Just keep them wheels rollin

Now that we've been here in Misawa for two weeks (which simultaneously feels as though it's gone by very fast, and very slow), we're starting to acclimate to the pace of life here. Kari has been slowly getting the hang of first grade, and recently had the opportunity to have parent-teacher conferences with all her students' parents.

I've been running the daytime chores (as much as I can) applying for some jobs at the schools here, and honestly just hanging around a lot, enjoying our new home. Only having one of us working at the moment has its advantages. We were able to quickly find and procure a car that was the right price, and the right fit for us. It's a 2001 Subaru Impreza WRX (manual transmission!) that has a lot of fancy features, most importantly that it's four wheel drive (ya know, for snow).

Now that we can go places, we were able to take a small road trip up the coast so Kari could take some wonderful pictures at a wharf about an hour from here. She says she wants to call the car 'Mizu' now because it took us to the WATER.

Another benefit of having a car will be being able to drive it to... our new home! Obviously we're going to be renting, but we're nearing the final stages of the application process and should be able to move in in about two weeks.

It's very American in size, but has some wonderful Japanese features like the sliding door between the entry-way and the living room, and the beautiful wood floor laminate throughout (we'll have to sign a contract that says we won't wear shoes in the house, which will help us feel like we're living in true Japanese fashion). The house has a small yard that Seamus can frolic in when he gets here, and a gorgeous view of the neighborhood park just over the small ravine that holds a length of no longer used, run over with weeds, train tracks.

Now we're off to get some dinner at an Irish Pub just off base (here's hoping they have a killer Reuben Sandwich). More on this weekend's adventures soon.

It's all happening right now!

Misawa: The Beginning

So I figured that I should start my own blog of our experiences here in Misawa, Japan.  Kari's Blog will likely be prettier and more eloquent, but if you want to see the sushi that I'm eating, or the quirky things that I often find amusing, then this will give you a little different perspective on our life here.

As you likely know we just moved here 5 days ago, and already it's more comfortable and fun than Sanford ever was.  After a harrowing day of travel, we finally made it to our lodge and collapsed onto our beds.

Since then we've experienced quite a bit.  We've had Japanese Japanese food (sushi, yakiniku, ramen), Japanese Mexican food, and American fast food, courtesy of the on-base shops.  We went to the cell phone shop and after a lot of nodding and shaking of heads, got our new cell phones, and we found a cool little souvenir shop just off base that had a lot of fun Japanese things, and even more over-priced American novelties (They even have Pringles Celeana).

Aside from that, we've spent a lot of time filling out paperwork, searching for cars and housing, and all the other little things that come along with moving to a new place.  We're hoping to settle down very soon and begin some new friendships and experience some wonderful new things!

And we're off!