Moving in...and driving!!!

Hey everyone. :) I moved the rest of my stuff into our place this weekend. I slept at our Zama house and started making a dent in the unpacking. It's a small dent, but every little bit helps! I looooooved sleeping in our bed again! You don't know how much you miss your bed until you're not sleeping in it for months. It is great to see our stuff in our house. I'm still working on getting the pieces we need in order to make our lack of storage a non-issue. It's a work in progress. :)

It looks like chaos now...but you just wait...give me a few weeks. 

I'm getting our car tomorrow...I can't buy it just yet, but the girl I'm buying it from is letting me borrow it until we can make the purchase. Soooo I'll be driving off base tomorrow. I promise to be safe...but wish me luck! :)
I love you and miss you all!

Great weekend - Mt. Fuji and other fun tidbits...

Hey everyone! I figured enough has gone on for me to update the masses on life on the other side of the world.

Last week I took the mandatory driving class here on base for all new arrivals. It was an informative class where they went over road signs and driving rules. We spent the day learning all about driving in Japan...without actually ever having driven. 

On Thursday....OUR STUFF WAS DELIVERED!!!! Everything from furniture to plates and pots and pans! I was there for 12 hours 7-7 and I was able to do a ton of unpacking. Not even close to being done at all...but it's a start! I'm not living there yet because I don't have my car or my driver's license...details, details. 

I'm currently in a week long class called AOB/ICR.  AOB stands for something about procedures "On Base"...the ICR (which starts tomorrow) is Intercultural Relations and it's 4 days of getting used to living in Japan. We'll learn a few words to help us get around, maps of the surrounding area and the train system. We have a "fieldtrip" at the end of the week where we take a train as a class, and we have to find our way around without help. I plan on cheating... :) 

Anywho...last Friday was also my "Hail" which is a dinner with the other squadron wives. We went to a place called Hama Fu-Fu which is a Shabu Shabu restaurant where you cook your own food. It was all you can eat and AMAZINGLY good. I LOVED IT! I can't wait to take Nick there when he gets back...totally right up his alley. 

I had also gotten a call on Friday afternoon that there was one spot open for the Mt. Fuji climb on Saturday morning. I had been #9 on the waiting list so I thought my chances were slim, but I totally lucked out! It was AWESOME. Soooooo ridiculously hard, but such a great experience. There is an old saying "He who climbs Mt. Fuji once is a brave soul. He who climbs Mt. Fuji twice is a fool." Needless to say...once is enough for me. The climb to the summit was 12, 395ft and 6 hours. The descent was 3.5 hours and WAY more painful than the climb up. It. was. torture. There is a rumor here that says if you don't climb Mt. Fuji while you're stationed here...you are destined to return...so you better believe I got that check in the block! :) 

I'm attaching the link to the album which will show you all of our Mt. Fuji pictures. I climbed w/ my friend Ashley who I'm staying with. Her husband was also in 213 (the Blacklions) when Nick was in it as well. Overall, a great day and an amazing experience. I hope you enjoy the pictures! 

I of course, still miss everyone SO much! I'm having a great time so far learning my way around and trying different foods. 

I love you all very much!

Love,

Janelle

Mt. Fuji Climb Pictures - http://gallery.me.com/nickjanellehampton#100131

Back to reality...or at least the Atsugi version of it...

 So here I am back in Atsugi after spending five great days with Nick in Singapore. The boat has since pulled out and they're headed to do whatever it is they do out there. We had a great time! Attached is a link to the Mobile Me album I made of our trip.

Coming up this week is the delivery of the rest of our household goods to our new house in Zama! Our furniture and all of our boxes will be delivered (and unpacked) on Thursday from 8:00am-5:00pm! I have my driving class on Wednesday and I'll hopefully pass the test in the afternoon to earn my driver's license, which I don't think I actually get until I complete the other mandatory classes next Friday. 

Hope all is well with everyone back home! We miss you guys!

Love,

Janelle (and Nick too)

Singapore

I headed to Singapore on Tuesday night in order to meet Nick the ship pulled in yesterday. After four and a half months of being apart we had a great reunion and a great day of shopping and going to lunch and dinner. 

We slept late this morning (well....Nick slept late, I was wide awake at 7:00am) and headed to a beach park about 20 minutes away. We rented bikes and headed to Ski 360 this pretty neat cable-pulled wakeboarding park. I was a lot more confident in my wakeboarding skills before I actually tried it. Totally different than being pulled behind a boat. It was more of a "yanked out of the water" type start, rather than the gradual pull we were used to. All in all, great day and tons of fun. 

All is well here. We're having a great time! I'll try to post more either later this week or when I return to Atsugi. :) 

Love,

Right when Nick got to the hotel.

