My Job in Japan (Dec 9)

Again, this another installment of post-dated blog entries representing the past few weeks worth of events.


So December 9 was my last day as an employee of Google.  Film at 11...

Grandma Gayle and Partying in Tokyo (Dec 1-6)

Wow, where did this month go? I've been behind in posting here on the blog.  So here are a bunch of posts for the past few weeks worth of events.  Enjoy.

Our First Visitor
On December 1st Grandma Gayle – Tina's mom – arrived to visit for several weeks. She says she's here to visit all three of us, but we know her true motivation: to hold her grandson Nathan. :^)

It's been a treat to have Gayle around; she's helped with cooking, Christmas baking, cleaning, babysitting, grocery shopping, diaper changing, furniture placement, laundry, etc.  Besides showering Nathan with love and attention, Gayle has given Tina and me some much needed rest.

We Have Our Furniture

On Monday we got our house hold goods!  We have our own stuff!  Hurray!

Well, everything except the "express shipment" items like our computers and printer.  They should've been here two weeks ago.  At last check those things are still in California awaiting a trip on an Air Force cargo plane.  Why is it our furniture that was literally shipped here, arrived before the items coming by plane?

Anyway, our bed and pillows never felt so good.  Plus now we have real silverware, plates and pots to eat from.  No more plastic forks melting while trying to cook an omelet in a pasta pot!

Woohoo!

Reading Sarah Vowell

Non-sequitur.  Here are some thoughts on the books I am currently reading.  (We've got a lot of time on our hands while riding the trains in Japan.)  By the way, I have also started labeling the topics found in each blog post.  So enjoy this first post under the new label: Books.

Visit to Shibuya / Tokyo

Previously, on Survivor...

It's been a week of more milestones. Tina finished her first full week as an OB/GYN. That's four deliveries and two on-call night shifts in five days! But I think the more sentimental achievement was that mother and son were apart for an entire evening for the first time. Don't worry – I was able to bring Nathan over to the hospital everyday so that Tina could nurse.

Now That's A Buddha Belly

Wow, a lot has happened since we went on our field trip to Kamakura City.

Last Friday we finished our week-long Area Orientation Briefing and Inter-Cultural Relations class.  Even got a certificate to show for it!  Gotta love the government.  Then we took the written exam for a Japanese driver's license.  Nailed it!

For surviving yet another week in Japan all three of us celebrated on base by dinning out at a fancy Italian restaurant — Sbarros.  ;^)  Actually it was pretty nice because this particular Sbarros hosts live piano music every Friday and Saturday.  I had a lot of funny holding Nathan in my lap at the table and making it look like he was playing piano along with the musician.  Check out the photo Tina took of us.  It's already one of my favorites.

Class field trip

On Thursday, our orientation class took us off base for a field trip to get familiar with the train systems and the area.

First stop was a park immediately across the water from the base. From the base gate to the park, there was this awesome manmade stream of water with interspersed fountains and small bridges that must’ve been almost a mile long. I couldn’t believe that it just kept going and going. At the end of the stream was a large plaza with an old decommissioned Japanese battleship called the Mikasa (which Charlie thereafter referred to as “his house”). The plaza is apparently also used as an evacuation location during natural disasters and therefore has a large decorative train car filled with a million gallons of purified water. Next to the plaza and the ship is a grassy area where there are concerts in the summer and there’s an elaborate pond with countless adjoining fountains as well.

This is a picture of the fountains at the park near the base.

"My house" Japanese battleship

The end of the mile-long series of fountains interspersed along the man-made stream on the walk to the park.

Next we walked through downtown Yokosuka and up to Blue Street - the main street called that because it’s lined with blue tiles. They pointed out the conveyor belt sushi place that Charlie and I had been to last weekend as a good example of “conveyor belt sushi” for those new to sushi and who want to see what they’re ordering first. Then we walked to the train station where Charlie and I bought Suica passes. Even though Japan is considered to be fairly technologically advanced, they’re still an almost entirely cash-based society. Very few places will accept credit or debit. One exception is cards you can buy for the train station that you can load with cash and then just flash the card at the turnstyle as you enter the station. You can also use the card to buy items at the small convenience stores at the stations. Charlie and I were excited to find pre-packaged cups of boba ball milk tea!

