Settling In

The plane normally arrives in Misawa on Monday. The driving course and test is held on Tuesday, and other orientation meetings are held throughout the week. We arrived on a Thursday, so we had to wait until the following Tuesday (after we moved into our house) to be able to drive. It really was annoying to have to walk or bum rides everywhere we wanted to go. We were very happy to finally be able to transport ourselves, although we were also pretty overwhelmed with the prospect of driving on the wrong side of the road. We had pre-arranged the purchase of a mini-van. Mr F found himself a car about a week later. Behold, the 1997 Honda Odyssey and 2001 Toyota Fun Cargo (affectionately called the Clown Car in our household).

I fully intend to buy a 90s cassette tape adapter for my cool 90s van (no aux input).

Now that we have wheels we've had more opportunities to explore both on and off base. We've spent a lot of time at the indoor rec center on base, called the Weasels' Den.

It has a large indoor play area, an indoor track, arcade games, a soccer field, miniature golf, and places to book tours or rent outdoor sporting equipment. Our kids love it here. In the month of July all the arcade games are free. 

Another family showed us the way to a favorite local sushi restaurant. The kids love ordering food and having it delivered by train. You can also just grab what is going around on the belt.

Kappa Sushi

We enjoyed it so much that we went back the next time we had an opportunity. We also went out for ramen.

Takumi Ramen

Yum!

Our church had a family night at the Base Beach. Our kids loved it. The beach is just right around the corner from our house. I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of these hot summer days there.

We are having a lot of fun and enjoying Misawa so far. The food is fantastic. The scenery is beautiful. The neighborhood is friendly. It wasn't fun getting here, but now that we are, we are excited for all the fun opportunities and adventures ahead of us.