Another Day= Another 4 miles walked!

Today we got lots of errands run, but walked...A LOT!! I guess that is the downside to moving and not having a car yet. Oh well. Hopefully by the end of this week. And at least the weather is nice and the exercise is good for me I'm sure. Brett was going to go by himself, but I am getting antsy in the hotel room, so I joined him for the hike.
First, we went to the housing office. The inspector had gone by our new quarters and found all was well, so we get to move in on Friday! Yippee!! No more living in a hotel (it sounds like a fun plan to have a maid clean your room, but after 2 weeks, it gets pretty boring and crowded and small). After that, we were off to the Furnishings Office to sign up for our temporary stuff. We have a 3 bedroom place, but just got enough to get us by for now- a lovely (ha) bed/dresser/nightstand set; couch and chair; table and chairs; and bookshelf and desk. Once our stuff gets here (hopefully in 90 days or less from now) we turn their things back in. It also means we will be off to IKEA (yep, they have one of those in Tokyo) to get a cheap desk, bookshelf, table and chairs and crib, as we didn't bring our own of those things. Maybe we can find some fun Japanese furniture to bring back with us eventually.
After the furnishings office, since we had already hiked the 4 miles down that way, we went by the pet kennel and saw Maverick and Bandit for a few minutes. Poor guys- I miss them and I KNOW they are ready to be out of a kennel already. The girl said Mav wasn't eating very much- I think he is just sooo freaked out and scared of what is going on. He probably thinks we abandoned him. Hang in there guys- just a few more days and you can officially be "home" again! It was good to see them at least.
After that, we were hungry so we went to the Japanese Chow Hall at the south end of base. We ate some authentic Japanese food- couldn't tell you what it was, but it was GOOD! I know I ate rice (shocking, right ;) and soba noodles. There was also some meat of some sort and an item that resembled an egg roll. I am sure by the time we leave here in 3 years I will be able to name, and possibly cook those items. For now, I'm just glad they were delicious, as we will be having a lot of that sort of cuisine I think.
While there we ran into a few buddies of Brett's from Dyess AFB, so we sat with them to eat and then walked back to the squadron bldg with them. From there we ran into a friend of my little brothers that is also stationed here. We chatted for a few minutes. He and his wife also live on the east side of base, so I'll have another wife to hang out with over there.
Then Brett and I went our separate ways- he went to his office to make some copies of some paperwork he has to turn in (so we can get refunded for all our travel expenses-important!!). I went over to the YCC (the BX and commisary building) and signed us up for phone/internet/cable. It is cheaper than back home, and we will have a Texas # that people can call us on, and we can call them on, without international rates! Yippee!!!
I did all that, and managed to not get lost once- that is a BIG accomplishment for me! Brett is currently at the gym, and when we gets back we are going to test drive/buy a car hopefully. I'm feeling better by the day as we get settled and figure things out. This is starting to feel less like a vacation and more like home (and I am sure once we move in the house and out of the hotel that will help).
I'll post my phone # and address for any one who is interested and would want to contact us. And don't forget we have a 3 bedroom house, so we expect visitors!!!

Score 2 for the Cochrans!!

So, we already managed to score those AMAZING seats on the plane trip over, but today we did one better- we got housing, and a 3 bedroom house at that!!! We technically only qualify for a 2 bdrm (rank and # of dependants), so that is what we were expecting. Brett went in 1st thing this morning and they offered a tower first. We declined of course, because of the dog and cat. So, they offered us a 3 bedroom/2.5 bath garden home on the east side of base. We went to see it, and I believe that will be our new residence. It is one of the unrenovated ones, which is why they offered it I suppose, but it really isn't all that bad. It has some lovely linoleum floors thruout, so we will quickly be purchasing some area rugs, but that's ok. It's worth it for the extra room! 

It is also on the east side of base (Yokota is split by the runway in the middle). We were hoping for west side, as that is where the BX, commisary, library, O club and gym are. But on the east side is the hospital and dental offices, indoor pool, and movie theater are, so it is really just fine (and you can easily drive from one side to the other in 5-10 minutes, unless planes are taking off/landing). Anyway, we accepted the unit and we should be able to move in this weekend. That's awesome news, as we are ready to get out of a hotel room, and get poor Maverick and Bandit out of the kennel. We will have the govt. furniture at first, as ours still has 1-2 months to get here, but at least it is a house we can call home. I think it will make this feel more like home and less like an extended vacation. 

In other news, the pets are all registered here now, so we can keep them in our house with us (once we move in) and I just have to take them to the vet 1/mo until June 15th, when they are off quarantine. 

Thursday we sit thru the class on getting our drivers license and should be legal to drive after that. I'll still be petrified though- the other side of the road thing freaks me out, but I'm sure I'll get it down. We are looking at getting a car then too- we found a 4 runner (it's called a surf here, but same thing) for $2k that looks good. It's funny- I always wanted to drive one of those, so now maybe my dream will come true :) 

I'll keep you guys posted on what comes next- it's an adventure a minute around here! I promise to post pics soon too. I'm writing from the hotel lobby and don't want to drag all the camera equip down here to download pics. I promise to do that once we move in and have internet set up at the house. We already have a few good ones of Mt. Fuji, which is right behind base, and beautiful!!

