Electronics

Now that we're living in Japan our kids have cable TV for the first time in their lives! (Without it there are no English channels at all.) They are enthralled with the Disney channel and the Cartoon Network. Sabrina the Teenaged Witch, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Lilo and Stitch, and Curtis the Cowardly Dog, and Kim Possible are favorites...actually anything that is about to come on when I make them turn it off is their favorite!

This weekend we decided to go buy a DVR. We'd heard of an electronics store called Jochim and had passed by one on our way to church. Matt was very proud of himself for being able to navigate there on his own without using our very tempermental GPS unit! Once we got there we were all amazed at the extent and variety of the electronics available. Matt said that he never knew there were so many things he needed! The kids found these....

As far as we could tell these were horse riding simulators!

Only in Japan! Laura spent 20 minutes testing out the buttons on the full body massage chair.

We picked out a modestly priced ($700.00!) DVR and Matt managed to indicate to the clerk what we wanted and to pay for it. Unfortunately, after spending hours trying to figure out the Japanese directions and searching online for English directions, Matt finally determined that it won't work with our cable system. Instead, we can get recording capablity through our cable system for about $10 a month! Now we have to figure out if we can return electronics in Japan. Tough to ask when we can't speak Japanese...can anyone think of a good way to pantomime "return"? (Actually, the women at the front desk of our building are wonderful with this kind of thing. They'll translate what we want to say and write it down for us. They also help us figure out what the mail that we receive is!)

New Bike and Dinner in Maiko

Well, I did buy my bike! I went for the cheapest one the shop had. It is bright pink and we bought a pink plaid child seat for Katie. I was feeling very unique until one of the other new American expats rode buy on an identical bike. Watching her, I almost ran into an older Japanese gentleman riding the same bike! Pink doesn't seem to have quite the same strong gender identification here that it does in the States.

The kids seem to be having a really smooth transition to their new school. Even the full day yesterday didn't seem to phase Laura or Katie. They loved having the extra recess and getting to eat lunch at school. Today I went to the New Parent Orientation at the school. It was alot of info and they invited representatives from about 10 women's organizations here in Kobe. I think I can be as busy as I want to be! The other moms and expat families are so friendly here! Yesterday I walked the greenbelt with 3 other American moms. Today I sat with 4 different moms at the orientation. They were a mix of Korean, American, and Japanese. Everyone is very interested in getting to know each other. Even many of the moms who are from this area are very eager to get to know the other moms at school. I guess that's true any time your children are starting a new school! Tomorrow I'm going shopping with Katie (a friend I met my first week here) and yet another new American mom. I think I can have as active a social life as I can stand while I'm here!

Friday night we sat out on Rivermall in front of the building. People bought food and drinks from the grocery store and nearby restaurants and we had an improptu party with about 15 other expat families. Apparently, it is kind of a tradition here. The kids run and play on the plaza and the parents socialize. We came in around 9:00 p.m. but the party went on until midnight! On Saturday we went with two other families to a hotel restaurant for a garden barbeque buffet. It was quite pricey, but we had a really good time.

Above: Matt and the kids in the background with Alex, Ashton and George Woodcook. Notice the grills in the center of each table. We grilled our own meat and veggies.

They also had an open bar, for an additional charge of course. It nice to be able to to take the train everywhere...no designated driver needed!

To the right: Tom and Laura Lahey and Katie Woodcock and one of the waitresses.

Above: Laura and George Woodcock. Matt and Laura were the only members of our party that were offered bibs!

Below: Nathan and Matt with the Bridge to Awajii in the background.

First Day of School

Today was the kids first day of school. They were all pretty nervous to begin with but they did great! They'll all be going to school from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., 5 days a week. I'm sure Nate and Laura will be fine, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for my baby to be in school full time!

Nate's teacher is Mrs. Wilson. She is new to the school but seems very nice. Nate will have Japanese lessons everyday. Today, once the lesson was over, the teacher taught them some origami. This is a boat and a cicada that Nate made. He met several new friends (none of whose names he remembers- completely typical for Nate!), found out that we can buy Pepperige Farms Goldfish at Price Club, and has decided to play on the kickball team for the school. He's also insisting that he be allowed to ride his bike home alone from school tomorrow. I have no doubt that he can handle it (it's 6 blocks and two streets), but I'm not sure if I can!

