Teaching English

    Tonight was my first night teaching English in Iwakuni. When you walk in the building, you have to take off your shoes and put on these ugly little things...

    It was a blast though! I had three students tonight and they were so funny. At first I went in there with an article to read with them. Turns out it was way tooooo hard for them and I think I scared them a little! But I tossed it to the side and decided to find out what they wanted me to teach them. Here's the list: the states, cultures, food, dangerous animals, life, education, music concerts, grand canyon, Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks, and museums. Quite a list! They want me to teach them about life in the states and basically have conversations with them. Tonight we talked about Texas of course. They wanted to know if we say "Howdy" and where we go when there are tornadoes. I told them that not all Texans ride horses and say "howdy partner" and that most people have storm cellars. They loved it! I also taught them the word "y'all", come on how can I not when talking about Texas?

    We also found a house the end of last week. I was waiting to post because I wasnt sure that we would be able to because it looks like this right now

   

    That's right, it's not even built yet, barely a foundation! But we were lucky enough to find a house that is being built as a rental. Everything will be brand new and we will have enough room for all of our furniture! How lucky is that? I cant wait to post pictures as they build! Heres our next door neighbors house built by the same company:

    Pretty nice huh? Unfortunately we wont be moving in until November 1st, so we are stuck in the temporary lodging until then. But at least we will have a brand new house!

    Other than that I don't have any big news. This weekend we mostly drove around looking at houses. We went back to the river for a little bit and into a few stores for some shopping. I found a few funny items. 

What kind of candy do you think this is? I wasn't brave enough to find out!

Isaac said this was like squid jerky... Once again I wasn't brave enough to find out!

Doesn't this packaging make you feel horrible for the mouse??

    To finish up our weekend we went to an India Restaurant. It was honestly the best chicken curry that I have ever had. They make the naan bread when you place your order! It was so fresh and delicious! I will definitely be going back there. 

    Welp goodnight everyone! I hope yall have as good of a Monday as I had!!

Meet Molly the Miata

    Meet my Japanese car' Molly the Miata!! Isn't she cute? It's the perfect little car for Japan. Molly is almost like my barbie convertible, but the barbie car was red lol! I know I'm dumb for naming my car but it's a tradition ever since my first car. Molly was built in '96 which is the same year as my first car Polly the Pontiac. I figured since they were built the same year, that they should have similar names! Don't Isaac and his friend Greg look so cute!

    We have had a very eventful and busy weekend. You'll be happy to know that I have plenty of pictures for you! Saturday morning we went to the river and did a little snorkeling. The water is crytal clear, it's absolutely beautiful! It's pretty cool because at the top of the dam there is fresh water and the bottom is salt water. We snorkeled in the fresh water.

    After spending the day at the river we went out to eat at a place that Americans call Chicken Shack,but the actual name is Sanzoku. Its a cute place in the mountains. You eat outdoors and sit at traditional japanese tables. They were packed though and it took about an hour to get our food. Isaac was in no mood for pictures, but I tried anyway. Heres what happened...

First the arguing, after the eye roll, then the nose wipe and finally the smile. Looks like I won! I guess the 4th time was the charm lol! Once the food came he was in a lot better mood of course.

This was dessert! Its ice cream with a sweet bean sauce. Sounds weird I know, but it was delicious! I might go back just for that!

The guys posing on our way out! Yes, Isaac does have a crab on his shoulder!

    Sunday we decided to be adventurous and head out to the Kintai castle and bridge. The drive out there was beautiful in Molly with the top down of course. We decided to hike up to the castle and then took the tram down. The hike was so peaceful, it was nice to listen to all the noises in the mountains and talk with Isaac. We haven't had time to really enjoy ourselves yet so it was a great treat for us. I think when Isaac gets out of the Marines that we need to live around the mountains. I love being outdoors! Now I know this is what you truly want, so here are the pictures:

The beautiful Kintai bridge!

Cheesin

This possibly means: Run, angry squirrels with guns that set fires!!!!! We took the risk!

We made it to the top! You can see the base on the top left corner and the rest Iwakuni and the river that cuts through to the ocean.

    The beautiful Kintai Castle. The original castle was demolished during WWII but the town rebuilt it after. It's absolutely beautiful. On the inside are a bunch of samurai swords that were found in the ruble of the demolished castle. Isaac was like a kid in a candy store!

This sword was huge!!

They also found this armor. Can you imagine wearing that? It would be so heavy and hot!

    After we left the castle we were absolutely hungry! So we decided to head to downtown for some food. We had heard of a local food and wanted to try it. It's called okonomiyaki, basically they pour some patter on the grill and then put cabbage, pork, egg, and noodles on top. It was delicious! 

