Learning Patience

Some of my shell art

Patience is a virtue and I really work hard to master it but sometimes it can test you to such limits that you end up with a little meltdown. I had one of those meltdowns last week. For me a meltdown consists of a good cry along with expression of my frustration. Then I go back and put things into perspective and can then go on practicing that "patience thing". I've always considered myself a patient person. I don't get uptight in stressful situations and I'm pretty calm about waiting in traffic or long lines in stores. This blog wouldn't be genuine though if I only reported the fun and adventure of living overseas but was remiss in expressing the trials of the adventure. So as Paul Harvey would say....Here's the rest of the story.

If you've kept up with this blog you know that we are currently living in a temporary apartment because the apartment we found in October that we want to move to wasn't available yet. Last week our realtor called to give us an update on the Ishikawa apartment. She told Russ that it is now empty. We knew that the previous tenants were moving out in early January and had planned that we would be moving into the apartment by late January or early February. The problem with this timeline is that the apartment is due for a base inspection before it can be rented to government employees. (they get these every five years) The housing office, we hear, is currently understaffed in the inspection area and basically there is only one inspector handling all the many off-base houses that need to be inspected. So Russ texted me last week to tell me that they couldn't get an appointment for a base inspection until March 4. If you've ever worked for the government or known someone who does, you know when you hear a date like that, you can just about always add at least two weeks to that date for getting all the paperwork and other details processed and be accurate on the "real" date....so when he said March 4, my mind instantly jumped to April. 

We've been on this island since late September, our household goods arrived in late November and we've been in this temporary apartment for a month and a half after spending two months in a TLF (basically a small hotel room). When you set out on an overseas assignment in most cases you are in your permanent living quarters within two months of arrival with your household items ready to settle into your new home. We're already two months past the anticipated "settle in" time frame. I thought I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when January rolled around and had begun to get VERY excited about settling in finally....but then the ball was dropped and I'm told we're into overtime. What's a girl to do but have a meltdown. I texted him back and let him know how frustrated I was with all their delays and then sat here and cried. I know he was feeling just as frustrated but guys deal with things differently. I'm not sure how he handled the news when he got it. But I do know it meant a lot of phone calls on his part to make sure we can have our storage of the household good extended and the base furniture usage extended and the borrowed dishes extended. I'm also pretty sure that he was just as frustrated as I was.

So after having a good cry that day, I began the "perspective" part of my meltdown. I noted how well we've managed with what little we have and how quickly those four months have passed by. I knew I could do this waiting thing even though it's not what I would prefer. Russ and I talked that night and both of us began questioning whether or not we wanted to wait, whether or not we wanted to begin the process of looking again or whether we wanted to just make our temporary apartment into our permanent one and just have our HHG brought here and be done with it. We spent the week weighing our options. Russ called Noriko and had her look at what is available for immediate move in and the pickings were pretty slim. We found a few apartments on Bookoo.com that looked promising but when we checked on them learned that they, too, are waiting on base inspections. I even jokingly mentioned that we could rent Happiness (an apartment that I spotted on the sea wall near us. See previous "caught in the rain" post).

We then looked at the pros and cons of living permanently in our Yogi apartment and concluded that it lacked quite a few of the things we were hoping to find in our permanent home (one important one being storage). It would fit most of the furniture we brought but the dilemma would come in where to store all the extra things. I like being so close to the mall and the Comprehensive Sports Park but we both prefer a less congested area traffic-wise. I told Russ, I could make this work if I needed to but I had fallen in love with all the storage in the Ishikawa apartment. It definitely meets the majority of our needs. We knew if we let our hold go on the Ishikawa apartment that we probably would not find anything that compares to it. 

We decided that we needed to go and view our Ishikawa apartment again so we were certain that we still love it enough to wait for it. Russ made an appointment with Noriko to view it yesterday so we could make our final decision on which direction we were going to take. The last time we looked at these apartments was in October and at that time we didn't actually see the apartment we have on hold but rather one on the 5th floor that was just being moved into. I remembered leaving that appointment very certain that we couldn't find anything more perfect than that...but I wasn't remembering the details of why I felt that way so it was good to go and reassure ourselves. This time we got to actually take our time and look at the apartment we will be moving to, envision our HHG fitting in and see the oceanview at that level (2nd floor). The moment we walked through the door and saw it again, we were reassured that it IS worth waiting for and it put our minds at ease that we are doing the right thing. So the decision has been made. We will be hanging out in Yogi for a few more months living with what we brought in our suitcases, purchased while here and what came in the quick shipment. 

