Our 1st Week in Japan!

We made it! We've been in Japan for just over a week now and I've finally got this thing up and running. 

We had quite the adventure just leaving the US. We ended up having 3 planes and 2 different airlines to actually leave LAX. As many of you know, we drove out on the busses to our first plane in LAX, got on, got settled, buckled up, said goodbye and our plane was put "out of service." They swapped planes and delayed us about 2 hours. We reboarded, got settled again, and sat on the tarmac for 2 hours waiting, only to be deplaned and told they were attempting to fix it. Ended up spending the night in LA, then left for Seattle the next morning and finally made it to Japan! 

We took an Intercultural Relations Class our first week learning some basic Japanese phrases, learning expectations, rules, regulations, etc. On Thursday, we got to take a field trip using the trains wherever we wanted to go. Alex and I took a trip to Kamakura and Hase (about an hour southeast of here) to look at shrines, do a little hiking, and we did a little shopping. It was really fun and a great chance to learn how to use the trains, which seem complicated at first, but really aren't too bad to use. 

Sam is doing great; he's staying in the kennel on base right now, but we will have him out soon! We go see him every day and get him out to play and go for a run. Only one more day in the kennel for him though!

Everyone here has been really great and incredibly helpful. I've never had the chance to experience a real squadron, but HSM-77 has been amazing; they've been so welcoming and helping us figure everything out. Including driving us from the airport, helping with Sam, feeding us and getting us around town and base. Thankful to have such a good support team here and back home!

Attempt at leaving the States #3! I was excited and hopeful, Alex was still skeptical that we'd ever get off the ground. 

Our dinner on the plane. It really wasn't too bad for airplane food!

More than halfway!! 

We made it!!

Wonderful, life-saving food from our friends and the HSM 77 OSC

Our field trip to Kamakura (Southeast of us)! Our first adventure using the Japanese train system!

The Great Buddha of Kamakura

Incense offerings

I was obsessed with the beautiful flowers!

Zeniarai Benton Shrine 

A traditional washing or cleansing station outside the entrance to a shrine. Meant to wash hands, we did see some people drink the water. 

Prayers inside the shrine

Adventures in Japanese toilets! Still have no idea what this one said. At least it wasn't in the ground!

These origami paper "ropes" were tied into bundles and hung from the ceilings in the shrine. There were hundreds of them inside the cave.

The Zeniarai Benton Shrine is found inside of a cave and its said if you wash your money in the stream inside the shrine it will return to you many times over.

Torii gates

I love these flowers! I've never seen lilies this color before!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the different prayers/wishes left at the shrines; this one in particular!

Statues in the Torii gate walkway for the Fox Shrine

The BEST ice cream! Sweet potato/green tea swirl. It was so, so yummy!

The smallest fire truck! We wanted to get a picture for Ryan! It looks like a little toy truck

We got to see some Ayase-shi (our city) firemen training/practice/tryouts on our way back to base that night. It was really cool!