We spent the morning with our sponsor looking for housing on the three bases here Zama, SHA and Depot. The following is what we learned.
ZAMA – This is the main base we are currently staying on. It has a fairly transient feeling as it caters to more short-term people in billets or the hotel. Lots of singles or couples without kids live in the high rises. It has most of the comforts of home like a theater, food court, bowling alley, library, et cetera.
The downside is there is no reason to leave the base because it has everything you need. You could miss out on so much of Japan by not being forced to venture off base. It’s not a great place to have a dog since there aren’t a lot of houses. There is also a lot of competition for jobs because so many people live here.
SHA – This place looks like a regular suburb. It is mostly houses/duplexes. There is an elementary school and high school, and a few home comforts. There are a lot of families and kids here.
The downside is that there are a LOT of kids here, and most things are geared towards them. There isn’t much that makes it unique or special.
DEPOT – This is the most unique of the three. They are closing this base in the next three years and giving it back to the Japanese so they aren’t replacing the families leaving. There are only about 40 families left. We qualify for this housing because Jeremy works on Deport. Because no one is staying here, there are tons of students who are losing teachers and they are in desperate need for English teachers to take the students. This is perfect for me. It will be nice for him to be about a mile from his work; most people have to drive ½ hour each way. It is very quiet, and there is a lot of room for the dog to play. I like it because everything is really spread apart so it will encourage us to walk and ride bikes. There are also no fast food and only one restaurant. There aren’t a lot of stores on base so you have to travel to get what you need. There is a Sam’s Club very close. The people here really get involved with the Japanese community because they are segregated from the rest of the American community. I welcome that thought.
The bad part is there are a lot of abandoned buildings, homes and empty fields. They aren’t up keeping anything up because it will all be demolished in three years. It looks pretty depressing at the moment. With Jeremy gone a lot it could get quite lonely. There is really nothing to do here. People will continue to leave and we could possibly be the last ones standing there. They also say that it is haunted and at night when the fog rolls in you can see whole armies of imperial soldiers standing guard in the empty fields.
Jeremy should find out where we will get offered housing in the next week. Depot seems to be the best option for us both profession wise, but we are keeping our options open. I wanted a real Japan experience while I was here and that seems to be the best option to have that.
Today was our first day going to church in Japan. I was a little sad to hear that it was a 40 minute drive away, but we were able to catch a ride so we weren’t forced to take the bus. The chapel itself is beautiful. It doesn’t follow the normal church model; it’s three stories high with large circular buildings. It looks more like one of our temples than chapels.
There are only 75 members so we got to meet almost everyone the first hour. To put it in perspective, there were only 10 people in Gospel Doctrine, including us, and six ladies in Relief Society. We have one set of missionaries assigned to our branch. Everyone was super nice and we were invited to four different thanksgivings before we left.
I got to see more of Japan driving back. I love the teeny tiny cars speeding around. The roads are so narrow that they are constantly getting scratched up. Everyone here has a horror story of a missing side mirror or a dented side door.
The lights of the city are blindingly beautiful. The mountains are a gorgeous blue color that draws your eyes upwards. It’s hot, even in November. I can’t wait to see more of this fascinating country.
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