to take us around the view houses. When we return, please check back as I will post pictures from our first set of views as well as the places we look today.

Japanese cell phones!

Yesterday afternoon we went out and bought our cell phones. My husband got an iphone 4 and I got a more traditional phone. It's still a flip phone for all those wondering what my choice might have been. The way that Japanese phone insurance and payment plans work made me leery of buying a smart phone I might break or overuse.

My Japanese cell phone!

On the good side, our plan is a hair cheaper than our stateside phone plan. My husband has unlimited data and we have unlimited calling and texting between our phones all day long. On the bad side, my buttons are mildly confusing...

The center button. I know not what it does....

The phone company we went with is SoftBank. They have a funny dog named Otosan as their mascot and there was Otosan stuff all over the place. Teacups with his face, noodle bowls... Stuffed animals. Even their plan booklet. The office where the building was located was very hot. I ended up wandering in and out of the office while the paperwork was being signed.

The company we got phones from seems to be the one everyone on the island goes with. After we finished signing up for our phones they gave us ramen noodles as thank you gifts. I couldn't help but find this extremely amusing. We have yet to try them but hopefully they will be good.

Otosan Ramen ^

Waaay too early!

It's 4am here in Okinawa. I've got a touch of jet lag apparently. Yesterday I ended up falling asleep at about 5pm.. This small kink will no doubt work itself out in a few days since I still am managing to stay up most of the day and sleep at night like a normal human being.

So what's on tv? Dexter. It's a few episodes behind what we were watching before our big move but here we are- watching Dexter on the couch again like we're home. Technically, we are home. My husband and I have a habit of welcoming one another home. When the plane landed a couple of days ago I turned to him and said, "Welcome home." While we are still in a hotel and our stuff is slowly making its way to us, this is still our home.

I went outside to see about the weather and even though it's very early in the morning, it's a beautiful day. Our plans for today include getting cell phones. We looked into keeping AT&T and that turned out to be a very expensive endeavor. I'd like to also mention that it costs us money just to receive text messages and voice mails overseas so please avoid texting us or leaving us voicemails just because our service is still connected. As soon as we have a real phone where we can be reached I will be sure to let everyone know. Until then I am usually connected to MSN messenger, AIM, and on facebook. I have been pretty dutiful about checking my emails so you can also reach me there.

Later today I will update further about our cell phone buying experience. Hope everyone back home is having a great afternoon! (or evening for my friend who is stationed in Germany!)

Ohayou Gozaimasu!

It's our first day in Okinawa and I decided to start a blog. The main purpose of this blog is for my family members and friends to hear about all the smaller things that go on in my life. I'm hoping too that this will help others coming to the island figure out what on earth is going on.

The first thing I want to talk about is the transportation of pets to Okinawa. Our cat, Glitch did not make it here with us. I'm heartbroken. Everything was fine paperwork wise but when we got to the airport he lost his marbles and was crying uncontrollably. Five minutes before our flight to Seattle a gate agent came over and said "If you can't get the animal under control we can't board it." Well five minutes seems a little short. We tried everything. Petting, soothing drugging. He howled on. We were moved to a later flight and took him downstairs and waited for my parents to come back to get him. He carried on crying and not sleeping for hours after that. Now that we are here it's hard. Hard seeing people with pets... the petfood aisle... I wish he was with us so much. It's lonely without my kitty.

Let's talk about the plane ride. Don't pack a metric effton of things. Next time I am bringing about a weeks worth of clothes and the most minimum of items. Our bags were overwhelmingly heavy
The initial flight into Japan was the longest and most tiring thing I've ever gone through. I was cold and very uncomfortable in my little airplane seat. I did not sleep, even though I tried and tried. Towards the end of the flight my back was screaming. The food on the flight was decent. My breakfast pancakes were questionable but the sausage was yummy. We also had lots of in flight drinks and a hot lunch, which was a chicken or beef dish.

We landed in Japan, just outside of Tokyo. As we descended I caught my first glimpse of Tokyo. Once we were off the plane we had a two hour layover. Not the kind in a real airport. The kind in a single room with a few vending machines (One that took only yen). The weather there was similar to a unexpected nice day in a Chicago winter so I sat outside for a long time. We boarded the plane and flew an hour to some other place. We sat on the runway for about an hour and a half while we waited for 10 people to get on the plane. Then another couple of hours in the air. Finally we land at Kadena.

Once we are there we get off the plane and my first impression of Okinawa is the wonderful smell of wet earth and the thick air that I love so much. It's a little chilly but still sweater weather.

We take a bus over to a building where we wait forever and a day for our luggage. Of course ours is some of the last ones off the plane. We get through a two second customs procedure and there is an guy on a microphone who announces us. Our sponsors (We got three somehow? Or our sponsor and his friends.) We're taken to some place while driving on the other side of the road and I stared out the window at the myriad of gas stations, pachinko parlors, and minimarts. We get out, they sign our orders and on the way back to the hotel I succumb to black sleep. When I open my eyes we're at the hotel. The sponsor helped us get our stuff inside and I have no idea if I thanked that nice guy or if I just took off my socks and passed out. All I know is that I was up for 30 or so hours. I slept until about 6am.

Frank and I woke up, unpacked, showered and Frank- being the husband that he is and therefore probably the most awesome human being on earth- made coffee and found out what time the PX/Commisary opened. Once it was open we went over and browsed the little gift shops and various stuff for us to buy. The PX was pretty much like Meijers. Our food court has a pizza place, a ManchuWok, a taco bell, and Subway. We got Taco Bell and it was amazing. For once my burrito did not have half cooked crunchy disgusting rice and somehow did not have sour cream even though I forgot to ask.

At the PX, I got a can with a label I couldn't read. Thus begins the science experiment of finding things I like based on color/picture and comparing labels to see if I can figure out what things are.
This can turned out to be some sort of tea.

So far everything is shiny and new. I'm sure that will wear off but until then its been a whole lot of fun.