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!!