Karate, Judo, & Kendo... oh my!

The past few days I have been going through an "Area Orientation Brief" and an "Intercultural Awareness Program." We not only learn about things the Navy has to offer on and around the base, but also all about what to do and more importantly what NOT to do when off base immersed in Japanese culture... It is truly a culture shock!


*I apologize for not blogging yesterday, but after class all day and running errands, Damian and I headed to a dinner party at one of his coworkers apartments on base. It was really fun, good food, good company... mostly people from the GW Medical/Dental departments. Anyway, there were many glasses of wine and by the time we walked home through the rain I was ready for bed!!!

Anyway, back to the culture... it is very different here... I know what you're thinking... obviously!!!!! We spent a good 25 minutes talking about using chopsticks and then another 25 about table manners. Who knew there were so many things to know about chopsticks! The main points I took away from the chopstick session were 1) Never stick your chopsticks straight up in a bowl of rice (this is something they do to honor the dead at a funeral/wake/shrine) 2) Never pass food from your chopsticks to another persons chopsticks (this is also related to the dead as the bones of the deceased are passed by family members with chopsticks after cremation) and 3) Never use mismatched or different size chopsticks (it must be a matching set) which means if you are out to eat and using the disposable chopsticks and you break them all crooked you should ask for a new pair. There is also a certain way to break your chopsticks when eating out at a restaurant... never have them pointed up, they should be pointed to the side when you break them as to not be disrespectful. There were about 30+ other table manner rules regarding which foods to eat in what order, how to hold your rice bowl/miso soup bowl, how to cut and take bites of things with your chopsticks... I could go on for awhile! We even watched a video on this stuff!!!

*just had an earthquake (as I was typing)... not too fun feeling that in our apartment on the 8th floor... 4.5.... bleh!

Another major thing here is bowing! There are no shaking hands, high fives, and probably no fist pumping either... Bowing is very important to show respect, to say hello/goodbye, thank you, and to apologize. When you bow, there are a few rules to live by... always bow at least as low as the other person, keep your head down and eyes to the ground, and keep your hands at your side.

We had an instructor come in and talk with us about Japanese sports and martial arts including Karate, Judo, Kendo, and Tae Kwon Do... he even did a demonstration of Kendo using a bamboo pole... it was pretty cool. He also talked about other sports that are popular here including my favorite... BASEBALL. On the powerpoint slide he pulled up on baseball there were pictures of Ichiro, Matsui, and Dice K!!! He explained there is a team here in Japan that is owned by a very large and rich company and they have the largest bankroll and get all the good players... sounds like another team we have in the US.... hmmmmmm.

Tomorrow we are going on a field trip (sort of) and we take the train together to a town about 30 minutes away... then they leave us there and we have to find our way back!!!! Really?!?! The train system here is pretty elaborate and very efficient, however it is also very overwhelming for a foreigner. During rush hour the trains often hold 2-3 times the maximum capacity in order to accommodate all the commuters. During these hours (twice a day) they have 2 people on the train platform who are known as "pushers" they wear white gloves and their job is to literally PUSH people into the train so the doors can close... My heart rate went up just typing this sentence! No one with white gloves is going to push me into a crowd... no way! I am going to do my best to not travel on the trains during rush hour!

I enjoy my personal space and I think as Americans we take this for granted. Japan is the same size as California... it has a population around 127 million people (the US has 300 million and a lot more space)!!! This fun fact really helped me to put it into perspective... Also, the Japanese only use approximately 19% of the land available to live... the rest is forests, farming, etc... Pretty crazy to have that many people right on top of each other... it doesn't seem to faze them though!

Japanese word of the day:
Densha: Train

Typhoon...

The sun is shining in Japan today... at least for the time being. A typhoon is headed our way in the next few days, and just to be clear a typhoon is basically a hurricane! It is heavy rain, high winds, thunder/lightning and can cause a lot of damage... it's our "Irene." The rain is expected to start tomorrow and then the really bad part will be Friday or Saturday. Damian and I just got back from the commissary where we (and everyone else on base) stocked up on typhoon supplies.... bottled water, canned/non-perishable foods, snacks, etc. Thankfully our friends Bruce and Kate drove us so we didn't have to walk and carry it all!

More to come in a few hours, time to make dinner and get some QT in with my husband!

