Tommy Gets Ready For School

Mio took Tommy to his school today for registration. They informed Mio that he needed:

1. A physical by a general doctor
2. An appointment with an Ears, Nose, Throat specialist (all kindergarten students are required to do this)
3. An appointment with an eye doctor (all kindergarten students are required to do this)
4. The school's hat, vest: $40
5. Misc. other items like special cubbie box for crayons, glue and supplies; book bag; change of clothes bag; luncheon mat; cup / lunch bag; indoor shoes; and a few other items. Estimated $40.
6. A parasite test that is administered at home. Basically, it's a sticker that is placed on his bottom and then peeled off and sent to a lab. This has to be done on 2 days. All kindergarten kids are required to do this. Hmmm.

This makes Mio very busy as school starts on Thursday.

Luckily all of his immunizations are up to date.

Here's a picture of Tommy in his school cap and vest.

Terry was at an interview, so he couldn't come along to take school pictures. That will happen in the future.

A Visit To The Cemetery

Today we went to the cemetery to visit the family plot. Mio's mother's ashes reside here. Also residing here are Mio's fraternal grandparents and two uncles on her father's side. People in Japan get cremated and their ashes are either placed in a family cemetery plot like this, or they are placed in a mausoleum. Most are in a family plot like this one.

The cemetery is really huge. It consists of small plots about 5' X 8' with rock, brick and marble dedications to the family members' spirits. It is Buddhist in nature. Those remembered here have their ashes buried here.

When the family comes to pay their respects, they purchase flowers for the main statue, purchase incense to burn, and fill a special container with water for the flowers and to pour over the main statue to provide a drink for the family members.

Once the flowers are placed in their holders and watered, the incense are placed in their spot. Then water is poured over the main statue to provide water for the family members. Prayers are said and then the family is done.

It took us over 1 hour to drive the 18 miles to this place. The side roads are very slow. The boys thought it was pretty neat, even if they had to ride over 1 hour back home.

American Influence

English is a vogue instrument here. English is used to sell everything. The one strange thing about it is that it doesn't need to make sense. Most folks don't understand the English that is used to attract folks to stores / products. So, sometimes the English makes sense, but most often, it doesn't. It's merely an attraction used to lure people inside.

Here's a sign I saw today outside a sporting goods store. Not sure anyone entering could understand what the sign meant. However, I'm sure the sign draws in lots of people.

We Survived Our First Typhoon

Japan is prone to lots of typhoons. We are in typhoon season now. When I lived here before, I usually experienced a couple of typhoons per season. They are generally not as big as hurricanes and generally result in a lot of wind, heavy rain and some light flooding. However, the last year I lived here I experienced one that tore the roof off of several buildings and uprooted some trees.

A strong typhoon was scheduled to hit Tokyo yesterday afternoon and last most of the night. Lots of trains and flights were canceled in advance. A lot of evening events were canceled in advance. Terry's interview was rescheduled by the interviewer. Terry's drinking plans with a grad school friend were canceled.

During the day yesterday there were periods of heavy rain and gusts of wind. During the night there were more periods of heavy rain and gusty winds. When we woke up this morning, the news reported that the typhoon had mostly passed through and continued its course back out to sea. Some areas south of Tokyo were hit hard, receiving some damage. Quite a bit of localized flooding was seen on TV. And several buildings had their roof blown off. All in all, Japan go off pretty lucky on this one as it was a pretty strong one.

So, between the narrow streets filled with cars, people and bicycles weaving in and out of each other, the earthquakes, and the typhoons, we are never at a loss for some excitement.

Since it is early in the typhoon season, we are expecting more encounters until sometime in late October.

The Boys Are Turning Japanese, I Really Think So

When it comes to food, Tommy has really taken a liking to many Japanese foods. He has tried most of the new foods we have put before him and he has liked most of them. He's always had some liking for Japanese food, especially fish. Here's a picture of Tommy eating steamed clams and loving every bite. Big brother looks on. Is it envy or concern?!

Both boys have really improved their use of chopsticks. And Tommy seems to be picking up a lot of Japanese mannerisms without realizing it. At times he bows almost automatically.

Michael had his second swimming test today and received black level 2, which is only a few steps away from being able to consider some type of swim team. He swam the length of the pool, 25 meters (82 feet), without stopping in order to achieve his latest rank.

Today we went to a clothing store to pick up Michael's PE outfit. All the kids are required to wear the PE uniform. He wasn't too sure about the hat, but we reassured him that all the other kids have to wear them, too. Total cost for the hat, shirt and shorts: $44.

Also today, we ordered Terry's official stamp. While westerners often can use a signature on documents here, it is often better to use a small wooden stamp for official signatures, like on bank documents, etc. Since Japanese use Chinese characters in their writing, the stamp comes from centuries ago when someone's stamp was their official permission. Terry has 2 stamps from his previous life here, but it was time for a new one. Too long of a story for this blog.

