Saturday, September 15, 2007

Hello from Japan! This is my first entry and attempt at blogging, so please be patient as I learn the ropes. I hope everyone is well. I'm getting adjusted to being here and the married life, and Zach has been a sweetie with everything. By the way, since we're a almost a day ahead in Japan, the dates I post will be off by one to those of you reading from the U.S.

I finally arrived last Friday, the 7th. I was supposed to arrive on Thursday, but I had to delay my flight plans due to a lovely typhoon circling off the coast of Japan. My weather-forecaster husband and his coworkers didn't think it would be such a great idea to land in a typhoon, and I agreed. I wore a T-shirt that I made before I left with the saying "I'm not a witch. I'm your wife!" from the movie "The Princess Bride," and Zach seemed to get a pretty good chuckle out of it.

My first few days here were pretty quiet. Zach had to work, so I took on some domestic duties and cleaned a few things up around the house. I started to unpack and tried to get over a bit of jet lag, something I don't usually suffer from. I also discovered that Jehovah's Witnesses aren't only in the U.S.! I innocently opened the door, thinking it might be a friendly neighbor, and was face to face with a Japanese gentleman and his pamphlet. I have to say that he was incredibly polite when I said "No, thank you" and he walked away without pressuring me in any way.

On Monday we went to the base to get me in the system and to make appointments to meet my new doctor. We found out that there was a problem with my passport, so yesterday (Friday) we made a trip to the Japanese Immigration office in Yokohama. Thank god for Zach, that's all I have to say. He has a really good sense of direction and got us to the office without any problems. On our way home we stopped at the naval base in Yokosuka and were impressed with the size of their grocery store (which is called the commissary in military speak) compared to ours in Atsugi.

Today we are going to check out the flea market that they are having at the base in Atsugi, and start to tackle the room that will be my office. I hope everyone is well and I will do my best to keep you all up to date on what's happening here in Japan. It's a fun place and I'm so happy to be reunited with my new husband!