Kamakura and a van

This last Thursday, our class took a trip out in town.  It was to show us how easy the train system is here in town.  The instructors get you to Kamakura, show you around a bit and leave you there!  It's your job to make it back to base.  Getting there was no problem for us.  We feel like a pro.  With our Pasmo cards, we only have to tap to get through the turnstiles and tap once we get to our destination.  No trying to calculate the fares, just focusing on getting to where we want to go.  So once we got there, it was lunch time.  We walked along one of the streets looking for something good to eat.  We saw this one banner, but when we went inside it was a pastry shop.  (Japan is obsessed with pastries, they are everywhere!) They told us that the place was around the corner.  So we went down a little alley.  Once inside the door, we had to take our shoes off, and dumb Americans that we are, we didn't know that they have slippers for us to wear.  Anyways, we sit down at our table (there were 3 couples and only 2 to a table) and there's a griddle in the middle.  They have menus in English!  So Zach and I are adventurous and try the Japanese pancake.  Mine was with sweet corn and cheese and Zach had garlic and cheese.  Out comes a bowl with a raw egg sitting on top.  They guy told us to "mix-stir den 4 (while holding up fingers) on bof side".  Ok, I think I got that.  Mix it, then pour it on the griddle and cook 4 minutes each side.  Ok, so we went for it.  In these pancakes was a little bit of batter, shredded cabbage, scallions, some red stuff and our choice ingredients.  I just have to say that it was amazing!  So delicious, I can't wait to go back.  I think the boys would have a blast!  After we paid and left we hit up an ice cream shop for a special treat.  We chose sweet potato and vanilla swirl.  Here, their sweet potatoes are purple, so our ice cream was purple and white swirl.  I think I found my new favorite.  We were told when Obama visited a couple of years ago, he tried the sweet potato ice cream.  So I figured if he could be brave and try it, so could I.  Next on my list of flavors to try is sushi and green tea.  We'll see about those. 

We met up for our tour of the shrine in Kamakura.  The actual shrine is over 1,000 years old.  Totally boggles my mind.  A shrine is from the Shinto religion, which is 1 of 2 major religions here in Japan.  Buddhism being the other that came over in the 6th century.  And they have temples and Buddha as their places of worship.  Nowadays, both religions co-exist together.  Many will pray or ask for "wishes" at both the shrine and the temple.  Religion in Japan in casual.  We went to visit the shrine and it was gorgeous.  They had these fruit booths out front with about 8-9 different kinds of fruit.  We tried the strawberry with a hard coating on top of a Ritz cracker.  YUMMY!  We finally made it back to base.

On Friday, we took our written drivers test.  Both Zachary and I passed our test and will be taking the driving practical on Wednesday afternoon.  Looking at the lemon lot, a lot that the base has allotted as a place to sell cars.  So those leaving Japan can sell there as well as some who sell cars bought at auction.  And one thing we learned, car auctions here in Japan are nothing like those in the States.  All the cars are appraised and only those of good quality are sold at auction.  They have a rating system to let you know how well the car was taken care of.  After much looking, talking and researching, we came to the conclusion that we wanted a Nissan Liberty minivan.  The road tax each year is the least expensive, dependable cars and 3rd row seating.  Thankfully, there were plenty of them available since it's quite popular.  We finally decided on one and I had my friend who's a mechanic look at it.  She said it was amazingly clean, brand new looking belts, brand new tires, extremely clean.  It even has a back up camera.  Cars here are very cheap because there are several things that you don't pay for in the States, that you pay here.  Anyways, for $2800 we have a 2002 minivan with 39.900 miles!  It was so well kept it looks brand new.  Now I just need someone to translate some stuff.  I also need to see if I can get the Japanese maps in English for the GPS.  That would just make it perfect.

Looking out at the next week, we are busy!  We get the keys to our house on Monday, Tuesday our stuff from Florida and our loaner stuff gets here.  Wednesday driving test and then on Thursday we pick up our van:)  Not to mention, our lovely friend that I met hooked us up with someone who is moving.  She wants to get rid of her dining table and chairs (they are beautiful) and a little boy bedroom set.  I asked how she knew exactly what we needed.  It's amazing how things work out.  Just when you start to get over stressed, things just happen.  Makes my heart feel good.  So things are finally coming together, and once our stuff from Great Lakes gets here, we'll be great.  That should be by July, I'm not holding my breath!  So good evening everyone from Japan.