Empty House

The movers came this AM to take all of our "loaner" furniture... I wasn't using any of it anyway since I've been sleeping on the couch since Damian left so I figured I would have them come get it with hopes that our stuff arrives soon! On the website, it says that our stuff is somewhere crossing the Pacific and hasn't made it to port here in Japan yet but I'm hopeful that it will be here in the next week! I pretty much live in the living room these days anyway... I sleep on the couch, eat my meals on the couch, watch endless Law & Order SVU episodes on the couch... I try to switch sides everyday so I don't indent one cushion! Brilliant!

As I was crossing the "quad" on base today the Fire Department was out doing a demonstration for the elementary school and they also had an earthquake simulator that was basically a metal box on a trailer that shook like a bad carnival ride! I walked by it twice and both times the nice Japanese lady firefighter tried to get me to come try it out... ummmmmm no thanks, I live here and I don't need to get inside a metal box that shakes... that would only make my phantom earthquake syndrome worse than it already is! I think it's Earthquake awareness month or something, I keep seeing stuff all over about what to do during an earthquake.

When you walk down the street here in Japan, people are often handing things out in the streets, sometimes they are flyers for a restaurant or a store, or coupons for something, and very often they are handing out coupons that are in a little pouch of individual tissues... at first I didn't really take them because I didn't really know how everything worked around here yet and I was thinking I don't really need tissues I don't have a cold... but Kate filled me in... They are great to have in your purse or satchel (man purse) because you never know when you are going to be in one of those squat toilets with no TP and you are really going to wish you took that coupon and tissue packet from the nice man handing them out down the street! So far, I haven't had to use those kind of toilets, but it is only a matter of time...

I'm getting excited for my "vacation" to meet Damian at his next port call, I booked a spot on the airport shuttle today and am already starting to pack a little even though it is a few weeks away... In my previous life where I worked full time and attended grad school full time I would pack the night before a trip or the the morning of, but in my new life I have lots of time so yes I am packing weeks before because I am excited to see my husband! I booked a MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation) trip today through the base to go on a sightseeing tour of Mt. Fuji in a few weeks as well. It will be the last trip before there is too much snow to go that far up the mountain and I am really looking forward to it. I'm going by myself... but am totally fine with that! I'm not afraid of a little "ME" time!

I was lying out on the patio trying to salvage what is left of my awesome New England Summer tan, but these huge dark clouds rolled in so that kind of ruined my afternoon. I'm nervous for the winter where I will actually see what color my skin is without my San Diego tan year round (it's been a few years)... Damian has no idea he married Casper, but he'll see soon enough...

Japanese phrase of the day:
Toire wa, doko desu ka?: Where is the bathroom?