Today, Michael's office block is having a football competition. There are lots of companies working in this building and each has a team. He was asked to play for the VW team, and of course, my man cannot refuse such a question.
Our intention was to join him, but once we heard that it was a whole afternoon event with no shade in the 40 degree sun, I thought it best that he go ahead and sas it out. I'm at home now (kids both napping) and he shall phone me soon to let me know if it's suitable for us to come later this afternoon.
But the reason I'm blogging on this topic is because:
a) he was told he needs to wear a white T-shirt with any colour shorts and long white socks.
b) he MUST wear shin guards (they gave him some of those). Rules are rules. As I blog, I'm wondering if it isn't American Football he'll be playing?? If that's the case, I've got to go and watch!! :-) That would be his first time and a private giggle would do me good.
Now with regard to the "uniform", he simply didn't have the clothes. I mean, we've just been here 3 weeks, had to pack the absolute bare necessities for the 8 weeks here until our container arrives, so little chance he packed in bobby socks. (although I shouldn't put it past him.) So I said to him last night "Well, what are you going to wear?" "Um? Have you got a white T-shirt for me? he asked. I went to the room and hauled out a white T-shirt which was unfortunately not the right size - it would have made him look as if he was "batting for the wrong side"
"And what aabout the football socks, Michael?"
"Yes, well, I've got my skiing socks here. I thought I could use them. They're long and should do the job, don't you think?"
"WHAT!?!? Skiing socks! You mean you packed SKIING socks into our precious little suitcase space!?!? And that when we have 40 degrees of humid sun and NO SNOW!"
And privately I thought "He's NUTS! Those socks are made of thick wool to keep you WARM and cosy. AND, they're khaki green."
To save my husband an embarrassing situation which he would have otherwise gladly skipped into, I insisted on a drive to a sports shop nearby. My next private thought was "will they have his size with all these little sized folk? And, it needs decent sleeves to make sure he's not linked to the mafia. We wouldn't want his colleagues to have an unhealthy respect for him now would we?"
So, we went into "Sports World" and I was utterly relieved, my heart was quietened to find long white cotton football bobby socks and a plain white Nike shirt. I gave a big sigh of relief.
I even found him a sweat band which I was surprised he agreed to wear. In this heat, one trickles "water" even if you're in the shade standing still. I'd hate to know what sort of turbulent waters might erupt from your forehead when in full motion chasing a ball in the midday sun?
It's one thing to be refused entry at a gym. It's another to be mocked by your colleagues whom you see daily and can't avoid.
So hopefully, he's not given the "golden boot" today. ;-)
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Tatoo
I grew up in South Africa where tatoos were basically frowned upon. Even when I first met Michael, who has a small tat on his arm, I was a bit weary. But I soon grew to like it. Then my brother got one with Chinese writing and the meaning "friends". And once I moved to Europe, I realised it's quite fashionable there in fact! Every second person has one basically. I have to say, I did consider getting one myself....but only briefly. "Nah!" I thought, "Me and pain? We don't go together too well. And anyway, if you look at older ladies who picked a rose tatoo in their youth....it now only looks withered and droopy on their skin - as though it didn't get watered enough. No thanks."
Well, besides these considerations, little does one think about how other countries in fact perceice tats. Japan for one, doesn't like them one bit.
....this last week, Michael went to a gym to have a trial workout. His tat was visible. Big mistake. They came hush hush to him to ask if he please cover it up. Whisper whisper, embarrassed looks. Michael feeling bad too of course. Then as he came to discuss a contract with them at the end of the training session he was shocked/embarrassed/really taken by surprise when they said that they couldn't accept an application from him because of his tatoo. Yes! That's what they said. My poor hubby was sent home! And there's no going back there we don't think. Yikes! So now, if we want to find a gym/go for a swim, he will have to keep it secret and cover it up well. Fortunately, it's small.
Since being online, we've read that people with tatoos in Japan are seen to be criminals or linked to the mafia. Shocking! One feels a little weary on the street now.... a little self conscious. Hope the news hasn't spread from that gym!?!? ;-)
Anyway, we've leart a lesson, the hard way let's say. Better there than on the beach with thousands of little Japanese people evacuating with wings to escape my dangerous husband.
I've also read that tatooing was banned in Japan in the early 1900's to "impress the West" and create a positive image. In the 1930's it was made legal again, but the reputation of gangster remains, and we have experienced it first hand. All a little ironic.
Well, besides these considerations, little does one think about how other countries in fact perceice tats. Japan for one, doesn't like them one bit.
....this last week, Michael went to a gym to have a trial workout. His tat was visible. Big mistake. They came hush hush to him to ask if he please cover it up. Whisper whisper, embarrassed looks. Michael feeling bad too of course. Then as he came to discuss a contract with them at the end of the training session he was shocked/embarrassed/really taken by surprise when they said that they couldn't accept an application from him because of his tatoo. Yes! That's what they said. My poor hubby was sent home! And there's no going back there we don't think. Yikes! So now, if we want to find a gym/go for a swim, he will have to keep it secret and cover it up well. Fortunately, it's small.