Blue Street

Long day today! I had my first day of orientation which was a lot of information (some useful and some just common sense), but I'm still sick with this cold so I really wasn't feeling like sitting in a big classroom ALL day today! Damian came and met me for lunch so that made the day much better. I was done around 3pm so I walked home, which really isn't too bad... about 10 minutes!

Damian and I ventured out of the gate today to go explore off the base. I was starting to feel a little stir-crazy behind these gates... probably just how a lion feels after being at the zoo for awhile! The city of Yokosuka is really right outside the gates... pretty cool actually! It was about a 20 minute walk from our apartment to get through the gate. We walked down Blue Street which is one of the busy streets right outside the base. There are some great stores for shopping both for food and clothes! I saw some good looking produce stores (the produce on base kinda sucks- and is pricey) and some super cute thrift shops and other clothing stores.

We found a cute little sushi place where we stopped for dinner. It was actually in a mall. It was one of those places where the plates come by on a conveyer belt and you just take whatever you want... each plate has a color related to how much it is and that's how they charge you after you're done... There was unlimited green tea right in front of us and it was so tasty! Damian had tuna, salmon, eel, some white fish, and a crab roll. I had a cucumber roll, tofu/rice sweet roll, edamame, and a bean curd thingy (i'll find out the name for next time). It was funny because we had all these plates stacked in front of us... fatty's!!! No sake this time... I'm holding out until I feel better! It was really good, everything was delicious, and we walked it all off with our walk home!



It was great to get off the base and really see Japan for an evening. I loved being among the Japanese people in their world... I can't wait until I can actually talk to them a little too! Mostly I loved date-night with my hubby, it was fun to get to explore together.

Japanese word of the day:
Unagi: eel (some of you may remember this from that FRIENDS episode with Ross...)

USS George Washington

Yesterday started very early with our alarm going off at 0430 so we could get up and get to the ship by 0530. We got to the ship, Damian checked in with medical then he took me to his Stateroom (mostly because he still needed to get into uniform). It was pretty small, but it was cool to see where he "lives" while on the ship. Then we went back to medical so he could show me around... the ward, the ICU, OR, and his desk.

After that we went to the Hangar Bay where they were having live music, breakfast, and where most of the people were congregating on the ship. He took me on a pretty thorough tour of the entire ship... a few places they had closed off for visitors, including the nuclear reactor areas! We went and saw the anchor lines which was pretty amazing. Damian had me climbing up and down stairs around the ship all day. Just so you have an understanding of how big the GW is.... 1092 feet long, 245 feet wide, and about 24 stories high!!! It's gigantic!!! The ship usually has around 100 aircraft on board but because they were recently back from a deployment there were only a few. This made the ship MUCH lighter than usual and it was really swaying more than I thought it would. For a few minutes I felt a little seasick, but it passed eventually :)

Damian and I also stopped by the administration department so I could personally thank all the people who helped Damian get me to Japan... as most of you know it was not simple and it was nice to be able to thank them in person and put faces to names I saw on many emails!

One of my favorite parts of the day was riding the aircraft elevator up and down. It was pretty cool to be standing on it and to feel how fast it moves! Going down sort of felt like the Tower of Terror at Disney... Once we were up on the flight deck it was really windy... the ocean was pretty choppy as well. The flight deck is 4.5 acres... if that helps anyone understand how big it is. It was humid (of course) and my hair was super frizzy (my new norm).

My second favorite part of the day was the air demonstration! First a Seahawk helicopter took off which was neat, but the planes being launched from the catapult was amazing! They launched 2 F18's and a Prowler which was really loud... then they did touch and go's where the plane would circle around and come back on the runway then fly off again!!!! I was like a little kid watching it, and Damian doesn't usually get to be up on the flight deck watching all of this so I think he liked it too!


After the air demonstration we had lunch and were pretty tired... We went down to medical and took a nap in the ICU for a little bit, then walked around some more. We didn't get back to port until around 1830 and we were both tired. Luckily our new apartment is only a 10 minute walk from the ship!!! It was so great seeing where Damian has been working and living the past few months and to meet a lot of his coworkers. It was a great day spent together!

Early to bed again last night! Damian was up early this AM for Duty (24 hours on the ship) which means I'm on my own again today... I am coming down with a little cold and have plenty of unpacking still to do so it's no big deal.

