guam recap

At the beginning of July, we went to Guam for a week's vacation. Actually, it was more of a requirement that we leave Japan in order to return. I was looking forward to speaking English freely and enjoying the time as a family. There were a few odd things about Guam (the a/c in our hotel room was on overdrive, Mirah was bitten by a fellow child...), but overall it was a refreshing break. We particularly enjoyed going to a coffee shop every morning and befriending the staff there. Mirah liked their breakfast bagels, as did Brian! I also liked going to a grocery store and feeling very competent again, being able to read labels. Another of the highlights was taking a driving tour through the island's less commercialized (except for the occasional Subway, weird) areas. The landscape was incredible, lush and hilly, with the ocean never far from view.

View from Two Lovers Point:




The family at Two Lovers Point:


Mirah and Dad collecting on the beach (Tumon Bay):


Our coffee oasis:



Mirah running near the coffee shop:

apartment life

A week ago, I set off an alarm in our apartment. While looking for a phone jack, I pushed a button on what I thought was a phone. Come to find out, it's the intercom for our front door. This "phone" has no numbers on it. Drrr. So I pushed this button and it started blaring and I had no idea what to do. I tried to turn it off and fiddled with every other button I could find. I finally gathered myself enough to call Brian and he came home from work to rescue me. In the meanwhile, I was still freaking out and the alarm was still screaming. But then, I moved a face plate and the thing stopped. Relief, with my heart still pounding.

Today, Mirah and I met the most lovely mama and daughter upon returning to the apartment after a quick morning outing. I learned her name, her daughter's name and age, and that they live on the third floor in our building. Then the girls waved at each other and we said our bye-byes. It was a sweet encounter. The only problem was, I didn't know how to be more friendly, or create some means for continuing the conversation. I just get frustrated when it seems like a connection might be possible and I am struggling to find words. I hope I encounter this mama again.

At lunchtime we went out to meet Brian at a nearby restaurant. After lunch, Mirah and I returned to the apartment once again. This time the building's owner / landlord was hanging out where he sometimes does, in a garage next to the main door of the apartment. At first I was kind of freaked out by this dude, for some reason, but today we had the best chat! We were about to go in the door when he pointed out a white cat in the window of a neighboring apartment building. Then we just started chatting about lots of things. I think he understands English very well, even though he might not admit it. I found out that he has been to Vancouver, grew up next door to an American Navy family, and likes the t.v. show Monk.

Since Landlord and I had such a wide-ranging conversation, I thought it would be a good time to apologize for the alarm noise I had made a week ago, in case he had heard anything. I feel relieved that I got to know Landlord better, and that I came clean about my alarm-button-pushing!

loads of kindness

Sean's birthday cake.

Kotoko breaks the ice with Mirah.

Good times at the kid table.


Around 5 o'clock this Friday evening, Mirah and I went to the train station in order to make our way down to Shake Station and Proto Labs. We got there with no problem and met up with Brian and Khing-san. We also wished Takamura-san a safe voyage to the United States (he leaves on Sunday) where he will be training at Proto Labs US.

We visited the Proto Labs 'bachelor pad', met up with Sean and Matt, and then headed out to dinner at the restaurant that Ishikawa-san runs. Ishikawa-san is a part-timer at Proto Labs and runs the restaurant, called "Kyu Style", in the evenings along with his wife, Setsu.

I was excited to be out on the town in the evening, and I was also looking forward to seeing this restaurant and meeting Setsu, who had expressed interest in befriending this American (me).

The restaurant is small, with about four tables and a four-seat bar eating area, which only enhances its coziness. Also, when we walked in the door, The Ishikawas greeted us and Setsu presented me with a bag of some very cute clothes for Mirah. Super sweet.

We began our meal with drinks and then started up the grill in the middle of the table. We had various small bites, sausages, cabbage, and potato, and later chicken, mushrooms, liver, and okonomiyaki. The food was delicious and so tasty fresh off the grill. Khing-san was our food tour guide, identifying things that we couldn't have otherwise. Mirah had an orange drink that came in an awesome glass bottle that looked vintage. She didn't eat much during our meal, but later, when she was playing with two of the Ishikawa children, she had some onigiri. She had eaten an early supper back at the apartment so I wasn't too concerned about her getting a full meal at the restaurant.

So the Ishikawa kids. We met two of four. A girl, Kotoko, 6 years old, and a boy, Taichi (sp?), 5 years old. They were super friendly to Mirah in just the right way. Not too overbearing, but welcoming. Mirah eventually went over to the table where they were playing and joined in. They had all kinds of kid fun.