This is the "soul food" of Japan! At least that's what a Japanese lady told me, lol!

    Sorry for not posting lately. I caught a little stomach bug that has zapped all of my energy!! I promise to post more once I'm feeling better. I haven't done much lately. I had my interview for the 4th grade position on Monday. It went well, I think, but I haven't heard anything yet. I had another interview on Tuesday to teach English to adults on base. I start next Monday! Ill be teaching every Monday night and hopefully I'll pick up more classes from there. Yesterday I went to go look at houses, no luck yet. The two houses that I saw were very small. I don't think our bedroom furniture would have fit in any of the bedrooms. Ill just have to keep looking. Today I am taking the day off to try and get better! Lots of movie watching and laying in bed, wish me luck ;0)

    

Make new friends...

    Everyone remembers that song from childhood right? Make new friends but keep the old... Its funny how true that is. I know I'm cheesy, but whenever you move you realize how great you had it at the old place. I think we all take for granted the cities that we live in. Isaac and I used to talk about how much we hated Jacksonville and that we loved Yuma when we first moved. At the end, right before the move we got the slap in the face of.... Jacksonville was our HOME and we weren't ready to leave. I had my teaching job, great friends, and our dogs! Wow did we have it good!! Now we are far away from our friends, (I might have a teaching job), and our doggies are in Texas. A lot has changed! But of course as the song goes, we have to make new friends! Lol i know i know.... cheesy! So far we haven't met many people but we will once things have settled. Thankfully we have friends from Jacksonville that moved here a month before us. They have been kind enough to drive us around and show us the ropes. Thanks Ticia and Greg, y'all are awesome!! I went on a run with the women's running group yesterday and I met some great girls.They run every Tuesday evening. It was great to be able to get out of the room and meet some new people.

    Speaking of getting out of the room. We were able to go out in town this weekend! We drove by the Kintai bridge. I'm sorry I wasnt able to get a good picture, I will this weekend. It is a beautiful wooden bridge that was built in the early 1700's with no nails!! Look it up, it is absolutely beautiful! We worked up an appetite after that of course and went to a cool little restaurant.

    

    Look at that yummy food! This is a yakatori restaurant. You order what you want and they bring it out seasoned, then you cook it. The Korean beef was my favorite, it was delicious! We also had soba noodles, they were served in the stone bowls. It was delicious!!!

  

   After eating we headed back to base and I got a shot of the beautiful sunset! Look at those mountains! We cant wait to climb them.

    Sunday our friends were running errands around and we of course went along to have something to do. We went to the Walmart type store of Japan and look what I found...

Kids in the states keep hermit crabs, kids in Japan keep these?? So gross!

    I hope this isn't the palmetto bug of Japan! If your from Florida then you know what I'm talking about. It's basically what Floridians call big cockroaches because they are trying to sugar coat it! I'm hoping not to find this in our future home! Eeeeek!!!!

    We finished off the day with a visit to CoCo's Curry. Anyone who has been to Japan brags about this place, Isaac used to talk about it all the time. I was very excited to try it.

    The first bite I didn't like it, then I kept eating and loved it, and the last bite I hated it! Does that make sense? Not really, but I will go back again! The Naan bread was amazing! I think next time I might not get the chicken cutlet. My friend Riki will probably kill me for my explanation of it! Sorry Riki!

    We are still looking for a car. Not much luck lately, but we are still looking. Yesterday we went to the 7-day store and found this parked outside. Isaac was beyond excited and had to look at every detail. Too bad its not for sale ;0) He looked at it for a solid 15 minutes so I had to take a picture.

    Before I leave I have some exciting news... There is a fourth grade position open at the school here on the base!! There are only 3 other certified teachers on base so I have a chance at the job! Please send prayers and keep your fingers crossed that I get the call!!!

Adjustment

Adjustment... that's all this first week is about. Sleep has been the hardest thing. Wednesday night was rough, I woke up a lot and layed in bed trying to make myself sleep. Last night was much better, I was only up a few times and I actually slept till 5 am! That was a major improvement. I am 14 hours in the future, so my sleep schedule is all out of whack! Everyone says that it will take about a week until I'm sleeping like normal again. I sure hope its less than that.

I've only had one minor breakdown so far, lol. Yesterday I was majorly jet-lagged, but I had to make myself stay awake all day. Needless to say I was already a hot mess! I went into a restroom here on base, and I went to flush the toilet but I couldn't find the handle to flush it! So I stood there like a bump on a log trying to figure it out,  and the next thing I know... I am crying because I couldn't figure it out! It was pretty pathetic. I finally heard someone come in and asked them what to do. Come to find out it was a button on the floor. Who woulda thought! Definitely not this jet-lagged emotional mess!

