Car Details

Okinawa - Our Cars!

A few additional details on our vehicles: 1) 1993 TOYOTA Supra (2.0 L Twin Turbo), burgundy, it's a sports car (it was also sold in the US during most of its production years), this is the car that was scraped already on the right rear bumper (less than 24 hours after acquisition!!) NOTE: Yes, we've now joined our parents (& probably half of the people that read this post) as proud Toyota owners! (I am starting to believe the conspiracy theories that Toyota will eventually rule the planet.) 2) 1997 Daihatsu Terios (4WD), a lighter shade of burgundy, it's a mini-SUV (not sold in the US - we had to get at least one car they don't sell in the US, since most around here aren't) Photo album containing photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/joshmurphy/OkinawaOurCars Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu, Josh

2 weeks under our belts... Photos posted!!

Okinawa - FOOD!!!

Hi Everyone! The second full week in Okinawa has been much better than the first...only a couple of days of cloudy weather, but not much rain! It has been a little cold, but nothing compared to what some of you are dealing with! We finally uploaded some pictures of some things at picasa, the link is: http://picasaweb.google.com/joshmurphy The beach photos show the beach across the street from the apartment we are considering! And then the car photos are just some of the options we have here. We actually purchased 2 cars this weekend: 1) a 1993 Toyota Supra, 2) a 1997 Daihatsu Terios. We picked up one of the cars last night from a friend and already this morning there was a note on the windshield with the number of a person who hit the car while it was parked. There is no major damage but a few big white paint scrapes on the side! Welcome to Okinawa! Cars are treated much more casually here, so we were just impressed that they left a note. Work is going well...nothing too exciting. Josh and are signed up for scuba certification classes! It was the first thing we did after we had the car (the marina was not within walking distance and you had to sign up in person). We also drove off base which was weird. I am sure that it will get better as it goes along, but it is just weird that you can't read the signs. You really have no idea what the road names are or if there are special instructions! Fun! I will let you know when we post new pictures! Hope each of you is doing well! Betsy

We Passed!

Hi Everyone, Just a quick update! Josh arrived safely! He had to run to every gate to make his flights, but was successful. In Tokyo, he picked up his bags and went through customs, he had a little trouble finding the domestic check-in desk (the story is fairly humerous). However, after several bad instructions on where to go and some running, he was able to at last find the check-in desk. As he was checking in, they were making the final boarding call for his flight. So running to the gate was necessary! :) We passed our driving test! We now are legally able to drive in Japan under the SOFA agreement (which is an agreement between Japan and the US which allows us to be in the country). We have not driven yet (since we don't have a car) and are very apprehensive about the task. The class today was full of all the hazards of driving in Japan which made us very nervous. If I wasn't required to drive for my job, I would consider using the bus system! The only new thing I learned today that I found interesting (other that what was mentioned in the other email) was that the roads here are made of coral. So when it rains, they get very slippery! (of course during the class they showed a video of a car losing control easily!) YIKES! We are hoping to buy a car soon (in the next week or so) and will then let you know how the driving really is! Hope you are all doing well! Betsy (and Josh)

Hello from Okinawa

Okinawa - Out & About

Good evening everyone from a rainy Okinawa!

It has been raining almost non-stop since I got here last Monday! I am told that it will rain like this until early April and then we will be blessed with lush beautiful flowers and trees! (Not convinced it is worth it though!...we'll see!).

So this week ended well. I was able to be in the clinic for 2 days (Wednesday: which I spent with another PT who will be showing me the ropes; and Friday: which I spent reading manual after manual of military procedure!) I was finally told that I will be working primarily in the school system here which means each day I will travel to a different military base to actually see the kids. I am excited about working in the school system because it is something I have not done before and I will be going to several different bases. That will allow me to get to know multiple parts of the island. I will spare you the mind numbing details (like which bases exactly I will be going to), so if you would like to know more specifics, just let me know! For my PT friends out there, we get on average 2-4 hours of evaluation time per kid just for PT. We have to perform at least 2 tests before making our recommendation for the IEP! Not sure if I will love it or hate it! I like having the opportunity to see which test scores the most accurately! Since I have to do so much testing I will be able to correlate the scores and determine which test is the best. I will let you know! Because of the military component, I do get quite a bit of face time with the parents that day too! I was worried about that!

