A long overdue update

Well we have been here for ten days, and I am just finding time to update the blog.  Last Monday we went to the housing office on Camp Courtney and got told that they were almost at capacity (due to massive renovations in housing, to get asbestos out of the homes. Seems like this renovation would have been long overdue, right?) and that we would have to go find a place to live out in town. While this news was very overwhelming and not at all what we wanted to hear.  After three or four looong days of looking we found a house, which has relieved a lot of pressure.  It is really small, with all Japanese appliances which should make for an interesting adjustment period. But it is really nice, in a safe neighborhood and relatively central to all the bases around here. The other location is also great because it is one of the safest places on the island when it comes to natural disasters. 

The second thing we did last week was go to our Welcome Aboard Brief, and get our SOFA driver’s license.  The brief was very informative.  Since it was all day, we left the kids with our sponsor’s wife and eldest daughter, and they had a blast and we were able to focus on everything we were getting inundated with.  I made a few new friends, and after getting our licenses we went and bought a car.  Our sponsor took us to a little car dealership that they had used.  Everyone there spoke English very well, but buying a car here is a definite culture shock experience.  First of all, the price of their car will automatically come down, without haggling, by 1200 yen.  Don’t ask me how that works, but you start haggling with the price of the car minus 1200 yen as your max price.  Prices of cars aren’t even CLOSE to being as crazy expensive as they are back in the states, but I think part of that is because they aren’t built to the same safety regulations we have in the US, and also because they gouge you with various yearly taxes!  Road tax, sticker tax…you pay more the bigger your engine is, it’s crazy!!!!  Anyway once you buy a car and do the paperwork, you can’t pick it up for a few days!!!  I think part of that (if not all of it) is because they need that time to get the vehicle out of the jenga like maize they have it in!  So while we bought the car Wednesday after our Welcome Aboard, we only got to pick it up on Friday (right before the typhoon hit). It was one of the VERY few cars that could fit all of us, and the monster stroller.  Which for me is a necessity, and will make days at the aquarium or zoo much more enjoyable.  I will post pictures of the “Buff Mobile” a little later, as I should run right now.