PIANO!

I will go without a new couch for this. They delivered it today. We are waiting on the women to come and tune it. We are all very excited. I can't wait for lessons to start. They are already fighting over who gets to play next. Thank you Grandma Dorney. We dedicate it to you.

Registered

I finished registering all 4 kids for school today and signed them up for 2 more weeks of swim lessons. I think this will be a summer they will never forget. They are going to get an extra month off because school here doesn't start until August 27th. I am glad they will have had lots of time to adjust. Every time we walk out the front door it is a challenge and we come home exhausted. Not being able to speak and read the language is difficult. It leads to very interesting dialogue. Today I was using my translate app on my phone to navigate a conversation. Thank goodness for smart phones. I feel bad not being able to understand them. I also had 2 phone calls today, which is even harder because you cannot use body language.
My goal for the rest of the week is to get myself enrolled in school. I'm hoping to knock out all my language requirements while I'm here, not to mention what I learn will come in handy.

Chopsticks

We have all converted. The kids all prefer to use chopsticks. We use them at home when we have rice and stirfry, but tonight we had steak and Greek salad and they still insisted on using them. They are all catching on quick. When we eat out that is all they give you unless you know how to ask for a fork. I don't mind they are easier to wash. When we first got here I bought a set that is different colours so they each have their own so there is no fighting. They also have assigned seating in the van, otherwise it is a fight every time they get in. A lesson I learned growing up in a big family. Thanks Mom and Dad. It makes my life less stressful.

Costco.

First Liam and I started the day at Nitori a store that is much like target, maybe even better. It's a 5 min drive from the house.Still no luck finding a couch. I might just settle for a decked out tatami room.

We then went to Costco. It's not a long drive on the Yokohama-Yokosuka toll road(Yoko-Yoko). It cost us about $12 in tolls each way. You can drive on a non pay road but I think it would take a lot longer to get there. The drive on the toll road is beautiful. It reminds me of driving the H3 in Hawaii.

Costco was much the same as any other.Many of the same brands we know. Hannah said this feels like home, but not.The kids love to eat there, the pizza is a favorite. The hot dogs were 100% pork. Very good, but definitely not kosher.

Tomorrow we get internet. Very exciting. Hannah and I have cellphones that tether so we have had some internet but nothing fast enough to run more than one thing and downloading takes forever. The internet company j.com is partnered with our cell company au, so we get a discount on each of our cellphones of about $20. That adds up.
All in all we had a good day, but still no couch.

End of the world!

Tonights disscusion in the van.
Lily: Dad when is the end of the world coming?
Hannah: It is their new topic of discussion. They keep debating it.
Kol: Some people say it will be in December Lily.
Liam: Lily, only God knows the answer to that question.
Lily: Can't you look it up online or somding? Online doesn't have the answer?
Liam laughing: ugh No.

On another note, Liam and I have spent the last 2 days shopping for a new couch and some other things with not much luck agreeing on what we want. We are now off to have some 100yen sushi with the kids.

Shopping in Yokohama

Today we took the train to Yokohama and went shopping at SoGo. A massive 12 story department store, with many little shops on every floor. On the roof top the kids were able to get out all thier extra energy running around and they made a friend. He was imitating everything the kids did, he was so cute.
We then headed back towards home and had some Korean BBQ the kids loved watching us cook the meat on the little grill. It was very good, not sure I will feel from it. I'm sure it had sesame all over it.

Surprise visitor!

Look who found us earlier than we had expected.

Relaxing week!

We didn't do much this week besides swim lessons. The kids had an awesome time. It was the first time in months I didn't have a list of pressing things to get done. It was nice, however I didn't sleep well all week. I need to get back in the gym. That is my goal this coming week.
I can't wait for my stuff to get here. Maybe if I have my own bed my sleep will get better.

Church and Brave

We went to church today. The priest here is great. His homily was at least 20 minutes long, which for the kids if it goes past 15 they are usually getting restless and that was not the case. When it was over Kol said "Mom he was good, I like him." Kol is not easy to impress so that should tell you something.
We then went and saw Brave at the theatre on base. It was $3 each for me and Hannah and $2 each for Kol and Lily. Evelyn was free. A large popcorn and large soda was $5.25, so the 5 of us went to a movie for $20. Now that is a good deal. I can't remember the last time Liam and I were able to go for under $20 maybe in high school. The movie was good. We all enjoyed it.
I hope ya'll have as relaxing a Sunday as we did.

We have a new Shogun!

At my AOB class last week they covered a brief history of Japan and the Shogun era and about samurai. I relayed yesterday what I had learned and today while I was shopping in the NEX the little ones were wielding swords out of random objects stabbing each other and declaring they were the new Shogun, very enthusiastically.  I forget sometimes what sponges they are and how what I teach them sometimes does not work to my benefit.

