Movin' on up

I hope in the future people say "Keeping up with the Sawin's". No, I really don't hope that, but I sure think we are living out of our tax bracket. We moved into our apt. on Friday and it's AWESOME! I will post pics as soon as I get the opportunity. However, as we are in our apt. we don't have free wireless at our disposal like we did when we were in temporary lodging at the Shogun Inn. If you need us, please call our cell at: 080-3697-7300. Yes, numerically it's different than home. I don't know the country code for Japan off the top of my head, but it's somewhere out there on the 'tubes.



Jared and I are going on an Air Force sponsored tour of the northern part of the island tomorrow (Monday). We will be visiting the Nago Pineapple Farm, the Orion Brewery, the Ryukyu Glass Factory and Nakijin Castle ruins. I hope I spelled that correctly. We are very excited and hopefully the weather will cooperate. It's looked like it could rain Friday, Saturday and so far today on Sunday, but it hasn't yet. Apparently Okinawa is concerned about the lack of rain so luck will probably have it that a typhoon will strike now that we are in our apartment. People here don't get too freaked out about typhoons. Me, I'm a scaredy cat when there's even a tornado watch out.

We discovered Nitori yesterday. IT's like a Japanese IKEA. I am in love. We are going back today.

Jared's looking ready to get out of the coffee shop we are siphoning internet access from, so I'll write more later.

Love you!
Kate

Thursday

We are the proud, new temporary owners of temporary government furniture. Thank you taxpayers! Jared had to be at the new place WAY early in the am and they arrived a couple of hours later. It is nice to walk up to the new place and see a couch and two chairs. We also are sleeping a'la Rob and Laura Petrie style with two twin beds and a nightstand sort of in the middle of us. The temporary furniture people are out of full beds, which we would customarily receive until our bed from the States arrives, but they have offered us their alternative-two twin beds. We even had the option of bunkbeds but politely declined. We have looked for sheets for said bed and have had minimal success. The BX on Kadena was plum out of sheets, especially twin sheets. Plenty of kind sheets which will be nice when our bed finally arrives, but we had three choices: Cheetah Girls, cheetah print and a unique shade of red. We went with red. They were only 10.00 each but I hate spending $20.00 on sheets I truly don't like at all. These will be guest room sheets once our bed arrives, so you all enjoy. This has been occupying my thoughts and I realized when I had dreams about shopping in Target and finding $2.99 sheets in the clearance aisle in the taupe color I so desire. Everyone here says that when you find something you like at the BX, buy it, because it's never guaranteed to be there again. This is a new way of thinking for me.

I've been trying to schedule people at work-schedule the kids, the paraprofessionals, the student teacher, myself. I have difficulty with scheduling like this. I only have 16 people to schedule, but it is hard! I had to watch a video on laminating machines in order to laminate my materials. Yes, I had to watch a laminating video. 20 minutes of droning on tension rods, heating elements and feeding speed. Needless to say it wasn't Emmy worthy. I "watched" it after school yesterday. Did you know laminating machines can kill people? Could you imagine death by lamination? What a way to go. From the video, I learned that not only can laminating machines kill, but they are very, very hot.

They are exterminating the building tomorrow and we have to leave early so I plan on going to work early to get the scheduling finished. I start seeing kids on Tuesday and I'm very excited. People here are a bit more uptight than what I'm accustomed to, but I guess I'll have to learn to deal with that. It's like, geez, calm down-no big deal. This is why we have jobs and why we know what we are doing. I'm more relaxed than some of these people.

'Night!

100 Yen Store

Jared and I were treated to a 100 yen store shopping spree today. 100 yen stores are all over Okinawa & Japan and the majority of items are indeed 100 yen. We use our ninja math skills of going with the conversion of 100 yen equaling 1 US dollar. I had heard these stores were just amazing and fantastic places to pick up items for the house and especially the classroom. I had a list of items I wanted from the 100 yen store and also looked for anything beach-related to use for my classroom. As you can see from the above photograph I had some luck.

We don't have a calendar so I was on the lookout. I'm new, I don't want to be late or miss appointments. I'm starting over in Okinawa and trying to be early for things. It is more foreign to me than the culture/language. Anyways I found an English calendar! Now, a lot of items we have found that are translated are literal translations. They don't always make sense from what they were copied from in the States. Here's our new Sawin family kitchen calendar:

You in the know know Jared and I DO NOT address each other like this at all so that makes it even more humorous. I love the 100 yen store!