Laura's teacher, Mrs. Forester, has been at the school for 7 years and has a daughter in the other Kindergarten class. She's incredibly well organized and nice. I think she'll be a great resource for us as parents as well as a great teacher for Laura. Laura met three new friends, drew a poem book and had PE class. They learned all about personal space during PE. I guess they need to set a baseline when they have kids from all over the world.

Katie's teacher is Mrs. Born. She's been in Japan less time than we have! Katie really seems to have enjoyed school and drew 7 pictures. She also refused to go outside for recess because it was too hot! The girls classrooms are truely amazing. They are brand new. Each has it's own bathroom and heated floor (so their bottoms don't get cold during circle time). They have their own playground, right outside the classroom door, and a library and cafeteria just for the preschool and kindergarten.

I really enjoyed the first day of school too! After walking the kids to school, Matt and I walked back to the apartment. I headed to the local coffee shop, while Matt went to work. At the coffee shop there were about 20 other moms enjoying our freedom! We all sat out on the plaza in front of the shop and talked for about 2 hours. After that, I signed up for an orientation class at the local club for foriegners, paid the gas bill, and went to the grocery store. It's amazing how fast I can get things done when I don't have to drag 3 protesting children along!

At 12:30 I picked the girls up from school (they have half days for the first two days) and we went to McDonalds for lunch...because Nathan got to for his first day of Kindergarten! Laura has a memory like an elephant. At 3:30 p.m. we went back to pick up Nathan. He frowned when he saw us and muttered "I thought I was going home by myself today" Then he sped away on his bike....little twerp! I'm going to have to get a bike with a seat for Katie just so I can keep up with him. Laura does great, but Katie isn't quite ready to do the commute on her bike yet!

T-Shirts

Awajii was fun but not exactly what I would call a great beach. On the up side, it wasn't rocky and didn't have concrete pylons surrounding it like Miako Beach. On the downside, the sand was pretty dirty and there were no showers or bathrooms to rinse off or change in. We had a nice time though. Aftwards we drove along the coast and came across this giant statue of someone...a young Buddah maybe?

One of the things we find most amusing about Japan is the content of the T-Shirts. Most are in English. Some are fine. Many are massively inappropriate...like the old woman with "F*** OFF" on her back or the little boy with "Blow Me"! Our favorites are the ones that we read and then think "What?". See below for a few examples!

How do you call a country like Korea?

Sing this to the tune of the song from "The Sound of Music" --

How do you call a country like Korea? How do you use your new Gai-Jin friendly phone? If I were in the US, I'd be direct dialing. And not getting error messages in Nihongo.

This has been the week of realizing we're not in Kansas anymore -- not that we ever were in Kansas, we were in Ohio. But Ohio is actually more like Kansas than Japan. Even with all annoying Big 10 or 11ish and SEC stuff -- but I digress.

Some little successes seem like a big deal. It's a little weird when you learn how to set your voicemail in English and make a phone call to another country outside of the US and feel really proud of yourself. Then it occurs to you, you're a mid-level executive and you just managed to make a simple relatively unimportant business call -- ALL BY YOURSELF. It's a bit like getting a gold star in the slow class.

I took Nathan and Laura in to see the P&G doctor -- a Japanese guy from California, who basically looked at them, asked me if they were still healthy, and after I answered "yes" agreed to fill out their school phyical forms. So at least that hassle is out of the way.

This is a reasonably big holiday weekend in Japn, so we're expecting crowds. Even so, we will try to get out and about a bit. If all goes well, we might drive along the longest suspension bridge in the world (and most likely the highest toll as an added bonus) to Awiji Island. There may be a special holiday toll of $10 each way, down from the regular $27 each way, or so.

Awija has the best beaches in our area and some of the best in Japan. They really aren't as good as southeast Asia, but are rather local to us -- mabey 30 minutes. We'll hopefully get some pictures. If that doesn't work, we might have to settle for Cosco and a harbor tour cruise in Kobe.

