upward focused.

This week went by really quickly. (Do I say that every week??)  On Monday,  Jackeline said she needed to go shopping in Naha, and due to the fact that we got lost and couldn't find anything the day prior, we obliged to go with her.  She took us to this really fancy mall filled with stores like Coach, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Michael Kors, etc.  So we browsed and laughed at all of the outrageous prices, and then went to the one place in the mall that we could afford:  Godiva.  MMM.  We all got chocolate milkshakes that were delicious.  We sipped them as we went on to a mall down the street that was way more affordable.  It had tons of cute clothes and it was pretty crazy and busy with Christmas approaching.

"Ohayo Gozaimasu" translated means "Good morning".  However, "Thank you" is translated "Arigato Gozaimasu". Can you see how that could be confusing?!  Well for me, it simply means that when Arthur and I go shopping late at night, buy something, and leave by saying "Ohayo Gozaimasu"... It just leaves the store attendant to laugh at me, and me not realize it until Arthur says "What did you just say??".  Learning Japanese already has proved to be pretty difficult, and at times embarrassing.  But it's also fun! It's fun trying to say hi to the locals and they sure appreciate the effort.

Sunday.  Day 6.... of 730.  It already feels like we've been here for a while, considering how busy our first week has been and how many things we have already done.  I am so thankful for Jackeline because without her, I think we would be pretty lost.  Already in one week, we have got our CAC cards (access to base and everything on it), we bought a car, signed papers for our apartment, explored pretty much all aspects of base, completed our orientations, explored the island a little bit, met a ton of people, and got our driving licenses. And that's just to name a few.... As sunday rolled around, Jackeline let us use her car for the day because mine wouldn't be ready until Tuesday.  SO, we woke up early (still jet-lagged), hopped in the car, and took off to the northern most part of the island.  

Our first Saturday here was spent adventuring for the beginning of the day, and ended with a four course meal at the brand new Hilton Hotel off base.  Arthur worked for a couple hours in the morning, as I decorated for Christmas and cleaned up our room.  After Arthur got off work, we walked off base to look for some food.  We stopped at a cute little bakery and bought a couple pastries, and then found a little Japanese restaurant.  It was such a nice day, and Okinawa is such a great place.

It's Friday, 7:46 in the morning, and we've been up for about 2.5 hours.  It's safe to say that the jet lag hasn't gone away just yet.  The first week has been crazy busy, but so much fun.  Tuesday was our nap day.. like I said in my previous post, we napped for 6 hours, woke up and went to the food court, then went back to bed.  Arthur woke me up at 2AM that morning because he couldn't sleep any longer... and from that time until we had to wake up at 6:30, we were in and out of sleep.  We met Jacqueline (Current PenFed manager) at 7:30AM, toured the branch, and then got checked into our newcomers orientation.  We learned a LOT there.  The orientation lasted until about 4PM.  Arthur and I both passed our license tests and now we can drive!  After orientation, we went home for a little, then grabbed dinner and walked around the BX, and still feeling jet lagged, we headed back home and went to bed.  Our wifi here has been pretty bad so Facetiming and Skyping our famil

Konichiwa!! Today marks the second full day here in Okinawa, Japan.  For those of you who don't know, I just got married in August to the love of my life :).  About a month later, he accepted a job in Okinawa, Japan.  He will be the Branch Manager on Kadena Air Force Base for Pentagon Federal Credit Union.  It was a huge decision we made to come here, but I truly believe it will be one of the best decisions we made... for a couple of reasons.  1- I think it will help us grow in our marriage.  We will only have each other at first to depend on, something we wouldn't have experienced staying in Eugene around all of our friends and family.  2- We will be able to travel around, let alone just spend time on this beautiful island.  Something that in a few years when we have kids, would be way more difficult to do.  And lastly, 3- We can learn about new cultures and maybe learn a new language (hopefully!).  Plus, make friends from all over the world.