Surprise, surprise!

Continuing Big Surprise...sorry my posts got a little out of order!

My plan was to sleep in late, but I guess jet lag/excitement about a new day in a new place got the best of all of us, and I think we were all up by 5 AM. Chris got ready for work, and I leisurely lounged since we had nothing on our agenda to do. We watched some Japanese programming (there weren't many options, but thank goodness there was something that resembled a PBS of sorts with children's programming). I say resembled but...not really that close. In the middle of cartoons and such, they showed a clip of a Japanese mother nursing her baby. It zoomed closer and closer in, and the kids and I all sat spellbound. Then they shot to a child saying something we couldn't understand, and then flashed to a cartoon picture of breasts. I'm thinking...really? Then back to the child again, laughing. Then a cartoon of little children laughing and floating around on what looked like giant, solitary boobies. Like balloons in space. Only boobs. Then it was over. Yep, it was going to be an interesting few weeks in the Japanese hotel for sure if this was my best programming option for the kiddos.

Thankfully, a phone call came to our rescue. Around 9 AM our sponsor's wife called and said that the housing office ALREADY HAD 2 HOMES for us to check out! We quickly got ready and she came to pick us up. One home had a view of people's back doors and garbage bins, and the other a view of American Village (with a huge ferris wheel that lights up at night), and right behind it...the ocean. It was a no brain decision, and we could hardly wait to move into our new home on top of the hill on Camp Lester. 2 days and a couple of adventures later, we "moved in" with our luggage and a couple of sleeping bags. We had been living/visiting/vacationing here, there and everywhere for way too long, so we "moved in" on the 18th after a pizza dinner at our sponsor's house with no furniture and sleeping bags. What a great birthday gift!

The next morning government furniture arrived. We got the "family pack" of furniture which included 1 couch, 2 chairs, 2 end tables, 1 coffee table, a dining room set (with 2 leaves and a china cabinet included), a full bed, 2 twin beds, 4 night stands, 4 dressers and a mirror.  Although we don't have any sheets, or dishes, or barely any clothes to fill all these wonderful pieces of furniture up, we are so happy to have them as it makes it feel slightly more like home. That being said, I'm so anxious to get our shipments here I can hardly stand it. This town home has an awesome view, but apparently the people who used to live here smoked inside, and I can't quite get used to the government furniture/old cigarette smoke smell. It will be better once our stuff gets here, but until then we're burning candles like crazy. I'd open the windows open to air it out...but the humidity level is so high here we'd have mold growing within minutes.

Other interesting things about our new home:
-There are drains in every bathroom that you have to pour bleach water down every so often to keep the air suction in the pipes, and to deter the cock roaches (which Ben is deathly afraid of).
-We have giant fruit bats that hang out in the banana trees outside our house. If you startle them they swoop down at you...but they are harmless. Just as big as a cat with wings. And a little creepy. Bats in Texas are tiny little things (haha, we have "Texas" sized bats here!).
-We're starting to enjoy cable again after 3 1/2 years without it. But it comes in really grainy over here, so the only way to enjoy the benefits of our plasma is to watch movies streamed from the internet or a DVD/BluRay.
-Our neighbors have been over the top friendly. It's nice living next to people who are in the same shoes you're in. There are built in playmates for both Ben and Claire, and several moms who stay at home.
-Camp Lester, where we live, is the smallest base between the other two on either side of us. Camp Foster is about a mile a way to our left (where the new hospital is being built) and Kadena AF base is to our right about three miles down. Each has an exchange (mini-mall/Wal-Mart) and commissary (grocery store). Anything government business has to be done at either of those two bases. But if you have to get to the hospital quickly, Lester is the place to be. (Until the new hospital is completed on Foster and then we'll be SOL with no hospital and no government offices). When the new hospital is complete they are planning on phasing all of the residents out of Lester and onto other bases (which will take a few years). Then Lester will be shut down and the land will be given back to the Okinawans. It's prime real estate over here, and I'm sure they can't wait to get their hands on it to build condos and hotels and probably more shopping geared towards the Japanese tourists that come here during the summer.

Some neat things about living military life:
-You have $2000 a year to spend at Eagle Hardware. You can get a limited number of home improvement items, including paint, any time you want. You just set up your free account and go in and they tally up how much you spent and you walk out without paying a dime. Pretty sweet!
-There's a loan locker (closet) that has some household items you can borrow for 30-90 days. It's PCS (Permanent Change of Station) season, so when we went by there wasn't much to choose from. Still a cool idea.
-Coupons are good here for 6 months after their due date. People from the states (like you!) send us any unused coupons and a volunteer group here sorts them out into food/non-food items and you can stop by an office and pick up 6 envelopes chalked full at a time. The only downside is that the commissary carries limited items and you may/may not be able to use them. Again, still a great idea!
-Okinawa Yard Sales (Bookoo.com) are awesome for finding just about anything you could want or need. It's geared towards military families and you can find some really awesome deals.
-You can register at the library for a FREE Rosetta Stone online class to help learn Japanese. There are also free classes to attend for just about anything you could be interested in. You just have to get out of the house and ask someone. There's so much to do just on base, it could make your head spin!

There's so much more to say but I'll add it another time...