Konichiwa

I decided after four years in Holland without a blog that maybe I would actually start one for our Japanese adventure. From here on out I will try to post about all the fun that we are having. 

The following is a blog entry that I made on the Young Family Blog. Sorry if you are reading both!

Wow, I wish I had some pictures but you have to be able to find your camera before you can take any?!?!

We have been here for 2.5 weeks. Crazy. Today the boys started school. They all rode the bus. The bus stop is about an 8 minute walk from our apartment.

I hate the whole "being new" phase. Getting lost, trying to figure out grocery shopping, getting doctor's set up, baking with a new oven and different ingredients, etc. . .

I am really nervous about driving here but am not sure how else I will get things done. Grocery shopping for 5 and walking are tough! You should have seen me the first time. I went alone with my two wheeled carts. Getting there was no big deal. It was the coming home part that was bad. The bigger grocery store is about a 15 minute walk from us. I loaded up thinking it would be no big deal. Wrong! The 2nd cart I had was really cheap and the wheels collapsed about 5 minutes into it. The cart was too heavy to lift -- not to mention I was hauling another big cart, so I was dragging the one and pulling the other. Needless to say cheap pull carts aren't meant to be overloaded with food or dragged down the street. The cartons of grape juice that I had in the bottom quickly gave way so then I was leaking grape juice. I was a sight to behold!!

The 2nd fiasco was on Monday when I was supposed to take Nathan to his orientation at the school. We were supposed to ride the bus and spend about 2 hours at the school. We left the house at 7:30 with plenty of time before the bus was supposed to leave the stop at 7:48. I knew that at our bus stop there were 3 buses. What I didn't know was that they are spread out down the street. Bus numbers 7 and 9 came and left and we waited patiently for bus #13. It never showed. Finally at 8:00 I realized we were going to have to take the train. Taking the train anywhere in morning rush hour is a joke but with a kid along it is especially bad. We ran to the train station (luckily I had put the directions in my purse for the stops and transfers) anyway, we got to our train and jumped on. Whew it was not very crowded. I was shocked. No sitting room but plenty to stand. Then the other train across the way pulled in and all of those people got on our train. Maybe you've seen the video posted on YouTube of the guys with the white gloves pushing and shoving to get everyone on the trains. Well that was us! Poor Nathan he just kept looking at me. I was possibly the only woman on the train. Nathan really wanted to just bag the whole thing at that point. I did too but knew that if I didn't get him to the school he wouldn't want to go ever! Did I mention that it is really hot and muggy here? Let's just say that by the time I got to the school I was drenched in sweat. But that was okay because it was raining and we had to walk about 5 minutes to the school. hahaha! Needless to say Nathan really liked his teacher. She is Japanese but has lived in Canada forever. Has no trace of an accent.

We finally got home where Ryan and the bigs were waiting for us to go and get our Alien Registration cards. We trained into Shibuya, had lunch and the proceeded to get lost. Did I mention it was hot and muggy and still raining? Here we are 5 not so happy Americans wandering up and down the streets of Shibuya. When we finally found the office we had to get our pictures taken. You can only imagine how nice we all looked!

Other than those crazy incidents things are going smoothly. Our shipments arrived with only a few minor breaks. One irreplaceable (my little painted plate that I got in Hungary) and my Kitchen-Aid which the levers are totally bent. They will reimburse us for these items. I truly hope to be unpacked soon! It is taking forever.

We like our apartment and are very grateful for central air conditioning. The people we have met both Japanese and expats alike, couldn't be nicer!! Hopefully I will find my camera soon so I can include some pictures of our surroundings.

Sayonara!