I found some office supplies for my desk at school and our sponsor came across this unique white tape dispenser:

Much cuter than the old Bic I had at SHS!

We also may be moving into our new apt. tomorrow or Friday so we needed some flat ware. When in Japan, do as the Japanese do:

I liked these because they are slightly ribbed at the bottom so hopefully I can grasp my food more easily. They had lots of neat LITTLE plates, bowls and cups/mugs at the 100 yen store. There was also an abundance of plastic boxes/strainers for kitchen use. I see us shopping at these when we set up house. The quality is different than dollar store quality back home.

First day of school

Well, it was my first day of what I was sent over here to do, my mission as they say. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! I am going to be so happy here.

Jared was a busy beaver today and registered our vehicle AND got our housing squared away. We could potentially be in our new apartment by Thursday!!! I am very proud of him. We also got the combination to our mailbox and had LOTS of mail.

Today was the first real thunderstorm we've experienced here on Okinawa. It popped up around 7:45 this morning, as I was walking to school. It was so HUMID after the rain. The kids looked exhausted after playing outside for 25 minutes.

I practiced driving again today. We went on a quest to find dinner. We tried the O'Club-dining room is closed on Mondays. I was a big girl and drove off base to Kadena Marina, approximately 1 mile north of one of the Kadena gates. It was closed. We finally went to the NCO club and had dinner. It doesn't look like I'll have a real "lunch" this year, but that's okay. Some people complain but it's more important to me to be there for a potentially hairy situation than to have 30 minutes of lunch time. I say that now, we'll see how I feel in 40 years! Jared says I drove too close to the ditch and nearly went in it while I was practicing. He kinda irritatated me. I didn't call him out on his near ditch-capades. I think he just likes feeling like the superior driver. I can't wait to get a smaller car for me to zip around in. I want to take some pictures and get them posted ASAP. You wouldn't believe the silly little cars around here.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

As I type the title, I think of local Louisville commercials advertising for something at the Fair & Exposition Center on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. We have had a fantastic Sunday. We slept in more than we would've liked and missed church, but we had a spiritual moment you will read about later on. We skyped with Kevin & Jessica until our internet was cut off. The powers that be must've thought we were discussing highly classified information or something of the like. We weren't. Later we went to the Kadena Officer's Club for brunch. Brunch is a wonderful compromise of a meal that is like the compromise Jared and I often make. I am NOT a breakfast person at all. I don't like orange juice, biscuits, gravy, sausage or bacon. I like pineapple. I used to love pancakes but now have no interest whatsoever. I like lunch. I like salads, meats, fresh fruit and iced tea and water with lemon. We had a fantastic brunch and will be bringing all of you here for Sunday brunch when you arrive in town.

After brunch Jared took a mid-day siesta and I drove to school. It's within walking distance but I am just not comfortable driving on the left side of the road yet. I did some more classroom work and decorated my room. I'm going with an Ocean-y type theme. I started with the idea of "Surfing through the year in Mrs. Sawin's Room" but due to my lack of artistry, and lack of appropriate die cuts, it's now an ocean theme. It's kind of fun to decorate, as I never have had the opportunity to do so before.

I begged and begged Jared to do something fun this afternoon. The clouds were gone and it was a beautiful blue sky. My poor boy isn't known for his Magellan like navigational skills so I played Goose (pre-death) to his Maverick. We found our new apartment and then drove further down the road to the Awase district of Okinawa Shi (City). We will be living in the Takahara district of Okinawa City. There are so many blind corners here that mirrors are posted in these blind spots. You are instructed to trust the mirror. I was not comfortable trusting the mirrors, even as a passenger. I forsee myself taking many left turns to avoid a right turn.

I wanted to go to Kadena Marina to take additional pictures but we compromised on the base golf course. It is gorgeous up there and has a beautiful view of the East China Sea as well as the flightline (where the planes take off/land). You can't take pictures of the flight line, but I took plenty of the sea.

Who knows how our internet will work this coming week, but I will update about my first days of school as soon as I can. I am so excited to start school tomorrow!!

