Araha Beach

Duane and Grant touching the warm water of Okinawa for the first time.

Hope this information is not important??? Like the majority of what we see off base, we can't read Japanese.

Grant and Sandy.

The sea wall leading to our apartment. We can see it in this picture but it is hard to point out.

Araha beach/Park is also called Pirate Ship Park. the ship is meant to climb on and has a great zip line. Grant loves it!

Outside pictures taken from our balconies

Looking straight out from our living room. There are often ships off in the distance. The cement you see along the edges is made up of "Jacks" that are each larger than Volkswagen bugs. We think they are to prevent erosion. This is a popular Japanese fishing spot.

Looking down and a little to the right. There is an inlet where waves crash and make a lovely sound while we sleep. Our apartment is a corner unit so we see the Pacific Ocean on one side and the inlet on the other.

This is the industrial area on one the side of our apartment. Every morning at 8 am the employees stand in formation and do exercises. It is pretty motivating to watch.

These last two pictures are what we see when we walk out our front door. This is not off our balcony, this is from the common walkway we share with our neighbors. It is a densely populated island but where we live we have "room to breath" because it is more industrial and not much residential. We don't feel like we live in a crowded area compared to other places we looked at. Also, being that we are along the seawall, we have lots of space to play outside. Very different from Estes Park or Lake Harriet/Minnetonka but each place has it's own kind of beauty and this one lies in the clear blue water.

Pictures of the inside of our apartment

Here are some images of the inside of our apartment. It is small but comfortable. Since there was a limit on what we could bring we borrowed table and chairs, dressers, book shelves, night stands, Grant's bed, a washer and a refrigerator from the Military. We don't have any storage so we are still trying to figure out where to put a few things.

Master bedroom. We also have a master bathroom. It is pretty awesome to have ocean on two sides of you when you sleep at night.

Some images of the large room that is our kitchen, dining room and living room. This room has sliding glass doors out to the balcony which wraps all the way around 2 sides of our apartment.

Large American style kitchen. No dishwasher.

Questions answered

We have had so many questions over the past 5+ months. How will we move an an infant and toddler to Japan? How will we leave all that we know and all the people we love? Where will we live? Will we have what we need to live for 3-4 years on this tiny island in the Pacific? The list goes on and on. So much of everyday has been spent finding answers that solving problems has become the norm.

I just had a wonderful conversation with my parents. They asked lots of questions. After I got off the phone I thought about what they had asked. It hit me that what we are doing is not normal and that not everyone is experiencing all of these daily roadblocks. That may seem obvious but I have been so wrapped up in problem solving that I forgot that this was abnormal. Here are some of the big questions and their answers.
Where will we live? We live in a beautiful 1000 sp ft. 4th floor apartment. We have 3 bedrooms (one for the boys, one for Duane and I, and one for you when you come to visit. The last is being used as an office/toy room.) We have 2 bathrooms, a utility room and a large open room where we have our kitchen, dining room and living room. I love this open format and will want it again when we move back to the states. We have all tile floors, neutral and beautiful wallpaper on the walls, and lots of little things here and there that make it a nice place to live. It is a small but pretty apartment. The kicker for us is that is in ON the ocean. We could throw bread to the fish from our balcony. We live on the seawall so it is not a beach but it is beautiful clear blue warm water and lots of Japanese fishermen.
How will we call home? We got a "Magic Jack" in the mail yesterday. We plugged it in and got a Minneapolis number. Very easy and very cheep. If you ever want to call us, it is just like calling Minneapolis except for the time change. Note the clocks on the left of this screen if you want to know what time it is here. Our number is: 612-353-9636.
Will we have what we need? Yes, There are over a million people in this island that is 3-6 miles wide and about 60 miles long. There is lots here and anything that we can not find, we can order through the Internet since we have a stateside mailing address. Our address is:
PSC 557 Box 1013
FPO, AP 96379-1013
US postage rates apply and it only takes a few more days to get here than in the US.
How will we move an infant and a toddler? They are doing well. I think they appreciate the fact that this week we have had a home for the first time in almost a month. There are a lot of things about this island that they have never seen before. We are focusing on the beaches and friendly people and exciting adventures we experience everyday. We are having fun and the kids will benefit in numerous ways from our adventure.
How will we leave the people we love? I don't know. We miss our friends and family a lot. We talk about you all the time. We will use technology to keep in touch and try to find a way home once or twice if we can. This will be the hardest part.

Smaller questions:
What is it like here? On base there is lots of open space and buildings that look alike, everything is in English, and there are places to buy and eat and feel like you are in America. It is like a very big college campus. Once you get outside the gate, the roads are narrower, everything is in Japanese and you know you are in Japan. The gate marks the difference and it is a big difference. There is a lot of people crowded into the space that is not occupied by the bases so it is very crowded. It is also very exciting. Think Tokyo, it is kind of like that. The beaches are fabulous. Crystal blue warm water, white sand, not crowded.
What will the hardest parts about life here? In general the Japaneese are very good enginers and things make since and work well. There are two exceptions. Roads and phones. Roads and parking spaces are tiny and seem to be a forethought. Phones seem to have a secret numeric code system that I will never be able to memorize or even figure out. There is one system for land lines on base, one for land lines off base and one for cell phones. I do not know how to call anyone that does not have a cell phone including 911. The last thing that is hard is the humidity. It is always a sauna outside. Glasses fog when you walk outside and mold will grow in a bathroom in two days if you do not leave the door open (whoops).