Laundry day!!

Well it is Friday and we have been here over two weeks. Somedays it feels like I just got here, but then I think about all we have done and learned and it feels like a lifetime.
Starting with our trip here followed by 5 days of serious messed up sleep. We learned to ride the train and to use the public toilet, then the one at home that squirts you. We then learned how to bathe in a new way. I had to figure out all my appliances that are in Japanese and to drive on the left, which is much easier than I thought it would be. Tonight I did laundry and here in Japan we hang our clothes. My hallway is full of them. I will need more bars and clips to keep going or wait till tomorrow. In front of a couple of the windows in the house you can hang clothes incase it is raining outside, which tonight it is. We got here during the rainy season.
We have learned so much, but there is still so much left to learn, like a whole language. Yes (Hai), no (iie), Good morning (ohayo gozaimasu), thank you (arigatou) and excuse me (sumimasen) will not be good enough to get us by.

Aquarium

We headed out early this morning to drop my van off on base, so the women I bought it from, Elvie, could have the inspection done. From there we walked towards the train station and I got a Starbucks. Elvie called and said that all the paperwork wasn't in the van so she came and picked all of us up and we drove back to the the house. I found the piece of paper she needed, then she drove us back to the station. Round trip was almost an hour.

We finally got on the train at Yokosuka station. We had to transfer in Kamakura to a different train to Enoshima. Total train time was about 45 mins. It was a 10 min walk to the aquarium to meet up with the group of people from the ship. We made it on time even with the car situation. The kids had so much fun visiting and looking at all the fish. Kol was my photographer for the day to keep him busy. Most of the pictures are of the fish. There is not many boys in the group besides babies and he would really like a man to talk to, his words. We stayed to see the dolphin show that the kids thought was fantastic. We then had the hour trip back to the base to pick up my van. We did lots of walking again today and it was hot and sticky. I was packing around 4 umbrella's incase it rained, which it didn't . I'm glad they had fun. It is always very draining trying to keep an eye on all four of them and by the end of the trip I'm always spent.

Riding the train

Hannah and Kol messing around while we are trying to take a nice picture.

Evelyn touching the starfish and sea cucumber

Kol taking his famous close ups

Dolphin show

Ikea!!!

I went to Ikea today. Very exciting stuff. I bought a few things, but I will have to go back when I decide what else I need. I needed special IH pots for my stove. I found a set there that didn't break the bank. It was good to be in a store that was familiar to me.

It is July 4th tomorrow and American holidays are a good time to go out and do things because the Japanese are still working, so we are going to the Aquarium with the FRG (Family readiness group) for the ship. We are looking forward to it. I will take lots of pictures.

I'm a new owner of a Mazda Van!

Today was quite an adventure. We started early walking to the train in the rain. Kol and Evelyn both slipped on a grate and hit the ground hard. At the train station Lily slipped getting on the train and fell between the train and the platform. Thank goodness a Japanese women was standing right there and caught her. My driving test was on base at 9:15am, so we were riding the train in morning traffic to get to the base in time to catch the bus on base to get me to my appointment on time. The train was crowded but not too bad. I passed my test, which I was a little nervous about because you are not allowed to drive at all without a license so my first time driving on the left was at my test. After I passed we walked straight to the used car lot and I called about a van that was new to the lot since Saturday when I had checked. They go fast so I jumped on it. The women was very helpful. The process to get insured and registered is complicated when you have not done it before. Space in Japan is limited, so I need permission from the police department saying I have enough room at my house to park my car in order to get it registered and that takes 3 days. Someone has to come out and measure my spot to make sure my van fits. It will, I have enough space for 2 cars. I was able to get a temporary registration and drive it home. I made it, in the dark with no problems. It was a very long day and I'm glad I have a car again, finally.  I wish I had a picture to post, but by the time I got home it was dark. I'm exhausted. The kids had swimming lessons in amongst all the chaos today.

The Bathroom.

When I explained to the kids that in Japan they fill the tub and keep it filled and reuse the water they were very against it. It works like a hot tub you fill it and set the water temperature and it stays at that temp. In the picture you can see it has a cover to keep the heat in. I told them you shower off and get clean before you get in the tub and soak. There is no soap in the tub it will wreak the system.  Well not one of them liked the idea. Hannah said "yuck you sit in someone else's water?"  They were all complaing. I was excited to have a tub large enough to soak in, but I have always loved a bath myself. Well, this morning they all used it and must have loved it because later in the day they were fighting over who was going first for the second round. They are all extra squeaky clean today.