Four stops later, we got off the train at Kamokura, which was the capital of Japan in the 12th century under the first unified government/shogun. We first stopped for lunch - we chose conveyor belt sushi again. We had Baskin Robbin’s ice cream for dessert, but I tried Cream Soda, which was an interested mix of sorbet and ice cream with tiny candies inside. I’m probably not doing it justice, but it was a strange but tasty combination of flavors and textures.

After lunch, we walked to the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine. Japan’s two main religions are Shinto, which has shrines and Buddhism, which has temples as its houses of worship. We walked up a cherry tree-lined (unfortunately not currently blossoming) pathway in the center of the street towards the shrine. It started with a red toori guarded by two lions, one with an open mouth to represent birth and one with a closed month to represent death. The street was built by the shogun as good luck the anticipated delivery of his pregnant wife. The way the road was built, it gradually narrows as you approach the shrine in order to appear longer to approaching enemies.

At the shrine, we all took part in a purification ritual involving water at a fountain where you rinse your right hand, then your left hand, then take a sip of water, swish it around in your mouth and spit it out, then let the remaining water in your cup run back over your right hand. We walked up the steep steps to the central area of the temple (although taking care not to walk up the center, because that’s reserved for the gods) and then some of us prayed to the gods. This involves bowing twice, clapping twice to get the gods attention, praying, then bowing again at the end and throwing small coins in an offering. Charlie and I also bought fortunes by shaking a box to release a stick with kanji on it and then exchanging the stick for a paper with your fortune. Apparently some people get bad fortunes, but you can tie your bad fortunes to a box of hanging strings to get rid of it. On the way out we saw an adorable 3 or 5 year old girl in a traditional kimono (3 and 5 year old girls and 5 and 7 year old boys are brought to the shrine for a good luck ceremony). There were also several food and souvenir stands; Charlie and I tried large grapes dipped in caramelized sugar.

On the way back to the train station, I had to stop at the Hello Kitty store to get Kamakura pens. All throughout Japan, you can buy these pens with different intricately designed HK pendants specific to the location/city/attraction. So I got one with a HK archer samurai and one with a traditional dancer for the shogun. I’m going to try to get some for each place we visit in Japan.

Open mouth lion representing birth at entrance to shrine

Toori entrance to shrine

Bridge for Shogun

Water purification ritual fountain

Our second water purification ritual of the day

Tie up your bad fortunes here

Shrine with souvenir and food vendors leading up to it

Steep staircase to center of shrine

Orientation, day care and our new home

Monday was a big day. It was the first day of our Area Orientation Briefing, Nathan’s first day of day care and we signed the paperwork and started to move into our 8th floor apartment in Rokuban Tower.

The first day of orientation seemed to be alot about what you’re *not* supposed to do. Such as, don’t drink and drive. In Japan, 0.03% blood alcohol level is the first level for which they can issue you a fine. And apparently there are sobriety checks *everywhere*. Also, any and all weapons in Japan are illegal, including knives. And the Japanese criminal system is a lot harsher and more strict than ours. If your case goes to trial, there’s a 99% conviction rate (I guess alot of cases are thrown out before they get to court, but they can detain you for 23 days before charging you and you have no right to an attorney during questioning). Also, the Navy prohibits going to Japanese massage therapists (not sure why) or going into Japanese drug stores. The later is because many over-the-counter medications are opium-based = failure of Navy drug testing.

Nathan did fairly well in his first day of day care. I was able to stop by at lunchtime to nurse, which was a good thing because he’s still not taking to the bottle very well. I’m not sure what’s going to happen when I’m working full time and can’t take time out in the middle of the day to come to nurse. The day care workers keep pretty detailed accounting of diapers, napping, and feedings and give it to you at the end of the day, which is nice.

