March

I am amazed at how many times each day I am walking around and see a man wearing a coat, shoes, pant, etc that causes me to think, wow that would look great on my friend......who is a mom! It seems there is very little difference between the men's wear lines and the women's wear lines. I just don't think I could, or would want to, pull off a light yellow track suit with pastel polka dots.Last Thursday it was 70 degrees. Tonight it is snowing. Reminds me of spring in Minnesota. The cherry blossoms are expected to hit three weeks early, so it has got to warm up soon.
We have been kind of quiet the last few weeks. Steph's boss was in town and watched the boys so we could go out. We went to Ninja Akasaka. It is a theme restaurant designed to look like an Edo period village. A bit cheesy, but much cooler than any theme restaurant I've been to. We had an eight course meal and a bottle of saki.
Ten hours at Tokyo Disney is a killer, For Sebas' 5th birthday he and I went on a rainy Saturday. I thought the rain might slow down the crowds a bit. I was wrong! Lines were three hours for almost all of the rides! Fortunately Sebas was very happy just to explore, so we didn't hit many rides. Sebas is very homesick. He talks about his friends all the time. It is really hard to explain this to him when he has no real concept of time. I'm sure he would love a postcard from anyone who has time.
Hope all are well and healthy.

One Month in....

I can't believe we have already been here for over a month. The time has flown by. We have I think really settled into a routine with school, work, and daily life. Sebas has decided he loves school and has made some great friends. Unfortunately, being an expat community, three  of his new friends are soon moving on to their next assignment.
We have still not explored outside of the city yet. There is so much to see and do here, that we are waiting for a little better weather to settle in before traveling. However it better come soon because someone is dying to ride the Shinkansen. We are thinking of heading to the beaches of Okinawa for spring break, but Guam is another possibility.
The culture shock for me is starting to wear off a bit. It no longer seems unusual not to be able to read anything, and I am able to understand a bit of the language. Sebas will be translating for us soon. He knows things in Japanese that he misses in English. We have found where to get things from home (for a large price: almost $7 US for a box of instant oatmeal!)
Eating here has been a bit of a challenge. Sebas will try anything and John will eat nothing. Most people eat out or buy premade meals which are available everywhere for a good price. We hit the grocery store daily and buy for the day. It is so different from the stock up Costco mentality. I am actually enjoying that. The restaurants, while friendly rarely have highchairs and are usually smokey and quiet. Our kitchen is quite small and the oven and microwave are the same unit, which has proven challenging since it is the size of a few loaves of bread. Maybe at the end of this I will have figured it out.
I have really started to like urban living. Not having a car is awesome. A huge amount of stress has been left in the garage. The smaller quarters really make you notice what you have, what you need, and what is just filler. Hopefully these realizations will translate when we get home. If they do, we are going to have one hell of a garage sale.
I promise to update more and hope everyone is well.


For Joe: Thanks for the call out. FYI the only thing cheaper in Tokyo than the US is smokes, about $3 US. Coffee runs about $5 US for crappy drip! with no refills. For that price the beans should be ground on the thighs of a Cuban virgin.

First 10 Days

 

 

                                                          Sebas and the welcome Kitty

 

After almost 20 hours of travel, we reached our apartment in Akasaka. The plane ride was much less trouble than I had anticipated, with each boy only melting down once. The first few days involved finding groceries, getting registered with the county, and learning the subway system. On Wednesday that was not the case. Oh my god! So many people. We had to push onto the train, and got very intimate with our new friends. Sebas now understood why we were stressing the need to stay close. That said, one week later, it is no problem. It almost seems normal. A few things I have learned since arriving:

1. Japanese women love John. Blonde hair kills them. (Sebas is getting a bit jealous)
2. No one cooks. It is cheaper to get carry out. 
3. Being illiterate can be scary.
4. Blowing your nose in public is completely unacceptable. Getting drunk and puking in the train station, sidewalk, or anywhere else is AOK.
5. Society here is very trusting and honest. Expensive wares are displayed outside with no cameras, our grocery store is two floors with separate doors, they just trust you will come up to pay.

John and I wandering the streets at 3 am. Jetlag.