Yesterday we went to a department store and bought supplies to build a desk. The desks we have looked at are very small and very, very expensive. So, we decided to build our own. We purchased an unfinished pine board (1.5' X 5.9') for the top, $35. OK, it was all sealed in plastic, as most Japanese products are over-wrapped / over-sealed, and it was made from smaller pieces glued and planed flat. It's a nice, very smooth piece of wood. We purchased some 2 X 4's for legs. They were $2 for about 4 3/4'. They were very nice 2 X 4's, cut from the center of the tree, very few knots, dried, and much straighter than Lowes or Home Depot. We bought 1 pint of paint, $14!!! We bought 2 cheap brushes, $5 combined. We purchased some screws and small brackets, $5.

The store cut most of the lumber for us as they offer that service for free. We shoved all of it into Mio's father's car and were on our way. All total, the materials cost about $65-$70.

Once home, we built the desk and painted it. It looks great and it'll outlast an earthquake!

Our Trip To Costco

OK, probably not too interesting for the States, but for us, it was an adventure to go to Costco today.

It took about 1 hour to drive there. We were still in Tokyo. We live in west Tokyo and drove further west for 1 hour and were still in Tokyo. We had to use the GPS in the car to get there.

Once there, it was pretty much the same as the USA, but with a few differences. It was about 1 1/2 times bigger than the Costcos we have been to in Oregon. They had quite a bit of western food, which is why we wanted to go there, but they also had a lot of Japanese food. The prices were anywhere from about 10% to 40% cheaper than local markets for western foods like salsa, tortilla chips, peanut butter, cheddar cheese, cereal, etc. It was a little cheaper for Japanese food, but probably not worth the drive if we were shopping only for Japanese food. It is a great deal for the folks that live 20 minutes or so away. The boys loved it because of all of the samples. I liked the free beer samples, fish egg samples, and other Japanese food samples. The local kids were unusually wild inside the store, running up and down the isles and raiding all the sample stands. For the local kids, it was like recess in this normally comatose society.

We had to park in a 2 or 3 story attached parking garage. From there, we picked up our shopping cart inside the garage and then took a hybrid escalator/moving walkway down a 40 degree slope to the main door. It was interesting because the hybrid moving system was built like an escalator, but was flat like an airport's people mover. The shopping cart went on it smoothly. It was a little strange taking this thing about 100 yards downward in a straight 40 degree angle. I've never moved on something like this where I had to stand at an angle.

We are planning an American style Mexican dinner for one of Mio's friends, so we bought salsa, chips and so on. You can't readily buy that kind of food here except in very high priced specialty stores.

Once we finished filling our cart about 3/4 full, we paid ($343 dollars!!!) and went to the food court. By the way, it was nice to use my American Express card to pay. Credit cards are not used for ordinary purchases here, like groceries. It's mostly cash. The food court was pretty similar to the USA, but they do have a few additional foods, like the bulgogi selection, which is Korean-style.

After eating we went to Member Services to get a Japanese membership so we can get the local coupons here. We happened to be helped by one of my former high school students from when I lived in Japan 14 years ago. The place I lived in then was about 12 hours north of Tokyo, so to see her at Costco was a surprise. Also, I heard recently that she is dating an old American friend from graduate school, which makes it an even smaller world. Someone I knew 14 years ago moving 12 hours south and meeting my American friend by chance in a bar in a city of 14 million people is a little scary.

Anyway, enjoy the Costco pictures from today.

Also, a follow up to Terry's interview yesterday. He dressed up in his suit, sweating in the 85 degrees with 79% humidity and got ready to go. Mio's father was nice enough to drive him to the local train station. There, Mio and Tommy boarded the train with him and took him to the nearest main train station to see him off. There, he boarded a train for the 40 minute train ride. It was 9:30 in the morning and the train was so packed, that he literally could not move his arms up to scratch his head, or to use his towel to wipe the dripping sweat from his face. From home to the train station nearest the interview was about 50 or 60 minutes. Not bad by Japan standards!

Upon arrival, Terry had to walk about 1/2 mile to the office. Needless to say, the suit was quite sweaty upon arrival. Once in the office, he was immediately met by an overactive AC system. It must have been at least 30 degrees different from the outside temperature.

After 2 hours of interviewing, Terry was quite chilled and happy to be back outside to warm up. The interview went well. Terry passed the initial Japanese speaking, listening and reading tests. We'll see what happens.

Terry has another interview with a different company on Thursday from 5 pm. There is a Typhoon set to hit Tokyo on Thursday afternoon. Terry's Japanese friends are urging him to cancel the appointment and reschedule. We'll see how things look Thursday morning.