I had biked to orientation on Monday so that I could get to our housing appointment as soon as orientation was over. Of course it was pouring ran all day. I ended up wearing Charlie’s black Google fleece over my uniform, which is *so* not regulation, but I did care; my pants were completely soaked in 5 minutes. Thankfully they dried pretty quickly. At the end of the day though, not only was it raining, but the wind was getting so strong that I almost couldn’t move at all on the bike when I was headed directly into it and Charlie almost had the stroller and Nathan carried away by a gust! Nathan was cozy though as Grandma Jahncke had bought him a fleece jumpsuit with a hood shortly before we’d left the U.S.

Charlie met up with me at the housing office and we signed the papers and ordered loaner furniture to be delivered the following day (since our stuff won’t arrive for at least another month). Then Charlie made several trips in the in-climate weather on a combination of the shuttle and the taxi to lug our 7 bags plus additional junk we’ve acquired in Japan over to our new apartment. I made a quick run to the minimart and saw some impressive surges/crashing waves just beyond the hotel.

Tuesday and Wednesday, the weather was gorgeous. Orientation Tuesday was boring, but Wednesday was all about Japanese culture. We got a bit about the history of Japan. In addition to stating dates in the Western way, they also count in distinct periods. We are currently in the Heisei period, dated from 1989, which is when the last emperor passed away and his first son took over. We heard about the shogun (first one to unite the country under a single government was in 1185) and the samuri as well. We heard about how Japan was a completely closed country until Commodore Perry (an American) came to Japan in the mid 1800s. Next we had a crash course in Japanese language and instruction on cultural awareness about the etiquette of bowing and face cards (business cards) and gift giving. Right before lunch they made us watch a ludicrously cheesy video about table manners and chop sticks. There certainly are alot of rules about how to pick up bowls and chop sticks, etc. In the afternoon, we learned about Japanese sports and even got a demonstration of Kendo (martial arts using sticks). Finally to end the day, we got instruction on how to use Japan’s extensive train system (Tokyo has 265 stations).

Nathan's first Halloween

On Saturday, we took the train out to the Ikego housing annex again for a Halloween party at our friends Andy and Arick's house. Andy is a midwife and is my sponsor and she and her family have been amazingly helpful to us. They even offered to send their 12 year old son out to the main base at Yokosuka to meet us and guide us on the train system. They've really made us feel at home and part of the "Navy family".

Here is a picture of Nathan in a "Baby's first Halloween" onesie.

Here is a picture of him in his real Halloween outfit. Unfortunately we didn't feel like we could leave it on him for very long because he was probably burning up in it.

Here's a picture of the party hosts Andy and Arick. Their whole family (including their 12, 13, 14 year old boys) dressed up as Power Rangers and they have their downstairs bathroom decked out in Power Ranger figurines. The party preparations were pretty amazing. They had great chili and "sewer water" punch, brain pasta salad, cockroaches made of dates, jello shots, etc. There were mainly corpsmen and nurses and Andy's dive buddies, so I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to meet more of the doctors from the hospital, but we still had a great time. Andy loves babies and spent a solid half hour with Nathan asleep on his chest.

The next day we just went off base in Yokosuka again to explore some more. We walked through a little indoor mall with tons of tiny shops including a 100 yen store (equivalent to our 99 cent store). We ended up stopping for lunch for our first sushi in Japan. It was a cute little restaurant with conveyor belt of options. I'm not very adventurous when it comes to food, but I did try squid (very chewy and almost synthetic looking) and salmon egg sushis. Charlie tried octopus shashimi. I had hot sake for the first time. There were little spigots to deliver hot water for your tea at each place setting and wet towels to wipe off at the beginning of the meal. One of the other customers, an older lady was fascinated by Nathan. You can kind of make out the characters of the menu on the wall (tan blocks) with the color-coded plates with different priced sushi items, but thankfully they also had a menu that translated the items for us as well.

