Check out our new diggs!!

Oh yea, oh yea, oh yea---if you can't tell, I'm doing the, We got ourselves a house, dance. That's right- a cute 2 or 3 bedroom (depending on what we want to make the third room) Japanese styled house about a 15 minute train ride from base. I took this picture from a picture so the quality isn't great. You can't really see the bottom floor but there is a little garden area with a patio that goes into the downstairs behind the wall. The yard isn't very wide (like all things Japanese) but has great landscaping with a pagoda statue and some fruit trees. We've even got our own driveway which is a huge plus since the streets are so narrow. There is no way the truck would have fared very well. It is in a quiet and safe neighborhood on the top of a hill in Ikedacho. Mark's trek will be very short to the Kitakurihama train station (it's a pretty steep slope so he won't even have to pedal if he uses a bike). Coming home will be a different story all uphill, but it's not far at all. The scooter will surely come in handy. We move in on the 24th, just in time for Thanksgiving. Instead of the first month's rent and security deposit given up front, it is standard in Japan to provide the first months rent, the security deposit of equal value, an owners fee and an agent's fee. Good thing we're thrifty spenders cause I'll have to hand over $7,490 dollars cash (749,000 Yen) as soon as the paperwork is signed. Don't worry we'll get this back in moving allowance. We could have taken out an interest free loan from Mark's command but it would have added weeks to the process. So what do you think? Ready to book your flight? The stove, refrigerator, and washer/dryer can be rented from the base for the duration of our stay at no cost. They also provide beds and other furniture for the first 90 days while we find our own furnishings. I'm looking forward to picking up some authentic pieces for decorating. Although, the old standard Ikea down the highway is tempting.

Not much else has gone on today. I did meet up with another wife from the ship, Nicole. She and her husband have been here for three months. She picked me up to go to Starbucks but before we even got 200 yards from the lodge we got pulled over for going 33km in a 25km. I'm proud to say it wasn't my fault. They're very strict. To top it off when she moved the car from drive to park it made a horrible sound. One I heard before, not too long ago on a dirt road in Aruba. I was like, uh oh, that sounded like the transmission. Sure enough, that puppy was done. Good times- always interesting. Tomorrow everything is closed to celebrate Veterans day so I will be headed off base to check out more sights. Miss you all.