Work Environment

Most of the day, I'm expected to stay in the "office", a double wide iso-container building. It's snug, and air conditioned, but poorly insulated. The whole place whistles when the wind picks up. My new desk is pretty sweet though. It is situated right in front of a big window, and has a lovely view, including such sights as:

• Industrial lawn, with standard grass, clover, dandilions, and ad-hoc dirt pathways

Travel Day 3

Slept fitfully, woke several times during the night. Humid and clammy. Woke at 4:15, packed, walked to the curb. Found a couple of geckos on the outside of the building. The girls try to catch them, but meet no success. There are glass panes mounted flush in the pavement, overgrown with fern on the inside. Perhaps they used to be floodlights for the outside of the building? More spoiled splendor.

The taxi didn't show up at 5. Called, he was still asleep apparently? Different guy showed up about ten minutes later, took us to the airport.

Travel Day 2

After making it back to the Hawaii International Airport, I went down to the luggage office. Our car seat was still missing. Fortunately, after some struggling with the computer system, the clerk got the rest of our luggage checked all the way through to Nagoya, so we won't have to haul all that stuff around Guam.

The lobby is a lovely place to wait while the paperwork gets done.

Travel Day 1

A few observations from the first day of travel.

Lots of these flowers fallen on the sidewalk. They smell lovely. We brought a few back to the hotel room.

It turns out that, when they say "50 pounds maximum" they don't mean "87 pounds is okay too". Also, United sells cardboard boxes for $15, but charges $200 if you don't want to re-pack your bags. Also, all of the in-flight entertainment is locked behind a pay-wall. Blech.

Waypoint Camarillo

My wife and kids have been here for a couple weeks now, so they have already asked and answered most of the important questions. When I arrived they were eager to inform me of the particulars of our stay. Where we were sleeping, and the local sources of food were their primary concerns. All good things to think about in the middle of an upheaval.

Leaving Mukilteo

You know the feeling when you're about to jump off of something very tall? Where you want to, but your body is telling you that you really shouldn't?
Very much that feeling right now.

Also, I didn't pack a toothbrush... classic.

The Sprint at the End

So, Anna did a marvelous job of packing up the house. I've been living in a nearly empty building for the past two weeks. Of importance to this post, a "nearly empty building" still contains a surprising amount of stuff.

Getting to Japan

Choosing a flight to Japan from the US isn't too difficult. Basically you have to weigh travel time and layovers against departure date and cost. Our scenario brings an additional factor, that of three children under the age of five years old.

How did this happen?

Here's a bit of background as to the how and why of our extended stay in Japan. It basically comes down to the well worn maxim, "Be careful what you ask for."

We're Going to Live in Japan

Hi there!
We are Paul and Anna Spooner, and we're about to be living in Japan from April through September of 2014. We're taking our three kids, and we'll be staying for six months (0.5 children/month). We're looking forward to having our fourth child while we're there. Here is where we'll be posting our status, insights, photos, and whatever else seems worth sharing.
Enjoy!