Since arriving on base, our travel around base has been limited by either the 40 minute roundtrip shuttle or walking, so we ended up buying a bike on the way home. This will make getting around a lot easier. Don't get me wrong, the shuttle is great, but it can only travel between 8 and 40 km/hour. I guess the maximum speed limit in Japan is 80km/hr.

Housing, etc

In addition to more checking in/administrative stuff for me with Charlie and Nathan as my entourage, the last few days has been consumed mainly by housing briefs, visits, etc. Wednesday morning, we attended an off-base housing brief with many more military acronyms and information overload. We were irritated that we had to attend this brief, because although we'd love to live off base and experience more a more authentic Japanese lifestyle, it's just not practical with my hospital call schedule and day care, etc. But we were required to attend this brief in order to then attend an on-base housing brief in the afternoon. We found out that we qualify for a 2 room apartment and that the waiting list times for my rank is less than 1 month. But then we had to wait until the next day, Thursday in order to meet with our specific housing counselor. On Thursday, Alice, our counselor, told us that they'd first have to offer us housing at Negishi, which is a satellite housing annex about 30 miles away. Obviously that wasn't going to work. Next option was either the other housing annex 8 miles away (but still a minimum of 30 min by car in without traffic or an hour by train) at Ikego or on the main base of Yokosuka. The advantages of Ikego are that all they have are 3 bedrooms apartments and they have no waiting list for childcare (compared with a 6-9 month waiting list here on the main base). Even though I'd been told by my sponsor to hold out for on base housing (nights I'm on backup at the hospital I'd likely have to stay there instead of being available by phone at home, but there's no call room for the back up person!), we decided we at least had to check out Ikego before making a decision. So we loaded up the stroller and headed off base to brave the train system for the first time. Luckily the ticket booths had an English option and we already had pretty detailed instructions (from my sponsor who's having a Halloween party at here place in Ikego tonight) on how to get to Ikego by train. The train ride involved one transfer and the ride was gorgeous, although we were still amazed to see how crammed in the houses are that we saw along the train route. The trip did end up taking ~1hr 15 min door to door from hospital to Ikego. The train station stopped literally right at the security gate of the Ikego base. We went to the housing office and got a key to see a sample apartment and it was HUGE by Japanese standards. Very nice. We signed Nathan up for childcare and confirmed that there's no wait list at Ikego (because everyone with kids wants to live in Yokosuka), but with the commute, it just didn't seem feasible. We returned via train and then got keys to a model of the highrises at Yokosuka. The 2 bedrooms are much smaller but still doable. Again, we had to wait until the next day (the housing office is short-staffed due to funding cuts) in order to meet with our counselor again to do the paperwork. So yesterday we meet with our counselor, but now she wanted us to look at specific units that are available. It took 2 trips (and an incident where they gave us a key to a supposedly vacant unit that wasn't vacant, which gave both us and the tenant quite a scare!) but we decided on a unit on the 8th floor with a gorgeous view of Tokyo bay! But, you guessed it, again we have to wait until Monday to do the paperwork and order loaner furniture while we wait for our household goods to arrive. So hopefully we'll be moved into our apartment on Tuesday, which is much earlier than any of us had anticipated. We're definitely getting sick of living on top of each other in the Navy Lodge.

The other wrinkle as I'd mentioned previously is childcare. Charlie has enough paternity leave and vacation that he doesn't have to start at Google Tokyo (and can get paid) until the Monday of Thanksgiving week. We're hoping that he can then work from home a couple days a week and we can use an hourly childcare center (which has a max of 25 hours a week), but he probably won't be able to work from home right off the bat. So we've asked Grandma Jahncke to come to Japan (hopefully via free space-available flight, cross your fingers) to take care of Nathan for a bit for a few weeks while Charlie is getting settled into work.

So it looks like my posts will overlap with Charlie's chronologically, but I think you guys will forgive me.