Three weeks, two earthquakes, one typhoon. No chance of boredom here.

Potpourri of Events

Today is a posting of a bunch of miscellaneous events:

1. Today we went back to the city hall to pick up Terry's alien registration card. He can officially walk around as a legal alien and prove that he's real. He has a Japanese Green Card!
2. Tommy and Michael rec'd their first haircuts here. Not very eventful, but it should make them feel cooler in this eternal sauna. We brought our hair trimmers from home, but it doesn't want to work here, even with the voltage converter.
3. We bought a seat for Mio's father's bike so Tommy can ride along with us on bike rides to the store, barber, etc. He was very excited for his first chauffeured bicycle ride!
4. Tonight's dinner was typical Japanese in that there were several small dishes of varied items. We had beer before dinner; sake with dinner; small, dried fish with freshly grated daikon radish and soy sauce for an appetizer; raw, sliced Bonito fish served with freshly grated ginger on top, with soy sauce poured over that; pan fried chicken gizzard and liver (very tastey); iceberg lettuce with carrots and Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (brought from America); rice with spiced Cod fish eggs. It was a feast! For dessert we'll probably have sweet peaches, chocolate, or some Japanese sweet bean curd. As Rachel Ray would say, tonight's dinner was "Yummo!" Be sure to click on the dinner picture to enlarge it and get a better view!! Wish you were here?!

Terry has an interview with a Japanese multinational tomorrow, Mio has an interview on Wednesday, and Terry has an interview with a foreign currency trader on Thursday.

Our Stuff Has Arrived & Tommy Gets A Pool

Our stuff arrived yesterday; all 31 boxes. The neighbor was visiting and she and Mio's father were amazed at the amount of boxes being brought in. I'm sure they thought we were invading.

The boxes arrived in good shape and the guys carried them all the way upstairs for us. They were dripping sweat in the 88 degrees and 70%+ humidity. They didn't look tired from carting our stuff upstairs as they're used to the heat.

The boys were really excited to finally have their toys, videos, more clothes, etc. It was almost like Christmas. The best part was that Mio had purchased a few new toys/games before we left and hidden them in the boxes, so the boys were full of questions as to why new toys were in with the old toys. What a thrill for them!! They were quiet the rest of the afternoon as they were getting reacquainted with their toys. What a relief for us to finally have the boys be quiet and not fighting with each other out of boredom.

Yesterday was Michael's 2nd day of swimming. He walked home from school all by himself.

Today, he walked to and from school all by himself. He knows the way. He also had a test in swim class and rec'd a 1st level black band to sew on his swim cap. It's the 5th level out of 13 ability levels. He was pretty proud and so were we since he hasn't had any swim lessons for over 1 year. He's 4 levels away from being eligible for an elementary level swim team.

And finally, Tommy has been wanting a pool of his own to cool off in. After looking at several stores we found one today and set it up. The biggest challenge was finding a pool that would fit in the space we had for it. It may be small, but it works and Tommy loved splashing around in it and cooling off.

Oh, I almost forgot. Terry has an interview with a Japanese company next Tuesday. It's his first interview in Japan, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. They have a Japanese test for him!

Michael's School Pool And My Name On The Mailbox

During 2 weeks of the summer break the school pool holds daily sessions for different classes so the kids can have something constructive to do. Today was Michael's first session. We had to go to the store to buy a swim hat prior to entering the pool. Looks like we'll have to go back to the store to buy the special trunks they wear. The pool was shallow, about 2 1/2 feet.

Michael had a good time and did well. It was an 80 minute class with exercises, some swim practice and then 15 minutes of play at the end. I was very impressed at the orderliness of the kids and how quickly the kids got quiet once asked. There were about 75 kids in attendance at the 1st and 2nd grader's session today.

Here are a couple of pics I took before I was asked to refrain from taking pictures. Apparently the privacy of each student is important and pictures are not allowed to be taken anywhere around the school. Oopps.

Also included is a picture of our mailbox with my name on it, in Japanese and English, should I get mail here.

Our 31 boxes will be delivered tomorrow afternoon. We're a little worried about what we'll do with all the stuff. It's going to be interesting!!!

A Visit To A Friend's House

Today we went to visit one of Mio's high school friends. Actually, she came to pick us up and take us back to her house. She lives in the same ward as Mio, where both of them grew up.

She showed up in a newer Volvo station wagon. It was nice to see. Foreign cars are pricey in Japan. It was even styled for Japan with the steering wheel on the right side of the car. She had the usual GPS system in her car to guide her to our house. Even though she grew up in the area and had been to Mio's house many times, the GPS was a useful guide.

