Just a thought...

From experiences thus far in Japan, and from hearing a few things, I've come to the conclusion there is not a single rude Japanese person. I think its funny how we come to their country and they are so patient, interested in our culture, the way we do things, the way we speak, and are so eager to help anyone who asks, but when they come to America we treat them like total aliens. It's amazing to me that people are still so eager to come to the US even though their first taste is rude workers at the airport, and yet we take it all for granted. We expect them to come to our country and speak our language without taking a minute out of our day to help them. The Japanese people are willing to go out of their way to help anyone who asks and if they cant, they will find someone who will. They get so excited when we try to speak Japanese and try to help you correct yourself. They understand when you're learning, but yet if someone spoke English wrong to our face we would laugh at them. I think as Americans, myself included, should learn to embrace other cultures the way the Japanese people do and welcome legal immigrants into our country. (Illegal immigrants is a completely different story.) We should stop acting so arrogant and use our intelligence for some good, helping others.

I Knew I'd Be Bad At This

Apologies for my lack of blogging skills. My whole life is one big pile of procrastination which seems to have leaked into my blogging as well. I'll try to be better as I know that people are curious to whats going on over here. Things here are, well to say the least, boring. Still no car, which means anywhere we go we have to walk. And the humidity is so unbearable that we don't go too far unless we have to. But Aaron is getting his license this week, so we are in the process of looking for a car. Let's keep our fingers crossed here! I never realized how much I took having a car with A/C for granted! Those who have it are super lucky! We ventured off base this past weekend with the guidance of a friend Aaron met at work. I'm scared to go off without anyone who knows a little bit about the area because of the language barrier. It's so hard to have a good time when you're worrying about how to communicate with the next waitress, or how to get your train tickets. We got to experience some of the culture, though, when we had to take our shoes off in the restaurant and sit on the floor to eat.

We still haven't met any people to hang out with, so we mostly sit around and have movie night all the time. I suppose friends will come with time. As soon as we get a car I hope to plug into a church where we can make quality friendships. I still haven't convinced myself that this is where I will be living for the next three years, nor do I want to. There are so many people and things that I miss at home, but I try to keep my mind busy so that I don't dwell on it and make myself miserable. I finally got some books to read to keep myself busy while Aaron is at work, although there wasn't a great selection at the BX. For now, they will have to do. I can't wait to have my dog here. I miss that little booger a lot, and he will help keep me busy. So this is whats happening in good ol Fussa, Japan. More to come later.

Home Sweet Home?

We finally made it!! We had a false start on Tuesday by missing our flight which resulted in a 24-hour penalty, but we made it to the airport on time Wednesday and then we were really on our way. The flight into Chicago was beautiful with the sun coming up right behind the city. Flying over Alaska was even more beautiful seeing the snow capped mountains. Narita airport was a tad bit confusing with all the symbols and junk that we couldn't read, but a fellow service member finally helped us find where we needed to be to catch the shuttle to Yokota. Everything is so different here and its going to take a while to adjust. Thankfully we got here on a 4-day weekend so husband doesn't have to start work until Wednesday. We plan on going exploring tomorrow so we can find our way around base. So a few weird things about this place so far...the fountain Diet Coke tastes extremely weird and there are two different options for flushing the toilet: push for a light load and pull for a large load. There will be more to come later, but for now I'm going to hit the sack for some much needed rest.