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