Our Adventures in Atsugi Japan

A few weeks ago we decided to go to Tokyo Disneyland on a whim (this is not something I would really recommend). Disney Tokyo is made up of 2 parks: Disneyland and Disneysea. We have been told that Disneyland is more for the the younger kids so we only when there this time but I am sure we will go to Disneysea at some point. So this is how it went.     First of all save yourself a lot of hassle and do not buy tickets online. It took us 2 hours to come to the conclusion online purchase was not going to work for us. We apparently have to many safety features on our credit cards and debit card that it was making the purchase much more difficult. So to save yourself the trouble we had go to the ATM at the Main Exchange (or near the Depot) and pull out some Yen (this is where the online purchase helps you to know how much you will need to withdraw). Then go to the 711 or any 711 and you can purchase the tickets there. The 711 on base was very helpful with this process so...

So when we set up our HHG we were originally told not to do the unaccompanied baggage (used to be called express shipment) due to the fact that it would arrive the same time as out HHG. I am here to tell you that is not true do not let them tell you that. I did more research and found out it’s not true and a very good Idea to send it. Your accompanied baggage is picked up a few weeks before your HHG and is shipped via air via Space A so it will likely arrive when you arrive in Japan if not shortly after and by time you get housing; ours arrived before we even arrived. Once you get housing you can go to personal property and arrange for your unaccompanied baggage to be delivered. I used a bunch or resources to pack our unaccompanied baggage; if you take to Pinterest and google and just search for “what to pack in unaccompanied baggage to japan” or something similar it will bring up a bunch of lists. One that I think I took the most from was at worldtravelingmilitaryfamily.com . I left ...

(Updated with our furniture) So I know I said I would post photos of you 4 bedroom townhome on Atsugi when we got assigned housing, well that may have to wait a few months. After spending a total of 20 days at the navy lodge we were told they had no 4 bedrooms available for us. Our options were then to either move in town or take a 3 bedroom and we were given the option to have a 4 bedroom possibly in May when the air wing moves to Iwakuni. We chose to take the 3 bedroom which landed us in the towers. Many people think we are crazy because they would love to live in town (it is mandatory to live on base right now) however if we chose to live in town we might end up being forced to move back on base again if a 4 bedroom becomes available. If they were to come to me in 6 months to a year I would say heck yeah let's do it but when we were offered it I hadn't driven in town yet (I still haven't) and I would have to bring my kids on base for school every day; honestly thi...

So when you first get to NAF Atsugi you will be walking everywhere. Although the base is small and most things are centrally located to the lodge you will see that things will take a lot longer to accomplish due to walking (especially if you have more than one child). Food shopping will seem like an impossible task and you might find yourself going to the commissary multiple times a week or even a day. However you will get a good workout in. I have a Fitbit and in a single day I went from the lodge to the CDC, to Fleet and Family for our AOB/ICR, to the school (near the CDC) back to fleet and family, back to CDC, to the commissary and then back to the lodge and I had over my 10,000 steps for the day and that was with me sitting in a class all day.  I personally do not mind the walking but if you do this might be a bit difficult for you so you might want to take people who offer you a ride up on their offer. So if what I stated above dose scare you then you are in luck this sce...

So when you first get to Japan everything is very overwhelming and scary mostly because it is something new. If you are like us and get here at night then you do not get to really see what anything looks like so venturing off base could be a bit scary. I am here to say do not worry once you get here you are required to go through and AOB/ICR (Area Orientation Brief/Intercultural Relations) which will fully prepare you for going out in town which will be one the 3rd day of your AOB/ICR.  On the 2nd day of our ICR they will show you how to use the trains as well as give some recommendations on where to visit fully preparing you for your 3rd day which is your "field trip."  On this field trip you will be taken on a bus to the train station Sagami-Ōtsuka Station.   Once you are at the station you will be  shown how to get a pasmo card which is a prepaid card you can use instead of getting a ticket every time you use the train or bus. The pasmo card can also be use...

 We made it!! The journey to Atsugi was long and exhausting so if you are going to make the journey ba aware. We started out fine making it from Indianapolis to Dallas without a problem but Dallas is where it all started to go down hill. We thought we had an hour layover in Dallas but by time we landed and got off the plane we had 20 minutes. If you have ever been to Dallas before then you know 20 minutes is not enough time which lead to us pretty much running to the next gate with a 3 year old who had been up since 1:00am so we ended up dragging her  through the airport but we made it and made it to Seattle with no additional complications.  So we spent the night in the Radisson which is right across the street from the airport. Due to the AMC terminal being at Seattle Airport it is very popular for military to stay at. The hotel itself is very nice for an airport hotel however I would not recommend eating it the hotel restaurant it was overpriced as are many hote...