Arrival in Japan, inprocessing

Having left Hawaii at 11:00 a.m. on the 6th (Hawaii tine), we arrived in Tokyo at 3:00 p.m. on the 7th (local time). Although we had bought tickets for the 7:00 shuttle to Camp Zama, we were able to switch them for the 4:00 one, and spent less than an hour at Narita.

The bus ride to Zama took three hours. We were so tired once we arrived that we didn't even worry about finding something to eat.

My sponsor picked me up from lodging at 7:30 and showed me the office. Our boss is on vacation until next Monday, but I was still glad I wore my good suit for day one. At 8:30 I attended the CPAC in-processing brief, where I took the oath of office and (officially) became a U.S. federal employee.

After lunch, I tried to get my new CAC, but I need a few more things before I can do that. Boss has to sign an SF 1172, which took until 5:00, so that will have to wait for tomorrow.

Nevertheless, I was able to visit the mail building, where I got an APO address, which allows me to receive U.S. mail without requiring international postage. I also found an ATM, where I was able to withdraw about $500 in yen. As I understand it, few places take credit cards, so this was very timely.

Tomorrow, I hope to visit the housing office. I'm not sure right now which is better -- to live on post or off -- but visiting will help clear things up.