Everyone that I have met has been extremely nice and has helped me get settled. They all seem to realize how different even just military life is for me and are giving me information slowly. There are acronyms for EVERYTHING!!! I find myself frequently thinking about what an acronym might mean rather than following the conversation!

Rainy! Rainy! That has been the weather. I don't think that the rain would be so bad except for the fact that I don't have a car. So if I want to go somewhere, I have to walk. I walk to work, to eat, to the bank, etc. So, I have learned to put an extra set of clothes in my backpack so I can change if I need to! The hotel is suppose to have a shuttle to take me to anywhere on the base, but they don't have any drivers right now. So, I am walking! I should have taken a picture of myself when I got to work Friday morning...soaking wet! It sure made for a good conversation starter as I met my co-workers! :)

Food: Haven't ventured back off base again for dining due to the rain and no car situation, but on-base dining has been good. I have now experienced the food of 2 different clubs (for those of you who haven't lived in a military community, a club is a place with food, bar, dancing, parties, slot machines, poker tables, etc for the people in a certain rank to use). The officers club is next door to the hotel and has provided many meals for me this week!

Josh will arrive in Okinawa Monday night around 9 pm. A friend here is going to take me to pick him up. The airport is only about 12 miles away from Kadena Air Force Base where we are staying right now, but it takes about an hour to get there! There seems to be traffic on the road no matter what time of day!

Josh and I are scheduled to take our Japanese license test on Wednesday and after that we are allowed to purchase a car. We are required to carry Japanese insurance and American insurance on our car. Cars here seems to be fairly cheap, $4000-$6000 for a 1994-1998 car. The Japanese have stringent rules for vehicle inspection, so surprisingly these cars run well and last a long time. As far as driving is concerned, there are several Japanese laws which I have found to be fairly interesting.

1) If you damage a palm tree with you car, the fine is $40,000 US. This is because the palm trees are not native to Japan. They are flown in. If you hit any other kind of tree (native or local), the fine is $5000 US! That is a lot!

2) Pedestrians have the right of way. ALWAYS! If someone wants to cross, the driver stops! If you hit a person and significantly injure or kill them, you have to pay the family what they determine that person was worth (how much they could have made the rest of their life, etc).

3) The max speed limit here 60 km/hour (on the expressway!) which is about 35 miles per hour! On the regular in town roads, it is usually 40 km/hour or ~25 miles per hour.

And I am only 1/2 way through the driving manual!

So, driving will begin for us this week! It could be very interesting! The weather is also suppose to clear up a little this week, so I am hoping to finally get a few pictures!

I hope this email finds you all well! I have enjoyed hearing from some of you! It sure has made this week easier to know people were thinking of me!

Miss you all,

Betsy

Hotel Phone Number

Okinawa - Shogun Inn

So I finally figured out the phone numbers for the hotel room if you are calling from the US. The number is (with country code and all) as follows: 001+81+611+732+1251. This will get you right to our room. We have a voice mail system that if we are not there you can leave a message. If you know your rate/minute, we can decide if I should just call you back, because while we are at the hotel we will have a 10 cents/minute rate to the US. Once we get internet (at home) we will have the skype number which is 919-373-4437. That you will dial just like that.

Hope this note finds you all doing well! I am doing good. I spent the day yesterday at the clinic and found out that I wil be working in the school system (which is fine with me). I was able to get a lot of my questions answered but of course I have a lot more! I was able to stay awake until 8 pm Wednesday night and slept until 4:30, so each night is a little better. I will hopefully stay up until 9 tonight! hehe

I am also going to put a little information from Josh about sending mail to Japan at the bottom of this email. It will help you understand a little more about how a military APO address works.

Love you all!