Kevin Feder

I can't have a post just named Kevin, because we wouldn't know if it was Feder or McCaffrey. I was w/o internet when I wanted to write a post about my newly 27 y.o. friend, Kevin. I met Kevin when he was newly 19 and a freshman at Ball State University. We had History 150 together bright and early at 8:00 am M,W,F. He was a perpetually smiley kid who came up to me and said he lived on my boyfriend's floor. We studied together and quickly became friendly. This boy then becomes very close with my boyfriend and our circles grow and merge together. He lives with said boyfriend and both are very lazy when I get a wild hair and decide to go to Europe for a semester of college. I remember bringing Kevin F. home during college and dragging him to the Living Christmas Tree and a hometown friend's wedding, complete with a horse trough filled with beverages. He just smiles, even as my dad takes him through his museum of Christmas decorations. This smiley boy ends up moving in with my inlaws and later into my parents house. My boyfriend and I hoped he would move to Scottsburg because we love him and have so much fun with him, but we also want to introduce him to a friend we have, a lovely girl named Jessica. Our secret little plan, which we flatly denied to them numerous times (sorry for lying) worked and then ended up getting engaged within a year. Our plan worked, we got Kevin to Scottsburg! Then we decide to get another wild hair and move, this time to Asia. Our friend turns 27 years old and we aren't there to celebrate with him, really the first time in 8 years we haven't celebrated with him.

Happy Birthday to one of my closest and dearest friends, Kevin. Your perpetual smile, that perma-grin is truly what you are. You are a very loyal friend who deserves nothing but the best and we are so happy to have you in our lives, and to be able to be in your life. I'm sorry we weren't there to celebrate with you but we will make up for that soon enough!

Behind the wheel...

Is crazy here in Okinawa! Driving on the left side of the road does not feel natural in any way. I assume it is because in the States and nearly every other country other than those under British rule we drive this way. I backed out in our new Challenger and thought I was doing SUCH a good job staying on my side of the road, scoffing Jared in my head for having difficulty. My husband then sweetly reminds me to drive on the LEFT side of the road, not the RIGHT like I was doing. Ah, a piece of humble pie. The directionals, which I suppose are a fancy schmancy term for turn signal, and windshield wiper wand are reversed here making it v. easy to turn on the wipers when you just want to signal your intent for a right turn (which are AWFUL here compared to home!). I remember my Grandma Goldie telling me when I was a little girl she'd rather make three right turns to avoid one left turn. Well, I know would rather make three left turns to avoid a right! It just doesn't feel natural, but I've only been driving one round trip to the BX (base exchange, like a department store) and back. We needed key chains as we have no reason for one yet so I picked up some Shisas dogs. The are Okinawan symbols that symbolize not letting evil spirits in (the dog/lion with the closed mouth) and letting good spirits in (the open mouth lion/dog). They are EVERYWHERE in Okinawa, even in my school! They are a big thing locally, so of course I had to get a Shisa dog keychain! More about the Shisa dogs at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shisa

Now that we have wheels and aren't dependent on overpriced taxis or our feet, we are happier. There is something about being able to go where you want to go, when you want. It's terrifying to drive there, but we now have the means! Jared is a happier boy, as evidenced by his smiling face.

We had dinner at a place called the Tee House on the Banyan Golf Course here on Kadena. The view is absolutely, positively GORGEOUS. I forgot to take pictures. It is situated on a hill above where the planes take off and land and you can see the shoreline against the East China Sea (Or is it South China Sea?Some China Sea). It as absolutely beautiful. We saw a naval looking ship in the distance. Also, this neat thing happened while I was walking home from school today and then again when I went to the O Club to cash the biggest check I've ever written. I saw a big huge airplane that looked straight out of a spy movie, and it was the loudest concentrated sound I've ever heard. On Monday Jared and I were walking somewhere and two fighter jets were in the air right above us hotdogging. We stopped and stared. I looked around and no one else was phased. They are so jaded! It is so neat to me, a landlocked Midwesterner, to see hotdogs up in the air turning fighter jets on to their sides! What an awesome experience we are having over here.

Chopsticks vs. forks

Forks are very convenient. They have a sharp edge that makes it easy to pierce food, to push it around a plate and hold it in place when you move the fork from the plate to your mouth. Chopsticks, not so much. I am struggling with chopsticks! I have the chopstick skills of a first grader. Rice here is stickier than home, so it clumps together into a ball like form and is easier to manage with two skinny sticks. However I don't know the etiquette on pieces of vegetables and food that are too big for one bite, as there are not knives on the table. Very interesting.

