Week One

Orientation: NOT!!!  The civilians who provide orientation and city tours have evacuated after the earthquake so there was no orientation.  Welcome to Misawa!

I'm finally adjusting to the time change -  and not waking up at 4 am anymore.  Last night I slept all the way through the night.  I do however, go to bed at 9 and wake up at 6am voluntarily now. Quite a change for those of you who know me.  . . :)

I've been off base, seen the city, tried some food and learned a few words! I even found a house! Yeah! Can't move in yet, but by next month hopefully I can get settled.  Did I mention the house has 4 bedrooms??? Oh yeah! The military is treating me well!

Quick Facts: Misawa is 10 minutes from the coast of the Pacific
                     Located in Northern Region of Honshu (main island)
                     It snows here . . . that's all I have to say (maybe I can learn how to snowboard! )
                     Joint US Army/Navy/Air Force and Japanese Air Base  (lots of planes here)
                     Time difference: 13 hrs ahead of eastern time
                     5,000 service men/women on base
                     Total of 7 Air Force Network TV Stations complete with government commercials  :)
                     NO SINGLE MEN

My job:  For those of you who don't know by now, I'm a nurse.  I'll be working on a 9 bed Medical-Surgical Unit that hardly ever has patients - I'm probably going to start grad school online to keep my sanity on night shift.

Fun story - So I've found a house, now I need to find a car so I can get to work once I move off-base.  So they drive on the other side of the road here and the other side of the car!  I took my first drive illegally on Monday (I didn't have my drivers license yet)!   It was also 4:30pm TT/3:30am ET. Not the best idea ever, but it was fun! I made it with no accidents, just a lot of fear every time the road curved and I thought a car was barreling straight at where I would be if I was driving in America!

I haven't found any food I like yet. I've tried ramen and some kind of beef with sesame seeds in it. The food here is very bland.  I can't wait to start cooking again. I've already got a list of new recipes to try. If ya'll have any good recipes PLEASE pass them on!  Remember I prefer healthy choices.

Must try: Onsen - natural hot springs   Drawback - most onsenare nude and co-ed.  Who wants to join me? LOL

Looking forward to:  Traveling -  Apparently there's lots to do within a few hours driving distance from here. Highlight include an ice castle, waterfalls, ski resorts, Mt Fuji!

Coming up: Cherry Blossom Season!! Yeah! For those of you who have ever lived in DC you know how beautiful these flowers can be.  I can't wait! Hopefully they should be blossoming by the end of May!

So that's the long and short of it.  I'll post more as things post-worthy happen.  Hope ya'll enjoyed! Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to invite all of you to come visit me.  I've got at least one room waiting for you!  :)  I love you all and miss you already!

Arrival Day

Flew from Tampa to Seattle on April 16. Arrived in Seattle at 10:30pm PT/1:30am ET.  Departed from Seattle to Misawa at 4:30am PT/7:30am ET.Arrived in Misawa on April 18 at 6:30 am Tokyo time - April 17 5pm ET.  Slept on and off on the plane, and on and off before getting on the plane.   Basically I was tired!  I've never skipped a day before -  that was kinda cool!

Not much of a view on the flight - I saw a few ice bergs while flying over Alaska.  Then nothing, nothing, nothing until I saw the shoreline of Japan.  There were still a few small ice chunks in the water and military ships sailing near the coast.  I could see some mountains off in the distance and before long we were landing.

Total time in flight from Seattle to Misawa was 9 hours- total time from Tampa was 28 hrs!!!!  Special thanks to Aunt Nancy for sending me on my way!

Mandatory dinner with the crew at 6pm to keep me awake.  7:30 Tokyo time/ 10:30am ET - Bed!