We had a great time visiting. She has a 10 year old girl and a 7 year old boy. Michael towered over the girl and Tommy was not too much smaller than the 7 year old. Her children are a little small compared to others.

We enjoyed visiting her 4 story condo. Condo's here are called mansions. It was about 3 years old and very neat inside. The first floor contained the standard Japanese entry-way (genkan). There was also a bathroom and a room for storage or a bedroom. The second floor had the kitchen and living room. The third floor had 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. The fourth floor was actually a roof access designed as a veranda. They were intended to fill the needs of a yard, so some people had a small picnic table, plants, clothes hangers, etc. The condo was about 10 feet wide and about 20-25 feet long.

The home had a gated entry, video screen in the living room for allowing visitors to enter, security system, heated floors in the living room, and very modern interior/design. Way cool.

On the way home we had some difficulty getting down some of the side streets. They were too narrow for the Volvo to fit down. So, we had to navigate around to find streets wide enough. At one intersection we had to back up and go forward several times in order to make a right turn, but we made it.

Week #2, Earthquake #2

Update: The earthquake has now been updated to 7.2 magnitude.

This is our second week here and our 2nd earthquake. The press release is below. It was the longest earthquake I have felt in my years living here and traveling here. It just seemed to go on forever. it must have lasted 20 seconds or more. The boys thought it was neat to see the lights swaying and hear dishes, windows, etc. rattling. I was instant messaging with my brother-in-law at the time. It was interesting, to say the least.

We watched the TV coverage of injuries and some building/road damage. Even for Japan, where they are used to earthquakes, this was a little more than the ordinary.

BREAKING NEWS: Magnitude 6.8 quake jolts northeastern Japan, injuries reported. An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 jolted northeastern Japan on Tuesday and a tsunami warning was issued for the coastal region of Miyagi Prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The 11:46 a.m. quake registered lower 6 on the seven-point Japanese seismic intensity scale in southern Miyagi Prefecture, about 300 km northeast of Tokyo.

Many in the city of Sendai, the capital of Miyagi, were reported injured, according to the local fire department. Japan's Kyodo News reported that a roof fell in at a sports center in the city, injuring many.

The Japanese government has set up a task force at the crisis management center of the prime minister's office.
The quake, which also swayed high-rise buildings in Tokyo, originated about 20 km off the coast of the prefecture in the Pacific Ocean, the agency said.

The Onagawa nuclear power plant, located about 70 km north of Sendai, automatically shut down, Kyodo reported.
Bullet train services on the JR Tokaido, Tohoku, Joetu, Nagano Shinkansen lines from Tokyo were temporarily suspended, the train operator said.

The Japan Times: Aug. 16, 2005(C) All rights reserved

Japan Scene

Today we went to Shinjuku, which is one of the central business districts as well as a central shopping area and night time area. One picture is a central street in Shinjuku. It's about 20 minutes by local train.

One picture shows Mio relaxing in a message chair. It messaged arms, legs, back, neck, head, feet, etc. The only problem is the price: $3100!!!

Another shows Michael and Tommy in a watch/clock shop playing with kids' alarm clocks. It was amazing to see all the special talking, singing alarm clocks for kids. Some adults purchase these clocks as well.

Another shows a young couple in more traditional summer clothing heading down the street toward the train station. Mio said there was a large event with a large fireworks display going on tonight where people wear more traditional summer clothing. I have 2 such outfits. One was hand made by a friend from when I lived in Japan before.

Another picture is Michael borrowing one of Grandpa's bicycles. He bought it several years ago and has never used it. He has another bicycle that he currently uses, so he's going to loan this one to Michael. You can see Tommy trying to keep up with big brother.

Enjoy!

Local Shopping

Some pictures of local shopping: the fish monger, side street with lots of small shops, a car too big for it's small garage, a local tofu company's delivery motorcycle.

Time for a Hair Cut

Well, the heat has gotten to Mio. She couldn't stand it anymore. She took off on her father's bicycle in search of some place to get her hair cut. So, here's Mio's new hair cut.

It's quite a bit shorter than before and quite a bit cooler.

Isn't she beautiful!

Michael's School

Today we visited Michael's school. It's the same school that Mio went to. Mio took me by there about 9 1/2 years ago. I did not recognize the school. Neither did she. It has been completely remodeled. It is quite a nice school. It is 3 stories high and looks about the size of my high school. They have about 500 students there.

The school was very nice inside. They have a huge 2 1/2 story high gym that is bigger than my high school gym. They have a huge soccer/playground area. They have lots of climbing toys for the kids. They have a cement and wire cage area outside with rabbits, guinea pigs and birds that serve as school pets. They have a pool for PE classes.