Tomorrow I have my first day of AOB (Area Orientation Brief) which lasts 5 days... hopefully I will be out early enough to have a date night with my hubby! I'm craving sushi and am dying to get off this base and explore!!!!

Japanese word of the day:
Onegai shimasu: Please

Moving Day

*took this pic from the USS GW before we pulled back into port on the Family Cruise!!!

Last night we got the keys to our new place and I brought Damian there to check it out for the first time! He liked it... especially the view!!! We walked from our new place (Rokuban Tower... which means "sixth".. this being the 6th high rise tower) to the exchange, commissary, and furniture store just to look around. AND... I found a Dunkin Donuts ON BASE... I lived in San Diego for 4 years and there was no DD, all I had to do was go a little further West to Japan... who would have thought???

We had dinner at Chili's... it was pretty good.... the Margarita was at least! We were in bed early, long day and we both had to get up early this AM too! Damian went off to work on the ship around 0630 and I packed up all of our stuff at the Navy Lodge and got ready to head to our new place. Our loaner furniture was delivered and the inspector came and we walked around the apartment together. There are a few very minor things I requested to be fixed and that will get done next week.

Kate brought me to get my phone, cable, and internet set up and then we did a BIG shop at the home good store and commissary to get us started in our new apartment. I've been unpacking, doing laundry, and trying to get us somewhat settled in this makeshift apartment... I will be so happy when our stuff arrives from San Diego... the furniture they gave us is functional, but it is not comfortable... it looks like a waiting room in our living room! BUT at least I have internet and phone!!!

We have a little more shopping to do tonight and we will probably lay low... tomorrow we are up and out of here at 5am!!!

Japanese phrase of the day:
Arigato Gozaimasu: Thank you (although you can use just "arigato" it's just not as formal)

REUNITED... and it feels so good!

He's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!! whoop whoop!

Damian arrived into port around 9 o'clock this AM and I went with one of the other wives to meet the ship. It was gigantic... a lot bigger than I could have ever imagined! It took awhile for them to dock it and get the walkways all set before they let anyone come off. Damian took forever to get off that darn ship!!! It was so wonderful to see him, he looks fantastic (and exhausted) and it was so nice to be able to hug him! There weren't that many people meeting the ship and I was very surprised at that.

This afternoon we signed all of our paperwork for our on base housing and we move in tomorrow. We are just waiting for them to call us to let us know our keys are ready and then I can bring Damian over so he can see it!

Tonight we are going to lay low and just get some quality time in... Damian is back to the ship tomorrow for work and I have a busy day running around and getting us settled in our new place! We need phone, cable, internet... and our furniture and inspector come in the morning!

I'll be without internet for a few days after we leave the Navy Lodge tomorrow so it may be a few days for the next chapter ;)

Japanese word of the day:
Gomennassai: Sorry or Excuse me

Still adjusting

It's 5 AM... of course I'm awake, I've been up for hours... I guess is takes a few days to really adjust to the time change!

Yesterday was such a busy day I thought for sure I would sleep for at least 10 hours, but I guess 6 will do. I hot the ground running around 8 AM yesterday morning and didn't get back to the room until close to 5 PM. I started with a housing class for people who want to live off base (something I was not/am not interested in but mandatory to take), after listening about the LONG process to live off base I was even more sure I wanted to live ON base! After class was over they told me I had to come back in a few hours for another class where I would find out about the waiting list for on-base housing... it turned out to be 0 months!!! After running around to get all the paperwork the housing department wanted, my housing counselor informed me there was a place available and I could go look at it... woooohooooooo! I couldn't believe all this was happening within 24 hours of getting to base! Everyone told me I would most likely be living in the hotel for up to 2 months waiting! I accepted the offer and today I will go back to sign the paperwork. Tomorrow is moving day (all 2 of my suitcases), and my rental furniture will be delivered tomorrow too! This took almost all day, but I'm super excited to move into the new place tomorrow.

I'm going to be living in a high rise tower on the 8th floor... I forgot the name of it because it is some Japanese name but I will post that later! It's really close to everything on base so I will be able to walk until I get my Japanese driver's license! It's 2 bedrooms and a large living space. All the appliances are American so normal size and pretty new. We have a balcony that is pretty large and it has a view of the green trees!

