Friday, September 11, 2009

Last stop...Paradise!


We made it! So...to all of you who asked us if we had a direct flight to Okinawa from Seattle, we apparently lied to you! What should have been a direct 14 hour flight to our island turned out to be quite the journey. We left Seattle at 3 am, and 21 hours and 3 stops later, we were there! Not the most comfortable flight, and we flew in DC10, which is a HUGE plane that apparently is so old that commercial airlines don't use it anymore! A few of the flight attendants kept refering to Okinawa as "paradise" which was exciting to hear:)


Our first view of the island

We arrived here around 1:30 in the afternoon, I got the very first stamp on my passport, and we discovered just how hot it is here. IT IS HOT...and humid - MUCH hotter than either of us had expected. After getting a little worried that our sponsor was not going to show, he picked us up in a mini van and took us around to a few places. I can't stress enough how nervous I am to drive here - the Japanese people, while they are SO NICE to us, are extremely scary drivers, and the roads and intersections can only be described as "backward". We had to stop ourselves multiple times from telling our sponsor to "Get over! You're on the wrong side!" The streets are clean, but Japan in general has mostly old buildings, which is something we are not used to, having lived in Chicago and California our whole lives.


Our sponsor driving us around Okinawa - note the driver's side:)

View from our hotel room


Matt right before checking into his new unit


Regardless of how excited I was about traveling here, I was overwhelmed the first day we were here with the dreaded "culture shock" - very overwhelmed! Everything is just so different! Its honestly very hard for me to describe exactly how dependent, insecure and isolated it makes you feel to be in a foreign country where you have no car, no phone, and you recognize nothing around you. Its an insane feeling! Interesting and exciting, but a little scary at the same time. I would love to tell you all that I am in love with Japan already, but in keeping with the integrity of this blog, I will tell the truth. Since we've been here, Matt can tell you that I've been an emotional wreck. The more our sponsor drove us around, the more the culture shock was getting to me. I feel like I'm having pregnancy mood swings- I may have had a slight breakdown after I found out that our grocery store doesn't carry green beans...but you know, that's normal right?! I will say that I like Okinawa...I don't love it...yet. We've been here 2 days now, and the second day was much better than our first - the more I see, the more I like and the less scary it feels.

At the moment I am writing this in our hotel room that we are staying in while Matt is playing with our new phones we just got today. There are 3 phone services you can use on the island - SoftBank, AU & Docomo. We are with SoftBank, since it seems like most people are with them, they have cheap plans and a wide selection of cool phones. The phones out here are amazingly advanced beyond what we have in the US for example most have TV on them and there are tons with touch screen, water proof, solar powered and 10 Mega pixel camera phones as well! Matt got one made by Samsung that has a touch screen and a 6 Megapixel Camera that used to be $650 but just got reduced to &150, and I actually just got an Iphone 3GS, because I had always wanted one back home. Also, Iphones are free here with a 2 year contract! The service is only 980 yen per month (about $10!) per phone.


Now it's time for a little section of the blog I like to call: "Things I Learned in Japan Today":

1. Japanese Stop signs look like American Yield signs
2. Tap water in Japan tastes AMAZING
3. Japanese drivers think its acceptable to run straight through red lights as long as they put their emergency flashers on while doing so
4. Always check the expiration date on US food products that you buy here
5. "Mushi mushi" means "Hello hello", but you only say that when talking to someone on the phone, not in person...
6. Never try to cook food in a microwave if you cannot read the instructions on the package
7. Japanese hotel rooms do not have fire extinguishers


Thanks everyone for following our blog - I'm sure we will have more crazy fun to share with you soon!

-C

8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Wow, sounds like the start of an amazing journey! I can't imagine being stuck in the air for so long!!! I'd go crazy!
    I don't know if i could get used to driving on the other side of the road.
    I can't believe how cheap the phone plans are! $10...mine is 10x that!! I'm jealous of your iphone! I want one so bad!!! Soon.. very soon...im gonna get one!
    So how long are you staying at the hotel?? when do you move into your house?? have you picked out where you are going to live? what do you do during the day while Matt is working?
    Lots of questions! lol

    Well you are in our thoughts & prayers!
    I hope things continue to get better every day!

    Love seeing your pictures!
    xoxo
    stacey

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  3. This is so much fun! I love reading this! It's going to be a great way to hear how things are going...I'm sure it will take a little longer than a few days to get adjusted but it sounds like it's going well so far. I love your "Things I Learned in Japan Today" list...especially #3! Hilarious! I wonder what makes their tap water tastes so good? Anyway, we’ve been thinking about you both, sorry we missed your call last night. It was great to hear from you, your voicemail made us laugh…”we are assuming you are having the baby because we can’t get a hold of anyone…”  Don’t worry, somehow we’ll let you know when we’re headed to the hospital! Miss & love you both!

    Love,
    Andrea, Steve and your soon to be little nephew
    xo

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  4. Mooshi Mooshi-does it work for email?
    I love the pics and all the info. I agree with previous comments! Thanks for taking the time to keep us informed. I'm sorry, too, that we missed your calls. Don enjoyed talking with you both! I'll continue to pray oc! I wondered about the tap water? Does it taste amazing good? Or amazing bad? And next time we need to run a red light I'll be sure to put on my flashers. (I have never run a red-light in case readers are wondering. It could happen within the next few weeks, though!) And don't worry-I'll certainly phone you as I drive to the hospital. And I bet Andrea will have already talked to you! I love you guys! xo

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  5. Oh...sorry, it's mushi mushi isn't it!
    The lack of green beans would trouble me, as well! You'll have to tell us what all we could ship for you. The Budha next to the Yen Rate sign brought to mind - remember not to go to battle without your daily armor!

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  6. Stacey (and others who are wondering)-
    Matt hasn't gone to work at his actual job yet, he has only been introduced to it. His job for right now is going to informative meetings with me to help us get set up here which is a much bigger process than expected. We should be getting offered a house by the end of the week. They will give us two options from which we have to choose. We will see! Thanks for following:)

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  7. can't wait to hear about the house choice!! i hope you are doing well; i would be emotional without green beans, also!! xoxo jolene.

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  8. Wow. So great to hear about everything! The phones sound amazing. I love all the pics you took!!! Can't wait to hear more. Miss you!

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