First Week and Mailing Address

We will have been here a week so far tomorrow (Friday) and it seems like we have not really gotten much done. This is because it is hard to get anywhere with out a car and that includes getting a car.  But we are loving it here more and more everyday!

When we got here it was dark and raining. We had been on the plane for about 28 hours and they let off all the families with kids off first and loaded them in buses and then right when the buses came back to get the rest of us we had lightning within 5 miles and said that we couldn't get off the plane for an hour. I was so close to just going crazy right there but after about 15 minutes Heavenly Father answered my prayers and they started deplaning again! I really was a divine intervention.

After getting our luggage Eric our sponsor picked us up and took us to our hotel. All we did our first weekend is sleep eat the groceries (Eric was so nice to get us) and go off base our first time to go to church (because we don't know where we are going to live, we don't know what ward we will end up in yet).

Then so far this week we really have only been getting all of Logan's work stuff taken care of. I have gotten to tag around with him a bit too. I got to go in to his office building (not the secure room where he will actually be working) and meet some people he will work with. We had to sit through a all day new comer orientation, and have been working on getting him all squared away so he can leave again on the 5 of October.

Still even though we have not been able to explore as much as I would have liked we have been able to see some cool things. Just last night when we were walking back from dinner we saw these guys. They have huge bats here that are really really big! You can't tell from the picture but these were hanging down almost a foot long and their wing span was even bigger. I looked it up and they can get as big as having 5.6 feet wing span! And I don't doubt it! 

On Tuesday I went to the Relief Society activity with a woman named Vashti.  We were introduced on Facebook a little bit before we came here and so I asked her to take us to church last Sunday. She was so sweet and drove us and then fed us that Sunday night. We have been in contact ever since and are becoming good friends. After the RS activity she took me to a little convenience store to get some treats. I got some purple sweet potato ice cream and this Asian Pear Fanta. They were both really good! It has definitely been fun to try new things. 

From where we are staying you can even see the Ocean!! If you look real close there is a thin strip of blue right above the buildings. That is the East China Sea!

As much fun as it is to live in a hotel (cough, cough... its not...) I actually can't wait until we get a real place. We went to get more information on Tuesday and we found out that it is mandatory for us to live on base (so no off base option. sad) and it sounds like they are pretty full here on Kadena so they may send us to stay on Foster Marine Base that is about 20 minutes down the road. I really hope they don't! We really want to stay here on Kadena close to where Logan works and to stay in the ward that we have already been to a like a lot! They have 5 days to call and let us know what our options are. After we pick a place we still can have over a week wait before getting into the new place. At this point, Logan will most likely be in Florida before we move in. 

Our biggest need right now is that we need to get a car. We got our licenses on Wednesday so we can now actually buy a car but that is easier said then done. We found one on Monday but by the time we went to see it again today it was sold :(  So no yellow Honda Fit for me. Out here none of the cars are that expensive but there is a lot of paper work involved and so once we pick out the car it will be another few days before we can pick it up. Every day without a car is very difficult because the base is so big there isn't much we can do without one and Eric can only drive us around for so long.

So I feel like once we get all the big details taken care of we will really love it here! The weather is warm a beautiful every day. It does rain a lot but never for very long. It is so fun exploring and finding new things. We have also been very blessed to have a good sponsor. He has been kind enough to pick us up and take us around when he can. It has also be great having a full size BX (like a huge walmart without the food). It has shoes, a Bath and Body Works, clothes, lawn mowers, scuba gear and lots lots more! It is like a mall and I love it!

People here are also so nice. My friend Vashti also invited Logan and me to go with her and her kids to a baptism at the beach. It was really amazing! It was our first time at the beach and we went to this place where the ocean had eaten out all these arches in the rocks and it made a little cove. That was a fun experience. I can't wait now until we actually can get to the beach to go swimming!

We also have a mailing address now!! It is

Logan and Anna Dixon
PSC 80 BOX 20181
APO, AP 96367

The way this works is that this is just like a stateside address but it takes a lot longer to get here and if you send a box you do have to fill out a customs form. I hear that the best place to use is USPS with their flat rate boxes. They are able to get here pretty quick but you can use whatever ends up being cheapest. Technically it is like sending a box to California as far as you can track or have to pay for and then it gets put on a plane in San Francisco. If you need more detail, I would suggest going to the post office and asking them (because I have never mailed anything!). I will also just put out there: I promise if you send me mail, I will send you back some too with lots of fun Japaneses stuff! I've been waiting until I can get off base to find some fun treasures but I promise I'm thinking of you all!

If you want to call, my magic jack is not working but you can use Skype or an app called Text+ to call/text me for FREE (Email me if you want more info on that)!