Pocket Wifi

Once we made the decision, our internet dilemma came back to the forefront. I cancelled the installation in early January after realizing they couldn't install until then. I thought we were moving by the end of the month and it didn't seem practical to pay an installation fee for just a few weeks. When I called to cancel it they told me they had a device I could use that is similar to a cell phone data service. It would give me 7 GB of data per month. All I had to do was come in with a 10,000 yen deposit (about $85) and pick up the device. The 10,000 yen will be given back to me when I return the device. The 7 GB of data are free until I get my internet hooked up. This has allowed me to get some blog posts written, upload a few things and keep up with email and facebook but it goes quickly. I have to budget my time and make the most of the time online so the 7 GB will last through the month.

In my conversations with Russ about waiting for Ishikawa, I told him I felt like the waiting would be much easier if we could get the internet hooked up now. He called Noriko and asked her to discuss it with the owner of this apartment (who is also the owner of the Ishikawa place) and see if he would pay the installation fee on the Yogi apartment (which is beneficial to him to have his apartment internet ready) so that we can have the internet while we wait. He agreed and sent her an email to show his approval so the internet company can schedule the installation again. She went to their offices after leaving us yesterday and made sure that they had all the documentation they needed. We finally got a call yesterday from the internet company with an installation date of February 2nd. Patience is still testing me but I'm happy to know that in two weeks I will, for the first time since early September, have working internet. What's two more weeks or two more months  in the big scheme of things? Right? 

A Sneak Preview of the Ishikawa Apartment

Caught in the Rain

Santa gave me a retro bicycle for Christmas this year and I hadn't gotten to ride it yet until last Friday. Russ was off work that day and asked if I wanted to go to the nearby athletic park (the Comprehensive Sports Park) and ride while he did his walk. The park is huge and has trails that go for miles. There are 5k, 4k and 3k trails marked for the walkers/runners so Russ has found plenty of area to get a good long walk in at this park. There is a huge sports stadium, several soccer stadiums, an indoor tennis pavillion as well as outdoor tennis, a water park, several basketball areas, several playgrounds and a running track. We could see the park from our balcony so shortly after we moved in we went out one day and drove until we found it. Russ has gone there every couple of days to walk since the day we located it and has gotten fairly familiar with the park. This was only my second time to go and this time he used a different entrance and went to a different parking lot than we did the first time. We decided to go before lunch because we could tell it was building up for a rain and we wanted to get our walk/ride in before it started. We took our rain jackets just in case. Smart thinking on our part.

Homeless lady cooking food

When we got to the park, I rode next to Russ until we got to the trails and then took off riding. He told me the 5K trail went along the seawall so I decided to follow that. Russ took off on a different trail and we ended up getting to the seawall at the same time. I rode until the seawall ended and turned around and met up with Russ again. By this time it started sprinkling so I put my hood up and started riding back towards the park. As I rode away he said to follow the sea wall until it ended and I'd be back at the park. His "ended" and my "ended" meant two different things though. What he meant was ride until you come to the point where you have to go between a few metal poles to continue on...but the seawall didn't end there so I went through the opening in the poles and continued on the trail that still followed the sea wall. The trail I followed ended at the main highway that we drove in on. I wasn't sure which way I'd need to go to get to that entrance so after riding up and down that road a little, I turned around and went back up the hill to the park. While riding on the main road looking for the entrance, I was touched by the sight of a homeless lady underneath one of the bridges who was making a meal in a wok (the food smelled delicious too). She had a full kitchen on that cart. I stealthily took her picture before riding back into the park.

By this time the rain is starting to get a little heavier. I made it back to the main park but I was totally turned around by that time and wasn't sure which direction the parking lot was. Just as I got in the park area I got a text from Russ saying that he was back at the car. He'd managed to get there just as the rain started so he wasn't too wet...yet. I texted him back and said, "that's good because I'm lost. I'm not sure which way the car is". He said "just ride towards the track". I said "I would if I knew where the track is." I sent him a picture of the building I was standing by but it took awhile to send so since the rain was picking up I started riding again to see if I could get my bearings as to where I was in relation to the car. I stopped again twice and took other pictures and sent them to him to see if he could tell me which direction to ride.