I contacted my friend Sam Lee who has been working in Korea for the past few years. Our families are starting to plan a skiing vacation this winter in Hokkaido in Northern Japan. This is the area where they had the winter Olympics back in 1998, I think and it's really known for skiing and winter festivals.

The holiday here is called Obon. It is a buddist derrived holiday where the spirits of your anscentors return to the family home. People tend to travel to their home villages and have two days of special meals and cerimonies at home to receive and then send off again their ancestors' spirits. And apparently, the stores have big sales too -- so some things are universal.

Hopefully, the next post will have some fun stories and pictures from our first holiday weekend adventure.

School Aggravations...I miss St. C.!

Yesterday the kids had their school interviews. Everything during the interview went fine, but afterward they had us stop at the nurse's office. She was annoyed with us because our pediatrician hadn't filled out the forms but had instead given us printouts of the info from their system. She made Matt and I copy all of the immunization info onto the appropriate form. She then insisted that Nathan and Laura needed new physicals. Apparently they need to be within 6 months of school starting and theirs will be 6 months and 20 days old by the time school starts. Unfortunately, school starts next Thursday and this is a holiday week in Japan, so finding a pediatrian to do the exam is a bit of a challenge. Matt has asked the P&G Health office for help. They aren't happy about it, since they don't do children, but we have an appointment this afternoon. Since all of the kids immunizations and tests are up to date, we're hoping it will go smoothly!

We also found out that rather than having a month of gradually increasing school days, the girls will have two half days and then start immediately attending school from 8:30 am. to 3:30 p.m., 5 days a week. I think Laura will be fine with this...I'm not sure if it will work for Katie or not. I guess we will see. If necessary, she can be a regular absentee or just stay home with me.

The school did ask me to be on the sub list for the library. I'd actually get paid! After spending so much time as a volunteer at the kids' schools, I'm not sure if I want a paid position! Of course, I can't imagine they'll need a library sub all that often. I'd still like to volunteer, but it sounds like they aren't as accepting of that here as they are in the U.S. Other than being kind of aggravated with the school (if they'd mentioned the physical issues back in March when we turned in the paperwork, it would have been so easy to have new physicals done at home!) we are all doing well.

The kids are excited about school but a little nervous. They are definitely starting to get bored, so I think school will be great once they get through the first few days! Today we're going to the 100 Yen store to get some of their school supplies. We also need to find sneakers for Nathan. We knew he needed "indoor shoes" for school but didn't realize that they had to have light colored bottoms. Of course, his are black and red! If we were at home we'd make a quick trip to Target...I guess I'll have to find the equivalent here!

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with myself once they are in school all day! I guess I'll start with Japanese lessons and regular sessions at the gym and go from there.

Pokemon Center and Osaka Castle

Last weekend we went to the Pokemon Center in Osaka. There are only 6 of these stores in the world and Nathan has been incredibly excited about getting to visit one! We took the train and carefully plotted out a route from the trainstation to the store. Of course we immediately got lost! Being surrounding by huge buildings and hordes of people with no way of communicating was a little intimidating. It was also extremely hot and humid, so the kids ran out of patience quickly. Eventually we found it though and all of the aggravation was forgotten!

We had lunch at a little English style pub, where no one spoke English! Nate had rice and Coke for lunch again. The girls ate "chicken nuggets", i.e. tempura chicken.

Then we headed to Osaka Castle. This is a beautiful castle in the middle of an immense park in the center of the city. Walking through the park and up the hill in the heat was definitely a challenge, but worth it once we got there! The girls were fascinated by the Japanese princesses who once lived there. However, the only pictures we could find showed elderly women...not quite what they had in mind! Eventually we found a picture of a young princess. This was much more acceptable. Unfortunately, she died young of some sort of illness. Laura decided that the history must be wrong at that really she got better and got married and had lots of beautiful dresses! Nathan loved the holographic scenes that were set up along the walls. They kind of looked like shadow boxes set into the walls, but with holograms providing the people and action. They all loved the movie that discussed the individual scenes from a huge painting of a battle. However, we had to drag them away when they started showing the drowned corpses and rape scenes...the Japanese don't worry about childish sensibilities! The truely amazing thing was that all of this was in English. All of the signs were in Japanese and English and many of the computer generated items displayed in both English and Japanese.

