Tuesday, February 22, 2011

We Made It!

We made it to Japan!  It is 5 in the morning on Wednesday here. There is so much I want to talk about already but I will just start with the trip over for now.  The flight was horrible.  I guess it could have gone worse, but it didn't go very well.  it started out well because the plane wasn't very full and we ended up with a whole row, 5 seats, to ourselves.  Each seat had it's own tv screen in front of it and there were several movies to choose from.  about 45 minutes into the flight is when it started to go downhill.  We learned that only two of the tv screens in our row worked.  Bob and I brought a splitter so we were able to share and watch. Well we didn't get to watch the first movie very much because penelope was all over the place.  She was not interested in watching and she was being difficult.  We figured after the first movie the kids would take a nap.  By that time it was a couple of ours after their usual nap time.  No such luck.  Throughout the entire 10 hour flight Penelope only slept maybe 30 minutes and Tucker did about an hour.  She was so grumpy the entire time.  It was 11ish US time when we landed and our kids were still awake!  Tucker was easily entertained with movies and his toys the whole time but Penelope was just impossible.  At one point bob leaned over and said that he didn't think penelope was going to make it to japan. 

We all made it when we got there it was 4pm on Tuesday a little confusing to find our luggage and how to get out of the airport, but once we did there was a person holding a PSNS sign waiting for us.  I went to the bathroom and there was three toilet options!  Anyway, we got on a bus with a group of people going to base.  It was an hour and a half drive and there were no seats for the kids.  Luckily they both fell asleep anyway, and I even got to sleep for the first time for about an hour.  After we arrived on base we piled ourselves into 2 taxis with a shipyard employee who took us to our apartment.  It took less than 5 minutes but cost 2500 yen ($30ish) just to get here.  I think the train is only 150 yen so we probably wont ride a taxi again.

At first glance our apartment is nice.  It is small and spotless and white.  Unfortunately the second bedroom does not have anything in it so last night the kids slept on the floor.  We also couldn't get the internet or the heat to work so last night was rough.  I woke up at about 3am and couldn't really sleep, probably because of jet leg.  The good news is that since I have been up this morning we figured out how to get the heat, the internet working and even some english channels on tv.

There is so much to say but I am going to end here for now.
This is the view from our balcony.  I love that we have a balcony.

6 comments:

Voices of the Graves said...

Glad you guys made it safe. Can't wait to hear about your guys experiences. Have fun.

DaddyW said...

Make sure you keep a journal. Not just what you did but your feelings and reflections on life in Japan vs Life in America.

Papa W

Talitha said...

Hey Sis, Glad you guys all made it...(including Penelope) lol... Anyhow sounds like an adventure. Keep us up-dated please! oh ya that looks like a veiw with alot of wires, crazy

KariMarie said...

Lots of praises to you traveling so far with 2 youngin's and being pregnant. But what an experience! You are there now, live it up!!!

Michael and Denise said...

Glad you made it to Japan. Enjoy!

Carrie said...

Yay, you made it! Sorry it was rough, but now you get to have fun! I'm sure it will be a blast!