we have a date!

Moving in on the 27th! we get appliances, our express shipment of stuff and some temporary furniture ( couch, end tables, bed, kitchen table and chairs). it will be another two weeks before our household goods arrive.
Pictures SOON!

Tokyo Disneyland! LIGHTSPEEDU!!

Elaine and I decided to go to Tokyo Disney on Monday, 19 January. Luckily for us, it was a national holiday for Americans, but not Japanese (this means the longest we had to wait was 20 minutes). We were joined by Mike (a friend who went through VFA-122 with me in Lemoore and just arrived in Japan on Friday). Since he was new, we introduced him to the train system in Japan. After about 90 minutes on three different trains and two of the busiest train stations, we arrived. Now, it was only about $90 a person for the trip (both ways) and for the one day pass.

Unfortunately, the two main rides we wanted to do, Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain, were closed but we managed to have a blast anyway. We were able to ride Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Tours, Enchanted Tiki Room, etc. Typical Disney stuff, but the only thing that was in english was Pirates of the Caribbean, so you can imagine the laughs we shared with everything else in Japanese (the singing was the best, in my opinion). Another good thing was that the food isn't ridiculously overpriced like other amusement parks. We were able to shop around and found some good things that we can send home. By the time we were ready to head home, we found ourselves right in the middle of rush hour in one of the busiest train stations I have ever seen.

We took pictures and video throughout the day that Elaine edited together in above clip. It is a pretty good summary of the day.

Shakes off the dust...

So it's been a while since we've posted, but it's ok since Elaine and I have been taking turns getting sick. Regardless of what we had specifically (mostly feverish and a hacking cough), I just chose to call it Hirohito's Revenge. Anyway, we are both better and able to be normal people again. Now, on to the updates. In terms of the house, we are currently waiting for the realty company to fix some things (the previous tenant was there for 5+ years, so it needed some minor fixes) and for the housing office to inspect it and to make sure it's worth the rent listed. Once that is completed, we will get a move-in date. All for the total move in fees of ~$8700 (good think I sold my car, huh). The Japanese do things a bit different, but what those fees include are: 1st month rent, 1 month rent for security deposit, 1 month rent for the landlord as a "gift" for letting us stay in his place and 1 month rent for the realtor who found is as her commission. The good thing is that it is nearly all reimbursed (well, outside of the rent and security deposit).

There hasn't been too much else going on here. Just working during the week and exploring when we can. We might try to go to TokyoDisney on Monday (if we get up early enough).

Fridays are Awesome!

We got our car and house today!

Heading out to the Change of Command Party tonight.

Pictures and more info later!