After the housing brief the other day I decided to venture out and see what Mark will face daily when we live off base. Everyone talks about the heavy traffic-- even living as close as 10 miles from base can turn into an hour trek in a vehicle (which we might end up getting). If it weren't for the year waiting list to get on base- I was almost tempted to be even closer to Uncle Sam. Then I came to my senses- the train! It could be a place to catch a few more shut eyes for my man as he ventures out in the early morning, as long as he doesn't get caught up in one of his daredevil dreams and miss his stop (anyone see this happening?). The trains are really efficient in Japan--that is if you know what you're doing. With my adventurous spirit and sense of humor in tow, I decided to try them out.

It went something like this. Ah, Americans, yes! "Excuse me can you tell me where the train station is?" Oh sure, take a left at the Gulf Gas Station and just keep going til you hit the overpass, you can't miss it. As i walked down the street the only thing i understood was a sign for a Coach store- dude, what were we thinking, Japan!! After about a half mile I got to the station. I climbed the stairs like a champ and then froze. Again, what were we thinking! Oh get over it I actually said out loud- if others do it so can I. So in that moment I cautiously approached the ticketing machines and busted out my trusty map. I looked for a town up north and then tried to find it on the train schedule. I glanced down at the map and up again at the schedule-- Aunt weeze, you know that face you make when you're trying hard to find something or read something that you can't quite get- you know, when you pucker your lips and crunch your nose and squint your eyes-- that was me:). I think I laughed at myself a few times during this, how difficult can it be stage. I consulted this map and that map for a good 10 minutes before I saw him- Yes, another American!

Thank goodness for Brenden. A dead give away was his navy shirt so I knew i was in the clear. "hey buddy! Can you help me out-how does this ticket thing work?" 'Well, where you headed,' he asked. "Uh, where you going.' I replied. He looked confused. "it's my first day off base, i just got here on monday night" i quickly added. He smiled.

So Brenden bought me a ticket and gave me the lowdown and I jumped on his train. we were headed north. Good enough for me. He transfered at the second station but made sure I had the name of the station where I would exit. I ended up going up to Tokyo and transferring to another train- another adventure in itself. But the sights were awesome and I got a better idea of how Mark may fare by using the train. A couple hours later I was on my way back down to Yokosuka. Of course I accidentally took a different train than I was planning on getting-- another scenic route. But I ended up getting back at the Station nonetheless. A day of riding trains and taking in the sights was a great way to stay awake and not give in to the jet lag demon. So check out the video..its a quick glimpse of how slender and close the houses are....its like this as far as you can see for as long as i was on the train. Enjoy and hopefully you'll see this for yourself when you visit-ahem, Marrianne :)