The materials used to build the school were cement, tile, steel and wood. The school has been rebuilt to last a long time. It was really beautiful. They don't appear to have any money problems like the schools in Oregon. They have PE, art, music, math specialties, home-economics, and all the regular classes. It's a very traditional, well-balanced education like when Mio and I were children, before all the budget cut nightmares. They even have after school programs like Karate. They teach the same Karate that Michael was learning in Portland. The cost is 50 cents per class. It's a group class, but it should do until we can find a Karate gym.

The walk to school was about 12-15 minutes from home. There are lots of landmarks for Michael to follow. There is a central school route that neighborhood kids take once they are off of the side streets. It is well marked with signs, road painting and green/white colored guard rails.

The picture of the outside of the school is the 2 classroom/admin sections of the school. The gym is a third building attached to the right building that you see in the picture and is much wider than either of the other 2 buildings.

Day 7: More Shopping: Reality Check on Living Costs

Well, we made it through our first week here. Whoopeeeee! It's been fun and it flew by very rapidly. We're getting settled in and it's feeling more like home. We've gone on a lot of little shopping trips for basic house items. An example is today's purchases:

small pedestal fan (on sale), $20
battery charger with 4 AA batteries (value pack), $38
wall stud finder, $12
credit card sized level for hanging things straight (very cheap, but I hope it works), $8
knife sharpener (The exact same one we gave away the day before we moved!), $16
hand duster and refill pack (on sale), $6

It doesn't take long to get to $100!

At the store the boys were getting a little tired of all the shopping we were doing. They had a row of coin-operated toy/candy machines like in the US. The machines were 100 Yen (~$1), 200 Yen (~$2) and 300 Yen (~$3). I gave the boys 200 Yen ($2) each and it pacified them for about 10 minutes while they figured out what they wanted. If in the US, I would never have given them $2 each for these types of machines. In Japan, 200 Yen ($2) was cheap. It's all relative when it comes to costs.

They had a pet section at that store. A cat cost $980. The dogs there were about $800 and up. Some were $1500. They looked like ordinary pets that I would see in the US. I must be missing something. Maybe these were purebreds, but I hardly think so because the store was more of a discount store. It wasn't an expensive store at all. Even the hamsters were about $8 and up.

After those purchases we went to a grocery store to buy food for the next few days: $50. Not sure what our weekly food bill will be but it's looking like close to $100 per week for the basics. It will be more if we add in special meals and drinks like Coke, beer, liquor. Not sure what it will be once we have some people over.

In the afternoon the remodeling company representative came by so we could go over some fixes with him. As with any remodeling job, communication with the representative doesn't always travel down to the guys doing the work. There was nothing major, but a few details got dropped.

Tomorrow morning we'll make a visit to Michael's school to get him signed up. It's summer vacation but some of the staff are still there. We're looking forward to visiting his school!!!!! Michael will see firsthand what the walk is like from home to school. He'll need to walk to school every day. Hopefully he'll find some friends who live along the way to walk with.

Someone asked how we are doing with reading things around us. Michael and Terry are working together on this. We can figure out the basics. For Terry, the Chinese characters are starting to come back a little, and the Japanese characters are getting clearer again. For Michael, it's more a matter of getting used to reading Japanese on a daily basis. He hasn't learned many of the Chinese characters yet, but that will change shortly. There are 1945 basic Chinese characters taught through high school. These 1945 characters can be pronounced many different ways each depending on whether they are used alone or with another Chinese characters. Terry used to know about 300 basic Chinese characters. Needless to say, he cannot read a daily newspaper (that's why he subscribes to one of the daily English language newspapers).

Other advances this week include Michael's great gains in using chopsticks. He's really advanced in his abilities. Tommy has gotten a lot better as well.

I would like to end week one by sharing my 3 favorite slogans so far:

1. From Kanebo brand cosmetics: For Beautiful Human Life
2. From Kirin Lager Beer: The mature, mellow taste & deep, foamy head make Kirin Lager Beer a wonderful harmony of refreshing taste and refined quality.
3. Instead of Ronald McDonald, it's McDonald-san (maku donarudo-san).

So ends the first week. All is well and we are adjusting fine.

Day 6: Long Car Ride and Follow Up

Today we took about a 70 minute car ride through Tokyo. Mio's father went to see his doctor and we rode along. The doctor wanted to meet us. He was the doctor when Mio's mother had cancer 14 years ago. It's a long way to go to see a doctor, but Mio's dad likes him. He was very friendly and gave us some information about children's vaccinations in Japan.

During the car ride I took some pictures of the narrow roads to show how 2-lane roads here would hardly qualify for 1-lane roads back home. Every car you see on the road has some scratches on the corners of the bumpers or the side molding strips. The streets and parking spaces are so narrow that everyone eventually dings their car. Add to this the large number of bicyclists, pedestrians, scooters, motorcycles zig zagging in and out of traffic, and the parked cars and trucks on the side of the road, and it's a wonder that there aren't more accidents.

