2 weeks later!

Well, so much for the daily updates, we have internet issues at the house so blogging time is limited. We have had a whirlwind week full of school (for the boys-check out the uniforms) , driving- (yes, I'm driving here on the left side of the road in a right wheeled car), work, shopping (you cannot imagine the quantity of stores.) and an amazing welcoming barbeque for us, hosted by the company here. 

We live in the suburb of Sendai- Izumi Chuo (izu-me choo-oh). Sendai is a bustling city although they call it the "sticks" compared to Tokyo. There are so many stores that even I was overwhelmed, yes, me the seasoned shopper, was spent after a day of checking out the local stores. See photos of the "sticks"...

Driving here is a challenge- besides everything on the opposite side, when parking you must back up into the spot. Also the spots are tiny- my driving skills will quickly improve, there are so many different kinds of models of cars I don't think I've seen the same one twice. The names are funny too- I will dedicate a blog entry to the names of cars. For example one of my faves, the "succeed"

The boys started school here at Meysen, in a full Japanese class. The children are adorable and very friendly to the newcomers,  the boys wear name tags with English and Japanese names. They sit through class and are learning Japanese songs and days of the week, etc... the english is limited until we come back from break where they will then be in an immersive program of English and Japanese. 

Sports are big here they play soccer and volleyball after work everyday at the office, and we will be going to our first baseball game on Sunday! This is mayhem as the fans are really into it! There are 4 channels of just local baseball here, needless to say, Max is in heaven. 

We will be posting our Top Ten list- bad and good of typical Japanese culture. For example, the food- Sushi is amazing and CHEAP! We eat it everyday, the supermarket sushi is excellent, beats any upscale sushi joint in the states and for an enormous meal of sashimi, rolls and sushi for John and myself runs about $12.00 US. Bad is the pizza, there is a (no joke, Pizza Hut here) and it is beyond not worth eating with typical toppings of mayonaise and corn??!!!

My favorite spot this week was on a T-shirt, at the local department store, unbelievably funny tees here with completely nonsensical English, it read "Frolida's yacht club" translation "Florida's Yacht club" unfortunately I didn't have my camera. I will go back and try to find it next week. 

Did I mention there is an enormous buddah statue here, It leaves you speechless. 

Make sure you scroll down and check out all the pics!