To answer some questions, some want to know what sushi tastes like. It varies. I tried some that is a fried bean curd around rice. It is slightly sweet and I suppose savory would be a term used to describe it. I personally don't care for it. There is also plain white rice with a tofu type rectangle on top, tied with a strip of dried seaweed. There are several "patties" of the sticky rice formed into circles or rectangles with thin pieces of raw or barbecued fish on top, sometimes accompanied by cucumbers, onions or avocado. We even tried a seaweed wrapped rice with cucumber and plum sauce. That was an interesting flavor. Sushi is tricky because it fills up in your stomach pretty quickly. I now imagine the pain poor birds felt after weddings when they snarfed the birdseed the wellwishers threw in the air. Sushi also makes you thirsty. Sushi is to be eaten with your chopsticks, no forks, no fingers. It's difficult because lots of the sushi is not bite sized and I know of no graceful way of keeping rice clumps from falling out of fried bean curd. The picture at the top is like the Sushi Go Round restaurant Jared and I ate at Tuesday evening. I had this exact type of sushi. I think it was salmon. It had thinly sliced onions on top. The onions aren't as potent as onions at home; these had a much more mellow flavor. The other pictures are of me attempting to eat sushi and hold sushi. It just doesn't feel natural for me yet!

Back on the tubes, Part II

Whenever you ladies come to visit beautiful Okinawa, I have a place you gotta visit.

Cocock's. Sounds like Co-Co's. It is absolutely AMAZING. A spa/hair salon place. You walk in and there is an Indonesian theme, beautiful fountain with these tropical flowers in the fountain. Our sponsor (who also turns out to be a paraprofessional in my room) brought me, a substitute teacher she's friendly with and a friend from her church. You sit in these huge leather reclining chairs and there is a book of nail designs to choose from. Me being Miss Indecisive had lots of difficulty with so many choices. I finally chose between two and had the nail artist pick which one she thought was cuter. You saw what she went with at the top. It was a different experience than the nail place Jessica and I frequented back in the 'burg. They are really into nail art-no one gets a plain pedicure. The nail art is also very respected and so graceful. It was really a unique experience.

People here in Japan are very particular about shoes and feet. You always take your shoes off when you enter a home. At Cocock's you take your shoes off on the ground level and then take two steps up to a platform where all the magic happens. At all the houses and apartments we've visited while house hunting we've had to take our shoes off. People have special slippers in their homes, one to keep by the door when you enter from the outside, and another that is exclusively for bathroom use. It apparently is quite embarassing to be caught with the bathroom slippers outside of the bathroom. The mama-sans at the school have shoes for inside the building and their outside shoes are kept by the school door. I want to know more about the shoe tradition. I will update you as soon as I know.

Back on the tubes, Part I

Thank goodness we are back with internet access, be it intermittently. It is so weird being half way around the world and unable to "communicate" with home. We are so dependent on technology!
Let's see, what have I done since I last blogged.... Started work and am in the process of filling out about one thousand and three papers for the government. I also have my very first classroom. I only had to move 7000 miles away... I have no idea what to do with the space. Turns out I have 2.5 assistants assigned to me (crazy math there) as well as a student teacher! Seriously? Do they know me.

On a fascinating note, or at least to me, I have the opportunity to help build a program! The district behavior specialist and I are sharing students and going to create a program. This school is amazingly organized and well run. I feel so fortunate to be here.
That's enough work stuff for now-I need to update on more interesting things.

"You a Big Man!"

Jared meets new friends wherever he goes. These little boys are the sons of the new school nurse and we've been with them several times the past 5 days. One boy calls Jared "Big Man" and they think he has the biggest muscles they have ever seen. They are even more excited when he lifts them off the ground when they hold onto his arms.

Less than a week?

I can't believe that I was in Indiana less than a week ago and we have already accomplished so much here. It doesn't feel like reality yet. Reality is going to set in when we are off base in our apartment and confused as heck and not within walking distance of the O-Club or Base Exchange. Reality will set in when I have a stressful day at work and it is the first time I get sick and really, really want my mom. I don't like Jared as much when I'm sick. He doesn't line a paper grocery bag with a garbage can liner. I want my mom for that stuff.
It is just so unbelievable to me that I traveled halfway around the world less than a week ago. That within one week I packed up one house, sold one vehicle and found a new place and a new vehicle.

What a day!!

