Simple Life

Just a few pictures of my dinner last night.  I was adventurous!

I love to shop.  I am up to shop for anything, except clothes and shoes.  I really dislike the whole "I'll try it on.  Let' hope it fits!"  However, shopping for groceries, furniture, even pencils, I'm game.  In fact, I just returned from a quick trip to the 105 Yen store to buy scotch tape and ink pens.  I loved it.  I like the research part of it all, the part where to read packages and consider options before deciding on a purchase.  Yes, I did this with my tape and my pens.  And yes, I was alone.  If Jason or the kids were with me I would have grabbed the first of whatever I saw and got out of there.  Something about comparing and considering is so therapeutic for me. Shopping in Japan is even better than shopping in America.  Of course, being able to read the packages would help in the comparison part of my shopping...but I don't care.  I love it anyway.  So, do this:  picture the last time that you went i...

Twice in the last week the kids have gotten hurt while out playing at the park - nothing serious, but here is how it went: Tuesday: I am sitting in class, teaching, when I hear Jaxon come into the front area of our school and tell Kie, the school manager, that Lily fell and hurt herself, but that some women stopped to help her. Just as Jaxon finished his sentence, Kie’s phone rang. It was Goda-san (the mother-in-law of our boss; she helps out with the business with scheduling and such). Apparently a mom of one of our students had seen Lily fall, called Goda-san, who called Kie. All was well, Lily made it to the school fine. I was just surprised at the chain reaction that transpired from the fall. People care! Saturday: I let the kids run to the park alone. An hour or so later, the kids came home and Jaxon had a large bump and dark bruise on his forehead. He’d been straddling a chain of some kind. Lily yanked it up, aiming for his butt and hit his head somehow. (Yes, w...

I needed this weekend. Friday was a day off, so I slept. It is amazing to me how little it takes to exhaust me here. I think that it is because everything here takes effort - nothing is simply easy. All the extra brain power it takes to get through the day just wears me down. It hasn’t helped that we haven’t been set into a routine yet - until now. It seemed like every week the schedule of our lives was changing - now we are more set. Jason and I have basically set work schedules now and the kids are in school full time - the new year has just begun for them. After a day of rest I decided to host a few people in the apartment for a late dinner. Jason and all the other teachers worked until 9ish, so we had a late taco feed. I really miss having people over and doing dinners and drinks. It was nice to entertain for a night. The following night we went to a friends home for a Japanese style BBQ and sushi. It was amazing. I was brave and tried some new things - I’ve fo...

Keeping a blog presents some interesting internal dialog for me. On the one hand, I am an honest person that rarely keeps truths hidden or sugar coats for the benefit of others, therefore my writing should be the same. On the other hand, who knows who will read what I write and when I may just accidentally shoot myself in the foot. So, do I censor my thoughts and feelings for the benefit of protecting myself in the case of a potential reader? Or, do I go, full frontal, and bare it all? I'm not sure that there is an answer that fits all situations. Maybe a little bit of sugar coating, a dash of omitting, and a large helping of brutal honestly is where the magic medium is. Or, I could be very, very wrong. In any case, tonight I need to vent a little. I am exhausted. My body hurts, my throat is aching, and my emotions are all broken up. For the last 3 days I have left for work before 9 AM and returned home after 9 PM. There were breaks in there and I only worked between 8-9 ...

Today a friend (A) invited the kids and I to lunch in her father's home. Jason mentioned to me that he read that "being invited into a Japanese person's home is a big deal." No pressure, just make sure to do everything right! I never did get the name of my host, but he was very welcoming and wonderful. Upon arrival we were ushered into what my friend called "a traditional Japanese home". What that ended up meaning was cold. The house was cold, as are many homes here. There is little to no insulation in the homes and heaters are small space heaters. Like our apartment and the other homes I have seen, spaces were small and there were many rooms, doors, and walls dividing spaces. Homes here are very different than the open floor plan that is embraced in America. Every room has a door of some kind that allows it to be closed off, preventing heat (winter) or cool air (summer) from escaping. Dad (for lack of a name) prepared lunch for all 10 of us (7 kids...