Sunday morning we set out to go to the parade. Walking from the Navy Lodge, we walked past some of the townhouses (which we'd love to have because they have small yards, but for which the waiting list is likely extremely long) and a couple of the stand alone houses for the bigwigs. We walked through a really cute tiny little tunnel (there are several large hills in the middle of the base). The topography almost reminds me of Hawaii (minus the beaches and palm trees).

As Charlie mentioned, we wandered off base briefly and it was a whole other world. On base, it's easy to forget you're in a foreign country. However, we quickly realized that, even though the parade started off base, the drumming and pagentry, etc. didn't start until the floats and people got to the center of the base, so we came back in. I think it was called the Mikado Parade and I believe it's mainly to recognize/commemorate the Japanese/U.S. relationship. We blopped down on the grass to watch the parade and a Navy wife struck up a conversation with us. I've noticed that there's an extremely strong sense of community and many strangers have noticed we were new and taken time out to talk to us and give us tons of advice about being on base and living in Japan. Turned out this first lady is a USO director. She lives off base. One of the big debates is whether to live on or off base. Some feel that, you're in Japan, you should experience Japanese culture to the fullest and live off base. But it's more expensive (deposit can be equivalent to 4 months rent) and there's a lot to get used to for example, there's no central air or heat, which means families stick to one room for much of the hottest and coldest months. Advantages of living on base obviously include convenience and, for me, being close to the hospital, especially if I'm on backup call for the night.

After the parade (or rather after we got sick of the crowds), we wandered over to the NEX and got lunch. Sitting on a bench eating lunch, another Navy wife engaged us in conversation and gave us some more advice. We looked into cell phones and were extremely disappointed to find out that we can't use our iPhones here. Since AT&T subsidizes the price of the the iPhone, they lock it so it can't be used with any other service. We could buy new phones, but that's obviously expensive, so we're going to make do without which will be extremely difficult! Next stop was the Purdy fitness center where we took turns watching Nathan while the other person worked out in the gorgeous new 50 meter pool. There was no one else there except a few kids in the far right lane!

Sunday night, my sponsor Andy took us out to dinner at an Italian place on base with her family of 3 boys. She and her family started out in Sicily when the boys (now ages 12, 13, 14) were babies and have traveled all over regardless of the kids ages, so that's encouraging for us. I keep hearing about great traveling opportunities but I worry about trying to do it with Nathan. According to Andy, it's totally doable. One of the first things we want to do it going skiing and to the ice festival up in Saporo.

Monday morning was my first "real" day of work, meaning I had to put on my uniform (which is a MAJOR production that I'm not sure I'll ever get used to) and go check into the hospital. As soon as we stepped onto Labor & Delivery, about 3 people said, "What a fat baby!" One of the other OBs, Dr. Copenhagen, said, referring to Nathan, "So this is why you've been held up." Charlie and Nathan tagged along so that Nathan would be close for breastfeeding (there's even a breastfeeding room right off L&D). We had breakfast at the cafeteria and ran into Franchi, who pointed out the Admiral of Navy Med West and the commander of the hospital.

I did as much checking in as I could in the morning and then we caught the shuttle back to the Navy Lodge to attend a housing brief (and get on the on-base housing wait list) only to find out that we wouldn't be allowed to attend until the next day. So we stopped by the childcare center to sign up for babysitting for next week while Charlie and I attend the Area Orientation Brief (about Japanese culture and driving, etc) I'm really nervous about how Nathan's going to do in day care because he's still not really taking to a bottle (a sippy cup we tried last night worked only marginally better). We then walked to the main gate and got our ID'd registered for multiple re-entry and then went off base to get cell phones. We ended up getting pretty cheap plans with limited minutes because incoming calls and calls between the two of us are free. The sales lady spoke really good English (she said her dad was an American soldier) but it was really weird to sign a contract in Japanese! I crashed once we got back to the lodge and unfortunately Nathan slept poorly again last night.

The First Sortie Off Base

On our second full day in Japan, the city of Yokosuka threw a welcoming parade for us!