Monday proved to be a busy day for Katie-san. Jared and I woke up v. early (happens when you go to bed at 7:30 pm) and were able to Skype with Mom, Dad, Dale, Vicki, Jess & Kevin. That was a fantastic way to start the day! We had our "Safety" training and received our Driver's Licenses today. It was a joke-so easy. I am so nervous to drive on the economy (off base). We went down and found a vehicle today. We wanted a SUV type vehicle for a couple of reasons. One being we need something that we both can comfortably fit in. Our lovely sponsor picked us up in her Toyota Celica today which was v. cute. However it is built for people around 5'2"-not us. I had to bend my neck in order to sit in the back seat. That helped us realize we want our big vehicle first. We also wanted something that can haul people in, preferebly people from Indiana. We also needed something that can fit furniture as we have none and our beautiful new apartment has none, either.

We found a 1997 Mitsubishi Challenger at BC Motors, right outside of Gate 2. It's cute, functional and a good price. Only has 32 K miles. We will pick it up on Friday. We are paying cash-who would've thought. Cars are much cheaper in Japan. It's also weird because you can't test drive a vehicle. You can sit in it, turn it on, check the A/C and play with the windshield wipers and turn signal (which are flip-flopped from the States) but that is about the extent. It just feels so different. The websites for newbies recommends checking for rust, and we found none. I've never purchased a vehicle w/o my Dad's input or my Mom helping with the negotiation so that was very different.

Our landlord, Tony, called us while we were at the car dealer and I actually reached for the phone as he was calling. I haven't a clue how to work my adorable pink phone. Anyways, he picks us up and brings us to his office to finalize rent stuff. We are so confused during this process and don't know if we are getting a good deal or the raw end of a deal. People are much more trusting here than we are accustomed to even in Indiana. I couldn't imagine moving here directly from NYC or someplace like that. It's refreshing, but you kind of find yourself waiting to get taken. Well, I'm feeling overwhelmed and in walks my new island best friend, Bob. Bob is a 15 year veteran of DoDDS Okinawa and has spent the entire day with the new superintendent finding her a vehicle. He is a h.s. teacher on the island and worked, before budget cuts, on introducing CONUS (CONtinental United States) hires to this island life. Now he works with the VIP's, something this lowly special ed teacher is far from. He was sent from above. He assures us we are getting a great deal, answers tons of questions and shows us to another car dealer off the beaten path with great deals. I find a Honda station wagon that is cute (yes, a cute station wagon) in a price range I'm comfortable with for our next car, our car we'll buy after Jared is employed. Then he invites us to dinner with his family. We go to Sushi Go Round, a sushi restaurant where the food goes around the restaurant on a conveyer belt and you can choose what looks good to you. The food is on different plates which indicate a certain price. We tried lots of different sushi and I even tried seaweed sushi. It looks almost like fancy teensy-tiny beads you would find on gift wrap ribbon. I need to find a picture. Jared tried barbecued eel. It was an awesome experience. Bob drove us back to base and answered tons of questions. I have no doubt that he was sent from above.

It's interesting because we are outside of our comfort zone and making lots of important decisions right on the spot. Jared and I don't even have the chance to discuss these choices before we have to make up our mind. It has been unlike anything we've ever done. I am one of the most indecisive persons I know and I bought a vehicle on the spot today. This day needs to go in my baby book.

Asian Antiques

Asian antiques are a lot like American antiques. I don't know what I was expecting. I saw some really neat things that would be a nice addition to our growing collection we've inherited from Jared's family and our IKEA pieces. We are eclectic, aka recently marrieds, and poor.

One vendor did not outwardly appear "Asian" at all, and the other had cherry blossoms painted on EVERYTHING. That was a bit garish. I got the impression these were painted on for the Americans and tourists, thinking they are bringing something Asian home.

Due to the humidity on Okinawa, there are lots of suggestions on what to set the dehumidifier on to preserve the antiques. There were slips of paper explaining this in every drawer of every cabinet I looked in. We shopped around the BX today and there were more dehumidifiers there than any other product in the store, even socks. It's incredibly humid here.

Almost Paradise...

