Been a long time...

It's been a while since our last entry, life is busy. Since we will stay for two years, we will be giving up our temporary house and car and have been looking around for both.

First the car, my second favorite pastime here, after tee shirt and sign spotting is car spotting. By this I mean looking for cars that you are familiar with. Here in Japan there are the manufacturers that we are familiar with in the states- Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Suburu etc... except that the models are completely different, and the names are (in diplomatic words) unusual. For example: Toyota has the Alex, ist, Platz, Starlet, Voltz, Vitz, Blizzard, Harrier, Kluger, Voxy, Wish, Succeed, Noah, Alphard, Sparky(!), Stout and 190 more models! The Nissan has the Sunny, Tilda, Cube, March and 85 more, Honda boasts the Logo, Today, Vamos, Life, Life Dunk(!) That's, Vigor and 77 more... I think you get the point, there are countless models of japanese cars on the road. When you buy a car you must prove that you have a parking space for that vehicle- or you will not be allowed to buy it . A police officer will come to check that that new car has a home. So with all that said, the one car that's similar and increasing most popular is the Prius. Parking spaces are tiny here, and you must back in to a spot, so a large car for a person who really doesn't need it, is no favor. Especially with astronomical gas prices. So we went to look at the prius . We were sold, I was excited, really happy to finally get into the ultimate hybrid. So ready to sign the paper work, we were then told that it would be 4 months and we could expect our car in January! Lo and behold no Prius for us!

The housing- Japanese houses are for the most part not made with central heat or air. Instead, gas, oil and electric ovens and air conditioners are used to heat single rooms. They usually blend traditional Tatami Rooms with Tatami Floors made of straw and shoji screens with modern rooms with wood or tile floors. It is essential to remove shoes and wear slippers (inside shoes) indoors. Removing even slippers in Tatami Rooms- bare feet only
We found the coziest, warmest looking house(insulated) and will be moving in shortly.

Lastly, I have to say a few words about the toilets. There are two different kinds here, the traditional Japanese style toilet, which is what you will find in public restrooms they have the toilet on the floor so you must squat down as far as possible- very interesting, and quite challenging, in stark contrast to the luxurious western style toilets which most have heated seat, built in shower/bidet and DRYER! You find western toilets in all private homes.

Today we celebrated Field Day at the School which is a traditional Japanese school event. This consists of relay races for the kids, choreographed dances like the pom pom dance and the maypole dance, where each student grabs a piece of ribbon that hangs off of a pole and dances under and over and intertwines through each other to weave a beautiful pattern down the pole- quite impressive for a bunch of 5 year olds in unison! There are also events for the whole family like balloon stampedes (don't ask) for Moms and Dads, and even events for the grandparents. It wraps up with a picnic- and then a medal ceremony for the kids. Lots of fun.....