Turns out the US Navy base hosts an annual parade in which the locals carry traditional floats made of enormous, hand crafted wooden shrines along a road in town, then onto the base and down the "Main Street USA," where there is a string of American fast food stations. The base is open to the locals, who run past the parade just to stock up on McDonald's meals, american pizzas and Duncan Donuts. (Seriously, we're talking about 24-count boxes of donuts.)

Anyway, the parade hadn't quite started yet, so Tina, Nathan and I wondered off base for the first time. We didn't go very far; we just wanted to see the start of parade route - the street that the Americans have nicknamed "Blue Street."

But boy, what a difference it is off base!

Within feet of the American gate it's another world. Apartment buildings rise up a dozen stories atop the tiniest of lots and create an urban canyon of neon signs and chrome finishings. Cartoonish-looking automobiles and tiny, tiny trucks whisk by in smooth flowing traffic. Firetrucks the size of an American mini-van, cruise by covered in flashing lights that remind us of something out of anime.

All the while the Japanese locals are milling around, gathering for the parade. Most of the people we see are actually going to participate in the parade. They are wearing matching, brightly colored robes with insignias embroidered on the back. The women wear traditional robes with short skirts and the men wear even shorter "shorts" if anything at all beneath their robes.

We found the 7-Eleven mini mart, where Tina made her first purchase with Japanese Yen. Of course, Tina's first selection was coffee (actually a frozen latté). But her real motivation was its branding: "Mt. Rainier - The Mountain of Seattle". Talk about the perfect welcome for mommy and child.  The included photo is of Nathan and his namesake as the logo of the latté.

I'll post more photos from the parade on my PWA account later.

- Charlie

Trip to Japan and settling in

So we left for Japan on Thursday. Charlie's parents took us to the airport and with 7 bags, 2 backpacks, a stroller, a diaper bag and a boppie, we needed 2 cars to transport our junk. The lady at the check in counter was really nice and issued Gary and Ruthann passes to go through security with us so that they could spend some quality last few minutes with Nathan.

The plane ride wasn't too bad. We had a window seat and 2 aisle seats; Charlie and I took turns sitting next to Nathan. I watched My Sister's Keeper and The Land of the Lost, read a bit and then nursing took up the rest of the time. Nathan did really well (there were actually several other LOUD crying babies but he was pretty quiet) until he had a projectile vomit all over himself and me. The poor boy even got a glob of curdled milk stuck in his eye ; (

When we got to Narita airport, we got through customs fairly easily. They had luggage carts for free, which I thought was a nice perk. I saw another American family with ~3 year old and a pregnant woman and wondered if she might be my patient (they too had tons of luggage, so I guessed they were probably also a military family). By the time we got our luggage and made our way over to the other terminal, we only had a few minutes to catch the bus to the base. The bus ride was ~2 hours.

Once on base, we were met by Andy who's a midwife. She took me to sign in at the quarterdeck of the hospital. My friend Franchi was actually on call on L&D that night and I ran into her husband bringing her dinner, but we were too tired to stop by to say hi. Andy and her husband drove me to the Navy Lodge and explained a bit about what to expect over the next couple weeks. Andy was so nice; she even got us some groceries and a laundry basket to help us get settled in.

When we got to our room, we unpacked a bit. It's going to be interesting living out of a hotel for 2-4 weeks. We've got 2 queen beds, a TV/DVD player, a cable for internet, a small kitchenette with a mini fridge/freezer, a microwave and 2 stove burners as well as some plates, pots, etc. No oven or dishwasher and no space to store food. I'm happy about the freezer though so I can pump and freeze some milk. The toilet has 2 flushing settings for smaller and larger volume flushes. The faucets all have to be turned down to turn on, which will take some getting used to. The outlets seem to work fine though (Charlie was psyched that there were even some 3-pronged outlets).

We ended up finally going to sleep at 9pm Yokosuka time, which would've been 5am LA time.

Nathan didn't sleep more than 2 or 2.5 hours all night that first night or last night. And I don't think it's that his scheduled is messed up, because he didn't really have a schedule to speak of before.

