Finally we get to sleep til noon!

After our sponsor, Robo, met us at lodging which he had so kindly checked in for us he helped carry our gigantic pile of suitcases up to the fourth floor. As he was leaving for the night, it was 8:30PM local time (4:30AM back at home) he said he would be back to pick us up at 7AM for the first day of our two day class! 7AM after all of the traveling we had just done... YIKES.... As it turns out we were all awake at 3:30AM, we were hungry and our bodies were ready to go for the day. All of the time back home when we were so busy and Marc and I would dream of sleeping in, little did we realize we would get our wish, only noon to our bodies was just 4AM locally here in Japan.

Since we were literally just traveling with the suitcases we had brought it was an even greater blessing that we had been met with several gift baskets upon our arrival. The Generals, the outgoing Chief of Staff and their wives had put together snacks and basic staples to get us by until we were able to get into our house. This was such a welcome sight when we were hungry early in the morning. They even included cereal, milk, eggs and orange juice, along with crackers, salami and some Japanese candy for the kids to try out.  After our bellies were full we tried to get a little more sleep before a long day of class.

I have to admit it was a little disorienting being in a foreign Country, in a place I had not even seen in the day time, with no phone to contact the kids and yet to leave them there for the day while we attended class. We left them with some money and knew they would be able to venture out close to the lodging to the playgrounds and the shopette. Like clock work Robo was there at 7AM and off to class we went.

It was only 7 in the morning but it was already so hot and humid outside. In Japan they drive on the left hand side of the road and drive cars that are considerably smaller than what we are used to back in the States. I can tell you too, I was surprised at just how much room there was in the car for being so small on the outside.  The first day of class was to get out 3 but we were able to skip one section and were going to be out at noon.  During class we learned of all kinds of services offered on the base, curfew and basic housekeeping things for in processing.  We also learned of the different emergencies to be prepared for while we are here; earthquakes, typhoons, flooding, volcanoes and tsunamis.  As you may have already guessed we have already started our emergency kit.  It was interesting to know that Japan has over 1000 earthquakes a year!  They also taught us that standing in a doorway is good but contrary to what was taught in the past you do not want to get under a table or a desk, they have learned that you should be in the triangle of safety which is in front of or behind the table so that you do not get smashed.  Yikes!  Tsunami's are only a concern for us if we go to the beach but will not effect us here on base.  Floods do and will happen here on base and can cause a power outage which will cause the fresh water to stop running until they get it fixed (don't worry we already have water in our emergency storage).  Typhoons do happen here on base and we learned the warning system so we can be prepared but the most interesting thing was regarding volcanoes.  There are 200 volcanoes in Japan with 83 active volcanoes.  They expect the next big explosion to be from Mt. Fugi within the next 9-15 years but could be sooner or later.  The biggest concern for us if Mt. Fugi were to blow would be the ash so we need to have eye and mouth protection (done and done!).  Due to the number of volcanoes that also does mean that there are a great number of hot springs so we are looking forward to that!

View from the West balcony of our lodging

After class we headed back to pick up the kids for lunch.  We walked across the street to Bonzai burrito and it was delicious.  We were all pretty darn hungry by this time and it was about 93 degrees outside.  After lunch I stayed with the kids and Marc went with Robo to do some paperwork and check out the house.  The kids and I went to the park, checked out the indoor pool and toured the teen center.  After about an hour and a half outside it was more than we could take and had to get into the air conditioning.

When Marc got back we decided to take the base shuttle to the commisary and check it out.  We had to wait about 20 minutes and by the time the shuttle arrived the air conditioning was a refuge from the sticky heat.  The last shuttle runs at 6PM so we did not have much time but thought we would check out what we could while we could (and the kids were itching to get out and see the base).  The commisary is huge and the building is 3 levels including a Taco Bell, Popeyes, Charli's, Starbucks (or more accurately they sever Starbucks coffee), Baskin Robbins, Cinnabon, and Subway.  We got to the bus stop on time only to discover once the shuttle arrived there were 6 of us at the stop and only 1 seat left on the shuttle. We gave the seat to the girl around 12 who was sitting there and walked our way to Chili's to have dinner while we tried to figure out a way to avoid walking 3 miles back to our lodging the in the downpour that had started!  After dinner we walked out to the parking lot and asked a an Airman who was getting into a car by himself and he graciously gave us a ride, all of us a ride in his little car, we were so thankful! Of course we gave him some money for his kindness, we were very grateful, but he also gave us some great tips about Tokyo and Fussa and how much he and his wife love it here!

Sudden Down Pour but the water was so warm and felt great!

aaaaaand after :)

After the days exciting adventures we were still without a house, without a car, without a phone but we were one step closer and all very sleepy.  We had a second day of classes to get ready for and a long day at that as class went from 7:30-2:30 and included a driving test.