A typical day for us

We've finally kind of settled into a routine. Weekdays I'm up at 6:30 so that I can start getting ready for the day before I wake my son up at 7:00. I help him get moving while my husband makes breakfast. By 7:30 we've loaded our son up with his various school bags and, if it's Monday or Wednesday, I walk with his school group the entire way to school. Other weekdays I walk him halfway so that I can get home and walk the recycling or garbage (depending on the day, sometimes both) to the select site in time for pickup.

First on the to-do list every morning:
remove the washed, now-dry recyclables
from the wall and counter

My husband heads off for work a little before nine, and then my daughter and I have breakfast, I hang the laundry out if it's not raining, and we head off to the grocery store on our bicycle (she has a child seat behind me). The grocery run almost always ends with me trying to figure out how to carry too many things home when all I have is a front basket and a backpack (and two handlebars that are just asking to carry something, too, right?), but we manage to wobble home safely somehow. Thank goodness the way back is downhill, and my husband can make a quick run after work for anything else we need!

By the time we get back home it's about lunchtime and my husband will be joining us soon. I can hear the first town bells of the day play "Greensleeves" on the noon hour while I prepare a quick something (sandwiches, or some of the prepared foods from the store). We all eat, maybe watching a few of the Japanese kid videos available on Japan's youtube, and then my hubby takes his leave so that he can be back at work before his hour is up.

My daughter and I snuggle in for a nap that ends too soon, and then it's time to walk to my son's school. We pick him up at 3:10 and I have a quick minute to check in with his teacher and see if we're still on track. Then it's time to head back home with his group (smaller, since the older kids stay at school a little later).

The second bells of the day ring at 4:30 during the winter, 6:00 during the summer. That's when I take my cue to pull the laundry in, if there is any. My son and daughter have free time until 5:00 (I try to get the dishes done), and then it's time for homework. If we're lucky, we'll be finished by 5:30 and I can start dinner. My husband comes home just after that and keeps the kids happy while I cook something. The meal takes us until 6:30 or 7:00, and if it's one of our two weekday bath nights we get the kids squeaky clean, read books, and tuck them in by 8:00. The hubby and I work on any leftover chores, start a load of laundry, and without fail make sure the sink is clear (and the recycling washed and hung up to dry) before we have a few minutes to ourselves and call it a night.

Our library has the most beautiful stone
mosaic art piece displayed inside.

Weekends are completely haphazard. We check out the local festivals or go to the library and find something interesting to read or watch. It's also a day for catching up on the chores we couldn't get to during the week, or exploring the nearby playgrounds with the kids. Aside from where we shop, our weekends in Japan are a pretty good copy of our weekends in America.

There is a reason our time here is passing so quickly! :-) That darned sun just keeps insisting on rising every day! And then it goes and sets again!

Thanksgiving in Japan

Turkey-day passed without fanfare in our house. It was the day of the 800 meter race for our son at his school, so we were required to take his temperature and sign a permission slip for him to participate. It was a beautiful morning; sunny and low 60's (F). The race was supposed to take place the day before, but had been delayed due to rain. 

Parents in the "stands" ready to cheer the kids on

My daughter and I showed up at his school a little after 9:00 to cheer with the other parents as we watched the kids run by. Winners were announced, trophies were awarded to the fastest in each of the four groups they had split the kids into, and then it was time for the kids to go in and recover and resume their lessons. We waved to my son and he seemed in good spirits, but the school called me less than two hours later to tell me that he had developed a fever and that I needed to pick him up. A friend helped us take him home in her car, for which I was very grateful. He spent the remainder of the day resting and didn't eat much at dinner, so he went to bed early. By the next morning he had recovered well, and seemed his regular self by the time the American Thanksgiving was gearing up. 

We've had many friends ask us if it felt lonely to be away from America for the holidays. So far the answer is no. We miss our family and friends, of course, but it's rather nice to take a step back and appreciate missing them, if that makes any sense. And since we didn't need to prepare for Thanksgiving we were able to enjoy the birthday shopping that we always need to do this time of year. 

Our microwave and only oven. Can you see a turkey
roasting in here? Yeah, no, me either.

Did we miss the food? I think we missed the tradition of the food, but we would have regretted the great lengths and expense that a traditional Thanksgiving would have required. I mean, I haven't even seen turkey lunchmeat here. I know of at least one company that can deliver cranberry sauce to my door, but I'll pass, thank you. And without all of the planning and preparation that Thanksgiving requires, we don't feel like we're required to rush toward another holiday before recovering from the last one. It's much simpler this year, and I like simple.

"So is it expensive to live there?"

We were really worried about the cost of living in Japan, especially because it was hard to find data for our region. Here's where I'm going to surprise you: because of our unique situation, no, it's really not expensive.

Kind of a bombshell, right? Everyone, it seems, has heard horror stories of tiny apartments in Japan costing over a thousand dollars. Yet here we sit in one of the largest homes we've ever rented, and we're shocked to discover we still have money in the bank at the end of the month. We've checked three times to make sure we didn't forget to pay someone.

So, how? We're living in subsidized housing, so my husband's work is paying for 2/3 of the monthly rental costs. Our utility costs are low because our water is heated on-demand and we haven't bought one of those fancy, energy-hogging heater/air-conditioner units. The biggest cost saver for us, though, is the fact that we don't have a car. Gas, monthly payments, maintenance, insurance and taxes always cost us more than we were willing to admit when we were back in the US, especially since we had two vehicles.

