10. This is not a highlight, but more a fact of life. I attended a base orientation class. It's a required five day class that includes some critical information, but also it's a major sucker of time. One positive from the week: as part of the orientation, they took us on a field trip! They showed us how to buy a train ticket, read the train signs (standard if you are used to using public transportation in any city), and brought us to a nearby town of Kamakura. We ate lunch with new friends and toured a local shrine. It was very hot that day, or we would have stayed a lot longer. Silas and Jud went along and were good troopers. After the tour, they left us there to find our own way back to base! Not being completely cruel, they armed us with little cards saying, in Japanese, "I'm lost. Please help me find Yokosuka Naval Base."
9. I passed my written driving test. I had to sit through a safety brief where they tell us everything from what to do in case of a car accident, to the proper footwear to have on while driving (closed toe, with at least a strap around your heel). After the brief there was a 50 question test. I passed! And so tomorrow I take my behind the wheel portion of the test, during which I will be driving on the LEFT side of the road. I'm trying to mentally prepare by riding my bike on the left side of the road, but my default is still, and perhaps will be for a long time, to drive on the right side of the road. I keep telling myself STAY LEFT as I drive around base. Part of the test is a requirement to back into a parking space. Apparently, in Japan, everyone backs in, and so it is required that I know how to do this. Good thing I had JR as my driving instructor twenty three years ago. Backing into parking was a requirement in the Bergquist household. "Use your mirrors, Sara!"
8. We have eaten out at not one, but two AMAZING Italian restaurants since our arrival here. Who knew that Japanese had such affection for Italian food! Both of these places have real authentic Naples pizza, some of the best I've had since leaving Italy. Silas had a penne pasta dish with creamy tomato sauce and huge pieces of crab. It was delicious! Our first venture off base was with friends we first met in Italy who escorted us to our first Italian restaurant here. Yum!
This is a pic of the boys eating
Naan at the most delicious
curry restaurant near base.
Naan at the most delicious
curry restaurant near base.
7. We bought a car! I don't have my license yet, hopefully I will pass the driving test tomorrow and will then be street legal in my vehicle. It's a 2006 Honda Stream. There is a guy who is known to the base spouses as being the best full-service car salesman around. Not only does he find exactly the car you are looking to buy, but he also goes with you to the insurance office, to the vehicle registration office on base, then takes the car off base to register it with the Japanese government. If something goes wrong with the car, he helps you take it to the mechanic, or even takes it there himself. When it comes time to renew the registration in a year, he will take the car and renew it for you! He speaks at least three languages, and I cannot say how pleased I am with his service so far. He is marvelous at what he does. Jud was not happy with the idea that I was going out and about car shopping alone with a man, and so I brought my friend along with me. She discovered that his wife is a teacher at the middle school on base. Jud may very well have her as a teacher this year! On a side note, be nice to everyone, because you never know when you will run into them again, how you will rely on them, or where their spouse will turn up.
6. We ate at a sushi-go-round! It's a really neat restaurant where food comes out on a conveyor belt and travels from table to table. You take what you want. Once you have taken plate, you cannot return it! At the end of the meal your bill is calculated based on the number of plates you took. If you don't like the looks of anything on the conveyor belt you use a touch screen menu at your table to order something specific. Within five minutes, whatever you ordered comes rushing out on a miniature bullet train and stops at your table. Of course you still have a waiter or waitress there to assist you. Should you need anything, you simply press a button and your waiter is there within two breaths. They just sort of appear. Japan is amazing in so many ways. I didn't take a picture of the sushi-go-round. I was too busy enjoying it!
5. I learned how the basics of folding origami cranes. Cranes represent good health and longevity here, as in many Asian cultures. Senbazuru originally meant "origami" but has come to be known as folding 1,000 small paper cranes and threading them together, all stacked up. The bearer of a senbazuru is given one wish, or is said to be blessed with good health and longevity. It's a kindness to present this to someone. Folding these little cranes takes some practice. I watched a few people, then tried my own. It required lots of corrections, including having the ten year old next to me unfold a few of my folds and fix them. :-) After a few cranes, I got it down, and was even able to teach someone else how to make it. All put together, they made a beautiful rainbow of colors and sincere sentiments of positivity for the recipient.
4. Lest I forget my boys in my ramblings, Judson has been quite the social butterfly. We have met no fewer than 10 kids who are going into eighth grade with Jud. He has made friends with some of them, and been out and about on base socializing. He's learned some new games, learned how to get places on base, and recently declared, "Kids here are pretty much the same as kids at home. I can work with that. I already know how to be around kids like that."
3. Kinnick High School has it's newest student registered, and that student is also now participating in the cross country team training. It's Silas! Five days a week the team meets a few blocks from our house to run 1K, stretch, run 3-5 miles, stretch. He has made new friends and his legs are getting used to all the running. I was walking Elvis and the team passed by me. Being that it was Silas, I felt fortunate that he acknowledged my existence as giver-of-his-life with a small wave.
2. I have discovered just how deep and wide is the generosity of "the village" on base. People care for one another here as they would their own families. I feel so warmly surrounded by friends, and all of these friends are people that I have known for only three weeks. But I know that if I needed something, or God forbid, if some crisis should befall us, they would carry me until I could carry myself. It's a deeply humbling thing to be part of a team that gives so selflessly.
1. The best moment of the past two weeks: Ryan's return! We spent the past three weeks of his absence learning the ropes on base, riding our bikes hither and yon, going out in town with friends, finding the base pool, and setting up the house. Two days before Ryan arrived back home, I hung the pictures up on the walls. That's the final step of Round One for setting up the house. ~~ Round Two is rearranging furniture. Ha! Mom and Dad, I hope you're smiling. I promise not to break any beds pushing them around the room. I learned that lesson in fifth grade. ~~ Back to Ryan's return... on Thursday we went to the pier with another ship family and waited. And waited. And waited. We noticed ripples in the water out in the distance, then a tug boat came into sight, ropes pulled taught behind it. Moments later, the STETHEM cruised into sight! Happy day! We watched as she approached and backed into her space at the pier. The lines were thrown, and the brow secured. We were invited onboard, and got to hug our very favorite sailor! Ryan showed us around the ship, into his stateroom, and introduced us to several shipments. That night he was home for dinner. I don't think I stopped smiling all day long, or probably the next day either.
There she is coming into sight!
We are a Navy family. We have been since 2000. Silas and Judson have been their entire lives. Shore tours are wonderful, and we thoroughly enjoy the time we get together when Ryan is stationed in a building, not on a ship. But ship life... It's at the core of what we do. Ryan is so happy being out there on the water, doing what he does best. He's a calm-headed, steady-handed, peace-lover working around the clock on a warship. We have returned to a life that is the most familiar feeling to us since the day Ryan swore the oath, and the day I promised "I do". It's certainly challenging, and no doubt there will be days that I hate how much we have to give, but for now, since the day we arrived here and the days into the foreseeable future, I am filled with joy.