We all really enjoyed it, but we were exhausted the next day! Next weekend I think we'll try a boat tour of Kobe...something that doesn't involve walking in the heat!

Suma Aquarium and Miako Beach

Hi everyone! I'm going to try blogging, rather than sending email updates. I've set the blog so that only people I've given permission to can view it. Please let me know if I've left anyone out who might be interested.

We went to the Aquarium in Suma yesterday and had a wonderful time! We went with 3 other moms and their children. The weather was very hot and humid and the aquarium was free this month, so it was very crowded. Many of the animals were very exotic and interesting! The dolphin show was a huge hit!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6LAIPdVTIE

We spent about 3 hours there and then took the train to Miako Beach. It was about 1/2 mile from the train station to the beach but the kids impressed our friends by making the hike without complaint. The beach was a little bit of a disappointment for me. It was extremely rocky and had concrete piers that blocked most of it from Osaka Bay. However, the kids had a great time swimming, collecting shells, and trapping crabs in tide pools. The train ride home was a little nerve-racking. It was getting more crowded and keeping track of three little ones in a busy train station is a challenge! We made it home safely though and were very proud of our first Japanese adventure. The kids loved telling their envious dad all about it!

They have restaurants here kind of like Red Lobster where you pick your own dinner... just kidding! This is a Giant Spider Crab. He was the size of a small dog...not something you'd want to meet in a dark pool!

Hello from Japan! I'd write it in Japanese, but I still have no idea how. I'm learning a few things but not very quickly! Luckily, most of the signage is in English, as well as Japanese, and many of the people who work/live on our island speak some English. Matt is starting his Japanese lessons next week and I'm planning to start once the kids are in school.

Here is Fitzpatrick in Japanese: ワィツツパトリック

Overall, we're adjusting pretty well. Katie has had a few meltdowns where she yells that she doesn't want to be in Japan anymore but on the whole, the kids are doing great. They do miss their friends from home and talk about them often. I keep encouraging them to write emails, but they haven't taken me up on it yet.

We've finally gotten used to the time difference, but the humidity defeated us. We're now using the air conditioning on a regular basis. However, we only cool the rooms we're actually using, so hopefully that will help with the electricity bill. It's definitely a different way to live. I kind of miss my central air, even though I know this is much more environmentally correct! The Japanese are very environmentally aware. The streetlights are powered by solar panels or mini-windmills, trash (even out on the street) is sorted into several different categories (burnable, non-burnable, recycling, etc.) The escalators have motion sensors and only run if someone is around. The automatic doors have buttons that you push to get them to slide open. The kids have almost bumped their noses a few times! Even the cars/trucks/vans are tiny compared to what we're used to. With all 5 of us loaded into our Honda Odyssey, there is barely enough room for groceries!

Riding on the train to church.

We've done a fair amount of exploring, mostly of stores and restaurants. We've gone to Ikea and Costco but our favorites are the local grocery store and the 100 Yen store. The 100 Yen store is kind of like a dollar store but much better! I'm at the grocery every other day. It's amazing how much having to carry everything home in bags by foot changes your shopping habits! Laura and Katie are doing great with the food. Nathan has had a few restaurant meals that consisted of white rice and Pepsi! Whole grains don't seem to exist here, so the kids love the white bread, pasta and rice. Nathan's new favorite seasoning is butter. We may be the first family to come home from Japan fat! I have developed a new appreciation for sushi. I've always been kind of lukewarm about it, but now I crave it. It is so good, even the stuff from the grocery store is yummy!

Matt is letting each child pick an activity for the weekend. Last weekend Laura chose to go to the waterpark.http://www.dekapathos.com/ We had a great time, but were very worn out by the end. This weekend Nathan has chosen to go to the nearest big city, Osaka, by train to the Pokemon store. He is incredibly excited. Matt and I are hoping to slip a few other activities into the trip too! http://www.pokemon.com/

Tomorrow we are headed to a nearby town called Suma to go to the beach and aquarium. We're going with 3 other expat families, so I hope the kids behave and the thunderstorms they are predicting hold off.