Us at our hotel pool.

View of East Coast Beach from our bike ride. There were TONS of ships in the water.

Us at Ski 360 :)

Chippy Ho!

Here is a picture of Nick's squadron on cruise. I just got this tonight. :) Enjoy! Can you find him?!

I'll give you a hint...front row...third flight suit from the left! 

Both Hamptons are on the same time zone!

So I figured that since not everyone on Facebook might not want to see every single picture of every single thing we do over here...I should start a blog. That way...those of you who ARE interested in every single thing we do over here, can read all about it! So here goes!

I arrived safe and sound after a 29 hour trip last week, besides the length (and completely missing August 3rd, 2010) it was uneventful and really, not too bad. I left from LGA on Monday afternoon (August 2nd) after a nice American breakfast at Maureen's with Dad, Gerilynn and Mom. Then off to the airport! My flight for O'hare left LGA 15 minutes early (may have had something to do with that fact that Christopher was working that morning) :) which meant that I had plenty of time to get to my short connection to Seattle. I made it with plenty of time! The O'hare to Seattle flight was fine. In Seattle I had to go to baggage, get my two suitcases (which btw weighed a combined weight of 105lbs - which I found out when I checked for my MAC flight) and wait in line to check in for the AMC (or MAC) flight to the far east. I arrived at 5:30pm and the check-in process didn't start until 7:30pm (mind you...this is 8:30pm east coast time...and I was STARVING). The check-in opened and I was all set. I really wanted to go with the window seat, but I was afraid that the fact that I usually have to use the bathroom a million times during a car ride...a 14 hour plane ride would be no different...so the aisle seat was the way to go for me. I was able to get something to eat once I checked my bags and got through security. We boarded at 12:45am. We flew on an Iceland Air jet, though on the little bibs on each seat it was called "North American Airlines". The flight crew and flight attendants were all civilian. The plane was FREEZING and I was very happy that at the last minute I sprung for the $15 fleece blanket that just looked so soft in the Hudson News stand before I boarded. One of the best purchases I've ever made. I slept for about 30 minutes and woke up to eat the free turkey and cheese lunchbox that came w/ turkey and cheese sandwich, cheese and crackers, an orange, a Snickers bar AND a cookie! I've learned to never pass up a free meal! Our first leg was to Anchorage, Alaska where we would stop to refuel. Everyone had to get off of the plane and we sat in an old part of the airport (it was 5:00am in the morning). I parked it near an outlet and they had free wifi, so I was set. I was actually able to Skype with my mom and e-mail back and forth with my sister as she got ready for work. We were there for 3 hours (were only supposed to be there for 1.5) due to some weather over the Pacific Ocean on our route. Once we boarded they announced "Next stop, Yokota Air Station, Japan 7hours 29 minutes" and I was STOKED! I curled up, put in my ear plugs and my eye mask (that reads "sweet dreams" :) ) and passed out for about 6 hours... Actually, that's in correct, I went to sleep...but about two hours later, they came around w/ drinks and a snack of pretzels and trail mix. (You know I woke up for that too...). Then I slept again...Wouldn't you know it...2 hours later they woke us up for breakfast...yup, french toast, a croissant w/ jelly, yogurt and an apple (seriously, they know how to feed their customers). I went back to sleep after that knowing that we only had about 1.5 hours left...only...an hour later...they were handing out hot towels and another turkey and cheese lunch box! Need you ask if I ate it? I only ate the sandwich though...I still have the Snickers bar and I had to turn in the cookie and the apple to customs when I arrived. No incoming food that wasn't prepackaged. So all in all, the flight (29 hours from the time I left my family in LGA to the time I was in my friend Ashley's car at Yokota and I missed Tuesday since I left Monday afternoon and arrived Wednesday morning) wasn't too awful....and here I am.
I'm attaching the pictures of my trip to Atsugi after Ashley picked me up. Some of you have seen them on Facebook.
No promises on how often I'll make posts (I have friends (who will remain nameless) living overseas who promise to update weekly...and here I am waiting...for the updated posts months later!!!) but I'll do my best. It would be great to get Nick on board and post every so often...but as you can see from the lack of his mass e-mails (which I often have to beg him to send to update everyone) that may and will most likely never happen. So you're stuck with me!
I miss you all...and Target very much. With love from the land of the rising sun (which btw....rises at 4:30am EVERY MORNING)...

- Janelle

Naval Air Facility Atsugi  - it is a join base for both Japanese and American squadrons. 

Japanese police cars look like taxis to me...this may cause a problem in the future.

Hmmmm....I wonder what fast food chain this is...

On the drive from Yokota to Atsugi

Japanese treats from the fellow Chippy wives. I had the iced coffee...it's no Starbucks, but it'll get the job done.