We're moving to Japan

After nearly two decades of service, the Navy is finally sending us overseas!

When I found out that we were going to Japan I took a day to freak out about it, but then I was ready and I dove in head-first 😂. I couldn’t wait to tell the kids and help them get excited about our new adventure too.

We signed up for camps at the Japanese Friendship Garden, we started learning Japanese on Duolingo, and checked out books about Japan from the library.

I’ve never been to Japan, so there is A LOT to learn… here are a few things we’ve explored so far:

Learning the language

Hiring a tutor to do zoom language learning was a bust. It was hard to hear and the kids got overwhelmed quickly with the style of teaching. They got a lot more excited when we found this Ryan’s World episode about learning Japanese (apparently this guy has over 37M followers?!)

Learning the culture

We watched some videos on how to use chopsticks (and how NOT to use chopsticks), along with other table manners. I’ve tried making several Japanese dishes and they are mostly enjoyed :)

We’ve also looked up fun places to visit, plus where to camp, hike, and of course, mountain bike.

Fortunately we have several friends who have lived in Japan, plus lots of fellow military families who are willing to answer questions and share tips.

E has also learned from his trips there: do not stand in the middle of the escalator and do not dip sushi rice in soy sauce.

Getting there

Our process to move to Japan as a military family involved getting “no-fee” passports (received), immunizations (just found out about these last week), and completing a dog quarantine (yes, Wile E Pups is coming, and his quarantine will be complete by the time we arrive)!

We are also traveling on military flights, so stay tuned for what that looks like…

Aside from the country-specific preparations, we are doing all of the normal things that come along with a household move. The past few months has been all about preparing our belongings for shipment, taking careful stock of the things we need most, and purging things we really don’t need at all.

Now that most of our stuff is on a container, we are shifting our attention to saying goodbye to friends and neighbors in San Diego. It has been such a great community to be a part of and we will definitely miss it.

We are truly grateful for everyone who has helped us get ready for this adventure — from borrowing cleaning supplies (hopefully our dog won’t still smell like a skunk by the time we arrive), to having our kids stay for a dinner while the movers pack until dark, to just being excited for us and cheering us on.

Thank you!

またね
(☝️ “matane” means “see you later” in Japanese)

Perfecting my okonomiyaki (cabbage pancake)