Hold your breath, things get interesting. Thursday our first hours in Misawa - we decide the best thing to do is eat and sleep. Day two, we enjoy some 4th of July day time festivities on base, then join friends at a BBQ. Day 3, Mark is called into work as a crime committed the night before threatens relations with our host nation. Roxanna and kids are shouffered to a horse park with some wicked slides and yes, horses. That night we get a phone call that the stake president wanted to meet with Mark in the morning. A leader picks Mark up early for church, Roxanna gets the kids ready and a friend drives them to church where Roxanna learns Mark has been asked to serve as the first counselor in the new branch presidency (basically like the 2nd in charge of the congregation and all church dealings in the branch). He didn't even know who the new branch president was. The announcement is made in sacrament and the congregation is slightly confused when very few recognized the name, "Mark Patterson."
The next few days consists of a boat load of information about what the base offers, local customs, warnings, and a driving course. The course taughts us some road symbols, driving laws, and common sense stuff. One of Japan's driving laws is NO cell phone use while driving. So most Japanese will pull over the side of the shoulder less road with almost no notice, to talk on the phone. Which means if you are behind one of these drivers, you must hit the brakes and go around the car when it's safe to do so. This sounds very dangerous, but the average speed in the area is around 25 miles an hour. Have things slowed down for us, you may wonder? Well, at least in the car they have ;-)
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