First Few Weeks in JAPAN!!! Part 1 Arriving

When we first arrived in Japan we were exhausted and understandably overwhelmed. It was a reality check when we stepped of the plane and realized that we couldn't read any of the signs and not very many people spoke English. Somehow we found our way down to the baggage claim area and through customs and our sponsor Scott was waiting for us. I can not even begin to tell you how blessed we felt at the end of our first day. Scott took us home from the airport and had us checked into the Lodge already. He had gotten us some groceries too to get us started. When we arrived at the Lodge we also had a message waiting for us from our new branch president. President Smith came over after Scott had left and he brought us more groceries AND some homemade chili! We had a home cooked meal our first night in Japan! And just before we went to bed ANOTHER family from church came over to welcome us and bring us groceries. After and exhausting and very stressful journey we were about in tears from gratitude... actually I was in tears - but I'm really emotional.
Here is Cliff eating a hot pocket with chopsticks
This is the base chapel and one of the only buildings on base to have been built before the war
There are vending machines EVERYWHERE in Japan. I mean that. Everywhere.
A game? called pachinko is extremely popular over here. It's some kind of gambling game I think...
This is our church building. Isn't it beautiful?? It is only a 5 min. drive from base! They gave me a calling the second week we were there and Cliff and I have already spoken in Sacrament meeting.

These tasty little cookies are shaped like mushrooms. There are a lot of interesting treats and snack foods here. Again, we were so grateful to everyone that brought us groceries and helped us to get settled in. Fortunately we only had to stay in the Lodge for about three weeks and we have already moved in to our garden apartment. Our TLA helped us to buy a car (I'll post a pic soon) AND a kitchen table set so we are off to a great start here! Our express move got here this past Friday and our household goods shipment is due mid-September.

First Few Weeks in JAPAN!!! Part 2 FOOD!!

Our first week here we went out to a "sushi-go-round" with a family from church. IT WAS AWESOME!! If you aren't familiar with the term, this is how it works: You sit down at your booth and there is a conveyor belt that goes around the restaurant with various plates of sushi on it. The plates that the sushi are on are color coded for price. At this particular restaurant the prices ranged from about $1.00 (pink plate) to $2.75 (yellow plate.) The server counts the plates at the end of the meal and that is how they total your bill. It's great because you can just take whatever looks good to you and you don't have to worry about overeating because you can stop taking plates at any time! We have been to two so far. This one was a little nicer and had an incredible assortment of sushi. We have also been to a slightly less expensive sushi-go-round that is located right out the main gate that was 105 yen a plate for anything in the restaurant. It was pretty good too.
Cliff's happy sushi face :)
Our first weekend here... I think... one of the guys from Cliff's squadron and his wife took us out to a ramen house. Ramen over here isn't anything like the 10cent ramen packages you get in the states. It's really good! The dish pictured above was very spicy and had pork, bean sprouts, chili peppers, and scallions in it. It was delicious. I think we will be eating a lot of ramen when the weather cools down. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but the bowl was HUGE. Cliff and I split it and still were unable to finish it.
We also got some rice and gyoza (Chinese style dumplings) to go with our meal.
Here is a pretty typical boxed lunch/dinner from a grocery store. You can also buy these at gas stations and convenience stores here! I know that sounds strange and I would probably never buy a meal at a gas station if I could help it in the U.S. but it's common here. Everything is very fresh. This meal of sushi and cold soba was about... $3.50 or so.


Thus far into our adventure over here I LOVE the food. We have tried the ramen, the sushi (of course,) the katsudon (breaded and fried pork cutlet,) takoyaki (fried octopus dumpling,) and yakitori. We have also tried the Japanese curry rice and that is really good too. We love going out to eat even with the language barrier. We have learned a few Japanese words and phrases and the people here are so kind and friendly that we never feel uncomfortable. They are delighted when we attempt to speak their language, and we often do! Also, tipping is not customary in Japan so even though the difference is probably factored into the price - you don't feel like you are spending as much ;)

First Few Weeks in JAPAN!!! Part 3

Train to Kamakura
Daibutstu of Kamakura
His sandals are in the building nearby should he ever decide to leave :)

I'm not really sure how to go about updating. No matter what I do it's going to be information overload so just bear with me for a few days and I promise that I will try my best to organize my thoughts. I've already written a few entries though so please scroll down! :)

First Few Weeks in JAPAN!!! Part 4

Another view from the Temple
View of the Pacific from outside of the temple
Another shot of the Hasedera Temple
Turning this... uh.. thing is supposed to bring you good fortune?
Hasedera Temple in Kamakura
Garden in front of the temple
Washing our hands before we enter the temple grounds
One of the temple buildings

Incense out front

Cliff and I went to Kamakura on our ICR field trip. The purpose of this trip for our class was for us to separate amd navigate the train system on our own. It was a breeze. We had a blast. It was just tooooooo hot. We will have to come back in the fall or something.

WE FINALLY GOT OUR COMPUTER!!

EMILLERS! One of my favorite people. She came to see us the night before we left.
Matt, Emily, Me, and Cliff
As Cliff just pointed out to me... my dad looks pretty funny in this picture...
Mick and Me laughing after I tripped him or something accidentally
Cliff, Mick, and me
Kellie flew in to see us for a day or so. She made backed macaroni and cheese for us and it was delicious.
What a goof.
Kellie and her favorite brother-in-law
Dinner with Seth and Sarah a couple of nights before we left.

I haven't updated in a while because the laptop that we brought with us had a keyboard that didn't work and every time I tried to use it I had the urge to throw the thing across the room... thus I have waited A LOOOONG time to post any pictures of my last days in GA and of course our early adventures in Japan! Can you believe that we have lived here for almost a month now??? I am going to start with our last days in GA but don't worry! (*cough* *cough* STEPHANIE!) I promise that the good pictures are coming soon!

Memory Tag!

I've been meaning to do this tag for a while now... it sounded fun :)

1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I or you and Cliff had together or both! It doesn't matter if you know us a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

We're Here!

So we made it! We got in around 2pm yesterday and our sponsor Scott picked us up and brought us home to the base. We are living at the Navy Lodge right now. We have already met two families from church and they and Scott ALL bought us groceries! We are set for at least aweek! We are glad to be here and extremely grateful for the love and kindness that has been shown to us. Church is at 1pm today, (that's right-we live in the future now) and we will write more later!