I also took a picture of the TV in the car. Mio's father turned it on to entertain the kids during the long ride. He also used the GPS system to see how much further we had to go.

Some of you had some questions based on my previous postings. Here are some of the questions / answers:

1. Naps: Yes, the boys have been taking naps almost daily. The heat and the time difference are a little bit of a challenge. However, the boys seem to be adjusting pretty well. We have been going to bed between 9 and 10 pm. The boys have been waking up between 5 am and 6 am, so we're not too far off schedule.

2. Clothing styles: Japanese have generic clothing, Japanese branded clothing, and then high fashion global brands like Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss, etc. What will we do for clothing? We have enough cloths to last for about 1 year. If Terry gets a business job, he'll most likely wear suits. He bought a couple of them in Portland and brought them along. The boys will be fine with the clothes we brought and can easily transition to Japanese kids clothes as they're very similar to American kids' clothes. Mio brought a lot of clothes. Women's clothes are more universal, so she should be OK.

3. Language: How is everyone doing with the language transition. Michael is doing pretty well. He has been pointing things out in the stores and restaurants. It is coming back for Terry and he and Michael work together on the language. Tommy is learning, but keeps asking when he can go to Japanese school to learn Japanese. We tell him that he can learn Japanese at home until he goes to Japanese school, but he's adamant that he needs to learn it at Japanese school. He's excited to go to school. However, he is picking up words and trying to use a little now and then. He really likes Mio's father and talks to him all the time. Pretty soon they'll begin to understand each other and then they'll really have fun.

In the afternoon Terry and the boys went on a walk in the opposite direction from yesterday. Our goal was to find a nearby grocery store and buy juice and snacks. Since Japanese homes are small, one cannot easily buy juice, snacks and other food items to last for the next couple of days. There simply isn't space to store a lot of things, so frequent trips to the store are necessary. I now know of 2 grocery stores within 8 minutes' walk to buy groceries from. Of course, 7-11 is only 50 feet away for emergency purchases. They carry a lot more basic foods/medicines than they do in the USA. They even sell liquor.

After the walk we went to the local park for some fun. When we got home the boys were pretty sweaty, so they took it upon themselves to put their heads under the faucet and cool off. Then they wrapped their heads in towels.

One point I forgot to add from our gov't registration process on Monday is that we seem to be eligible for a 10,000 Yen ($100) per month subsidy because we have children. The birth rate in Japan has been below sustaining levels for decades and the gov't encourages couples to have children. Depending on where you live, the subsidy can be even more.

Day 5: More shopping, and street learning

Today we went to another 100 Yen store for more household supplies as we decided we weren't ready for Costco. Because of the train rides, walking and rides in Mio's dad's car, it's kind of difficult to make a lot of purchases at one time and then drag everything back. Such is the life in Japan, frequent purchases. Michael and Tommy scored on some battery operated fans to help keep them cool. You can see a picture of them in front of Mio's father's car holding their fans.

Once back home I put a new towel bar up in our bathroom. Then I went downstairs and helped Mio make grilled cheese sandwiches. Pretty simple stuff. Mio's father commented that I can do anything. I think most Japanese men don't do much more than go to work. House work, cooking, house maintenance, fixing things, etc. is not so normal for men in Japan. Women act as the house manager and run the house as the man is rarely home. Maintenance is often performed by some type of handyman. However, I think the somewhat recent emergence of 'do it yourself' shops is beginning to change that slightly. I think most men don't want to be bothered with home repairs, but some are trying. Tim 'the tool man' Taylor probably wouldn't be a big hit here.

While the boys were napping, Mio and I spent almost 2 hours sorting through our Internet, TV and VOIP options. So many options, but I think we're settling on Yahoo's joint venture here in Japan where they offer TV, fast DSL and VOIP for about $60 per month. The fast DSL is 50 Mbps and the TV includes the Disney Channel, Nikelodeon and Cartoon Network. The VOIP service allows us to call the USA for about 3 cents per minute. I was thinking about fiber optics, but the fast DSL at 50 Mbps is about 25 times faster than the Comcast Cable I had in the USA at about 1/2 of the price. For another $30 I could double my speed with fiber, but I'm not sure why I would need that speed. We'll see how it goes. It should take about 6-7 days to get it installed.