It seemed like all three pictures arrived to his phone at once because he texted back and said go to where you took the first picture from and I'll be there to meet you in three minutes. I started laughing because I'd driven around quite a bit since I sent the first picture and now I didn't know how to get back to that first one. My next text said: "I don't know where that is now." I can see him shaking his head in my mind. "Silly woman". So I finally got to the big stadium we can see from our balcony and found a building nearby with an overhang, sent another picture and stayed there until Russ walked to me. He too was now soaked from trying to find me.

So you'd think my story ends here with us proceeding together to the car but no.... he points me in the direction of the car and says to go down the hill and follow the trail to the parking lot. I went ahead and started riding in the direction I thought he said and as I get to the bottom of the hill my phone beeps with a message from Russ again that said. "Wrong Way". I turned around and couldn't see him walking down the hill I'd just ridden down and I couldn't see him again. He sent another message telling me to ride around the stadium and I'd find the parking lot. I went the long way around but I did find him eventually. Finally after getting thoroughly drenched we made it to the parking lot and car. It was really pretty funny when it was all over.

I did enjoy riding the bike without the pesky gear changes to think about. It felt more natural to me to have the brakes on the pedal like in my younger years. As usual I stopped many times to take pictures along the way as I rode. I try to collect plenty of pictures of interesting things for blog posts.,,.like xylophones along with music to play on the bridge near the seawall, more family gravesites or the frog shaped drinking fountain. My favorite was the sign on a house that said "happiness" for rent. I'm tempted to call the number and ask how much it is going for these days.  I'm sure we'll be going to this park more often as long as we live at this apartment and maybe someday I'll be so familiar with it that I'll never be lost again. The rain jackets that Amber gave us for our birthdays were lifesavers and really did a great job keeping us dry on the inside. It was fun getting lost in the rain and being rescued by a good looking guy walking in the park.

Anyone want to rent some happiness?

family gravesite

another family gravesite

Low tide at the seawall

My new bike and I in the rain

The Xylophones at the bridge.
There were two.

The music near the xylophone

Cute little frog drinking fountain

The Yomitan Pottery Festival

One Sunday afternoon in December after church services, our group went to one of the local restaurants for lunch. As we were talking one of the girls, Erin, mentioned that she had gone to the Yomitan Pottery Festival on Friday and loved the bowls she found there. She said it was being held the entire weekend and ending that day. Charla asked if I'd like to try to find it. She said she'd take me home afterwards so Russ could take the car home. We met back at her house and left two of her girls with her husband and took her oldest with us to the festival.

We weren't sure where it was located. We just knew the general direction and were going off of where Google Maps was directing us (which many times can be far from where you want to go). After quite a few wrong turns we found the castle ruins in Yomitan (which I'd like to return to at some point) and finally found signs leading to the Pottery village. Yomitan, I've been told, is the place all the artsy type of people seem to gravitate towards. I think they do these pottery festivals and other artsy type festivals several times a year. It was very crowded when we arrived and it took us a little while to find a place to park.

We spent the afternoon walking from vendor to vendor looking at the various pieces and looking for something that we just couldn't live without. As we entered one of the vendor stores, we met an old man who was playing tunes on a leaf. I call it leaf harping. When he spotted us he started playing Star Spangled Banner for us. I wanted Wrenn to see what he was doing so I asked him to show her how it worked. She ran and got her own leaf and tried to learn how to do it but it proved to be harder than it looked. Several others saw him showing her so they also grabbed leaves and tried it out and shook their heads because they, too, couldn't make it work. He was cute...walked through the whole festival singing away on his leaf harp.

Since we were at the festival on the last day it was open we found that the offerings were slimmer.The areas with the more reasonable prices had very slim pickings by Sunday.  I was hoping to find some salad bowls I liked but when I did, I couldn't justify spending $80 on two bowls. I finally convinced myself that I have too many dishes already and didn't need to add to the pile. There were some beautiful but pricey pieces there. We enjoyed the time together shopping and talking and learning to leaf harp. Maybe I'll catch it on the first day next time.