We think we found our paradise today! We had an EARLY morning housing appt. with a realtor named Tony and he took us out Gate 2 street, the street American Airmen like to frequent after hours. We saw some fella's doing the walk of shame. Also saw several Indian tailors so Jared and I will come home in tailored suits and the like. There is also a dressmaker who customizes kimonos if anyone is interested. Anyways, as we are driving towards this place I'm thinking that we already found the place we love, by the Sunabe Seawall, and this is just a courtesy. Well, Tony brings us to this building with gorgeous landscaping and plants and flowers. Those in the know know I love my plants and flowers. He then brings us to the top floor, the 5th, and shows us an apartment that takes up the entire floor. Three bedroom, two bathroom, large Western style kitchen, gas stove and humongous living area. And a wrap around balcony facing the Pacific Ocean. The balcony had me at hello. You can open the windows and balcony doors and don't need air conditioning.

We fell in love, and it looks like it is ours!! He is going to bundle our utilities into the price so we are getting a lot for the dollar. Thank you, taxpayers! Since you all are taxpayers you are free to stay at this place whenever you are in town, which hopefully some of you will be able to come and visit! I've uploaded pics onto Facebook, but they do not do any justice to this place. It's in a neighborhood that is a mixture of Japanese and Americans and there are several groceries/convenient stores within walking distance. He lives in the building, too. The apt. was rented by a principal who just left the island. It is honestly 10 minutes from the school, if that, and within walking distance. I will only be walking if I magically stop sweating but I don't see that happening any time in the near future. It doesn't feel as excessive as the other places we visited however. It's nestled in a Japanese neighborhood and does not stand out like a sore thumb. It is way bigger than our Leota Love Shack, but the view is awesome. Ever since we moved from the Canon Apartments next to Crop Production Services in Scottsburg our view keeps getting better and better! Leota was gorgeous, and while I am not going to say the Okinawa view is more beautiful, it is of a different beauty.

Thrilled by our stroke of good luck, Jared and I went to the Officers Club for their famous brunch. I understand why it is famous. I am bringing everyone there when they come over. OMG good and v. nice. We then joined the Officers Club. We are those people. I think it'll be a lot of fun for us. Rumor has it there is a furniture bazaar somewhere on this expanse of an air base but we cannot find it. I'm getting a taxi later to take us there.

Welcome to Kadena

This place is huge. This base makes Baumholder feel teeny-tiny. It's so weird seeing fighter jets across from where I'm doing my business. I saw tankers at Baumholder and we often were stuck behind them on our way to/from school. How neat that I've had both these experience in my short 26 years.

We got our id cards yesterday (Friday) and that makes us official. You need them to do everything. Jared and I feel like real people today. We also got our cell phone yesterday. It's Phi Mu pink! It's everything I've ever dreamed of, but in Japanese. I found the English instructions so my phone is now working for me.

We are staying in the base hotel. It's like a dorm room made into a hotel room. It's really close to a gate if we want to leave base and not too far from the shopping on base. I went to the BX which is like a Target and did some shopping today and took a cab back to the hotel. They have Polish Pottery at the BX!!! They also have Clinique, so this is one happy girl. There are tons of Coach bags which remind me of my dear friend Jessica so I may go peruse the Coach aisles when I miss her.

We've looked for housing the past two days. We found one place we fell in love with. I hope we end up in that neighborhood. It's right on the Sunabe Seawall (google it) and there is a strong neighborhood feeling. IT was neat seeing kids ride their bikes in the streets. There is also a doner kebab place in the 'hood. The agent is former Air Force and v. helpful. Love the area. Some of the places we've seen are way too garish. Too big, too modern, too American like. Natives here live in teeny apartments and Americans gobble up these excessive apartments. I don't want to be like that.

DFW-NRT-OKA or BUST!!

What a day of travel! On Monday we packed up the trailer, moved our crap out (all stuff is now crap to me, no matter what. Moving stinks) and shacked up at my parents for our last night in Indiana for a while. Mom cooked dinner, Kev and Jess came over and I fought back tears throughout dinner. The waterworks really turned on when Mandi & Adam and Brian and Tadam came over. I couldn't help it, I cried like a girl. I love my friends so much and don't know what I will do when I can't see them every day. We always stop in on the Faris Three or drive my Kevin and Jessica's and honk our horns. I can't do that anymore. I can't write silly text messages or things like that with the ease I one had. I can't even operate my new Japanese cell phone, but that is an entirely different subject.

