Getting Settled

Here is the outside view of our building and its name.

Here is a view from one of the three bedrooms.

Here is another view. The bridge is how we get from the main part of the base to our tower.

Sorry for the long delay in posting. We have moved from the temporary housing into what will be our home for the next few years. We were told by our housing inspector/manger that this building is slated for renovations in 2 years but she could not tell us if we were going to be moved out all once or if the renovations would occur one floor at a time. So it is up in the air exactly how long we will be here but for 2 years at least.

We were hoping that it would take the 3-5 months wait for housing so that we could possibly bring Joey (our Sheltie) from the states here. This did not happen. Our FIRST day they said we have 3 possible choices of on base housing. We were going to say no thank you we will wait for a townhouse (the only housing that allows dogs) but the housing office said that if we chose this route we would have to move out of the temporary housing and start looking for housing off base (kinda hard to do when Izac did not have a liberty card and neither of us had drivers licenses or a car). So we made the hard decision to leave Joey with my parents (although he seems to be REALLY happy) and take the housing offered.

That day we saw the 3 possible choices. All three were in the same mid rise building (not a high rise for any of you who lived in Atsugi or other bases with the buildings that went up to 9 floors). It is the Sakura building. The first apartment we looked at was on the 2nd floor overlooking the base. It was ok but smelled like cat pee. The second we looked at was on the 3rd floor. It was on the other side of the building overlooking off base and the lotus fields. To me it was darker than the first one. The final choice was on the 6th floor (top) overlooking the base again. I liked this one the best. It had the newest appliances and a fantastic view. SO we went back to housing and told them we would take it. They set us up to move in on Tuesday December the 8th.

Now that we have moved in I have had a week to find all the things wrong with it (I REFUSE to have them charge us for any "damage" that is here already). Izac tends to leave this up to me as I am a bit more picky about what I term damage.

We have been provided with loaner furniture and that is nice. We have a bed (queen size), two night stands, two dressers, a funny sized mirror (not full size but not small either) a dining table and 4 chairs, a "couch" and an "easy" chair. We also were able to checkout a bin that had basic cooking stuff (4 plates, knives, spoons, forks, bowls, and cups, a pitcher, a coffee maker w/out filters, a pot, a pan and a sauce pan, a bottle opener, measuring cups and spoons, etc), an ironing board and iron, and two lamps. The couch was a joke so Izac and I went out this past weekend and bought a couch. Its really a sectional and its masculine (it is slated for the man cave when we return to the states). Next on the to acquire list is a coffee table and side tables to go with it. These are the items that did not survive the move from the apartment to storage 7 months ago.

We are both eagerly awating the household goods shipment slated to arrive in 3 weeks and 6 days (not that Im counting). So for now we settle in and enjoy the space.