Finally in Japan

We arrived at Yokota Air Base around 11ish Wednesday morning.  We were brief by a customs officer and our passports stamped...then off to get the luggage around the corner.  That old familiar feeling in the stomach as you wait for your luggage to come around...counting to ensure that you have all of your pieces.  Well, my suitcase was MIA.  The rest of the people going to Yokosuka were loaded onto a bus...to which we told the bus driver our situation.  The bus HAD to wait for us via the rules...so everyone waited on the bus as many people went to find our luggage.  They think that it was loaded wrong and stuck in with the bags belonging to the people continuing on the plane to other bases...if this is the case then it should arrive here today.  If however it was left at Seattle then we should get it tomorrow...and praying that it is one of these two options as it contained all of my clothes, shoes, and just about everything!  Thankfully that when I packed if stuffed a few items into Noah's suitcase..so I had one set of clean clothes to wear today.  We got on the bus around 12:30 and took a 2.5hr bus ride through Yokohoma down to Yokosuka.  Everything looked just about what I thought it would...Modern/Western with Japanese characters everywhere.  Houses/Apartment buildings are stacked right next to each other and built on just about any place possible...mountains and hills cut off to build houses...houses built down in a valley(which looked like they prob got flooded out a lot with how high the hills were on each side).  Noah slept the entire time which worked out wonderfully as it was nap time anyway.  We saw high school age students riding their bikes wearing their school uniforms...a lot of bikes/bike parking everywhere...at apt buildings two and three story bike parking structures...actually saw this with cars...two story car parking under a small carport type building.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out how the cars got down as there wasn't any visible ramps or a way for someone to drive it down.  The houses are small and cramped together...with almost all having outdoor laundry dry racks...roofs ranging in color from gray, black, orange, blue, and green.  If you thought Crocks were stupid...everyone and I mean probably every Japanese person here owns at least one pair!  We went through about 5 or so toll roads in that 2.5hr drive...most tolls ranging from 1-4 U.S. dollars...70ish Yen equals 1 U.S. dollar....and people in America complain about having toll roads...they have no idea!  Hmmm...let's see...they do drive on the opposite sides of the road and the car lanes are smaller than in the U.S...two trucks driving next to each other could potentially hit mirrors...driving reminded me bit of the Ice Road Trucker series in India...but more organized!  Street signs are just about the same with a few minor differences but close enough to know what they mean.  The base looks like most American Naval Bases with just a few minor differences probably mostly because everything is built right next to each other.  Zack has been out to check himself in yesterday after we checked in to the Navy Lodge...and then he went to work this morning.  Speaking of which the ship is out and rumors saying it will be out for another month.  Zack was told that the odds are that he will just stay here and wait as we have to do all of our mandatory intake classes and they realize just how crazy/overwhelming/confusing it is...as the to do list is crazy-batty long.  We plan on exploring the base this weekend and just right off base...saw the mall when we came in! LOL  That's the most paid attention part of the welcome package and I recognized the name right away...and they are having a sale...how nice since I have no clothes!  On a side note...it was kinda nice to flip forward a few days because the weekend is almost here already...being 13hrs ahead!  Zack had no idea when he would get off work but we need to visit the NEX, Commissary, set up a P.O. box and get cell phones(actually first on the Navy's to do list for us...as they want to be able to get a hold of Zack and just in case me).  We all hit the beds around 7ish last night.  Noah was exhausted....we all were.  He got up around 12:30-2 and then finally went back to sleep until 6 this morning.  He is napping now...maybe an hr later than before but considering how screwed up we all could be...it's nice that none of us have our days/nights messed up or are feeling jet lagged.  When we arrived at the Lodge we had a message from the housing office...wanting to know our room number.  The man told me that it would be delivered today early...not sure if he mentioned 8 or maybe in my head I was thinking that in the U.S....at the housing office early meant they started work at 8.  Glad Noah got up at 6 as the front desk called at 6:30 saying the company was here for delivery.  Yup 6:30!  Note to self to find out when the Japanese work day starts!  Noah saw his carseat/toys and other familiar items come out of the boxes and he was grinning ear to ear...and he's played with everything since...he was sooo excited.  The Navy Lodge looks like normal...Americanish with Japanese closets, shower, and electronic stuff.  The closets are amazing and huge...a small room but very deep closets with overhead doors for storage from floor to ceiling...so big that Noah's carseat in it makes the carseat look small.  Light switches have an on...automatic..and off setting that you turn a dial.  They have a diagram next to things like this showing what the characters mean.  There are sensors in the bathroom and kitchen that turn the lights on for you if you have it on the automatic setting.  The stove/hot plate is an electronic push button with tons of settings...and makes American stoves with the old turn the knob deal seem down right ancient.  Characters on the toilet handle knob...no idea what they mean as the knob can be turned towards you or back to the wall..but we can all assume there are two different types of flushes...even though I couldn't figure out/tell the difference which one was for what.  We at at Chili's last night...right next to the Lodge..and noticed the Japanese manners...everyone kept saying excuse me and when Noah was being difficult the waitress was apologetic to us.  In the U.S. we might have received dirty looks but last night no one did anything to make us feel embarrassed...and we looked like we'd just flown around the world! LOL...just talked to Zack via fb...oh I can't wait until we have all of this crap done!