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| What you see when you open the front door |
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| hallway behind that chair goes to kitchen/dining room |
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| including our Charlie Brown Christmas tree |
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Saturday, July 12, 2014
Our Digs - Part II
Finally getting around to posting some pics of the interior of our apartment. We are really loving this great (yet small) space, apartment living has some great benefits such as...no lawn care, no home improvement projects and very little effort on daily clean up!
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Our Digs - Part I
Museum Tower - home sweet home in Japan
We live on the 29th floor and are loving high-rise life!
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| Jon's soccer club |
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| workout facility in the building |
Interior pics next (maybe in a few months - ha!)
Saturday, January 4, 2014
What I love about Japan
I am sure there are more things I will discover about this country in the next year and a half, but here are some of my top favorites from the past 4.5 months.
No Tipping: That's right, no tipping! For anything! And for amazing customer service. What?!?
Gracious to Foreigners: Americans could learn a lot about how to treat foreigners from the Japanese. There is no attitude here of 'this is Japan, speak Japanese', people really try to help you if you look lost or if you're looking for something. Most people are nervous to speak in English (even though they all take it for 6 years in school) but they will try to help you as much as possible. I also find that if I can get someone talking, they do know English pretty well, but they are such perfectionists that they don't think it's good enough to talk to a native English speaker.
Process and Order: So this is something that I love and yet drives me crazy sometimes. They truly have a process for everything and it makes it very nice in areas like getting on and off the train and standing in lines etc. but it sort of drives me crazy at work because things take so much longer than they need to. Another good example is their train system - it is so easy and you can set your watch to the trains - they are always on time! And the driving here - everyone is soooo courteous! Even though they drive on the other side of the road, it has been fairly easy to learn to drive here because everyone drives so slow and polite. But don't get me started on the process around getting your driver's license…
The Sights: Japan is truly beautiful. We live in a great area that has access to many ancient and beautiful places. We still have so many to see, but we have really enjoyed what we have been able to get to so far. A post on that soon!
Uniqlo: Japanese technology in clothing at affordable prices. Love this store!
The Toilets: I want to bring some back with us! Why has this technology not caught on in the US?!
Lack of American pop culture: As the mom of an 11 year old girl, I feel like she regained her innocence when we moved here. She went from acting like she was 13 back to 11! I love that Miley Cyrus is not idolized here! Japanese do like American pop culture, but it's just not so overwhelming like it is at home.
The Quiet: Maybe this is connected to 'being polite' and 'process and order', I'm not sure, but it is so quiet here! Even in a sea of people on the train or walking down the city streets, it's just quiet. It is a huge no-no to talk on your phone while on the train. It's nice (most of the time).
The Underground: There are more layers to every city under the ground. So genious! Especially in the super hot summer and the cold winter months! And more real estate. Why didn't NYC do it?!
City Living: This isn't really specific to living in Japan, but we are living in a city here and really enjoying high-rise living. No yard work? Yes, please! We love being able to walk everywhere rather than drive. We also love being able to try so many different cuisines within a few minutes of our home. Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian (not so great here)…and um Japanese.
Safety: This had to be first, because as a parent it is my absolute favorite thing about Japan. After living under the fear of school shootings, kidnappings and terrorists attacks, it is nice to take a breath and let down our guard a little bit. I don't yet fully understand why it is so safe here, but I think a lot of it has to do with the culture being so focused on harmony. I still have a hard time believing that my kids take the train by themselves to school. This includes walking several city blocks and changing trains! They have adjusted well to city life and to the freedom that they have, I think it will be really hard for them to come back 2 years older but lose some of the freedom they gained here.
Being Polite: People are just really polite here. It is really refreshing. As part of that, you get incredible customer service everywhere you go. It is truly extraordinary. Getting your hair done at a Japanese hair salon - unbelievable! It takes about 3 hours for a cut & color, but believe me, you don't mind it at all! They wash your hair for 15-20 minutes and while doing so, you are in a chair that lays you completely horizontal and you're covered by blankets, after the hair washing, you get a shoulder and head massage. When they color your hair, they literally work the color through all the strands of hair, section by section. I can't wait for my next hair appointment!
No Tipping: That's right, no tipping! For anything! And for amazing customer service. What?!?
Gracious to Foreigners: Americans could learn a lot about how to treat foreigners from the Japanese. There is no attitude here of 'this is Japan, speak Japanese', people really try to help you if you look lost or if you're looking for something. Most people are nervous to speak in English (even though they all take it for 6 years in school) but they will try to help you as much as possible. I also find that if I can get someone talking, they do know English pretty well, but they are such perfectionists that they don't think it's good enough to talk to a native English speaker.