In the afternoon I took the boys on a walk around the neighborhood to get them used to reading shop signs and to learn local landmarks. We learned to identify the different types of shops in a typical neighborhood: bakery, different types of noodle shops, Japanese fast food restaurants, convenience stores, book stores, train station, electrical goods store, toy store, household goods store, fish store, butcher, vegetable stand, grocery store, etc. Unlike the USA, you have to go to a lot of different shops to do general shopping. My other objective was to get the boys used to a lot of walking. We spent a total of about 3 hours walking today at various times. It's necessary for the boys to learn to do a lot of walking, and how to be safe on the street. With all the bicycles, walkers, cars, scooters, motorcycles and etc., the boys need to learn to watch out for themselves. Tommy is the most challenged at this, but the plethora of vending machines ensures that he never has to be thirsty. And our exploration of the inside of the bakery yielded some tasty snacks to refuel us. You can see a picture of the boys in front of the neighborhood map. This map shows visitors the homes and apartments in this neighborhood. It helps visitors to locate the residence they are visiting.

For breakfast we had salted, grilled salmon with rice and 2 types of seaweed. It was very tasty. For dinner we had kimchee soup, fried egg plant and green beans with Japanese sauce, and pork sauted with teriyaki sauce. Of course there was the obligatory beer and sake accompaniment.

Day 4: Registering With The Gov't

Today we went to the local government offices to register. We needed to register several things:

1. For health care insurance
2. As a family living in Tokyo
3. Terry as a foreigner living in Japan
4. Social Security, whether we intend to retire here or not.

We got in Mio's father's car and punched in the gov't office phone number in his GPS system and it guided us there. His car is 6 years old, but it's still very nice. It's a Toyota Royal Crown G, which is the top of the line for Toyota. The back seats recline at a touch of a button. It has a monitor built into the dash for viewing car information, GPS directions, TV, etc. It's interesting to drive down the road and see the car next to us watching TV from the dash. Kind of scary!

Regarding the social security registration, we should be able to get a refund once we leave here since we don't plan to retire here.

It took about 3 hours to get all the registrations submitted. Mio did a tremendous job in translating and taking charge. She left Japan when she was 21 to go to college in the US, so she's never lived here as an adult and this was all new to her. We'll have to go back in a few weeks to pick up Terry's alien registration card.

All in all, it went fairly smoothly. The Japanese are fluent in bureaucracy, so they know how to get things done.

After we finished the registration marathons, we went to a late lunch at a bakery/restaurant. They had European styled breads that were very tasty. Prices were more than for Japanese food, but the total price was only about $50. Not bad for a nice lunch.

After we returned home I borrowed Mio's father's bicycle and went for a bike ride to explore. Several people have asked me to send pictures of the vending machines here, so I took my camera along. That is why you see some vending machine pictures here.

On my bike ride I got a flat. I stopped at a shop that had bicycles outside. They told me that they don't fix bicycles, they only sell them. They told me there was a bicycle shop about 5 minutes away by bicycle. So, I pushed the bicycle there, sweating in the 85 degrees with 84% humidity.

Once I found the bicycle shop the owner showed me the problem. The bicycle had been running on low tire pressure for some time and the tube was really thin along the sides. He could fix the hole for $17, or he could replace the tube for $32. I chose to replace the tube to keep everyone happy. He fixed it very quickly and I was on my way. It was a good practice of my Japanese. While there I perused the bicycles for Michael and Tommy. A basic kid's bicycle was $178. They went up from there. I'll keep looking around for a better deal!

After returning home I took the boys to the local park (2-3 blocks away) for some afternoon fun. Now it's time for a beer with Mio's father. Tomorrow we're thinking about going to Costco!

Day 3: Bug Catching

The day started out with an early morning earthquake. It wasn't enough to scare anyone, but it was enough to wake us up. Japan has hundreds of earthquakes each month. Usually only 1 or 2 can be felt as most are very small.

Today we took somewhat of a break and had some fun. Yesterday at the 100 Yen store, Mio's dad bought the boys some bug catching nets and bug cages. This morning he took us on a walk around the neighborhood along a section of park blocks. We walked around for a couple of hours. We had on our hats and carried our towels to mop up the continuous sweat dripping down our faces.

The boys had a grand time catching moths, butterflies, caterpillars, cicadas, and other bugs. Needless to say, in a hot and humid climate like this, there are lots of bugs to catch. The cicadas are in full force now. They are everywhere and at times they are so loud it's difficult to hear someone talking next to you. They are quite interesting.

At one point we came across a man-made stream along the park blocks where kids can get wet and cool off. There were several mothers there with their small children letting them cool off. As avid water lovers, Michael and Tommy didn't have to be coaxed into the water to cool off. It was hard to get them out of the stream.

At another point Mio's father pointed out a 300 year old tree next to a small, miniature temple in the park. It was also nearly 300 years old. 300 years is not really a long time here as this country is much older than that.