We are all happy, healthy and well. Keep the questions coming. It helps remind me that this is not normal and I should appreciate the adventure that it is. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Love,
Sandy

Impressions

This island is a wonderful place. You can feel like you are in America one minute and then like the only American in a far away place the next. This past week we tried to learn more about the culture. We sat on the floor and ate with chopsticks about once a day. We went to various beaches and visited a number of shops. I would love to send you pictures but we are still living in a hotel on base. We can not modify the computer in our room so we will have to wait until we move into our apartment on the 19th to display any of the pictures from our adventure. Here are a few of the things we learned recently.

• Americans with cars here have different license plates. They have a "Y" on the left side (Yankee???). They seem to drive closer to the left side of the road. We noticed that most of the cars in the parking lot of the apartment where we will be living were "Y" plates.
• There are options off base for buying less expensive fruit. At the commissary on base apples are $2.89 lb and cantaloupe is $7.00. On the other hand gas on base is the same as in the US but off base is $8.00 per gallon.
• If you are not careful you might have to eat heart, cartilage, and fat for dinner. That is what Duane ordered. I on the other hand ordered electric eel. It was an adventure.
• It is perfectly normal and acceptable to slurp the noodles out of your soup. At one restaurant we were not even given spoons. We were supposed to drink it out of the bowl.
• At A&W they make a very good root beer float. They also make a sunday with beans on top.
• McDonald's big mac has an egg on it.
• We prepared for our first typhoon this week. It was expected to be as big an Ike. We were expected to grocery shop and bring the plants, grill, lawn mower... inside. Since everything on this island is made to withstand Typhoons, life hardly changed. Why don't they build houses and buildings like this in Houston, New Orleans...?
• Seems like everyone here is either Military or Japaneese so no one is over weight.
• They LOVE babies and our boys fair skin and red hair has made our whole family very popular. We have had many conversations with total strangers that want to touch Will's arms and legs and Grant's hair. Once they get that close they usually notice Grant's eyelashes and blue eyes. It is funny how excited they get. We feel like celebraties.
• Whenever we go off base which is a good portion of everyday, we don't see too many Americans. Maybe one or two families if any at all.
• A few people don't like the Americans but for the most part this is the most friendly place we have ever been.
• The closest we have ever been to a place like this is Cancun Mexico, and this is our home now. It's pretty awesome.
• For tons of information on our new home, visit www.okinawahai.com. You will find pictures of the beaches, food, housing and much more. This website changes daily so check back often if you need a little encouragement to come visit. You are welcome to stay at our home. We plan on having the boys share a bedroom so there will be a guest room waiting for you.

We made it. We are here.

One week ago today we left the Holiday Inn in Minneapolis and hoped on a plane headed for Chicago, Tokyo, and then Okinawa. 24 hours of travel was easier than I expected. We left in the morning and arrived Monday evening so when we finally got to our hotel in Okinawa it was time to sleep and we were ready. Very ready. Grant and Will both slept well on the plane but Duane and I each had less than 2 hours sleep. At one point Grant fell asleep with his face on his seat, his rear against the seat in front of us and his tippy toes on the floor. It was very funny and the flight attendant did not make him buckle in when we hit turbulence. Everyone slept that first night. Due to the time difference I did get hungry at 1 am since my body told me it was lunch time and I had missed breakfast. Thankfully Jason and Mandy Allen (our sponsoring family) had stocked cupboards and a refrigerator in our hotel room so there was nothing that we were lacking.

Now it is Sunday again and we are happy to be resting today. Everyday this past week we arrived at various appointments by 7:30 and collapsing with exhaustion by 8:30 pm. Here are some of the things we accomplished:

Checked in at headquarters

Introduction to Dental Clinic

Look at some houses off base

New Comer Orientation (all day class)

Drivers License exam

Get Military IDs

Get Drivers Licenses

Look at some more houses off base

Housing Meeting to learn about living here

Register our new car in our name

Get car insurance

Look at the two choices they offered us on base (yuck!!!!)

Look at more off base choices (all day, we were determined to find something).
Got cell phones

Found an apartment!!!!! Wrote them a big check! YEA!

Finally visited a beach for 10 minutes

Went out to brunch with friends Sandy has corresponded with for months.

Drove through a used car lot in search of a car for Sandy

Took a nap



Also...

Grant is now sleeping in a big boy bed, no more crib.

Will has started solid food.

Will found his voice and now likes to holler for a few hours per day.

Grant had a high fever for almost 2 days. Island fever is common in kids. He is fine now.

This post could go on forever so I will save more for another time. I wanted to let you all know that we are here and safe and happy. On base it is easy to forget that we are 1/2 a world away. Off base is very exciting and will be a wonderful adventure. Please e-mail us! We miss you and want to hear from you. For now we are still living in the hotel and may be here another week. We don't know what it takes to move into our place. More to learn tomorrow (Monday).