Photos

I seemed to only get one photo on the earlier post. Now I'm going to give it another go and try to add more.

It didn't really seem to work out. This is a photo of the harbor and the side ways photo is of the China town area. I'll work on getting better at this.

Happy New Year and Kobe

Happy New Year! We were able to stay up till about 9pm last night. At least today we can watch the ball drop on times square, on CNN. We have done a bit of exploring on foot and via train. There is a massive amount of shopping here and it seems to be the national pastime; dressing up (in the most unsuitable footwear, ie high, pointy heels) and going out shopping. I was often overwhelmed by going to the mall back home. This particular area seems to be miles of shops and stores, in every direction, above ground, below ground, everywhere! And it seems you can get anything, if you're willing to be pay the price. We also explored the area of the school and the touristy area of the harbor, with the shops, restaurants and cruise ships. I have gotten groceries from 4 different places, just to see what each has. We even ate out at a Japanese restaurant down by the harbor. We just said "lets do it and see what we get". It turned out pretty good. The people here are very nice and helpful, especially when they can see that you know nothing. Today is New Year's day and nearly everything is closed except for convenience stores and some coffee shops. Everyone is out going to the shrines. We went to 2, each quite different in atmosphere. The first was closer to home. The line was pretty long. They were giving out free sake and had a couple food stands and the trinket and fortune telling stand. The other shrine seemed more commercial and the atmosphere was more like a carnival. There were lots of food stands and toy stands as well as the fortune stands. I bought something that looks like an arrow. I don't know what its for, but everyone was buying them. Some people were throwing them away afterward. We didn't get the fortune paper, no way to know what it said. I'm going to try to attach some photos. If anyone reading this knows about the arrow thing (or any of the rest of it), please feel free to enlighten me.

Mended boy/ Neighborhood & beyond

Well, its the middle of the afternoon and by the amount of noise and acting goofy coming from the boy, I'd say he's back to normal. His sister & I walked to a grocery store and got juice, bananas and bread among other things, to soothe his stomach. It must have worked.
On to the neighborhood-- Acorn Hills is a little green oasis on the side of a giant hill (mountain?) with 6 houses. There is a walkway beside our house that leads to some stairs and an electronically controlled gate. There is a walkway there leading to a little park in one direction and to the street in the other. The fire station is right behind the house. When you cross the street there is a little park with a pond where old men like to gather and fish. They nearly all use binoculars. What are they looking at? Its not a big pond. about a block down the hill from the park/pond is the train station. Also at this location is the fabulous little bake shop, 2 convenient stores, a liquor store, dry cleaner, a beauty shop and 2 mom & pop fruit/fish head stands. Today they had some whole, fried fish laying out there that had teeth. I really wanted to eat one of those! Anyway, that's the immediate neighborhood and now I'm off to explore it some more. I'll let you know what I discover.

Blowing Chunks!

I had thought that today I would regale you with tales of the neighborhood of Acorn Hills and our exploits out in Kobe proper, but I shall have to hold that for the next one. You see, I was up all night with our son who was puking his guts out. Hasn't been sick in the past 3 or more years and 5 days after moving to a new country it hits him. I think its just the stomach flu, so hopefully some liquids and a bland diet for a day or so and he'll be back on his feet. I'm really not ready yet to have to deal with a doctor. My big accomplishment yesterday was succesfully putting the right trash out ,on the right day, in the right spot. There's no way I'm up to dealing with doctors yet.

The House

There is so much going on, I don't know where to start. So why not start out like the kindergardeners, with the home, then branch out into the world. The house is very nice. Hats off to Ben, again, for choosing a great place for us to live. The rooms seem quite large. Of course that will change once they get some real furniture in them. The little fenced in back yard is nice. We are surrounded with a wall of green hedges, trees and shrubs. There are always birds tweeting or cawing outside. There are numerous electronic gizmos throughout the house with which I must become more familiar. Appliances! I have managed to wash 2 loads of laundry. The equipment is the same as we had in Belgium. It takes 1hr & 15 min. to wash 1 load. The oven has various attachments like a pizza stone & spit! The cooktop has a warming thing at the back of the burners! The dishwasher is easy to use, but we have so few dishes right now that we have to wash them by hand because we need to use them over & over. Each room has its own heater/air conditioner and you use a remote control to operate them. All different, some easy to read, others impossible. The ones I haven't figured out, I've just turned off. So some rooms are quite cold, while others are boiling. Especially when the some is shining. The south side of the house has all the big windows. The floors of the nook and kitchen are heated. At first our feet were almost blistering with the heat, but we have figured out how to regulate it properly and its a very nice feature. Also heated, is the toilet seat in the master bath. There are buttons for that, plus cool water, hot water, stream or spray and dryer. I tried the drier once, but got tired of waiting and just wiped it dry by hand! The phone is also an intercom for all the rooms and the front gate. The postman brought a package yesterday, pushed the button on the gate. I picked up the phone thinking it was one of the kids on the intercom, but heard someone speaking in Japanese! It dawned on me to push the camera button and sure enough, I saw someone moving at the front gate. I rushed out through the 2 front doors, only to discover that I did not have any keys with me to open the gate. Thus he had to hoist the package over the gate to me, once I had signed the paper. I now know which button to push to open the gate! There is also a security system which I have not used yet, but may try today. They said there was no charge for false alarms! I guess that's enough for now (more than enough actually). I just want to say that I really like the house and the location and can't wait to get our own furniture here in a few weeks.