After saying our goodbyes I still had to rearrange my suitcase and take a shower. I ended up feeling sorry for myself and didn't go to bed until like 2:00. Had to leave the house at 4:30 so needless to say Jared wasn't too thrilled when I was still asleep at 4:10. Somehow got my act together and we were off to the Louisville airport. I rode with Mom, Dad and Kyle and Jared with his parents. It was nice to have that alone time with our families. Kyle did a great job, as usual, as keeping conversation going and not getting too sad. It was so weird checking into the airport with our "official" government passports. It was also weird seeing Okinawa as the final destination and not Orlando or Chicago or something similar. Saying good bye to our families was tough, but I didn't have too many tears left after Monday evening. I think I just cried for everything on Monday. I feel guilty, because I wanted this adventure which means I have to move from Leota's downtown to experience. I brought this on, so why feel sad? It's self-induced. I just wish I could have my loved ones with me and experience all of this as I do. That's what is so neat about having Jared here-the entire time I was in Germany I wanted him to experience what I was.

Flight to Dallas was smooth. I sat between Jared and some business man who couldn't put his blackberry away. Jared slept. Arrived in Dallas and had to switch terminals. Saw our huge plane and wondered how it would get off the ground. It did a marvelous job of doing so, thankfully! The flight wasn't crowded so Jared and I had a row of 5 seats to ourselves. The plane was v. clean. We slept, ate and watched movies and played games on the seat back televisions. We were so gluttonous that we had all 5 seatback tv's playing, everyother one with the plane's position. So American...

Arriving in Tokyo was wild. I mean, after being in the air 13 hours you do get a bit stir crazy. We had some initial confusion on how to reach Immigration and Customs, but we followed the crowd and got there. You have to take a train/tram thing which was crammed full of other half-asleep confused Americans and Japanese people running around v. quickly. It was a bit of sensory overload. We proceeded thorugh I&C, got our bags and had to travel via bus across the airport to another terminal. I was way too tired to carry my heavy carryons, and checked luggage but somehow we found inner strength. I was dizzy, tired and overwhelmed. It would've been more comfortable sitting in a corner in a fetal ball. We checked into our domestic flight to Okinawa and then found a place to sit and rest our dogs. The attached picture is once we sat down and started to take it all in. Not my proudest moment. I felt so American and overwhelmed. Everyone in Japan to this point seemed to rush around, literally RUNNING with their luggage carts. The queing system is not orderly, not like Germany! Thank God Europe was my first international experience b/c I would be way overwhelmed (like I already wasn't) if Tokyo Narita was my first rodeo.

The flight on ANA was AWFUL. Not the actual flight as much as the seating situation. Poor Jared, he really did so well during the previous flights but he kind of lost it on this flight. The seats were TINY and an odd angle and there was a built in box under the seat in front of me. That equals minimum leg/foot space for Katie. Jared is half asleep and jams his left leg (he's in the window seat, I'm in the aisle seat) in what free space I had left. This is a three hour flight. Thank goodness I was sleep deprived; I think I fell asleep during take-off. I woke up about 40 minutes before landing in Okinawa and tried so badly to get back to sleep. I honestly jumped off the plane and it felt so good to stretch and be on terra firma. Our luggage was there! We then met our sponsor, Sharon, who had a sign saying "Sawin Family". She drove us onto the base and we checked into the hotel, ran and got a couple sandwiches b/c our poor tummies were confused on what meal it was time for, and then we settled into bed and passed out for 8 hours. It was neat to see the lights dotting the hills next to the freeway (the only one on Okinawa). I've never appreciated a bed so much. It's just a full (we have a king) but it felt so big compared to that last airplane seat.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

My Grandma Goldie turned the big 9-0 on Monday, August 11. The family had a v. nice birthday celebration for her that Sunday, the 10. All of her children were able to attend as well as all of her grandchildren. Some great-grandchildren and grandchildren-in-law (is that a real thing?) weren't able to make it, but there are around 50 of us all together.

I have so many memories of my Grandma, but the most vivid involve me riding my bicycle to her house (across the hill from my parent's house) and she always had cold ball jars of water in the fridge. I've never had water that cold that tasted so good.

My grandma's enjoyment and passion since I have known her has been her family. Jared and I feel so thankful that we were able to celebrate her special day with her and the rest of the Robbins before our hop across the pond.

(excuse this pic-she wasn't expecting this picture and I doubt Kyle was either)

I'm back!

We have hade 45 minutes of uninterrupted internet connection, something that hasn't happened at all since we've arrived. I have so much to say and feel rushed to get it all down, but why am I rushed. I can't drive anywhere, I sweat too much to walk anywhere and I want to avoid the goofy AFN commercials when the TV is on.

