Simple Life

Japan is the land of the vending machine. I have never seen so many vending machines in one place. it's like walking through a casino in Vegas - slot machines, or in this case vending machines, everywhere. The benefit is that you are never far from refreshment, be it water, juice, soda or beer that you desire. At first I found the idea of beer vending machines strange, but I've gotten used to the idea. What I haven't accepted is that the Japanese version of Gatorade is called Pocari Sweat. I just don't want to drink anything with the name sweat in the title. For those of you that know Jaxon, you know he is a money magnet. That kid can find loose and forgotten change anywhere. Before we left the states he'd developed a habit of getting on his hands and knees in the checkout line of the store, looking for dropped change. Amazingly, he usually found some. Just imagine him here in Japan, vending machines on every corner. Let's just say that we cannot wa

Many people are familiar with the Japanese legend of 1000 cranes. Basically, anyone that completes the task of folding 1000 cranes is due to receive a wish from a crane, a sacred creature here in Japan. Cranes are thought to live 1000 years and have the ability to grant long life, health, success, etc. Here Lily is looking at a cluster of 1000 cranes left at a prayer wall at the Zentsuji Temple. The Zentsuji Temple was stunning. None of our pictures do it justice. If you're interested in learning more about the temples here on the island, search "88 temples of Shikoku". It's pretty amazing stuff. I don't know that we'll make it to all 88, but we got started today! After our time at the temple, we followed signs to a park. We weren't sure what we'd find at the end of our drive, but that was half the fun. We ended up at this AMAZING park! It was beautiful. It had beautiful gardens, huge play toys, sculptures, activities, ponds complete wi

So much of our decision to come to Japan had to do with learning to live another way, differently than the routines that we had fallen into. Some would ask why we had to come to Japan to do this, why couldn't we just make changes to our lives while living in Yakima? Well, I guess the simple answer is that this felt easier. It sounds strange to me, even as I write it. How is uprooting the entire family and giving up 99% of our possessions to move halfway around the world easier than making changes at home? The truth is, making changes at home, like spending less, saving more and slowing down is all well and good until you tire of it and give up. We've tried. It always started out well but little indulgences would creep back in. "Of course we don't need Starbucks right now, but it's right there and there is no line at the drive through...it just sounds good." One trip through Starbucks would lead to another, then we get too tired to cook dinner, next thin

I'm not too small to admit that I'm jealous. Jason is *rocking* this teaching thing. The Japanese people love him! He's a natural entertainer and has already been promoted to full time. Now, whether or not he considers this increase in hours a promotion or not is still in the air. I, on the other hand, am not some fabulous teacher-rock-star. I guess it's the traditional teacher in me, but I am having a hard time adopting the curriculum. It's a great curriculum, it's just geared more toward fun and less toward traditional academics. Every lesson is supposed to include a game, a song and a story. With the lessons only being 30-50 minutes, that doesn't leave much time for the text. I guess the key here is exposure to the language more than anything else. Like all new things, I will struggle for a little bit but will ultimately grab hold and do well. ***having a little faith here*** Jason and I already have some favorite classes. We both enjoy the

We have a mailing address! We're choosing to use the address at our office to receive mail. Here it is: Jason and Tawnya Ostrer 1-4-10 Sakaemachi Kanonji-City Kagawa 768-0072

Our apartment backs a canal. I'm not exactly sure what the canal is for, but there are many fish, birds and turtles living in it. People are not allowed to go into the canal or fish from it. Of course, we didn't know that so Lily and Jaxon headed down a little ladder that leads down into the canal and played around for awhile. Here is a picture of an empty turtle shell they found and brought home. So cool! Of course, it would be better with a head... Today Lily caught herself a little lizard outside the grocery store. Naturally, she wanted to keep it. Next, we went to the Daiso, a dollar store. There she found little plastic bug cages for kids to keep pets and things in. The picture showed some sort of roach or something living inside. She wanted that too. Another veto from me. I know she missed the cats but the last thing we need are pet cockroaches! The headless turtle will have to do for now.

We're here! We made it safely to Japan with just a few inconveniences along the way. Overall the travel here was relatively painless. Now, a few days into our time here we're trying to acclimate to the seemingly 1,000,000% humidity. Supposedly August is the hottest month. Quite honestly, I have never looked so forward to fall! We are loving it here. The town we live in is small and relatively untouched by Americanism. We thought that there would be more people here that would speak English- there really are very few. We also thought that there would be more English writing on packages. Again, very little. It makes grocery shopping slightly intimidating, especially for me, the queen of reading labels. Oh well, guess that's just part of the adventure. We live in Kanonji. It is near the sea and very clean as far as little and human waste is concerned. There is never trash on the ground. And despite the warning I received that men are legally allowed to (and wil

We left Yakima yesterday. Leaving meant something different for each of us. I can only touch on the tip of the various emotions that we all felt as we drove west. The kids were both sad and excited. Both seem to be looking forward to what is to come, however, neither like to be reminded of what we are leaving. For Jason, leaving meant working his last day at Macy's. He is walking away from an almost 20 year career in retail management. He's mentioned a few times how much he is looking forward to NOT working at 3 AM the day after Thanksgiving this year! No matter the level of freedom that he feels for leaving behind the retail machine, I have to believe there is a little sad in there too. Jason has always been very well liked by his teams and enjoyed being a leader. I think that the sadness is diminished by the brightness of the uncertainty we are moving toward. For me, leaving Yakima is more than just moving out of a house, away from a city, or even

Last Thursday night we had dinner with a family that has been an important part of our lives here in Yakima. The family has been family to us as we lived in Yakima, away from all our blooded relatives. We won't see them again before we leave so this dinner was our goodbye. All was well and normal until the end when it was time to leave. As Laura and I hugged and prepared to part ways for some undetermined amount of time, I cried. I'm sad to be leaving her and I believe that she is sad to see us go. While being sad, she is one of our biggest supporters. She is very excited for us and the adventure that we are beginning. The goodbye was hard, leaving her was hard. But, she and I will remain friends and support each other from anywhere that we may end up. Knowing that made it all hurt a little less. Laura and her family were the first of many goodbyes that Jason, the kids, and I will have to make. I want to hug everyone and assure them that we will see them again, that

The house is set and staged for an estate sale. Everything that we own is taped and priced, available to whom ever thinks they need it in their lives. I feel like I should be sad looking around at my life represented by things that are all about to find new homes, but I'm not. I'm not sad to see my vases, my pillows, candlesticks and other accoutrements leaving my life. In all of my fond memories, I cannot think of a single one that would be made worse by lack of a large red vase with fake grass or a striped pillow. We are leaving behind the tangible, taking with us only those precious collected items that we carry with us daily but that cannot be see by anyone else. This process of stripping down has really shown me that I do not NEED stuff. Sure, I like it, and I want it. I'm pretty sure that will never change. I just cannot imagine a day that I walk by a unique shop and it does not beckon me in. I guess the point is that I think I have let the line of need and