The Final Countdown

In less than 24 hours we will be headed to the airport for our flight to Japan. It has been a crazy, hectic day trying to get everything done before we leave. Still feels like we have forgotten something - probably many things that will dawn on us in the coming days. Hopefully, it won't feel like this.

Busy weekend in Frisco

From Black Friday shopping to eating at Rosa's, we spent our last weekend in Frisco before leaving doing the familiar things. On Thursday evening and Friday, we were shopping - more like looking for an excuse to get out of the house - at Stonebriar Mall. On Saturday, we took family pictures that had everyone laughing (see below for an example of our complete inability to get 10 people on the same page at the same time). On Saturday night, we went out for what has become an annual Christmas-time ritual for our family - getting hot chocolate and visiting one of our most favorite places - Frisco Square during the holidays. And finally, on Sunday, we ate at Rosa's - another family favorite. Especially on Taco Tuesdays.......or Fajita Fridays......or Tamale Thursdays......or my oldest daughter's favorite - Margarita Mondays (unfortunately for Andrea, Rosa's stopped serving margaritas before she turned old enough to buy one).

BYOC Thanksgiving

My family's insistence to stay in our house despite most of furniture already in the process of being shipped to Japan has led to some interesting times. One truly interesting time was our BYOC Thanksgiving. As I alluded to in my previous post, my daughter Andrea came up with the idea of Bring Your Own Chair Thanksgiving. Everyone had a great time and the day had the added benefit of being a reminder for all the things that we are truly thankful for - especially the things that we take for granted. Like chairs.

Fort Night

The movers have come the last 3 days to our house. We had one moving company to get our NTS and one group that come to get our HHG. We still have one more day of movers. On Monday, they will come get our expedited. For the civilians, the NTS is non-temporary storage (it will stay here in the U.S. till we get back). The HHG is household goods that will be shipped to Japan. And the expedited is the expedited shipment of goods that we will need quickly (like clothes, shoes, tv, computer, etc.).
All of this to say that we have no furniture yet we still do not leave till Tuesday (accidental 80's reference). We could stay at a motel but everyone wants to stay here. So, we are making forts and camping out.
Lastly, we are still having Thanksgiving here tomorrow. My daughter, Andrea, told me to tell everyone that it is a BYOC Thanksgiving. Bring Your Own Chair.
The adventure has begun and we haven't even left yet.

Family Night

Great Family Night, last night.  So excited for you guys to be heading out for the adventure of a lifetime.  Makes the cross-country decision David & I made all those years ago to go to Montana look a little weak:)   We are proud of you and know you'll do great.  We love you.

Wathen

Like Clark Griswold?

There is a well-known scene in the movie Vacation that stars Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold. In the skinny dipping scene, Clark takes off his clothes as the actress Christie Brinkley, waiting for him in the pool, asks if he is going to go for it. He hesitates while standing by the pool, clapping his hands together and says, "This is crazy, this is crazy." This image has gone through my mind so many times over the last three weeks - every time I start contemplating about our move to Japan.

Two weeks till we leave for Japan

We leave for Japan in two weeks. It is very strange to think that we will be living in another country in a figurative blink of an eye. The frenetic pace and endless checklist of things to get done over the last few weeks has been replaced by a lull that spans both mind and body. We have been so busy with passports, birth certificates, filling out paperwork, medical examinations and arranging plans for moving household and personal goods. Then having to decide what goes to Japan, what goes to storage and what is to be given away or trashed. We have also spent many hours scouring the internet to find out as much information as possible about life in Japan as well as life on the naval base. It is like having to learn or, at least become familiar with, two languages and cultures - Japanese and the military.
After being so busy and stressed the last few weeks, it is strange how quiet and routine-like things have been the last few days.

Hoops to Jump Through - taking the dogs

It is amazing all the things that you have to think about and make plans for. For instance, we have been having to decide what to do with our dogs. Sounds like an easy choice - bring the dogs with us. Unfortunately, there are a lot of hoops to jump through in order to get the dogs to Japan. In no particular order - current rabies shot (but not within 30 days of entry), notify the Japanese of when the dogs will arrive (no less than 40 days before arrival), FAVN test (only 2 labs in the country process the test), after the FAVN test the dogs cannot enter within 180 days (so, the dogs could be quarantined up to 180 days if we tried to bring them with us without waiting), if they are quarantined, we have to pay the boarding fees, a health certificate signed by a USDA approved veterinarian, approved kennels for transportation, airline tickets to Japan for the dogs and, finally, the actual inspection upon arrival to Japan. It is fascinating to find out how things work - for things we never would have known or even thought about except for our moving to Japan.

Moving to Japan

Yes, we are moving to Japan. Even as I write the words, it still seems surreal. It has been interesting, challenging, time-consuming and stressful - and we haven't even left yet. Actually, we really haven't even started packing. We have filled out mountains of paperwork, spent a tremendous amount of time calling and coordinating with the movers, talked with or emailed many different people and spent a lot of time researching Japan and Yokosuka. It has been extremely fascinating reading about all the ins and outs of moving and living in Japan. So many things to learn about - the language and culture of Japan, the language and culture of the military, living overseas and so much more. And, despite trying to do as much research as possible, we know that we will be continually surprised and amazed by what we experience.

Hopefully, I will do a better job of posting to this blog than I have done in the past. The plan is to post something every day or two. And to have our family post things that they are doing as well as a way of staying in contact.

We will be living just outside of Tokyo near a town called Yokosuka (ya coos ka).


Here is Yokosuka in relation to Tokyo.

Now zoomed in even more, this map shows the naval base (CFAY) in relation to Yokosuka.