Meanwhile the other two tables at the restaurant had been filled and all of a sudden the atmosphere was just totally convivial and everyone was taking pictures and having a good time. We were celebrating Sean's birthday and Setsu even had a cake and candles for the occasion. Everyone in the restaurant shared the cake. The kids were playing. My head was spinning thinking how nice it was to be in such a welcoming place.

I was grateful for the evening out. And what's more, I'm astonished at the kindness of new friends and strangers alike!

settling in

The tatami room / our bedroom closet and light fixture.


Mirah noting that we're at yet another new park.


We've been in our apartment just over a week now. It's so nice to have moved out of the hotel. When we first arrived in Japan, we stayed for two weeks at the Okura Frontier Hotel in Ebina. The following two weeks, we lived in the Loisir Hotel in Atsugi, Ebina's neighbor city. Both hotels were lovely, but the lack of a kitchen and a space of one's own while Mirah was sleeping made things very difficult. Now we are back in Ebina and our apartment is located right across the street from our first hotel. This is familiar territory!

Each day brings some new adventure, be it big or small. Yesterday I was determined to get some stationary and write a couple of old-fashioned letters. Then, Mirah and I ventured to the post office. I had been in the post office before as it is the home of an ATM that works for us, but I had never used the actual postal services there. As we walked in, I noted a smallish window off to the right and a larger area to the left with a number of cashiers at stations. Being afraid of the big area, I headed to the small. Of course when I pulled out my two little letters, I was redirected to the intimidating area. I am so thankful for people who pick up on my cluelessness and take pity--a woman noticed that I was unsure of what to do, so she showed me the way. What stood in my way was a "take a number" system that was automated. There were four buttons from which to choose. I was unsure which one to push so just stood there hesitatingly. Luckily, Helpful Woman hit the top button for me and handed over the numbered receipt that was produced. Helpful Woman gave up her spot in line for me. Bless her. From there, the rest was simple. I produced my little letters and the cashier asked me, "air mail?" and away we went. The cost was 110 yen per letter.

I'm often asked questions at cash registers that I don't understand. Often it involves a question about needing parking, or if I have some kind of points or rewards card. Usually I can answer correctly, according to my situation. And until yesterday, I hadn't gathered any points cards. In the course of one day, though, I received two such reward cards. I had no idea what they were for, but I got one stamp on each of them.

Today it became clear that one of my rewards cards, from our nearest grocery store SATY, was for bringing my own bag. When it was time to pay, I got out my cash and the card, and handed them over. The cashier had already given me a plastic bag (bag your own groceries here), but when she saw the card, she gave me a stamp and took away the bag. Aha! I still have no idea what happens when one fills up the card. We shall see!

The grocery store is so interesting. And being there at the busy times, particularly around lunch and dinner, never ceases to amaze me. All the cashier lanes are open and there are lines at every single one. It's true that the Japanese are just used to being cooperative and living and working in small spaces because even though everyone's nearly running into each other, somehow collisions are avoided and everyone seems to get along. I often imagine the inner grumblings of crabby people, but they usually aren't apparent. In the U.S. I could just hear people in line complaining about having to wait, looking anxious, asking for managers, etc. In Japan, everyone just knows they have to wait and we're all in this together, so why grouse? I very much appreciate this. Usually when we are waiting in line I spend my time subtly people watching. There are generally several mom and child combos to check out, or kids to catch Mirah's eye.

Settling in to our apartment means that it's been generally outfitted. We have kitchen utensils, appliances, furniture, and even drapes as of last weekend. Soon we will need to figure out bedding for guests who will arrive. SATY or Simachu, another home goods store, are near our house and both have folding beds of a sort.

I think we are getting a rental car soon. I don't really think we need one, and I don't plan on driving it during the day, but Brian may use it for work and it could be helpful for some shorter weekend trips. If the car arrives this evening, Brian hinted that he wanted to find the Toys r Us. Yep, there's a Toys r Us in Atsugi and Brian's been longing to find Transformers. We haven't seen them around much. Can't wait to have more TFs hanging around our apartment. Ha ha!

golden week

It's Golden Week in Japan. A major holiday, although there are still many, many people working. Including Brian.

We did have a relatively work-free weekend, however. Brian went in for part of the day on Saturday. On Sunday we visited Mt. Fuji aka Fuji-san thanks to a good host, Khing-san. Proto Labs U.S. employees Erick and Mark are here right now, so the six of us made the journey to the mountain / mountains. We left the hotel around 8 a.m. and returned at 8 p.m. A few hours could have been shaved off had there been less traffic, but that's the way it goes around here. I didn't really care as I was too busy enjoying the comfortable combination of English conversation, sightseeing, and Khing-san's knowledge of Japanese!

