A week already!

It’s hard to believe that it was a week ago that Aaron and I left Dallas.  Time has gone by so fast since we’ve been here!  We’re over the jet lag now and have been able to enjoy exploring as much of our surroundings as we can.  We haven’t been able to explore much of the island outside of the base yet because we don’t have a car.  Our sponsor did take us out yesterday and show us around though, and I posted more pictures on Facebook.  

Yesterday we bought a car but we can’t pick it up until Friday.  The process of buying a car here is so much different than in the states, and so much easier.  We bought a 1999 Subaru Impreza.  There’s no negotiating on the price, but they sold it to us for $1,000 less than what was on the sticker.  In Okinawa your car has to pass an inspection called JCI and this can run anywhere from $200 to $1,000 depending on your car.  The dealership we went through includes the JCI in their price and also takes care of your insurance too.  The car we picked didn’t have a CD player in it, and they said they would install one before we picked it up, and if the tires don’t rate well on the JCI, they will replace them too.  They also have a six month warranty on the entire car.  So if anything goes wrong—with the engine, electrical, alignment, etc. in the first six months, it’s covered.  The car was already very clean, but they said they’re going to detail it again for us.  We had to get our drivers licenses before we could pick up the car, which we got today (easy 20 question test).  But since the car still has to go through the JCI, we won’t get it until Friday.  Hopefully we will be able to go sight-seeing this weekend and have some more pictures to post!

We have yet to get cell phone service here.  We’re a little mixed about what to do.  When we first got here our sponsor told us that we could use our iPhones no problem, we’d just have to have them jail-broken.  He said he could do it for us.  The company we could go through is called Softbank.  So we went to talk to them about their plans and found out that when you sign a 2-year contract with them you get free iphones anyway.  Then after they had us sold on their company they told us we should go talk to this other carrier called AU because their reception on base is much better.  So we talked to the other carrier and discovered that though they have better service, their selections for phones and plans is poor.  So the next day we decided we would go with Softbank and get the iphones.  When we went to sign up, the lady told us that everyone who has Softbank has been complaining that they have no service and that one of their towers has been down.  She didn’t recommend that we sign up with them, at least not yet.  So, back to square one.  The guy who sold us our car told us about another cellular carrier called Docomo who has great reception on base and who we could use our iphones with.  We went to talk to them and they said, ‘no’ we can’t use our iphones.   You would think at this point that we’d be going crazy with this runaround, but I think we’re getting used to this.  Thankfully we haven’t really needed cell phones yet.

As I mentioned earlier, we took our drivers license test today.  The traffic rules in Japan are basically the same as in the U.S. except that everything is on the left side of the road.  Supposedly almost everyone finds themselves driving on the wrong side of the road at least once when they first get here, but I have to admit, I fear it tremendously!  Haha.  We’ve also heard about the ‘three car rule’ that locals use when stopped at an intersection.   Supposedly, when turning right (which is like turning left in the states), if the light turns red before you get a chance to turn, the first three cars in line are allowed to proceed through the intersection.  The oncoming traffic (coming from the other direction) just knows to wait until those three cars have passed through the intersection.  Though the ‘three car rule’ is illegal and not even acceptable on base, I’m nervous that while off-base I will forget about the rule and when the light turns green, head on through the intersection colliding with one of those cars turning right!  Yikes, I sure hope that doesn’t happen!  I know that it will take some time getting used to driving here, but I’m confident that our interest in all of the exciting things to do on the island will be enough to get us out and get used to it.

We have our housing briefing this Friday.  We will not likely get offered housing then, we’ll just be informed of all of the rules and policies that come with living in base housing and how the housing office works.  Hopefully they will offer us a place to live next week.  We’ve heard that a lot of the housing has been undergoing renovations, but there is no guarantee that we’ll be placed into one of those units.  We will really be pretty happy no matter where we get placed, but I’m praying for a place with a nice yard. J  You would think that in Japan there would be no such thing as a yard, and off base that is basically true, but on Kadena, most of the houses come with a decent sized yard, and you’re even allowed to landscape it if you want.   For some reason they don’t allow you to grow produce except in pots, but if I get a nice sized patch of grass, I’m not going to complain!

There is SO much to do here.  Even if you never left the base you could keep yourself busy all the time.   I mean, just examples—scuba diving, karate lessons, quilting lessons, pottery lessons, cake decorating lessons, sports teams, surfing lessons, sailing, and deep sea fishing are just a few of the many activities available.  We will certainly NEVER have a reason to say we’re bored here!

So far I love being in Okinawa and have really enjoyed the adventure in learning about where things are and what to do.  I’m so excited to continue to learn and explore and can’t wait to have our own house with our own belongings… to have a little space to retreat and feel ‘at home.’

Other than cell-phones, our next goal is to find a church to visit this Sunday.  We have yet to meet anyone who are Christians or go to church on a regular basis.  Our sponsor and his wife couldn’t even think of anyone that they knew.  This wasn’t exactly encouraging, but we’re confident that the Lord will provide some people for us to fellowship with.   We saw a flyer for a church that we’ll probably try this Sunday.  We’ll see how that goes!  Aaron and I are just praying about how we can love and serve the people here.  I think once we’re more settled and established it will not be hard to find places and people who we can serve.  Even though we’re in the military and of course we have no real choice in where we’re stationed, we believe that as much as it seems like the military is in control, above all God is in control, and wherever we are and wherever we go, that’s only because it’s God’s sovereign will for us to be there.  Therefore, we believe that in a sense, God has called us to Kadena Air Base, and it’s exciting to start seeing glimpses of why He did. J  We look forward to seeing him unfold His plan for our lives while we’re here!