We haven't been able to get off base yet to see anything. You have to take a few classes for you licencse ((and a car)). I finished one class today and the next will be Monday. The class today was for the road signs and driving laws. Talk about overwhelming! They have so many more laws here than in the states. Also, the Japanese expect you to be courteous drivers, you know let them in and not cut them off. The exact opposite of how "we" drive in the states. Thankfully I passed so I'm half-way there! Now I just have to get used to driving on the left side of the road in the left side of the car! That has been so weird. Every time we take a turn, I want to tell my friend she is going the wrong way! I'm sure that once I'm driving I will adjust reallllll quick lol! Here are a few pictures of our room and the view from the balcony: 

Across the inlet is off base, the perfect teaser! Looking in opposite direction is the ocean.

Our hotel room looking in from the door.

The rest of the room.

The room isn't a bad size, pretty nice considering that for the past two months we've been living in someone else's bedroom! (Thanks Jason and Lauren, Mom, Dad, Chuck and Sylvia) We have our own little kitchen and couch! That is a big step up for us. We will be here for about a month, we think, until we are able to find either a house out in town or on base. Most likely we will be living out in town. The housing on base is VERY limited and most of it is for couples with children. Considering we aren't having kids anytime soon, there's a slim chance of us getting base housing. I'm kind of excited at the thought of living out in town and emerging ourselves in the culture. The town is very safe and the crime rates are much lower than in the US. The police don't even carry guns, only clubs. (that was for you dad)

Hopefully this weekend we will be able to go out in town and sight see, possibly look at housing. I will definitely post pictures when we do. From what I can see (lol) it looks gorgeous. Well for now I am going to focus my energy on looking for a car and "trying" not to sleep! I'm sure there is more to fill you in on, but I'm brain dead.

I'll leave y'all with this today. It's tradition with my Dad that he sticks something random in your luggage for you to find whenever you get to your destination. He will do it to anyone who stays at his house, so beware! This time I found Jack in the luggage. I kinda like him, I think I will let him live with us in Japan. What do y'all think? I miss and love y'all at home!

P.S. Please excuse any grammatical errors and blame it on the jet-lag!

23 Hours of travel later

I am absolutely positively exhausted! We got in here at 9:00 last night which was I think around noon back home. Not only was it an extremely long flight, I got sick on the plane twice. It was pretty awful, and the funny thing is that I had made all the extra precautions to not get sick. Maybe it was the mix of medications, I'm not sure. All i know is that I never want to be that sick during 23 hours of travel again!! Isaac did pretty well, he started getting a little sick at the end, but he was just exhausted. With that said, we made it and we are OK.It was pretty hard to sleep last night, considering it was daytime back home. We woke up a lot throughout the "night" and finally decided just to get up around 5 this morning. I will post pictures later of our little hotel room and the view. We have a great view of the ocean from the balcony! Now we just have to go on the hunt for a house. Hopefully we can find something quickly so that we can stop living out of our suitcases! Today should be extra busy, we are getting cellphones, I'm going by the school here to drop off my resume, car shopping, house hunting, and Isaac has to check-in to his command. Wish us luck!!

For now I'm going to try and organize our chaos!! Jah mah-tah nay

Goodbye USA!

Before I even begin I think I should start with an explanation of my blog name. Most of y'all know my brother Chad or have heard me talk about him. He is my best friend, such a goof, well and really smart too! So naturally I turn to him for most things. I am not creative with naming or writing, but Chad is of course. He named this blog. His explanation: Japan is known as the rising sun and I am of course a southern girl so he came up with Southern Sun Rising! Pretty good huh? Thanks bubba :0)

I am sitting at the airport waiting for our flight with a mixture of feelings. At this moment I could possibly cry, laugh, sleep, smile, or throw a pitiful adult fit. Why? Well I am moving to Japan for 3 years with my husband Isaac. I have lived away from family for the past 5 years, but not this far. I lean on them so much and it is going to be hard being so far away. At the same time I am excited for this amazing experience. I will be able to see things and go places that I never imagined I would. It is a bittersweet situation. 

I hope to post everyday but that is probably not realistic, most likey every other day! I thought this would be the best way to keep everyone updated without having to send a million emails or upload a million pictures to Facebook. I hope that you follow us on this adventure and maybe even come visit. Thank you so much for being a part of my life :0) I will miss y'all dearly!!