Frantic February

I know it’s been a bit since I last posted, so much has been happening this month with preparing for our move out of Japan.  Plus we have been battling a little bit with admin trying to get our flights figured out.  It’s so hard to push off a big trip till the last minute, family and friends are left sitting and waiting for us to inform them, plus the cost goes up the longer you wait to buy flight tickets doesn’t it.

I’ve been going through our storage boxes and weeding out some of the Coca Cola collection.  Selling some of it to people who collect, which is so much nicer than if it were someone just looking to sell for a profit.  I am quite sure I’m selling for an outrageously low price but it’s more about the weed out for me than how much I can get for everything.

My husband modelling the Coke thingy. haha

A small portion of the Coke stuff

On the 5th we jumped on the train to Tokyo, the husband needed to pick up his new passport at the American Embassy and I needed to apply for a Visa at the Italian Embassy.  I’d never been to either and was fairly underwhelmed.  Too many Hollywood movies had me thinking they would be beautiful and elaborate but both were just regular entries (although the Italian entry was a bit more covert and slightly hidden) and just counters to line up for.  In fact it felt much like going to the dmv in the states.  Slightly disappointing but both were run rather efficiently from my point of view and we were back in Yokosuka after lunch.  We are heading there again this morning to pick up my Visa.  One interesting aspect of the Italian Embassy is the hours of operation.  They are only open 09:30 am to 12:30 pm.  I suppose there isn’t a lot of activity for them in Japan.

I have been doing lunch and dinner with friends which has been really wonderful.  I’ll truly miss the  friends I’ve made here.  I’ve been enjoying time with them so much I haven’t been taking many photos.

Dinner out then Beer with the Millers

Dinner out with Izumi-chan

Japanese style Dinner with Izumi-chan

Last week I met with the new Ombudsman for the command, she seems a good fit for the “job”.  Really a nice lady and a lot of energy.  Also, we had our main pack out.  This in the military is when the moving company comes in to pack all of our stuff up and load it onto crates to start the move.  We have 3 different pack outs.  The first (last week) was the normal household items which takes the longest to transport.  The second which is this Friday is for items we set aside to go into storage for the next few years.  The last is the expedite which we have scheduled for Monday.  These items are put in a rush to arrive typically a month earlier than the bulk move.

Also, this month I made a sneaky purchase for a final Japanese item to take with us. It was a surprise to my husband and he loved it.  This is a Japanese signature stamp called a Hanko.  They use it often in Japan for official contracts and such and I thought it would be a cool thing for us to have.  The stamp I picked out is made from water buffalo from Holland and I checked to make sure it’s harvested without harming the animal.  Apparently, they shed their tusks so no harm to the animal.  Our stamp reads left to right Dupre’ but really it reads kinda like doo-poo-lay.

I’m still figuring out the pressure for the ink but that’s the stamp.

Thursday is our Hail and Farewell at the command.  It’s a gathering typically once every month or so to welcome new people and say good bye to those leaving.  It’s a little nerve wracking for me because I know they will call us up and I hate being put up in front of people but I’ll try to enjoy the evening.  Alcohol will help.

Friday is the storage pack out then I’m going to dinner with the ladies from work for one of their birthdays and my final hoo-rah with them.  Will be fun but sad, I’ll miss them.

Saturday I am joining a Japanese friend of mine to go to a Zazen beginners session.  It is basically a Buddhist meditation, click the linky for more info.  This is something I wanted to do when we were getting ready to move here but one of the few things I didn’t really dive in to research.  I’m really thankful my friend mentioned it and can squeeze this in before moving away.   After the meditation we are heading to Yokohama for late lunch or early dinner of Fugu (blow fish).  Not something I have to do before leaving Japan but she mentioned it so why not!  She gifted me this beautiful Sakura Sake as well, love her.

Sunday is a friend’s baby shower which I am hoping to attend but will see how I feel and hopefully won’t end up poisoned by the fish Saturday. eek!

Monday is the last of the moving and we move to the Navy Lodge for a few days before flying out.

Then March Mayhem begins!  A big trip to the states and bouncing all over the dang country … oh and we are still waiting for word from the detailer before we can finalize the end of the trip…ugh… then towards the end of the month we are off to Italy!

I think I’ll do a post about the nerves of that coming on with the housing situation, driving and such and planning an accomplishment type post on what all was achieved and loved while in Japan.