In between all the running around Kate and I did yesterday to get this housing stuff finalized she managed to show me around base and get me somewhat acclimated. There's a strip of fast food places (YUCK).... Sbarro, Popeye's, McDonald's, Taco Bell.... and then I saw a Starbucks!!!! woooohooooo!!!! The commissary is pretty nice... lots of veggie friendly stuff so I was happy about that. The home store was nice... even had my favorite Yankee Candle stuff... and lots of cool Japanese gifts... Sake sets, Kimonos, Samurai sword etc. The furniture store also had a lot of nice stuff that I'm sure we will be buying to fill our apartment.

I checked out the gyms which are all really nice... they offer a lot of classes there too (maybe i'll actually go). Everywhere we stopped Kate knew someone and introduced me and everyone is so nice and helpful!!!

Now... about the wildlife... apparently there are these huge brown birds with sharp, curved beaks that love to attack people if you are eating outside. I saw one and they are not a bird you would want to mess with! AND, there are these really big beetles called gichi gichi bugs that sound really scary too!

Japanese phrase of the day:
Moshi moshi: Hi (like when you answer the phone) I love this one!!!!

I just wanna scream, scream, scream!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

So I just woke up in Japan for the first time... it's Wednesday morning here! My travels were somewhat uneventful and I somehow managed to make it to the base all by myself... it's definitely a miracle. It was actually all pretty easy. I flew right through immigration and customs, went out into the main airport, followed signs for a Department of Defense shuttle, and 2 hours later I was on base in Yokosuka! The drive was nice, lots of green and we followed the coast for awhile too, it was mostly ports with lots of containers and cranes (sort of looked like Seattle).

I checked into the Navy Lodge and they gave me a whole bag full of snacks/groceries! I finally met Kate, my savior who has helped me through each step of the way and is going to give me the full tour today. She brought Damian and I a huge laundry basket full of food for our mini-fridge and lots of snack... she's so awesome! From our room we have a slight view of what I think is Tokyo Bay, but i'll have to get back to you on that...

I'm super jet-lagged, hence me blogging at 5:50 AM! I went to bed last night around 7pm... I was exhausted! The base is HUGE... and I probably haven't even seen half of it yet!

This morning I will be taking a housing class and will find out how long the wait list is for on-base housing... at that point Damian and I will have to decide if we are going to live on or off base. At this point it's fine if we stay in the hotel because our stuff STILL hasn't shipped from San Diego.... grrrrrrrrrrr!

I'm so excited to see my husband... hopefully soon! I'll let you know when he's back!!!!

Japanese word of the day:
Ohayo: Good Morning

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go

Tomorrow is the BIG day! I am excited, nervous, anxious, and maybe a little nauseous too! I am heading out around 3:30am tomorrow AM for the airport (Providence) then to DC, then NYC... and finally to Tokyo (I know it is a little out of the way to go to DC... I've come to peace with that). I arrive into Tokyo around 3:30pm on TUESDAY! We will be 13 hours ahead in Japan so I'm going to say there's a good chance I will be jet-lagged upon arrival.

Once I get there, I will take a 2 hour bus ride to the base and get settled in my new home for the next few weeks/months... the Navy Lodge! Damian will hopefully be back into port by the end of the week and I can't wait!

My last meal tonight is going to be pancakes... it just sounds good!

A friends visited me to say goodbye today and he had a good idea... word of the day on my blog... so you can all learn Japanese along with me...

*Japanese word of the day:
Sayonara: Good-bye

Allow me to introduce myself...

I have never blogged before, but since my husband Damian and I will be away for a few years I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to try it out and a great chance to keep our family and friends updated in our adventures!!!

For those who don't know us, my husband Damian is in the Navy and we will be stationed in Yokosuka, Japan for the next 2 years. I'm not there yet, as I'm waiting for my flights/paperwork to be finalized, but am hoping to be there next week when his ship comes back into port. YEAH!!!!

A little about us...

Damian and I were married on March 16, 2011 in Maui, Hawaii. We met at the University of San Diego in Fall of 2009 and it's all history from there... We got engaged in December 2010 and married on a beautiful beach in Hawaii on our "Spring Break" this year. Since then life has been pretty crazy... we both graduated from USD in May, Damian with his Clinical Nurse Specialist and I with my Adult Nurse Practitioner. We moved out of San Diego at the end of May and Damian was deployed in mid-June. I have been in New England since he deployed spending time with my family and friends and enjoying the summer.

I'm excited to share this exciting adventure with you! Stay tuned...