Information Overload

I did not arrive in Japan this week with the intention of taking a crash Japanese culture course, learn how to shovel rice into my mouth with chopsticks, or qualify for a Japanese driver's license, but that is how the week turned out. Yesterday, I passed my Japanese driver's written test. I am scheduled to take the driving portion of the test on Thursday morning. I get to do this without ever having had a chance to practice driving on the left side of the road, as they do here. The powers-that-be on the base do not allow for it. It will not be necessary they say. I will just be placed in an unfamiliar vehicle with a bunch of other newbies and drive.

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They have chicharas here in Japan. Maybe not as loud as the ones back home in South Texas, but loud enough to remind me of summer afternoons back home. The ones here produce their ear-piercing chirring with a slight Japanese accent.

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I still don't have a base ID. That won't happen until Monday, oh, but dammit, I'm all set for the driving test.

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The public computers on the base here in Yokosuka are locked down pretty good. They do not permit me to download my photos onto them so that I can post them online.

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Ronda and her kids drove over from Yakota Air Base this morning. It was a great visit. The time they spent with us help take some of the edge off this traumatic week. Ronda made certain to remind me of the time that she, Rene, and the kids first came over to Japan and said that we, Melba and I, would now have an excuse to fly across the Pacific and visit with them. She remembered me saying. "No, I don't think so. Japan is not on my list of places to visit in my lifetime." God has a sense of humor. Look where I am now.