Gilbert!

Gilbert has arrived! He made it through the quarantine inspection and customs and was delivered to the house about 30 minutes ago. A great big thank you to all the people at WorldCare Pet Transport! Gil seems to be in good shape and in good spirits. He was thirsty, but of course he peed a river when I got him out of his crate. He licked me a little bit, but was eager to set off down the street to explore his new surroundings. We truly appreciate everyone that has helped him and taken care of him on his journey from Indy to Detroit and on to Osaka and Kobe. And now I think I'll try to get some shut eye. Good night.

We're here

We have made it to Japan! Its been a whirlwind of activity today. We arrived 2 hrs behind schedule last night. Went to hotel and got quite a bit of sleep. Got up this morning and had a very nice buffet breakfast featuring Japanese & American foods. Got picked up later by the 2 nicest relocation people you could have. We got copious instructions,from the real estate guy, on how to use all the appliances and electronic gizmos in the house. The security guy came and showed us how to work the security system. Another guy (Canadian) came to give us alot of info on how to live here ie; transportation, doctors, vets, shopping etc... Then we were taken to get our alien registration, re-entry permits and cell phones. The relo gal working with us is just fantastic. I can't imagine having to do those things on our own. We finished with all of that to find that we had a rental car in the garage and the house was full of rental furniture when we arrived back. Gilbert will be arriving sometime in the next hour or so. I can't wait. It is nearly 10pm. Everyone is in bed. I will stay awake to wait for him by trying to figure out how to work the TV, although there is a guy coming tomorrow to explain it to me. We think we are really going to like it here. The house is great. The people have all been so nice. Our first impression of Japan is, in one word-cute! From the uniforms people wear, to the lace seat covers on the cars, everything here seems to be cute. More later after Gil arrives.

Go!

Woke up this morning at 1am, got up at 2am. Everybody got ready and we left for the airport around 3. We had a smooth flight to Chicago. It was snowing there. They had to de-ice the wings and we set out for San Fran. where I'm sitting in the lounge drinking champagne & eating pretzels. Got word from our dear friend, that Gilbert went happily with his driver, to Detroit this morning. She let him ride up in the front seat, instead of in his crate. I'll call the guy in Detroit to see that he made it okay, before we take off for Osaka. Everyone is holding up well. The kids were grumpy this morning so we've kept them separated so far and now they want to sit together on the plane to Japan. I can't say enough about the wonderful people we are leaving behind. A big thank you to our friends, neighbors and co-workers, for all the good-bye parties, food, fun and gifts. A special thank you to Jennie for taking care of Gil. You're priceless! You are ALL special to us. Thanks and we'll miss you all alot!!! Please keep in touch. Now I'm going to get all teary eyed and blubbery if I don't stop. I'll post again once we get to Japan. Love to you all. Merry Christmas.
Peace

Get Set

Well, its less than a week until we make the big move! I'm just taking it day by day. There is a list of things that need to be done and I just go through and check them off, not really thinking too far ahead. The utilities and mail have been taken care of, the cars are gone, the schools have been notified again. I have one more class in the Japanese language before leaving. I can greet people and know a few verbs and nouns. I'll pick it back up again once we get settled in Kobe. The biggest hurdle in this whole move has been trying to insure that the dog can get there and not have a 6 mth quarantine. Its been tough. In the beginning I thought I could take care of it myself. Boy, was I ever wrong! The pet transport company has been fantastic! We still have one more vet visit and then the paperwork needs to be officially stamped by the USDA vet. Hopefully that will all go smoothly later this week. We need to buy one more suitcase, make a last donation to the salvation army and food bank and I think we'll be ready to roll.

Get Ready

Well, I'm a forty-something mom about to become an expat (again). In eleven days my family and I will begin the journey to Japan where we will live for the next couple of years or so. Our household goods have been sent via the sea shipment a month ago. The air shipment left 2 weeks ago and we are now living out of suitcases in an empty, drafty house with an echo. Our cars have been sold and our house has been listed. We have no Christmas tree or decorations of any kind. I still go to work each day (thank goodness for that) and am trying to help the kids realize that they still have semester exams to prepare for. We go through each day as normally as possible, knowing all the while that we'll be gone from here shortly. It was on a suggestion from a friend and neighbor that I created this blog. Family and friends can keep up with us (or not) as we begin a new chapter in a foriegn land. I hope I can entertain you with all the fun adventures and frustrations as an average midwestern family from Indiana gets plunked down in the middle of Kobe, Japan.