So in case you have not heard yet...we live in Japan now. Two and a half months in the Navy Lodge with two rooms, a mini kitchen and three mobile children. It was fun to live on base so close to everything, but I am glad that we are past that.
Jon and I planned to live in one of the housing area associated with the base, but under threat of being kicked out of the hotel before finding a home, we went on ~one~ house tour, and found a house in town to move into. Just completed this month in the Western style (ie large with a shower, American fridge and no tatami mat rooms) but with Japanese touches...Japanese bath, no shoes allowed, and "high technology" toilets.
It is a lovely home though I think we will be losing the security deposit to a war between three children and wood floors, but I can live with that. There is a quiet road, a park lined with cherry blossom trees directly across from us and room for a veggie and flower garden. Jonathan can bike to work and Alexandra takes the bus after walking to the stop around the corner (with Jon). Lots of storage in the kitchen, entryway and laundry area. Now we just need some furniture for the rest of our belongings...books, dvds and foldable clothes, plus Jon wants a tv soon... though that is still waiting for a few more weeks (while I enjoying not having one).
Thor likes his giant room and in an ideal world where children go to sleep when they are put in beds he would be sharing with Alexandra in the bunk beds. For now Alexandra is enjoying being the only girl she knows with a balcony attached to her bedroom. Ioanna does not care much either way, but does not like having her siblings closing the door in her face when they are playing with little things. Jon is getting used to biking the distance, about 4 miles (7km). It takes just as long as driving but is much colder, especially since he tends to go to and from work in the dark. He tells me that this is a really busy year and that he will not be working all the time in the fall...we will see. I have also finally gotten a bike... it has a childseat built into the front handle bars giving better stability then the add-on that go on the back and it is pink (I wanted the orange but this one was nice and cheaper!) Ioanna loves sitting in it so far and I got a little windshield for her to keep the chill off...and blowing into my face instead! I have visions of a happy smiling family biking together along the bay. It could happen, maybe even with my family!
The kids run and play and Jon works and for now I am trying to unpack and reorganize what the movers unpacked for us. It is nice to have an oven and everyone is a bit less stressed now that we can spread out and have our own spaces. In the meantime I am hoping to chronicle our life and adventures in Japan with this blog, both to keep you, my family and friends updated and to remind me many years from now of all the wonderful things I know will slip my mind. I am aiming for once a week, feel free to e-mail and harrass if I start slackinig:-)
P.S.
Different things I have noticed so far about Japan:
Beautiful seahawks everywhere, no seagulls... b.t.w. they will swipe food from your hand
Gigantic crows also everywhere
Useless roadsigns (and not just the ones written in Japanese characters)
TONS of every kind of restaurant.
Digestive biscuits anyone, how about strawberry flavored kit-kat or shrimp crackers (actually those are not bad) They are obsessed with flavors over here strong and horrible is the game. Let me know, I'll send you some.
Everyone parks backwards...causing significantly fewer parking accidents. Plus side mirrors fold in because the spaces are tiny, and all the cars have sonar, even my 10yo minivan.