A highlight along the way was Mio's father buying drinks for the boys from a random vending machine. Japan has millions of vending machines all around the country that sell anything you can imagine (juices, vitamin drinks, batteries, food, whiskey, beer, eggs, steak, clothing, and so on). The nice thing is that one is never at a loss for some type of beverage, even in the middle of the countryside. Vending machines are everywhere!

The boys were wiped out from a couple of hours in the heat and took long naps. After their naps we went to the nearby park where Mio used to play as a child. It's been updated recently and was fun, especially since it's only about 2 blocks from the house. It's not the same as Stephenson Elementary that we used to live next to, but it's better than nothing. On the way to the park we stopped at 7-11 and bought a Diet Coke for 147 Yen, which is about $1.32. Not as bad as I thought it would be.

While the boys were playing outside, Mio was busy in the house organizing and preparing for the arrival of the 31 boxes we shipped by ocean. The ship is supposed to dock in Tokyo on Monday. Sometime this week they should be calling us to schedule the Customs clearance. Hopefully we'll have our boxes in about a week.

For dinner Mio made pot stickers. We all love them and enjoyed overeating after playing in the heat.

The day ended with a splendid sunset from the local park.

Day 2: Venturing Outside The Home

We ventured out today for some basics for the bedroom and bathroom. We walked the 8 minutes to our local train station and boarded the local train. We arrived in a shopping area nearby that has a Japanese version of a Dollar store. It was amazing to see all of the things we could buy for 100 Yen, which is about 90 cents.

On the street we noticed lots of people with umbrellas to shield them from the hot sun. Most people had some type of handkerchief or towel to mop the sweat from their brow, neck, etc. It was 90 degrees with 53% humidity.

There were lots of people on the streets handing out coupons, ads for local shops, etc. It's a common occurance to have someone on the street to direct business to a particular shop. The shops are usually small and very close together, so it's hard to notice a particular shop unless they do something to make them stand out.

After the 100 Yen store, we ventured over to an electronics store to buy a hair dryer. It was interesting to see how differently the goods were designed. Most were more compact than American designs and almost all were more advanced with more features than I'm used to seeing. Flat panel TV's seemed to be the norm with box set TVs hidden in the background.

After making our purchases, we walked back to the train, boarded it and got off at our station. The boys were red-faced and sweating from the heat and walking. When we got home, Michael was so thirsty that he enjoyed drinking the grapefruit juice in the fridge. He didn't even notice the tart taste of grapefruit.

When we got off the train at our station, we stopped at the local bakery. It's a French styled bakery with lots of ornate pastries and breads. They often make rolls with fillers like sausage, yakisoba noodles, spaghetti noodles, curry, custard, etc. They also make rolls for kids that are shaped like cartoon characters and decorated with frosting, candies, etc. It helps sell more bread.

After dinner the kids lit sparklers. You can buy simple, 'safe' fireworks almost all summer.

Here's Where We Live

Here's a picture of our house, the one with the car in the driveway. It's a 2-story house with stucco-like exterior. We're estimating about 1500 sq. ft. inside. The 2nd story is all ours and consists of 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and a small landing at the top of the stairs that is about 8' X 8' with a built-in display area. The downstairs consists of the kitchen, dining room, living room, Mio's dad's bedroom, laundry room, bathroom, and entryway.

The upstairs was completely remodeled in June. One bedroom was gutted to add insulation in the exterior walls since that portion of the house was built before insulation was widely used. They did a nice job.

Day 1: We Have Arrived

We arrived safely via 1 limo ride to the airport, 1 plane ride (9 hrs 45 min instead of the 10 hrs and 25 min that were estimated), 3 train rides and 1 car ride. All went well and the boys were absolutely excellent! Even the flight attendants commented several times how quiet the boys were. I guess giving them Dramamine must have helped.

Today was 88 degrees with 70% humidity. So, it feels like a 99 degree sauna. It's HOT!

We spent most of today organizing in our rooms, waiting for the luggage that we sent from the airport to our house. We had to move furniture around and put the dressers, etc. in the right rooms in the right places. We also had to clean them up a little. They've been sitting around for 17 years and some of them are 30 or 40 years old. They're in good shape, just needed a little dusting.

The bedrooms and bathroom upstairs look fabulous. They really did a great job remodeling everything. Everything is new, from the ceilings to the floors. They even added extra outlets for modern day electronics and added special outlets for DSL or Cable/Fiber Internet service. The room AC units are really, really quiet and work really well; something the Japanese have perfected.

We are exploring our Internet options here. Right now I'm borrowing the neighbor's wireless network.

Both Tommy and Michael have commented several times how cool (neat) the house is here and how cool Japan is. Lots for the little guys to see as everything here is so different. They love having a 7-11 just 50 yards away. And they loved sleeping on futons on the floor.

We're off to the store for groceries and some other basic items.

I'll write more later.