I know that I've been pretty tightly wound these past couple of weeks. There have been only two instances where I have laughed uncontrollably in Japan. The first time involved laughing at the computer, at a comment my sister made about the scoring in a word game. The second time was in the car on the way home last night. I don't even remember what started it. Maybe it was the constant joking about love hotels? All I know was that it felt great. And laughing more would be good.

At the hotel there have been signs about Golden Week dining deals: "Golden Week Family Viking". Being a Nordic soul myself, I was really confused as to the whole viking thing showing up in Japan. Khing-san explained that it means all you can eat. Eating as the vikings do? I totally get it now!

culture shock

I just read this article.

Am definitely feeling adrift today.

In the morning I had a long chat with Krista via Skype, which was great, even though it reminds me that I am here and not there, home. Near the end of the conversation Mirah woke up from her nap (it was nice that Krista got to see her), had some lunch, and we were on our way out. It was a beautiful day today, sunny and cool. We headed to a park in Ebina. Decided I didn't want to take the train anywhere today because we had been bustling for the past three days.

The park was good in that Mirah needs an outlet for her energy that's bigger than a hotel room. She's been especially into climbing lately. So we arrived at the park and there's another mom there with her two kids--a boy about 3 years old and a girl in a stroller (I later found out the girl was 10 months old). They were on the other side of the park in the sandbox, but the boy's trike thing was near the equipment where Mirah and I landed. Of course the trike caught Mirah's eye and she went running over to it. I had to divert her because I don't know the rules about sharing trikes in Japan. She was a bit tweaked about that, but got over it. Then she was running happily around by the base of the slides and tripped. Now she has her first skinned knee. It's pretty minor, but definitely a baby-sized skinned knee.

Boy One came over and started playing on the slides. Another mom came later with Boy Two. Mirah seemed happy to be playing with (aka watching and interacting from a slight distance) the boys and it was apparent that she enjoyed following them around. The whole time, though, I was just nervous. Mirah already had her skinned knee and then she was playing on this equipment that wasn't age appropriate. I was having visions of danger, even though I was totally on top of Mirah the entire time.

Which goes to say that I think hyper-vigilance and OCD type behavior might be a culture shock thing.

After the park, we stopped at the grocery store. The entire time there I just felt uncomfortable and out of place. And annoyed that we live in a hotel and don't have a kitchen to cook real food. Argh.

Enough complaints for today. Wait, one more. Mirah has a runny nose and sneezed a few times today. Argh again.

The thing is, I really dig Japan. Think I'm just experiencing some culture shock.

outing with friends

Mirah and I had our first trip on the train today. We took the Odakyu line to Hon-Atsugi with the assistance of our new friends Rika and her son Haruki. First we met for lunch at Denny's. It happened to be very kid-friendly, which was a relief. Haruki is a sweet little boy, but he likes to be on the move. Rika chases after him quite a bit.

We had a nice lunch. I had chicken, greens, miso soup and rice from the set menu. After Denny's we went on the train. I was oddly nervous and kept laughing excitedly. Rika showed how to use the train pass (it's simply scanned at the entrance) and we went to the platform on the elevator. Hon-Atsugi is only two stops away from Ebina and the train was an express so it skipped "fake" Atsugi. I say "fake" because Rika explained that Hon means "real".

From the Hon-Atsugi station, we walked a short distance to the children's play space. It was on the 5th floor of a building. Luckily Rika had asked in advance if it was okay that we come to the play space. Of course there was the initial paper work to be filled out. Mirah's name, my name, address, phone number, etc. Of course I didn't have the address of the hotel or a phone number (I think soon I will be getting a cell phone with a Japanese phone number). The aproned authorities still let me in and Rika explained my situation.

The play space was awesome! It was a mostly open room with different play areas--kitchen, tables, climbing things, slides, books, etc. They had this great musical puzzle floor mat that had a note associated with each puzzle piece. Stepping on a piece made the note sound. And the notes were labelled with their tones, do-re-mi, in hiragana of course. Mirah enjoyed the mat and she was really into the two slides.

There were quite a few moms and kids / babies there. Everyone was quite welcoming. It turns out that this play space was free and there's one in Ebina as well, but apparently there's an admission fee.

After the play space, Rika was kind enough to escort us back to Ebina. We stopped for coffee and visited a grocery store for a few items. This grocery store was new to me and no doubt a better value than shopping at the food area in the department store!

We had a wonderful day and I hope that I expressed enough appreciation to Rika for being so friendly to us. Good times!