Exploring the Newest Okinawa Mall

As I was researching Okinawa before our move last summer I read several blog posts about the new mall that opened up in May 2015. After arriving I was asked on various occasions if I'd been to the new mall. So my curiosity has been piqued ever since I heard about it. I wasn't sure where it was located and had envisioned it being closer to Naha. When our realtor was driving us to see our temporary apartment, we drove right past the mall and it was way closer to the base than I had anticipated. I was also quite excited to learn that we would be living close to the mall because I knew just by looking at it that I needed to plan a few days to explore it....and I had a feeling I'd want to go there often.

My first visit was on a Wednesday in mid-December and as I walked in I was greeted by a huge aquarium of fish. My favorite was a huge blue fish that reminded me of the "Pout Pout Fish" from a book I love to read to my grandsons. Before I left the aquarium I had to call them on facetime to show them the fish. They were getting ready for bed and were happy to see that Nana had found the Pout Pout fish. After showing them the fish I walked outside to show them that it was daytime for me at the same time they were going to bed. This seemed to amaze Liam. He kept looking out his window to make sure it was nighttime there. I will always think of them when I see that aquarium. They love watching fish.

After ending my conversation I began my exploration of one of my new favorite places. The Rycom Aeon mall is four stories tall and is full of familiar American stores mixed in with popular Japanese stores. I found Old Navy, American Eagle, Forever 21, Gap, Sketchers, Dr. Martens, Sports Authority, Toys R Us/Babies R Us, Coldstone Ice Cream, Baskin Robbins Ice Cream, McDonalds, and Starbucks. I walked through each of them to see how the prices compared to American prices and they were very close in prices. It gave me a warm feeling to know that I could find a little bit of the USA anytime I want to go to the mall.

At the end of the second and third floors are food courts with every imaginable type of food. The fourth floor has a huge movie theater. At the opposite end from the food courts is the Aeon department store. The first floor of Aeon is a grocery store and the other two floors are similar to our department stores. I spent the whole day meandering from store to store and stopped for a smoothie for my lunch. I found several stores that I loved and have been back to them many times. My feet were sore by the end of my exploration and I realized it will be a nice place to walk on rainy days. The mall also has free internet so I can go there and spend time online while we wait for internet service.

I thought I'd seen all of the mall on my first visit but later realized that there were several stores on the outside of the mall that I'd missed. I explored those on my next visit. I went to the mall several times during the holiday season. It helped to get me psyched for the holidays with all the Christmas music and decorations. As it got closer to New Years Eve I avoided going because all the Okinawans were off on vacation and the parking lots were packed.  Most weekends it takes us much longer to get home because the mall generates more traffic when the local people are off of work. They are building a hospital across from the mall that is scheduled to open this spring and I'm thinking it will add even more traffic to an already busy area.  Here's a glimpse inside the Rycom Aeon Mall.

A Little Potty Humor

One of the first things that surprised me when we lived in mainland Japan in the early 90's was the toilets. I remember well the first time I saw one. We were at a Hanami (cherry blossom) party with some of Russ's coworkers at a local park. I needed to use the toilet so I stood outside the restroom doors to see where the women went and where the men went since all the signs were in kanji. I went in the one I determined was the women's side and looked at the toilet in the ground and hurried back out thinking I was in the men's side. I stood there again and watched men walking into the other side so I tried again and checked all the stalls and they were the same. I went back out to where Russ was, sat down beside him, whispered in his ear and said..."I know this is a stupid question but how do you use the toilets here?" He smiled real big and said "It's time to learn to squat." Luckily our home didn't have that type of toilet but many of them do. In Iwakuni this was the normal toilet in all the public places but we quickly learned that the handicap stalls had regular American (western style) toilets so we always waited for the handicap stalls to open up. 

In Okinawa, I've found that they aren't as prevalent here. Most public bathrooms I've been to have had both western style and Japanese style toilets in them so you can choose. I have found their signage in the bathrooms to be quite funny though. Who would have thought it was necessary to post signs telling them not to stand and squat on the western style toilets. I, of course, had to take a few pictures of them to share with you. They make me smile every time I see them. 