Learning Japanese...

When I try to log on to blogger, it all comes up in Japanese, which is funny b/c every other website is English. So...I'm having to figure out how to log on in Japanese. Ok, not really, it all looks the same, just the writing is different, so I can go from memory on what to type in where. It's still funny though. I'm sure I will have many more of those culture shock things along the way...but it is all part of the fun.
We had dinner last night at our sponsors house and it was lots of fun. Andrew, Melissa, their 2 year old son Roman, and she is about to pop with baby #2 (a girl) are super sweet and we talked about all kinds of things we need to know about- getting a car, setting up bills, getting a cell phone, going to the hospital (biggie for me!), weird cultural things here...it was very interesting and fun to learn about. Brett and I can't wait to get our housing set up (we go tomorrow and hopefully will get a house soon), get a car, and go exploring more- I'll keep you updated on the Japanese fun (and download pics once we have our own internet service set up).

We are HERE!

We flew from Abilene to DFW, DFW to Seatttle and then spent the night. Then yesterday (or Thursday, depending on what time zone you are in) we flew a long 11 hours from Seattle to Tokyo. But, we totally scored on that flight- we sat in 1st class. Since it was a military charter, it's 1st come, 1st serve on seating. We got there early- and it was worth it!! Nice, big chairs that lay all the way out into a bed, complete with footrest and lumbar support; your own tv screen with your choice of movies, games, etc; LED light on your chair...it was great (and neither one of us had ever traveled that way before- Brett said he spoiled me doing it that way on our 1st military flight together!) 

Of course, in order for us to sit there, the poor dog and car had to ride cargo. We would have had to ride in the middle seats in the back coach part to carry them on with us...so they rode in cargo :(  We saw a very cool view of Mt. Fuji as we were getting ready to land. 

But, we are all here safe and sound and checked into the Kanto Lodge on base. The dog and cat are boarded at the pet care place for now, until we get housing (more cages for them- sorry guys!) We are going to spend the weekend sleeping, adjusting, and exploring base (we walked all around today and saw the BX, O club, a little bit of off base area, and the commisary). 

Tonight we already have dinner plans with our sponsor for a BBQ and we get to meet his wife and 2 year old. His wife is also prego, so I am glad to have another person to discuss drs and hospitals with- yay! 

Monday we head over to the housing office to see about getting our perm place, and go to the vet to get the animals registered. Tues and Wed are "orientation" meetings, and we get to get our Japanese drivers license. They drive on the other side of the car and road, so it should be an experience! I've been told to remember "heine on the linie" and I'll be alright. They also put a special sticker on your car (basically announcing to the locals that a stupid American is driving so watch out!) After we get our license we buy a car off the lemon lot (we checked them out today and they are about $2-3K, not bad for a nice used car with a suped-up stereo and GPS system- Japanese technology you know). 

Anyway, I'll post pics soon and more info, but for now, I"m tired and don't know what day/time it is. I need a nap (but I'm going to try to stay up until about 8pm again and sleep later tomorrow morning- wish us luck!) 

I was soooo nervous before we left, but now that we are here and I've seen how much there is to do/see/discover/learn- I'm nothing but excited!!!

Family Weekends are the best

I'll get better about posting more often. I promise. I'll add pictures too. But just had to write about the past 2 weekends. I guess now that we have our official plane ticket to Japan (March 18th is the big day), we've had to fit in saying bye to our families. Two weekends ago we drove down to Austin and had a "congradios" party (that's a combo of congrats on the baby and adios) and it was great fun. It was a combo baby shower/visit and we really enjoyed it. 

This past weekend Brett and I flew down to Houston and visited with my family. It was a very special family reunion, as my brother and his wife flew in from Kansas City and my grandparents flew in from Virginia, and of course my parents were there as well.  We really had a great time (my dad even busted out the old movie reel projector thing and played some home movies from when Cody and I were each babies). 

It has been great to get those "good-bye" weekends in with our families, before our big departure. Although, it isn't forever. Mom will be coming over in August when the baby is born, and I expect others to visit as well....that goes for everyone...ALL visitors are welcome. We will have small quarters, but I promise to take you around Japan and try to be the best tour guide I can be!! 

I finally got around to posting the sonogram pictures today. They are only a month old already. I really need to keep up with this whole blog thing. But, I do have a new apple laptop (my Christmas gift from my very generous hubby) and I'm learning all the fun things it can do. Anyway, there is the little bean. We won't find out boy or girl until we are in Japan, but you can see that it is quite the cutie already- stretching, doing somersaults, playing hide-and-seek...I'm already in love!

Sonogram Pictures