We are here...

Well, we have made it to Misawa safe & sound! It is Saturday, Nov. 24. We arrived on Thurs. Nov. 22 with three other families that got orders here too. YES it was SNOWING.....SNOWING HARD for two days straight, about 8 to 9 inches for a total of 14 over the last two days. It has started to melt off and the streets are clear for driving. Our sponsor and two others met us at the airport. It was nice to see American faces. We got settled into TLF (temporary housing), we have 2 rooms connected and is tons bigger and nicer then what we have ever had when we have had to stay in TLF. Mark & Spencer (one of the guys that met us at the airport) ran over to the cafe here on the base and got us some dinner...Burgers & Fries....it was so GOOD after eating nothing but Rice and unfamiliar food for the last few days we were traveling. Mark checked out the base yesterday, the commissary is the same size as to what was at Shaw and the same with the BX. We've been told that if you see something you think you may need at the BX to get it when you see it even though you may not need if for a few months....things don't stay in stock to long. He also went over to the housing office, only able to get a floor plan of a 4 bedroom will be able to view a house next week to decide if we want on base or off base housing. We have tons of briefings next week as well as driving class. We have to attend that and get our international drivers license before we can even buy a car. Hope we can get that done fast...so we get some transportation. I let Mark do most of the running around yesterday with Joshua & Hailey. Hunter, Rylan & myself stayed in our PJ's all day and relaxed watching movies, along with catching a nap of course. I feel really refreshed today but this whole time thing still has me messed up. The day we left....we literally had no night. The sun shined the whole way to Tokyo. Had first class service in coach, we felt like a celebrities not only on the Korean Airline we flew but also at the hotel we stayed overnight at. As we walked through the airport, we had alot of starring & snickers with all the luggage we had and being the only Americans traveling with such a large family. The kids for the most part were really good, no major melt downs, which was great considering we had been on a plane for 12 hrs upon arrival to Tokyo. We just can't get over how the Japanese are respectful, polite, & have a sense of honor in everything they do. We have so much to learn about their customs. First thing we learned is that there is no tipping...Mark tried and they just would not accept. Tokyo is a condensed version of Los Angeles....just couldn't get over how Americanize it was in the layout of the city. They still have a long way to go to mainstream more American food in their cultural. It's definitely a place we will be going back to visit as well as Disneyland Tokyo. We saw the outside of the park on our bus ride to the Haneda Airport where our hotel was. The pictures above are of Mark & the kids at the Narrita International Airport in Tokyo. We had just came through customs. The next two pictures are of the view we had from our hotel room at the Haneda Airport where we stayed overnight waiting for our flight to catch the next morning to Misawa. As you can imagine, the kids went ballistic when they saw the Pokemon Airplane that night we checked in leaving & coming back the next morning. In the second picture of the Pokemon airplane, if you look closely in the background, you will see the Tokyo Harbor which is a historical site. This was the harbor that the Japanese Navy used to house their war ships during World War II. The last picture is of the day we arrived in Misawa and it was snowing. This is at the airport while we were loading our luggage. It was 24 degrees when we got here. I would say it was just little cold! Anyways, we hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and are enjoying your day after Thanksgiving shopping. It looks as if the Internet will be my best friend over the next three years. Talk to you all soon, Love, Melissa