Process and Order: So this is something that I love and yet drives me crazy sometimes. They truly have a process for everything and it makes it very nice in areas like getting on and off the train and standing in lines etc. but it sort of drives me crazy at work because things take so much longer than they need to. Another good example is their train system - it is so easy and you can set your watch to the trains - they are always on time! And the driving here - everyone is soooo courteous! Even though they drive on the other side of the road, it has been fairly easy to learn to drive here because everyone drives so slow and polite. But don't get me started on the process around getting your driver's license…
The Sights: Japan is truly beautiful. We live in a great area that has access to many ancient and beautiful places. We still have so many to see, but we have really enjoyed what we have been able to get to so far. A post on that soon!
Uniqlo: Japanese technology in clothing at affordable prices. Love this store!
The Toilets: I want to bring some back with us! Why has this technology not caught on in the US?!
Lack of American pop culture: As the mom of an 11 year old girl, I feel like she regained her innocence when we moved here. She went from acting like she was 13 back to 11! I love that Miley Cyrus is not idolized here! Japanese do like American pop culture, but it's just not so overwhelming like it is at home.
The Quiet: Maybe this is connected to 'being polite' and 'process and order', I'm not sure, but it is so quiet here! Even in a sea of people on the train or walking down the city streets, it's just quiet. It is a huge no-no to talk on your phone while on the train. It's nice (most of the time).
The Underground: There are more layers to every city under the ground. So genious! Especially in the super hot summer and the cold winter months! And more real estate. Why didn't NYC do it?!
City Living: This isn't really specific to living in Japan, but we are living in a city here and really enjoying high-rise living. No yard work? Yes, please! We love being able to walk everywhere rather than drive. We also love being able to try so many different cuisines within a few minutes of our home. Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian (not so great here)…and um Japanese.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Japan - the first month
(I just logged in again and forgot I had started this post back in September. I am going to post it since I wrote it when these things were fresh, but working on a big post now to reflect on the past 3.5 months. I really want to blog while here, but I am on the computer so much for work, I'm having a hard time feeling motivated to get on the computer at home...maybe this long Thanksgiving weekend will be the time...)
It has been just over a month since we made our move to the other side of the world. It has been a month full of adventure and excitement, with just a little bit of sadness mixed in once in awhile. Of course, we miss all of our family and friends that we are used to interacting with on a regular basis, but the distance does not change the depth of the relationships. I want to try to blog at least once a month to try to keep our memories of all we do and experience in one place.
When we first arrived, we were able to move right into our apartment and get acclimated. The first couple of days here were very busy with activities related to registering as citizens, getting ready to go to work and school the next week and just trying to get our body clocks adjusted to 13 hours difference. We came with very little, just what we could pack into suitcases and bags. Our apartment is furnished with both short and long term leased furniture. There are some things we will give back when our own furniture arrives (was supposed to come around Oct. 5th but currently delayed and expected Oct. 29th) and some we will use for the entire time we are here. Our apartment is very white and modern - a big change from our old, colorful house in Pennsylvania! But we are really enjoying the change. We are eager for our furniture to arrive so we can make it look and feel more like ours, but it is a really nice place and we are very comfortable here. Jon and I have talked about wanting to live in a city but always thought maybe it would be after our kids were grown, but we are LOVING living in a high rise and being able to step out our doors and having access to everything within walking distance. We live in a very convenient place for traveling all over Japan, with the major railway system just a few blocks away from our apartment. Our apartment has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living room and a combined kitchen/dining room. The best part is the huge windows in every room with an amazing view of the city and the mountains.
When we arrived, it was very hot and humid and is just now (mid-Sept) starting to become tolerable. Because of the weather, we didn't really do anything the first couple of weekends we were here, but then we decided that we only have 2 years and we don't want to waste any of it just sitting around in our apartment. So, last weekend we explored Osaka and this weekend we got out to see a little more of the city we live in - Kobe.
The kids are loving school. It is such an amazing school with kids from over 40 nations represented. They are both taking Japanese 1 hour a day and it is their favorite class. Sophia is changing classes every hour and so has many teachers and many cool classes - such as design class where they rotate through cooking, sewing, woodworking, fim and technology and drama class where they are spending the entire semester learning how to do improv - - such great life skills! Anthony is still in a traditional classroom with 1 teacher all day and he really likes her. He does have a few different teachers for things like physical education, Japanese etc.
Work is going great for me - I really like the people I work for and with!
It has been just over a month since we made our move to the other side of the world. It has been a month full of adventure and excitement, with just a little bit of sadness mixed in once in awhile. Of course, we miss all of our family and friends that we are used to interacting with on a regular basis, but the distance does not change the depth of the relationships. I want to try to blog at least once a month to try to keep our memories of all we do and experience in one place.