Posted in the stalls with western style toilets

Posted in the stalls with Japanese toilets

I guess it doesn't take much to amuse me but I love collecting pictures of their funny signs. It made me wonder if there were people injured standing on toilets so they had to make sure instructions were posted. Or if things were getting sort of messy in the restrooms because of improper use of toilets.  I guess this is important information for you all if you ever plan to travel to Japan. You now have the proper knowledge of how to use either style of toilet. (Just in case they forget to post a sign for you)

A Glimpse at Driving

Our new 2003 Nissan March

While I was in the states in November, Russ found and bought a second vehicle for us. Meet our 2003 Nissan March. This has become my car and Russ drives the Nissan Note. I love the March because it's tiny and I definitely feel more comfortable on the narrow Okinawa roads with a little car. It seems to have a looser feel to the steering than the Note does so it weaves around all the obstacles on the roads nicely...and there are always obstacles on the roads. I don't think I've driven anywhere yet where there wasn't a car pulled off to the side of the road even on the skinniest of roads. They have strict laws about using the cell phone while driving so it's not unusual to see cars pull to the side of the road to answer their phones or to send a message. Many times it's at the worst possible place and they are oblivious to the driving hazards they just created. 

When driving around town, you can always tell which cars are being driven by Americans because our license plates have either a big Y or a big A at the beginning. The A cars are classified as smaller cars that are taxed less. One day we were driving on one of the main roads from our house to the base and saw a car coming towards us the wrong way. We automatically think this has to be an American who forgot which side of the road to drive on. I'm sure all the Japanese cars traveling beside us thought the same. As she got close enough to see the license plate we realized it was a Japanese vehicle being driven by an older lady and she was just realizing she was in the wrong lane when she got to us. There was a median flower wall between the two directions of traffic so there was nothing for her to do but keep driving. It was nice to see that we're not the only ones that find ourselves driving on the wrong side of the streets. We didn't stick around long enough to see how she got herself out of that one. 

In late November I put my first dent on the Note.  I was in the parking lot at the BX and it was fairly empty. I was amazed that I could get a parking spot so close to the building (a rare thing). I saw one that looked promising and had overshot the space so I put the car in reverse so I could pull into the sport  and <bang!!>, I backed right into a truck that had snuck up behind me. I had only looked in my side mirror and didn't see him. I hadn't gotten used to looking in the rear view mirror since it was on my left and if I had I would have seen him. The driver was a Japanese businessman who spoke very little English. We both pulled into parking spots and he called his company and sent them pictures of his truck and then came back and said it was ok. He asked for my phone number and gave me his card. I haven't heard back from him so I'm assuming all is well.

He was very sweet about the whole thing. I, of course, was a little shaken up. Since I wasn't sure what to do, right after it happened I tried texting Russ to come and help me but he had left his phone in his car and didn't respond so I was on my own. As I always do I took pictures of both vehicles. My car was the only one with damage. I bent the bumper in the back. Russ was able to pop most of it back to where it's not as noticeable. 

So many of the side roads in Japan are about the width of what we would consider one lane but they are for two way traffic. Many of the vehicles have buttons to pull in side mirrors since things get pretty tight when you are squeezing through these narrow roads. You will also see  many cement walls at sharp angles at the ends of these roads and it's sometimes quite tricky to make a turn if another car is  passing through or wants to turn onto the road you are on. When you drive through the parking lots on base you will see quite a lot of side scrapes and bent bumpers on cars from driving all of the many obstacles on the roads. Driving in Japan can be like riding in dodgems cars at amusement parks. You're constantly shifting right and left to avoid the obstacles. As you drive down a narrow road you might meet parked cars along the side, a car coming at you and people walking or biking along the side of the road, old women sweeping the roads, skateboarders or young children who raise their hands and walk into traffic. I've had to polish my defensive driving skills here. 

Last week when we were out driving I took some pictures of some of the street signs we see that are a little different than what we see in the states. I also snapped pictures of some familiar American things as well as some of the business names that make me smile. So here's a little glimpse of driving through Okinawa.

A few street signs

Stop Signs are triangle shaped

No Stopping, No Parking, 60 km/h

Traffic Lights are horizontal

Directional Signs 

No Entry

Familiar American places:

...and a glimpse of driving through town....

Our drive home. Aeon Mall traffic

More of the drive to our apartment.
 Turn right at the stop sign

The road we live on. Always dodging parked cars.