Let's breathe some new life into this old, forgotten blog! I'm going to jump right in with what I hope will be a lengthy post about our life and times in Japan. We left the US on Friday night and arrived just before Sunday. The day we happened to skip was our 5 year anniversary. I have no doubt Luke will make it up to me, though.
I was more than a little concerned about our 12 hour flight from LAX to Tokyo, but it went swimmingly. Ivy and June slept sprawled hither and thither and William had his rough moments, but overall, it was an adventure. Each of the seats had it's own screen with plenty of solid movie options, so I watched 'Brooklyn' while June opted for a little bit of everything from the kids selections.
They also served us dinner and breakfast, which was fun and provided some distraction. It was all pretty palatable as well, which may have just been due to the fact that our diet up to that point was goldfish crackers and fruit snacks. They served us yogurt with wee little sample sized spoons, which I got all giddy about because I knew the girls would love them, until I remembered they were both sleeping. So I made Luke pose with one just because.
As I watched the flight tracker show us hurtling through the air further and further from so much that has defined me in my life, my excitement and trepidation grew. 3/5 of our family slept on...
Finally, we arrived. June slept until the last minute, so I sort of made a show of attempting to wake her up and put her seat belt on when the flight attendants walked by, but I got the feeling that they didn't really care. She was so peaceful and relaxed - I couldn't bear to wake her up until everyone else had already deplaned.
So there we were! It was a long long LOOOOOONG walk, but it was clean and nice. Ivy and June were in good spirits, which was miraculous, and we stopped in the bathroom before making our way to customs.
I think a person less tired than me, a person without a baby strapped to them and without a 2-year-old in tow could have maneuvered their way through this process, but I just laughed, took a picture, and decided to hold it until we got to the hotel.
Going through customs with three kids who were totally done with following orders and sitting still was a party. There was some issue with the fact that we were traveling with official passports but didn't bring documentation of why we were entering the country - ie, military orders. Luke used his mad Japanese skills to figure things out and we were soon on our way.
Then we picked up our SIX huge bags and had to get those through the little declarations counter and to the pick-up place. It was crazy. Me pushing a stroller loaded with carry-on's and with William in the ergo, also trying to keep Ivy from joining some other family or chasing every Hello Kitty backpack she saw, and scraping June off of the floor where she kept plastering herself anytime she decided it was preferable to walking. Luke pushing two metal carts loaded with 6 bags and two carseats, carts that were designed for the most conservative travelers I can imagine.
But we found our ride - Luke's new co-worker who had brought a big shuttle type van and a driver. We were loaded up in no time and were soon heading to Camp Zama. My eyes were probably bugging out of my head during the whole drive. Driving on the other side of the road is a little harrowing, as I would forget that that's what we were doing until the driver would make some turn or merge and I would mentally scream and be like, "NO WHY?!" and then remember that everything was backwards. Again, the tiredness was a factor.
I couldn't see much, but it felt so foreign and strange and I had one of those, "Marlee, what on earth have you done?" moments. It's not all that often that one overhauls one's life on such a grand scale. Not to mention the lives of three small children. It was heavy for me to take in, especially at midnight/7 AM.
Our hotel is nice - it has two bedrooms and three TV's and it's on the base where Luke will work. That morning, William and I were up before everyone else so I took him for a walk. It was 4:45 AM, but it was already bright outside. Bright and completely quiet and green. It felt wonderful to breathe the air and see the vegetation and simply know myself in this new place.
This picture on from another time, but same place and same awesome baby.
After that, it has sped up and slowed down and I would challenge anyone who says that they have had a longer week than me. Even losing a day. Even with it only being Wednesday. This jetlag is out of control, though last night we FINALLY went to bed at 8 and woke up at 5. The fact that that seems so functional to me is testament to the craziness.
This was like 2AM sometime. I packed some bath colors and bubbles, so baths are a regular nighttime occurrence around here. I have been trying to let Luke sleep as much as possible, since he has been busy at work just trying to get all the things done for our new life here.
We looked at houses on Monday and picked one we like on the other post, about two miles away from Camp Zama. We will be in this hotel until July 11th, which is fine. The downsides are mostly just that it doesn't have an elevator, which is hard because of strollers and car seats and me being lazy. Yesterday we bought a car!
It's a strange wee little van! Cars are so weird here - all squared or small and probably both. And there are so many more pastel colored cars than I've seen in the US. This one was fun, with AVI hookups (?) and cruise control, which you don't see much in Japanese cars (and you also don't use much, but still.)
On our drive to and from the car place, I took a bunch of pictures:
This is probably just a restaurant or something, but I love the trees. It's fun to see random parks and gardens all over the place, even in urban areas. A lot of apartment complexes have little co-op gardens nearby and there was even a cornfield in the middle of one.
There are vending machines everywhere, which really appeals to the kid in me. I want to just run around with pockets full of yen and buy everything. Except for the beer and cigarettes. And coffee and tea. Because those are all available via vend. There's also random snacks and candy and soup and so many other mysterious bright colored things.
In this area at least, so many people bike and walk around, mostly carrying umbrellas to protect from the rain or the sun, sometimes with visors or hats, sometimes wearing those medical face mask things.
Well, that's it! Tonight we are going out to dinner with some people from the ward who have been so helpful. Tomorrow we might try venturing out to Costco, which I am very curious about. Luke got his drivers license yesterday and should be getting his ID card today, which will make our lives ever so much easier.
Tomorrow William turns ONE! It is a much anticipated event around here, at least in this hotel room. I love and miss you all, my family and friends. I can't wait to share more of this with you. So far it has been mostly errands and waiting, but we have heard about so many things we can't wait to try, so stay tuned!
