The beginning of our Japanese adventure!

Konnichiha! (pronounced as konnichiwa) We are finally settled into our new home in Japan and having fun as we take in the new culture.

We have been asked a lot about how long it took to get here. It was a 10.5 hour flight, followed by a 2 hour flight, 1.5 hour bus ride, and then short 10 minute taxi to the base where we stayed in a hotel for a week before we got our housing. (We are lucky to have such a short wait, there are others who sometimes end up waiting months.) R was awake much of the longer flight and took a few short naps which was overall easy, until we hit the next flight and our jet lag kicked in. We were lucky enough to get bulkhead seats which provided plenty of space for all the toys and odds and ends to keeping him busy for all that time. He had his own seat on the plane in which we put his car seat but it mainly ended up being a spot for us to put all our stuff.

We had 7 pieces of luggage, plus a diaper bag and car seat. When we arrived in Tokyo, we had to get all our baggage, and re-check it. This entailed getting our bags, putting them on luggage carts, going through customs, and then getting on a bus (with all those bags!) to change terminals and then re-checking them before going through security. We were pressed for time, sweaty and exhausted by the time we got to our next flight. We all passed out for that flight... we were met by N's sponsor at the airport and took the bus to the town we are living in. R slept the whole time, it was night in Japan by then but jet lag was soon to hit us.

Our the last flight from Tokyo to Fukouka.

The first days we all woke up around 3-4am every morning, and by the end of the week we were getting closer to the usual schedule but R was not napping. His usual happy, smiley demeanor was changed and he was super fussy and cranky. Once we finally got him napping again, he was his happy self.

My sister got here a few days after we arrived and we have had fun checking out the local cuisine (although the menu's are in Japanese and ordering can be interesting, you really never know what you are going to get.) We try to stick with beef, to avoid the other mystery meats!