Probably the most tofu I will ever be able to buy
for less than 50 cents US

What about food and necessities? Clothing is comparable, and food really depends. I can buy a large enough block of tofu to put in a dinner for 4 for about $0.50, but the price of meat is higher and the portions for sale are much smaller (no family packs of chicken thighs, for instance). A liter of milk is a little less than $2, so it's equivalent to about $9/gallon US (I know, right? Yikes). A carton of 10 eggs is about $2. But fish is incredibly cheap.

So really it just depends on what we buy. We're paying through the nose for milk (well that's a yucky visual...sorry), but we're coming out ahead by the end of every month. And we're still checking to make sure we haven't forgotten a bill because, really, we still can't believe it ourselves.

The kinds of plants that love to grow here

This is a very typical house and yard in our area.

So many of the Japanese homes here have such beautiful landscaping that I have to devote an entry to the plants I've seen. It's very common here to have tidily shaped plants, especially trees that are turned into evenly spaced pillows of green that rise to meet the rooftops.

Japanese camellia is everywhere here. If you've ever been to California and seen the oleanders, this is the Japanese version. They are used as hedges, screens, topiary, potted plants, you name it and it's here. It's really a very pretty plant, and I can understand its popularity. It's an evergreen, and new growth shoots are a very pretty dark red color. Flowers range from red to white and can nearly cover the plant in the right conditions. I've seen it grown as a bonsai and a 15' high "tree," so it is versatile as well.

Japanese camellia with new growth

I've been pleasantly surprised to recognize quite a few familiar flowers here. Sunflowers, of course,marigolds, and cosmos are surprisingly ubiquitous, too. Most of the herbs I recognize are easily grown here, and I'm delighted to add the shiso herb to my list of "must-have" flavorings (it tastes exactly like cardamom, to my mind, and I love cardamom).

Other plants on the list of "Japan is our happy place" include hydrangeas, yuzu (so far this seems like an underappreciated fruit that is somewhere between a grapefruit and a mandarin orange in flavor, even though it looks like a lemon), and persimmons. It's fun to see these "exotic" (well, to me anyway) plants grow so well here!

Japanese camellia in bloom

Just one of the thousands of persimmon trees
that I've seen here in Japan

I have no idea what this tall purple flower is.
Anybody know?

"Are you safe there?"

Naturally our friends and family were a tiny bit concerned for us when we told them we were moving to Japan. Right now the country is synonymous with "nuclear disaster," so we can appreciate the hesitation they feel on our behalf. If statistics make you feel any better, the Fukushima tsunami topped out at about 15 meters, while the city we live in is about 30 meters above sea level. 

We've also come to appreciate that Japan is the place to be if you are in an earthquake. There have been several since we arrived, but almost all of them could have been confused for a big truck rolling by. Since they are so common, all of the homes and schools are built with earthquakes in mind. In fact, if you walked around our house you really wouldn't see any evidence of earthquakes. The walls aren't cracked, the frames of the doorways aren't shifted, and everything just generally looks ship-shape. Every gas line includes an auto-off safety feature at the junction for each house. In case of an earthquake, the gas is shut off without me needing to find a special wrench (ahem, America). When the danger is passed, I'm able to turn the gas back on by pushing a few buttons. And if I need any emergency help at all, there is always this button, located right there in our living room:

It says, "emergency," and it's just tricky enough
to use that the kids haven't messed with it...yet

As for the radiation contamination, it's covered. Our son's school has radiation detection equipment that constantly monitors for dangerous levels, and everything is staying well inside normal levels.

Bottom line? We feel incredibly safe here. And yes, our earthquake kit is up-to-date :-)

If you move here, don't forget your...

So guess who moved to Japan without a 3-prong adapter? Me? Nooo....yes. I'm pretty sure I have one coming in the mail, mixed in with some other things of ours. Or we could hop a train to the nearest city and get it there, but that would cost about $30 for the tickets for a $3 product.

Does this look naked to you?

Edit: shout out to our friend, Vince, for letting us know that we can break the ground prong off for things like laptop adapters, which is really the only 3-prong I have. It came off much easier than I thought it would, and I'm back in action again!

Update: we picked one up on a trip to Mito city, and a few came in the mail, too! Now Doug's laptop is hooked up!

Japanese solid waste management

Oh, lordy, it's a complicated thing! Recycling is of major importance here in Japan, and they put a great deal of effort toward making it accessible. It is easy to find ways to recycle, but the onus of cleaning and sorting is upon the citizens and that's where the complexity comes in.

Our local town hall gave us a recycling brochure that is meant to outline things in a clear and easy-to-understand format. Naturally, it's in Japanese. The final pic shows our easy-to-follow schedule (in English!), with the general breakdown of: burnable trash every Tuesday and Thursday regardless of holidays, normal recycling every Tuesday or every Thursday (depending on the month, and except for the last week of every month when there is no recycling collection), special collection days twice a month for large items or things that can't be burned or recycled. Oh, and remember to use the appropriate bag (yellow for burnable, blue for unburnable, transparent or translucent bags for recycling) for each type of waste or you might find it returned to you with a polite note attached! Clear and easy, right?

General overview of what goes where

Items that can't be recycled or burned (note the blue bag)

Paper and clothing preparation on the left,
burnable on the right (note the yellow bag)

Preparation for recyclables

Garbage gets placed between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m.
in the cage seen in the background. Volunteers
are always on hand to help things go smoothly.

Our handy-dandy reference chart