Deployment

We've been here for less than a month and Rob received news today that he will be deploying to Bangladesh.

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We wanted to come to Okinawa because we knew there would be awesome opportunities for Rob to deploy on humanitarian missions. I just didn't think it would happen so soon. I'm excited for him and jealous I can't go with him. What an experience! As I was trying to find out more about the country I discovered it is the most densely populated country in the world. It's also extremely poor and the government is in the process of being reorganized. It's also 89% Islamic and the rest is Hindu. I'm assuming it's safer than Iraq. Stay posted.

New favorite restaurant

Our first night out when we got here, the Petersons took us to a soba restaurant. I think that means noodles with soup. It was a little place tucked inside a shopping plaza in American Village. We returned again tonight since I think it is my new favorite restaurant. It's pretty cheap too. When you first come in there is a vending machine where you put yen in and make your dinner selection. It spits out tickets with our order on it which I give to the waiters. A few minutes later, voila....yummy soba in front of my taste buds. The kids love it to and it's close to our house so I'm sure it is something we will frequent often.

I got a new haircut and color today. It was too long to handle in this heat. Now it's off my neck and I'm much happier.

Pirate ship park-Araha Beach

There is a fun beach/park close to our house. It has a giant pirate ship that doubles as a playground. There's a zipline and it's right on the water so of course it's beautiful. The beach has an area that is netted off so that the jellyfish can't swim in and it's a calm pool so the waves don't knock the kids down. Super fun!





A funny little note about Japan. There are vending machines for cigarettes and drinks every 100 meters. Seriously. Maybe because it's so hot people need not be stuck without a drink to quench the thrist.

Adjusting nicely

Hello everyone!
Yes, it's been awhile since I've been connected to cyberspace, but with the help of our local cable/internet man and our trusty neighbor, Nick, we are up and running. It feels so good to not have to bother friends to use their computer and to be able to call home. I love my MAC.

Attached is a slideshow of what we've been up to the past month. There are pictures from Rob's GPR graduation and picnic. We've got pictures from our trip to Neo Park which is basically a glorified petting zoo where you can sit on huge turtles, feed and walk with peacocks, and basically get up close and personal with lots of animals. You'd never find a place like this in the States. We also went to Expo Park/Aquarium which is amazing. It's an aquarium on steroids. It has the thickest glass of any tank in the world and I'm sure it's one of the biggest. There were 25 foot sharks in there. We've also made treks to some awesome beaches and spent a night at Okuma, the military's "resort" up north. Lots of family fun.

We received our first shipment from the States. That had all our kitchen stuff so I can actually cook and feel normal again. Our other shipment (with our couches) is expected Aug 18th. This shipment also had the kids' toys so we are happy people.

I hope to be updating more regularly now so check back often!

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Earthquake...for real this time

I lived in California, known for it's potential for "the big one", for over 1 year. I think I may have felt a tremor, but I think it may have just been the washing machine on spin cycle. I really haven't ever felt an earthquake before. Well, today, just 20 minutes ago I felt my first real one. The kids and I were just sitting on the couch watching TV when everything started swaying a bunch. I thought it was pretty strong, but I was in such shock that I was finally feeling an earthquake that I just sat there trying to get the boys to recognize what was happening. Afterwards I looked online and it said it was a 5.7 magnitude, but 100 miles away. If that was 100 miles away, I'm glad I wasn't at the epicenter. I guess Japan gets more earthquakes than California.

We've arrived in Okinawa

Well, folks...we made it to Okinawa, Japan! We've been here for almost 2 full days now. The flight was wonderful. Of course it couldn't be perfect spending 24 hours traveling, but it was as good as could be expected. The boys didn't fight at ALL. That is a success in and of itself. Issy did throw up on the way to the airport and Ben threw up twice on the place (motion sickness and nerves I think), but it was really a stellar flight.

I am in love with the Japanese people already. They are sooooo nice and customer service oriented. We got so much help in the airport when they found out Ben was sick. Of course, they all love the blond kids and Isabella is eating it up. She smiles and says Konnichiwa and they giggle.

We've already gone car shopping and bought a minivan. Everyone in America reading this is going to laugh when you see what we got, but it was only $2500! It's a 1996Toyota Lucida in navy blue. Now I just need to get a license and brave driving on the left hand side of the road with Japanese road signs. I'm a little intimidated to say the least. We'll get our license on Wednesday after our orientation. Since we got here during a holiday we've not been able to really check in to the command yet. For those of you not in the military, Marines get like 5 days off for the 4th of July so everything shuts down for days. It's well deserved, but a lengthy holiday to arrive on the island.

Tonight we are going to our friends, the Peterson's, house for a 4th of July BBQ and fireworks over at Kadena Air Base. They went to dental school with us and have been here for 2 years already. Our other dental school friends, the Stinchfield's, arrived the day before us and we've been car shopping and babysitting swapping with them. It's been so nice to have an island contact and be able to adjust to this new environment with some people we already knew.

Stay tuned for more updates. We are still in our hotel and will be for probably 2-3 more weeks, but when we get our household goods I'll upload some photos.

By the way, everyone who told us it was humid here...you lied. There isn't a word for what the weather is like. It feels like I'm swimming through water all the time. It's like 90 degrees even in the morning and it's so humid it feels like I'm walking into a wall every time I walk outside. I've never experienced anything like it. When does winter get here?