The Hello Lodge

After a fairly exhausting day of travel, during which 17 hours vanished across the international dateline, I arrived in Yokosuka, Japan. The flight into Nerita was a 10 hour 40 minute tolerable ride over Alaska and a lot of ocean. We landed in the rain amidst thick clouds that I couldn't see through until just before we touched. Then came immigration in a very warm room, collecting baggage which seemed to take forever, and customs. The bus ride from NRT to Base was around 2 hours, but sorting the people onto busses was a joke. I ended up on one without underneath storage compartments. All luggage occupied the front several rows. Those happened to be the heated ones. The passengers all froze their tails off in the back of the bus. We arrived and checked into our hotels around 9 pm. Long day!!

The food here is pretty much fantastic. I ate at a minuscule Thai restaurant with a few of my coworkers upon arrival in Yokosuka. I was so impressed by the people who ran it. They were polite, courteous and very friendly, not to mention proud of what they do. I've had some amazing noodle dishes and some tasty candies. There are drink machines with all sorts of concoctions. Each contains arou

nd 30 types of beverages, some hot, some cold. The orange Calpis is so yummy!

I'm staying at this cute little hotel called the Hello Lodge. I was greeted with a sign reading "Dear Mr. Kelthy Hansen Welcome to Hello Lodge!" Not quite my name and really not my gender. The owner apologized and blamed it on my orders. The cookies made up for it anyway. :) So, Japan is a very minimalist society. Hotel rooms are generally really small containing a bed that's about half a twin, a toilet, shower, tiny desk and a microwave, if you're lucky. Seems I am one of the lucky ones. My room is the largest on the floor. It houses a full bed, decent sized desk and a kitchenette. I also have free internet. Thank goodness!

My room contains the most over complicated toilet I have ever seen. Seriously! Look at the picture below. It has a warm water bidet with 3 different settings for positioning and 7 for strength of water jet. The top is a sink to rinse your hands which drains back into the toilet for the next flush. All of the water is used twice. The shower is its own little room and contains a deep, but short tub and a sink. My little kitchenette has a small fridge and microwave, a single burner and a sink. I also have a nice balcony with a view of, well, several tallish buildings.

Work has been a lot of touring, training and walking so far. When the ship arrives, it'll be much more chaotic. I will be working swing shift beginning next week so I'll have mornings free to enjoy a little daylight. I think I'll like it here for the duration. My boss seems like a really good guy and I hope that I'll enjoy it.