Saturday morning, we loaded Nathan up in the stroller and set out to explore the base. Right next door to the lodge is a Chili's and a minimart & car shop. The minimart is pretty extensive. We walked through a couple tunnels and by the shipyards were we saw a sub and a destroyer. We explored the Fleet Rec Center where there are some gym facilities and a couple fast food places. My main goal was to find the pool on base. We did end up finding an outdoor pool that's closed for the season but that looks pretty cool with a huge water slide and a wading pool. We had lunch on "Main Street America" where there are several more fast food places, including Sbarro where we ate. Nathan had another vomiting episode nursing there unfortunately. After cleaning him up, we did find the huge Purdy fitness center which was a gorgeous 50 meter pool. They even have an area where you can watch your kid place as your workout and they have babysitting available as you work out as well. Next we explored the heart of the (at least family part) base with the NEX, furniture store, video rental, Starbucks and Commissary. Got some groceries, but had to be careful not to get too much since we can't fit much in the room or fridge. Unfortunately, as I expected, fruits and vegetables are expensive, but everything else seems to be about the same prices and they even have some cheese! On our way home, we passed by a bunch of munchkin soccer games.

That afternoon, we chilled in the room, did laundry and I took a short nap. Saturday night, we had a really nice dinner at Chili's with my med school friend Franchi and her husband.

Final preparations

I guess it's really happening. We're really moving to Japan. The Navy movers came and packaged up all of our stuff on Thursday and Friday. After our condo was emptied of the majority of its contents, we had a massive cleaning and painting party over the weekend. My aunts Donna and Jeanine and Charlie's dad Gary helped out; otherwise there would've been no way we'd have been able to get the job done in the limited time we've got left in The States. After killing our backs on Saturday, Charlie and I went skinny dipping in our complex's hot tub after dark to ease our aching muscles (we forgot our swim suits). The place looks mighty good now. Unfortunately we haven't had potential renters express any interest yet. I'm fast loosing confidence in our chosen property management company.

Late Friday night we got a lead from my sister-in-law Christine (thank you Christine!) about a co-worker who was interested providing foster care for our cats while we're abroad, and then Charlie's parents drove the cats to their new home Saturday morning. This means that my mom won't have to make an extra road trip down from Seattle to get the cats and that the cats won't have to make that potentially traumatic drive.

Between now and Thursday, we'll be staying at Charlie's parents' house in Torrance. Last night they babysat so Charlie and I could go to The Melting Pot to celebrate our 3rd anniversary. I figured since cheese in general is rare in Japan, fondue places would likely be non-existent. We had a very romantic dinner. Then, that night, as if he wanted to give us an anniversary gift as well, Nathan slept for a solid 6 hours for the first time ever!

We were about to drive up to the Navy base in Ventura for some last minute paperwork today when Charlie's dad realized it was Columbus Day and the offices on the base would likely be closed. Thank goodness we didn't make the drive for nothing. I guess we'll have to go at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

Charlie's been on the phone making a zillion logistical and administrative phone calls today.

I hope we'll be able to continue this blog after we get to Japan. It may be difficult at first because we'll have very limited internet access for the first month (as our computers are being shipped). It's going to be weird to be without computers and a TV but perhaps we'll be so busy and overwhelmed that we won't notice.

We're certainly going to miss everyone!

Yes, We're Moving to Japan

I apparently forgot to explain the who, where, why, what, when about our move to Japan.  So let me back up and tell the story.  My apologies if you've heard this already.


Tina is in the Navy?!
Tina's medical education was paid by the US Navy.  Not a bad deal when you think about it.  In exchange for not having to pay back about $150,000 in student loans, Tina gets to practice medicine for four years while on active duty as an officer in the Navy.  (If you're curious, she's already a Lieutenant.)


Normally, she would have entered the service immediately upon completion of med school in June 2005.  But Tina rocks - so she got special permission to do her residency training in the private sector at LA County USC, thus delaying her military commitment.