Betsy

Basically, the rates are the same as for the US, to send to military installations (since they're technically US soil). The difference is how long it takes to get there. My understanding that the only stuff you can expect to get there quickly is Priority or Express stuff. Regular 1st Class or Parcel Post could take a long time. In my recent experiences (since I've been paying attention) I've mailed a letter to an Okinawa APO via Priority Mail & it was the same amount ($4.05) as to the US & got there fairly quickly (not exactly sure if it was 3 days but not much more than that). I've also mailed a package (an external laptop DVD drive that I sold on eBay) to an APO (not sure exactly what part of the world) & sent it normal parcel post. It was the same rate as to the US, but I had to fill out a customs form. I sent it in early Dec & it arrived last week! So I don't know if that means letters would also take that long or if it was just because it was a larger package & maybe went to a more remote place (like Iraq). My understanding is that you have to fill out a certain customs form (that they'll give you at the Post office) for packages that weigh a pound or more (might be a size requirement also, like anything that's not in a flat envelope). I also understand that each specific military destination has their own set of restrictions as to type of things that are prohibited. Here are the set that I found on USPS.com about the Okinawa zip code that we have: http://postcalc.usps.gov/restrictions.asp?OZ=27560&DZ=96379 And here is where I go on USPS.com to calculate postage, in general: http://postcalc.usps.gov/default.asp?Mode=Dom_Single&CountryIndex=1&noscript=false Hope that helps! Josh

I've Arrived!

Hi Everyone!

I have made it to Okinawa safe and sound thanks to all your prayers and thoughts! There were no flight delays or flight problems; and customs was not as difficult as the Venezuelan customs. So hopefully all of our shipment will arrive in the next couple of months without major holdup by the customs office. The flight itself was not as bad as I expected, but it could be contributed to the fact that there was an empty seat between me and the next person! I was thankful for that! With that said, 14 hours of sitting is still hard! However, during the trip there were several cool things to look at through the window. The most interesting was the sun! I left Detroit at 1 pm eastern time and around 5:30 there was a sunset. I took an hour nap and when I woke up the sun was back. I did not set again until after I arrived in Osaka, Japan. We also flew over Alaska and I was able to see glaciers and lots of frozen things! It was beautiful!

The time difference has been a little tricky! It is taking me a night or two to get adjusted to it. The first night (after not sleeping but 3-4 hours on the planes) I slept only 5 hours (woke up at 3:30). At 5:30 last night I was in the bed and woke this morning at 3:30 am. I am sure that each night will get easier and hope to stay up until 9 or 10 pm tonight!

I was picked up from the airport by a Sterling Medical representative and she has taken me around to sign all the many papers that are needed to get governmental clearance. I now have a military id card, a bank account, a military email address (for work), and an APO (which is a mail box)! So the new address is:

Josh and Betsy Murphy

PSC 557 Box 2252

FPO AP 96379-2252

With those things being done, the lady, Janice, took me for my first sushi experience in Okinawa! It was GREAT! It was similar to the stateside sushi, just seemed to taste better! They also had a few choices that I wasn't quite brave enough to try (my stomach hasn't been normal since I got here) but will try all sea creatures at my next opportunity to eat sushi (hopefully soon)!

As many of you know, I traveled here without Josh due to the timing of the governmental approval. He will be flying this weekend (Sunday) and will be arriving to join me in this adventure on Monday! Janice and I will pick him up from the airport and then he will spend next week with her doing all the things I did this week (orientation, etc.). We will start our driver's training next Wednesday which is exciting and scary at the same time! Traffic is on the left side of the road here which will take a little getting use to! While being driven around this week, I have only had several near panic attacks feeling like we are about to hit (or be hit) by traffic. However, after only 2 days, the traffic patterns are getting easier to understand, so hopefully by next week, I will be ready to drive! Josh on the other hand..hehe.. we'll see!

We are currently staying in a hotel on Kadena Air base. We have a room with a kitchen and a living room, so it is much bigger than I thought it might be! I am sure that by the time we find off-base housing, the hotel room will be very small!! We have 30 days to find a place and are in no hurry to make that transition. I am still very unsure of where I will be going during the day (for the job), so we don't want to sign a rental agreement until we figure that out a little more.

Today I am going to go to the clinic for the first time and meet some of my co-workers! I am excited about that as well as getting some of the many questions I still have answered!

Hope all of you are having a great day!

Love,

Betsy