I honestly cannot believe that I am in Japan. I never in my wildest of dreams imagined I would visit Japan, let alone move there. I feel so clumsy and out of place here. I know absolutely NOTHING about the Japanese culture. Before I went to Germany I researched my little brain out learning all that I could. I am basically giving up at noticing the nuances in the written language which I now know as Kanji. I did learn something cool today. We arrived during this festival when the Japanese people welcome back the spirits of their deceased family members and celebrate with them for three days. Yesterday they said good-bye to their relatives. It was interesting to be here during that time. Apparently there will be another festival next wknd where residents from all the villages and towns on Okinawa come into the Kadena area and participate in native games. Orion Brewery will also have a tent so Mr. Chicokinawa-san and I will be there.

I spoke a bit of the heat here and read about it before we came. Hey, I'm from the Ohio River Valley, why were all these people getting their knickers in a wad? Because it is incredibly humid. I sweat walking the 100 feet to the parking lot. I sweat for no reason, in all the wrong places. I had a moustache of sweat. Sounds extremely ladylike, doesn't it?

Since we have the tubes up and running, I may catch up on some blogs. I'll do my best to go in order. Everyone back home, have a great Saturday!

Happy Birthday, Momma!

Happy 27th Birthday to one of my nearest and dearest, Miss Heather Danelle Klotz!! Let me tell you a little bit about my good friend Heather. She is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. I remember during rush season we were instructed not to use the word sweet, but I just can't help it because Heather is. Heather still has the art of writing real notes to people, not just e-mails. A note from Heather brightens your day. Heather was my partner in crime during college and I'm sure we both have several evenings we'd love to forget, and some we just can't seem to remember. Heather is always up for something fun.

Heather is a genuine person. She has a true passion for her family and for kids, especially kids who are underpriviliged. Heather is a Head Start teacher and I would be honored to have her teach my children and those of my friends.

I love you, Heather, and want to see you so badly before I leave on that big jet plane. More importantly, happy birthday and here's to at least 72 more!!

Love you! Kate

Backgound checks and name changes

How difficult is it to spell Katie? Apparently, very. My orders have my name as Kattie Robbins-Sawin. You all know I am just K-A-T-I-E, hold the hyphen. I ask, v. sweetly, to have my orders amended as to reflect my correct first name and compound, non hyphenated surname. I receive this back: Kattie Robbins Sawin. I ask again, in an e-mail because I was afraid my voice would have a rise, to have Kattie amended to what matches my birth certificate. You'd think the government of all people would double check my name. Also, who would spell Kattie like that? I've seen Katy, Kati, Katey and Katee, but two T's is a bit crazy.

Also, lots of people who know me are receiving background checks to fill out on me. I guess the FBI wants to make sure I am legit. Thank you so much for filling those out!!

This moving is getting a bit more intense. My laissez-faire attitude needs to go out the door with this move. It's so weird categorizing your life into sizes, like small-medium-large amounts of pictures, small-medium-large amounts of clothing, s-m-l amts. of kitchen items. Stuff Jared and I have worked so hard for, debated for a long time in the aisles of Crate & Barrel and BB&B are just small, medium or large amounts. V. humbling.

We are off in one week. Exactly one week from now I will be sitting on a huge plane waiting to fly over the Pacific and to Tokyo, a place I've never had any real desire to visit. Craziness!

A grand adventure is soon to begin.

As you may have guessed if you've seen me in the past month, we are embarking on a grand adventure. I have been offered a job with the Department of Defense Dependent Schools and will ship out to Okinawa, Japan in August. I cannot BELIEVE that I finally received a "call" or so to say. I did my student teaching with DoDDS in Germany in 2004 and had one of the absolute most wonderful times of my life. This was my third time applying for a job, and they finally selected me. It still really hasn't set in that we are moving to Japan.

I am a procrastinator by nature and am really trying my best not to procrastinate on our move. I complained enough about moving from Scottsburg to Leota (maybe 5 miles?) so now I am really trying not to complain, because I want this and have wanted this so much for quite a while. Three years isn't a whole lot in the scheme of life, but to me it has been quite long!

Jared and I are blogging to keep our friends and family at home updated on our lives, our friends we meet along they way a way to see how far we have come, and as a journal of our adventures in Okinawa and hopefully beyond. I am sure that I won't update as much as Jared, nor will I be as witty, but you are my friends and love me and know that about me.