Tina completed four years of residency this past June.  Again, normally she would have been sent immediately to wherever the Navy needed her.  But this summer Tina was 7 1/2 months pregnant with our son Nathan.  Her commanding officer deferred Tina's orders until October.


Why Tokyo?
For medical assignments the Navy sends out a list of potential billets — open spots around the globe — of where they could use you.  Locations include Cuba, Italy, Spain, the States, Guam, etc.  You're asked to "rank" them and send back the list.  Tina and I had picked spots in Italy as our top choices.  Dreams of swimming in the Mediterranean and skiing the Alps danced in our heads.


Well, I think this was a big joke on us.  That is, I suspect there is a military bureaucrat in some windowless office in the bowels of the Pentagon processing these billet lists.  He probably has a good laugh at all of the wishful thinking put into each ranking, then sends each doctor to wherever he feels like it.  I kid.  The bureaucrat's office probably has at least one window.

Actually, the hospital in Tokyo apparently has the most billets for Tina's speciality OB/GYN.  We had volunteered to be sent overseas and the Navy needs Tina's skills in Japan.  So Tokyo it is.

Do you guys speak Japanese?

Ironically, I took a quarter of Japanese freshman year in college and failed the course miserably.  Flash forward a decade, my parents graciously gifted us a copy of Rosetta Stone.  Tina has blazed through the lessons.  I have a lot to catch up on.


We're both trying our best at this strange tongue.  It will definitely be an adventure communicating with the locals in Japan let alone trying to navigate the street signs.  I'm embarrassed to admit it, but we will be asking people this question a lot: Eigo ga wakarimasu ka? ("Do you speak English?")  It will be exciting nonetheless.

Where will you be living?
The Yokosuka Naval Base will be our home for the next two to three years.  Yokosuka is basically a suburb of Tokyo approximately a 90 minute commute south of the heart of the city - so we have been told.  We don't yet have an mailing address.  Once we do, trust me, we'll let you know.


When do you go?
As of today, our plane tickets are for October 15th.

Wait, don't you have a newborn son?

Yes, I never said Tina and I took the easy route in life.  Our son Nathan will be joining us on this adventure to the Land of the Rising Sun.  In fact, I'm very jealous because Nathan will probably grow up with an ability to pick up foreign languages so easily.  Don't forget,  Tina and I have already dragged Nathan to San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento and Hawaii in the last five weeks — half of his entire life — visiting friends and family.  He's already a frequent flier.

Where will Charlie work?
In a perfect world I would remain employed by Google and transfer to our Tokyo office.  (Do you blame me?  It is the best company to work for.)  I am doing my best to land a spot in that office.  For months I got no leads, but recently a spot on a very big project has opened up.  Understandably, this involves a lot of logistics and hurdles.  Most likely, the three of us will have to leave the States without an official guarantee of my employment in Japan.  Cross your fingers that things move forward smoothly.


Are you all set?
Oh, hell no.  Dealing with the Navy's red tape, the logistics of trying to keep my job and of course our first experiences in parenthood has made the last three months extremely stressful.  Fortunately our families, friends and co-workers have been so helpful and accommodating.  Thank you!

No matter what, I know that I love Tina, I love Nathan.  And I know all three of us are thrilled about this move.  Tina and I have always talked about living abroad.  Now it's really happening!  Wish us luck.


ja mata ne,
Charlie

Welcome to 1999

Yes, I am at least 10 years late to the "blogging" party. Not sure why it has taken me so long to get around to it. Perhaps I haven't had much reason to journal about my happenings? Well, no more excuses. If what's happening now in my life and Tina's life isn't good enough material for a blog, then I don't know what is.


Tina and I aren't known for taking little steps, instead we take on life with gusto in giant leaps. In fact, 2009 has been an especially big year for the Ruggiero Family.


So today I promise to share our family's adventures as Tina & I enter parenthood, Tina goes full time with the US Navy and all three of us relocate to Japan.


Yours,
Charlie