My First 3 Months in Japan

It is beautiful here.  

It has been so much fun living in Japan.  I can honestly say I never though this would be in my future but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  It's been a trying time and a growing time and eye-opening time.  It's so fun learning about a different culture and meeting new people.  

For those of you who wonder what I do while Arthur is at work all day, and for those of you who think I am just being lazy and don't have a job, you are right.  Well sort of.  Getting a job over here has proved to be really hard.  When there is over 20,000 Americans living in a 20 mile radius of you, 12,000 of those being military spouses and their families- it narrows down your chances of getting a job even more.  Military spouses have preference for jobs here, which makes sense- but it also means that even if you are more qualified and a better fit for a job, it is required that they hire military spouses first.  I had an interview for a job about a month ago where there were 60 applicants, 41 of which were military spouse- and only 4 positions available.  That means in order for me to have gotten that job (obviously I didn't), 41 military spouses would have to back out or withdrawal since I don't have military spouse preference. 

Since we have been here I have applied for at least 40 jobs.  It's been really challenging mentally to not have a full-time job here.   It's discouraging and actually embarrassing for me to admit to.  I have faith that the Lord will provide a job for me in His timing though, which is always better than mine. 

For the mean time, I have been blessed by working very part time (a couple hours every Saturday)  at a school down in Naha, teaching English to Japanese children- who are so adorable. Seeing the kids smiling faces make the hour drive worth it, plus they draw me pictures that make me so happy.

Some of the kids I teach.

Did I mention they are way better at drawing than I ever have been?

Working for the government means that you will spend days filling out paperwork, running different errands, and getting fingerprinted. It's kind of intense.  Getting a job here can take from around 3 months to 6 months until you finally are processed in the system.  I filled out a packet a couple weeks ago that was at least 60 pages long.  

For those of you that wonder what I do all day when Arthur is working- it really varies.  I spend that time doing tons of different things.  Walking on the sea-wall, grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking dinner, baking, blogging, crafting, skyping, shopping (I try to avoid this one), meeting up with people for coffee or food, going to lunch with Arthur, and applying for more jobs... and a lot, lot more. 

I hit up the farmers markets and buy fresh delicious fruit and veggies.

This is what I force my husband to do when his eyes hurt.  Poor, poor husband.  At least I get a laugh out of it. 

We went out to dinner with his work last week to this delicious Japanese restaurant where they have grills in front of you and you grill your own meat or veggies.  Also- it's all you can eat so that means I can eat all the desserts and ice-cream I want.  SUCCESS.

We had a date night the other night (even though since being here it kind of seems like every night is date night), we had an official one.  

The weather has been getting warmer which I love.  It now feels tropical (most times) because it's around 70 degrees and a little humid, which is my favorite weather.  But it also has been pretty rainy- at least it's a warmer-type rain... I guess :). 

I like it here.

We received our TAYLOR SWIFT tickets in the mail and I AM SO EXCITED!  Except I'm not too sure if they are actually Taylor Swift tickets because the whole thing is in Japanese.  I really hope so..

Arthur took Monday off this week and we spent it exploring, hiking, and last minute garage-saling.

On our way to the waterfall we saw a bunch of stuff outside a business with a sign that said "free".  Arthur freaked out and we turned around and it was a bunch of computer monitors, a lap top, an iPhone, and other techie things.  It was so cool!  So we piled it all in China and now Arthur's been working on them each night....  I don't understand how he gets so excited about those things but not Taylor Swift tickets.  Interesting.

We then kept driving to the waterfall which was incredible.  It was such a sunny day out and the hike was wonderful.  I don't know if I would consider it a "real" hike considering that they had built stairs into the dirt and created a suspension bridge but nonetheless, it was still so much fun.

Church has been great- we have really been enjoying it.  (I don't know if it's because the messages are always convicting or the people are always so nice or the worship is always wonderful... maybe all of those reasons?? :) )

This month is a series called "March Marriage Madness", which I am so excited about.  It's been interesting going from a church where the majority of people were newlywed 20 somethings, to a church where we are one of the newest married couples.  I am excited to learn and grow with and through other couples in the church.  

We found our new favorite drinks here as well.  They have like 100 different kinds of drinks at every little convenience store which makes it really difficult to not want to try them all.  But since we can't read the ingredients, that means they are healthy....right??

It's been fun here and I still really love it.   It's been a great time for Arthur and I because I feel like we really have had to depend on each other and through that, we have grown even closer and our marriage has already become stronger.  I am so thankful for this opportunity and I pray the Lord uses us in our time here to reach out to others and show them His love. 

We miss our friends and family back home, as always.  We love you and hope everyone is doing well! :)