Winter Hit, and then Reality...

Last week the Seattle area was pounded by a snow storm that started on Monday and didn't end until Thursday for most people (unless you had no power). We were visiting family down south and left for a trip to Ikea and then home to Bellingham after. We drove the nearly 3 hour drive home, snow falling and pretty good road conditions. Once we got up north the road conditions worsened along with the snow, and I pretty much knew we weren't going anywhere for a few days. We got around 10 inches and by Tuesday morning the snow stopped for the most part...but man did it get cold. The temperature got down to 0, and stayed around 10-18 degrees F for a few days which is NOT normal for Washington. Luckily we had no wind, or precipitation and plenty of firewood to stay warm inside. We were just hanging out at home meanwhile from about 5 miles south of us the whole Seattle area  to Portland is getting hit hard by a winter storm. By Wednesday Marcus and I were a bit stir-crazy, and since Benjamin had stayed with Nana and Papa down south, we went for a  hike through the snowy arboretum across the street from our condo building.

As you can see, the woods were just gorgeous all covered in snow. At least we had snow around for a few days before it warmed back up and the rain came back... by Saturday morning, you woudn't have known it had snowed at all. Back to 45 degrees and then it was flood warning time...


















No bad flooding occured, we did see some farm fields up in the valley that were a bit waterlogged, but nothing serious as far as we saw...so far.

Overlooking Bellingham Bay at the lookout tower in the Arboretum

THEN Saturday evening, we FINALLY got the official word on our move...

The countdown has officially begun...We have only 39 days until we depart for Japan. On March 5, we will board our flight to Narita International Airport and won't return to the U.S. for almost 3 years. We will be living between Yokohama and Mt. Fuji ( the world's most symmetrical mountain, actually a volcano, called  Fuji-san.) You can see this on the map below in the turquoise region called Kanto. Sendai is where the tsunami and pending nuclear disasters occurred (are still occuring?). We will be a good distance from there, however earthquakes will become a normal part of life for us (I will be electing to store all of my prized possessions in the U.S. for this reason!).

Though initially I was quite jolted by the surprising news that we were to move there, I am starting to look forward to the experience. Everyone we've spoken with that has lived there absolutely loves Japan, so that is always great and actually quite a rare thing to hear from other military families. Normally everything you hear about a duty station is negative. Overall, Japan is a gorgeous country with meaningful customs, an intriguing culture, and of course fresh fish! The population is huge at 130 million people on a landmass the size of  California, the habitable area of which is only the size of South Carolina! It is this reason that the need for personal space ( like uh, a personal bubble, one that I am very accustomed to having) has been effectively removed from society. Honestly, I think this is one of the only things I'm really gonna have a hard time with, that and the language barrier...ok maybe there's a few more things. The toilets....??...

The traditional style
(careful not to get your pants!)



or the modern style?

 





Really though as confusing or challenging as it is, at least I'm moving to country that has flushable toilets available...







I'll take it one day, and one challenge at a time....that's all I can do...and keep toilet paper in my bag...

 I have had a looming feeling of holding onto and soaking up every little piece of home that I can for the last few months, but lately that nostalgia is starting to fade. The reality is starting to hit hard, and it hurts, but only a little. I'll live. The Japanese people strive to live without fear, this is something I'm hoping to conquer as well!