When we first arrived, we were able to move right into our apartment and get acclimated. The first couple of days here were very busy with activities related to registering as citizens, getting ready to go to work and school the next week and just trying to get our body clocks adjusted to 13 hours difference. We came with very little, just what we could pack into suitcases and bags. Our apartment is furnished with both short and long term leased furniture. There are some things we will give back when our own furniture arrives (was supposed to come around Oct. 5th but currently delayed and expected Oct. 29th) and some we will use for the entire time we are here. Our apartment is very white and modern - a big change from our old, colorful house in Pennsylvania! But we are really enjoying the change. We are eager for our furniture to arrive so we can make it look and feel more like ours, but it is a really nice place and we are very comfortable here. Jon and I have talked about wanting to live in a city but always thought maybe it would be after our kids were grown, but we are LOVING living in a high rise and being able to step out our doors and having access to everything within walking distance. We live in a very convenient place for traveling all over Japan, with the major railway system just a few blocks away from our apartment. Our apartment has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living room and a combined kitchen/dining room. The best part is the huge windows in every room with an amazing view of the city and the mountains.
When we arrived, it was very hot and humid and is just now (mid-Sept) starting to become tolerable. Because of the weather, we didn't really do anything the first couple of weekends we were here, but then we decided that we only have 2 years and we don't want to waste any of it just sitting around in our apartment. So, last weekend we explored Osaka and this weekend we got out to see a little more of the city we live in - Kobe.
The kids are loving school. It is such an amazing school with kids from over 40 nations represented. They are both taking Japanese 1 hour a day and it is their favorite class. Sophia is changing classes every hour and so has many teachers and many cool classes - such as design class where they rotate through cooking, sewing, woodworking, fim and technology and drama class where they are spending the entire semester learning how to do improv - - such great life skills! Anthony is still in a traditional classroom with 1 teacher all day and he really likes her. He does have a few different teachers for things like physical education, Japanese etc.
Work is going great for me - I really like the people I work for and with!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
A Mini-Makeover
I've been itching to redecorate my living room for awhile, but with all of the other projects going on around here, there just wasn't the time or money. I was talking to my bff {and decorating advisor extraordinaire}, Bethany, about how I felt stuck with my color scheme of brown/red/gold/sage green because of my furniture and rug. I have had those colors for over 10 years and am so sick of them but am not ready to take the plunge and get new furniture. She encouraged me to add some new fresh colors in and specifically suggested teal blue. The next day I was at Target and found a few things I thought would work and after a trip over to TJMaxx, I had everything I needed for a mini-makeover. After a couple of decorating advice sessions via text (messages and pics) with Bethany, I am very pleased with the outcome. I spent less than $250 and feel like I have a brand new room!
The Transition
It's official - we have a tween! ahhhhhhh! I promised Sophia that for her 10th birthday we would re-decorate her room that she moved into when she was 2. It took us almost a year, but it is finally done! She and I had a lot of fun picking things out together and I am hoping she likes this for quite some time (like when she's ready to go to college...)
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Decorating!
My favorite part of doing the addition is finally here - - decorating!
We also found some time over the long Easter weekend to re-paint the living room. We had to do this because when we had the basement done, there was some cracks in the living room wall from the shifting/re-settling of the house. I decided to go with a much lighter shade to brighten up the room.
Now we are working on finishing up the kids bathroom - Jon got the shower up and running and I just have to paint some trim and some closet doors and then we will be done with that room. A few more little projects lefts such as painting the office, tiling the entryway and doing a little trim here and there and we can officially wrap this project up...well except for fixing the damage to the backyard from all the construction vehicles, gutting and re-doing the master bathroom and finishing the basement....but you know what I mean :)
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| We got a table for this extra space in the kitchen (much to Sophia's dismay - she thought this was the ultimate dance floor - especially at night when she can see her reflection in the window). |
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| I am loving having a table to fold the laundry on (washer/dryer in that double door closet) |
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| Because I used 2 of our dining room chairs in the kitchen, I had to get a couple of new chairs for the dining room |
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| I have always wanted to have a couple of upholstered chairs - I love these and think they really complete this room! |
We also found some time over the long Easter weekend to re-paint the living room. We had to do this because when we had the basement done, there was some cracks in the living room wall from the shifting/re-settling of the house. I decided to go with a much lighter shade to brighten up the room.
Now we are working on finishing up the kids bathroom - Jon got the shower up and running and I just have to paint some trim and some closet doors and then we will be done with that room. A few more little projects lefts such as painting the office, tiling the entryway and doing a little trim here and there and we can officially wrap this project up...well except for fixing the damage to the backyard from all the construction vehicles, gutting and re-doing the master bathroom and finishing the basement....but you know what I mean :)
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