Driver's Class & A Little Italian Feel Good

Michael and I woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning, trotted off to the galley (Far East Cafe) and enjoyed some breakfast as we woke up. I am still reserving my opinion on the Far East Cafe. I'll let you know about it, when I have more to say. Right now I'll just let you know that it is our cafeteria on base that is cheap and decent food.

Then we strolled over to the Safety Building which is a good little walk from the Lodge. I was pleased to see that it was a nice little building and we had a large room in which to glean knowledge to be good drivers in Japan. The instruction was light, cheerful and informative. It bordered on boring only a minimal amount. We did have to watch a SEVERE account of very remorseful young sailors who are serving long sentences at Yokosuka Prison (a Japanese Prison) for their mindless crimes. Most of the American Military that are there (and there are quite a few) were caused by alcohol. The movies were meant to scare us and catch our attention, and that was achieved. If you get stopped for DWI (.03 breath/alcohol) you go to prison for FIVE YEARS OF HARD LABOR and a HUGE fine. They are very, very serious here about drinking and driving. They give many, many breathalyzer tests here. I will be tested. I will NOT be drinking and driving or taking Nyquil and driving!!

I believe that it made a scar on Michael's mind as well. Some of these are sailor's who have never gotten in trouble and in 1 night, changed their lives forever. Very sad. Oh, and if you loan your car to someone, and they get caught, you also have to do the time, because you enabled that person. We won't be letting anyone drive our car.

Anyway, driving class was educational. We learned all about Japanese signs and parking penalties and driving on the left side of the road. The signs here are funny. You should see the raccoon crossing sign. HEE HEE. At the end of the class, we took a 50 question test, which you have to score an 80 or better to get your license. That means you can miss up to 10 questions. This is good, because they have a couple of tricky questions on there. I was just relieved that there wasn't a behind the wheel driving test. I was soo worried about that! We will find out tomorrow if we passed our test.

After class, I had 4 different places to run around to. I finished that and it was 3:00. I was pooped! There was no way I was cooking dinner. So we all decided to head over to Club Trilogy. Club Trilogy is a building that has different eating/entertainment establishments in it. It is the "Enlisted" club on base. If you didn't know, on any base they have things for "Enlisted", "Chief's" and "Officer's". If anyone can go to an event there they say it is for "All Hands". Club Trilogy has Smokey's Barbeque. From what I can tell you can get a barbeque sandwich that is highly recommended, hamburgers, chicken fingers, french fries, etc. there. It also has a little arcade room, an event room with a stage, and a bar.

There is also a restaurant called Blue Grill Cafe? I think that's the name. Anyway they have special nights for buffets. Tues. is Mexican, Wed. is Italian, and I don't know the rest. They also have a nice menu with Tex Mex offerings and other "Americanized" food. Which now that we have been here for 13 days, was very nice to find. We chose the Italian Buffet. They had a cook making your pasta to order. We all had a nice meal and dessert. Except Michael, he's trying to watch his youthful figure. It was just the thing I needed today.

I came back to the hotel stuffed, happy and ready for a hot bath. The boys have gone (big surprise) bowling again and I am going to watch a little t.v. and then hit the sack. Bryan starts school tomorrow and Michael and I will be on a mission to find a car. I'll let you know how that goes......