Greetings & Week one in Japan!

Konichiwa!

Greetings from Japan! Per my new cousin Bob's suggestion, I have decided to create a blog that will serve as a diary for our adventures while we are living in Japan.

For those of you who didn't recieve my initial e-mails, or if you need a little reminder, here is what we have been up to these past few weeks...

(THE FOLLOWING WAS TAKEN FROM MY 1st EMAIL)

Hi, family and friends! Eric and I just got our internet installed today (Wednesday in Japan), so I wanted to send you all a quick e-mail to let you all know that the girls and I landed safely in Japan. I'm sure that most of you have spoken to my father, so you already know that we are doing well, but I will tell you again!

First off, before I get started I wanted to send out a quick CONGRATULATIONS to my big sis and my future brother-in-law! Eric (and the girls) and I couldn't be more thrilled to have Derek officially join our family, and we truly look forward to the years to come! Congratulations again on your engagement! We love you both!

Also, I want to wish my sister-in-law CONGRATULATIONS as well. She graduated from Richland High School in May, and she will be attending University of Texas at Austin in the fall! Eric and I are so proud of you, and I know your brother is thrilled to finally have a real reason to be a UT fan! Congrats again!

And, I want to send another CONGRATULATIONS to Cassie and Doug! Eric and I are so happy for you two! Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help! We are definitely going to need to meet up either in Japan or Hawaii!

Now, back to our life so far in Japan. Eric picked the girls and I up from the airport on Thursday (Wednesday for all of you back in the states). He took Thursday and Friday off work, so we spent the next four days starting to set up house. So far, we have purchased a bedroom set and living room furniture, including a big screen TV (which is Eric's favorite part). I have never spent so much money in such a short period of time, and you know me - I love to shop! However, even though it was hard to put down that much money, it truly has been a joy creating a home together! We will send you all pictures as soon as the house is a little more put together - which may take awhile seeing how we had to start from scratch :)

Anyway, we are all doing well. The girls seem very well adjusted. They spend their day running around in the backyard and resting on "their" new sectional sofa and queen size bed. They live a very hard life!!! Eric is back to work. As for me, I am in the process of looking for a job. I think that I am going to look for a job off base. We went to the HR office on base the other day, and there didn't seem to be any jobs that were of interest unless I decide to go the teaching route. I am very open, so it will just take so time to figure out what works best for us. Yesterday, I took my first trip by myself to the main base! I was a little nervous because I had to take a bus and two trains, but it went very smoothly! I had lunch with Hubby and then I worked out overlooking the ocean, jets, ships, etc - WOW, what a spectacular view! Then, we took the free (yay) work-to-home military bus back to our base.

I finally got my new cell phone, so please feel free to give me a call. I think you dial 011-81-909-363-8411 from the US. Give it a try, and let me know if you have any problems!

(THE FOLLOWING WAS TAKEN FROM MY 2nd EMAIL)

Hello again from Japan. It has been about one week since I wrote to y'all last. Since then, Eric and I have started to settle in to our new home. Also, I got my new cell phone!!! My new phone number is 011-81-909-363-8411 if you are calling from the US, and for those of you who don't know Eric's phone number it is 011-81-909-389-8940. We would love to hear from you!!!

As for us, Eric is currently sitting on the couch studying for his OCS test. His boss left the office early today (Monday), so he was able to come HOME from work early! The girls are doing well also. Lizzie is lying on her new bed next to me, and Hanna is outside playing in the backyard. As for me, I am settling into my "wifely" duties. I spent the day doing laundry and cleaning up the house. I also went to the gym on our base for the first time. It was nice, a little small, but more than ok! After the gym, I went to the grocery store aka the commissary and did a little shopping. Unfortunately, we don't have a car yet, so I had to carry everything back to our house - it is about a 10 minute walk. I actually enjoy the walk usually, but it was a little bit of a struggle with the bags - I guess it was just a continuation of my workout.

Since we last "spoke", things have been going well for the Bodkin fam. Last Friday, Eric and I had our first house guest. Barry, Eric's best friend in Japan, came over and we went to China Town. It was crazy. I wish I took pictures, but unfortunately I forgot the camera. I'm sure we will be going back, so I will take pictures next time. While in China Town, we went out to our first Chinese dinner - it was really good! We had gyoza (pot stickers), a super spicy chicken dish (Mom, Eric says that you would have LOVED it!), sweet and sour pork and pork fried rice! After that, we went to two bars, Athens and Bar Dirty Harry (You gotta love Japanese translations!). Like most Japanese bars, they were very small and expensive (about $7.00 for a beer), but as always it was a lot of fun!

On Saturday, Eric and I took the train and a monorail to Tokyo for Eric's soccer game. He plays in a Japanese league, so the team he played against and both teams that played in the game before him were all made of only Japanese players! It amazes me that even though none of them spoke the same language, they were able to play a seamless game. Actually, it was much less aggressive then the games he plays in while in the US. After his game; which they won with a score of seven to one, Eric and I had dinner at the All Hands Club, a restaurant on our Base.

Sunday was our lazy day. We were hoping to go ride the ferris wheel, but it stormed all morning. When the rain finally let up, it was time for dinner. We went to a little area which is about a 5 minute bus ride from our house. After walking around for a half hour or so, we decided instead of going to one restaurant that we should sample different restaurants. The first place we went to was a Japanese style pastry shop. They have places like this all over the city. We got a "pigs in a blanket" type thing with melted cheese and a soft roll, a chocolate croissant and an orange cinnamon roll, and they were all GREAT! After that we found a little restaurant were we got a cheese and cracker platter and a spicy sausage and potato skillet. Both of those were also very good! Finally, we ended our eating fest at a Greek gyro stand where we had beef/spicy sauce and chicken/garlic yogurt sauce gyros. We had a great time on our little adventure, and we look forward to venturing out more over the next few months/years. I promise to send pictures as soon as we find the cord for the camera!

I start my indoc classes tomorrow. They go from Tuesday to Friday, and they are designed to provide new arrivals with the knowledge we need in order to be respectful to the citizens of our host country. They also explain where different things are located on and off base, how to use the public transportation system and a brief introduction to the Japanese language. I am looking forward to my classes, and hopefully I will meet a few people who are in my similar situation. Keep your fingers crossed.

I hope all of you are doing well. Anything new and exciting? Keep in touch!

Eric and I love and miss all of you! Have a great week, and I will e-mail again next week. Also, if anyone has any job ideas, I am still on the hunt! Thanks!

Now you are all caught up! I will post again with pictures very soon! If you haven't already. please go to http://www.skype.com/ and sign up for Skype! By signing up, we will be able to video chat or just talk (if you don't have a camera) for free! It is a great way to keep in contact without having to spend so much money on international phone calls!

We love and miss you all very much!

Love,
The Bodkins