Other than the language/illiteracy thing, the hardest thing to get used to has been the toilets. They have motion sensors and when you enter the room they turn on a light and turn on the vent fan. You push a button to open the lid and the toilet seat is heated (not my favorite during this 90 degree weather!). They also have bidet functions. The buttons are all labeled in Japanese. We have a handwritten diagram that shows that one of the buttons is called a "bull and bear" wash. None of us has been brave enough to push it yet!

July 23, 2009
We made it!

We're all fine and starting to recover from our jet lag. Although Nathan, Laura and I did wake up at 4:30 a.m. this morning!

The flight over was much better than I expected. The one major hitch was that we only had two seats next to each other on the flight to California. Katie and I sat together and Laura was in the same row but accross the aisle, between a mother and daughter who refused to give up thier aisle seat! Nathan was one row up, on the other side of the aisle at the window. They were both amazing. I couldn't even see Nathan, but he didn't seem to need me at all! Laura did a great job occuping herself. She was so brave during takeoff and landing. She was only two the last time she flew and didn't remember it at all. I would have been a mess. I'm still kind of shocked that the guy seating at the window next to us and the woman on the aisle next to Laura both refused to move! So much for the kindess of strangers! Katie was incredibly wiggly and refused to watch any DVDs during the flight. I think the excitement was just too much. She started demanding to know if we were there yet around 20 minutes into the flight!

Eventually we got there and Matt met us at baggage claim. It was so sweet to see the kids run screaming to their daddy! They really missed him! We spent the night at the Embassy Suites hotel near the airport. It was right on the Bay and had a forest in the interior with koi ponds and little stone paths and cafe tables. It was really nice! The next morning we had breakfast and headed to the airport early. We hung out in the lounge for a few hours and then boarded our flight.

Business class was much nicer than coach! (We flew coach from Cinti to CA). This is the last time P&G will pay for buisness class unfortunately! You do get more room and better food/drinks, but the best part is that the staff treats you so much better! The other passengers in our row complemented me on how well behaved the kids were! I was really surprised at how smoothly it went.

The only meltdowns were when we had to stand in line for immigration for a half hour. That part of the airport wasn't airconditioned and the humidity here is unbelievable! They did okay though and we made it through smoothly...just a few tears! They all seemed to recover on the hour long bus ride from the airport to our new home. Luckily the bus was very comfortable and had the airconditioning cranked! We got to our apartment around 6:00 p.m. and explored it a little bit and had dinner. Katie managed to get every single toy out within 60 minutes. The apartment went from looking like a model to a complete disaster! We all were in bed by 9:00 p.m..

Yesterday we went on an adventure to Costco. It's about a 45 minute drive and I was very impressed by Matt's ability to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. It's going to be a long while before I even attempt it! On top of that, the road signs are all in Japanese. (Actually, they do have more english than I thought they would). Even so, it's nerve racking to drive! We bought lots of food at Costco and headed home where we started unpacking and arranging the kids bedrooms. Thanks to Katie's contributions, it took a lot longer than it might have, since we had to pick up all the toys first, before we could start moving furniture!

We're trying to use our airconditioning as little as possible, because electricity is so expensive. Hopefully we'll adjust to the weather because right now I feel permenantly sticky! Later in the afternoon we took the kids to play in the stone plaza in front of our building. It has a 5 block long "river" that the kids can splash in. They loved it and found other kids to play with right away. After dinner we went down again and they rode their bikes around the plaza. Nathan is a little scary. He just takes off. Even though it's probably completely safe (no cars are allowed on the plaza), it scares me to death to not be able to see him! Other kids his age seem too wander around without parents, but I think it will take me a while to get there!

Today the kids and I have our official orientation to the building and we have to go to the local office and register as legal aliens (or something like that). Matt has to go into work so this will be my first adventure on my own. Luckily I have an interpreter who will help me get through it. After that we have to take the train to the toy store to fulfill Matt's promise to the kids about a welcome to Japan toy...! I wonder if I could buy them off with lunch at McDonalds instead? I refuse to go there in the U.S., so it would be an extra special treat.