Since being online, we've read that people with tatoos in Japan are seen to be criminals or linked to the mafia. Shocking! One feels a little weary on the street now.... a little self conscious. Hope the news hasn't spread from that gym!?!? ;-)
Anyway, we've leart a lesson, the hard way let's say. Better there than on the beach with thousands of little Japanese people evacuating with wings to escape my dangerous husband.
I've also read that tatooing was banned in Japan in the early 1900's to "impress the West" and create a positive image. In the 1930's it was made legal again, but the reputation of gangster remains, and we have experienced it first hand. All a little ironic.
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Interesting facts about Japan
* there are 200 active volcanoes in Japan
* there are around 1500 earthquakes every year in Japan
* it is not uncommon to pay around €3 (£2) for 1 single apple (ordinary looking apple but tasting extra sweet after that price) How does one feed a family fruit here?
* a normal cantelope melon costs about €30 (£28?)
* today I bought 4 peaches for €8 (£7)
* 1litre of milk costs €2,50 (£2)
* bread is very white and very fluffy
* telephone costs are high
* fish is RELATIVELY speaking well priced (2 pieces of salmon is about €4/£3)
* the Japanese like to wear statement T-shirts (a paragraph of text on the front/back in broken English)
* Mount Fuji (can see it from Tokyo) is an active volcano
* It's polite to slurp up your noodles - means that it tastes good!
* some ordinary looking melons cost €30!!
* Many toilets in Japan have heated seats and special sprays (like bidets) to spray your rear end!
* Some women in Japan cut their hair short if they break up with their boyfriend
* "Karaoke" is a Japanese word and invention. It means "empty orchestra"
* If you love classical music, Japan is the place for you. Stacks play instruments and appreciate the classics
* Cute, fluffly, teddybear-looking dogs ("Bonzai" dogs, I call them) are a favourite accessory. They're super pampered, and there are lots of shops making allowances for these live teddies. I must say, I could manage taking one home with me....but they cost about €4000.
* the Japanese drive quite calmly actually. Very little hooting going on. Big traffic jams at certain times we've discovered
* loads of little tiny restaurants/imbisses with SCRUMPTIOUS food!!! They can cook, I tell you!
* They live very minamilistic. No space for gadgets. Beds are mats which get folded up (tatamis).
* There are quite a few shrines, but very few practising Japanese Buddahists or Shintuists. They barely know anything about their religions. Quite a few churches around, surprisingly.
* the Japanese are very petite! One feels quite large here.
* Vegetation is very lush - if there's SPACE for it to grow.
* there are around 1500 earthquakes every year in Japan
* it is not uncommon to pay around €3 (£2) for 1 single apple (ordinary looking apple but tasting extra sweet after that price) How does one feed a family fruit here?
* a normal cantelope melon costs about €30 (£28?)
* today I bought 4 peaches for €8 (£7)
* 1litre of milk costs €2,50 (£2)
* bread is very white and very fluffy
* telephone costs are high
* fish is RELATIVELY speaking well priced (2 pieces of salmon is about €4/£3)
* the Japanese like to wear statement T-shirts (a paragraph of text on the front/back in broken English)
* Mount Fuji (can see it from Tokyo) is an active volcano
* It's polite to slurp up your noodles - means that it tastes good!
* some ordinary looking melons cost €30!!
* Many toilets in Japan have heated seats and special sprays (like bidets) to spray your rear end!
* Some women in Japan cut their hair short if they break up with their boyfriend
* "Karaoke" is a Japanese word and invention. It means "empty orchestra"
* If you love classical music, Japan is the place for you. Stacks play instruments and appreciate the classics
* Cute, fluffly, teddybear-looking dogs ("Bonzai" dogs, I call them) are a favourite accessory. They're super pampered, and there are lots of shops making allowances for these live teddies. I must say, I could manage taking one home with me....but they cost about €4000.
* the Japanese drive quite calmly actually. Very little hooting going on. Big traffic jams at certain times we've discovered
* loads of little tiny restaurants/imbisses with SCRUMPTIOUS food!!! They can cook, I tell you!
* They live very minamilistic. No space for gadgets. Beds are mats which get folded up (tatamis).
* There are quite a few shrines, but very few practising Japanese Buddahists or Shintuists. They barely know anything about their religions. Quite a few churches around, surprisingly.
* the Japanese are very petite! One feels quite large here.
* Vegetation is very lush - if there's SPACE for it to grow.
All in a day!
With buggy and purse in hand, we were A for Away!!
8.30am us 3 girls were trunching (is that actually a word?) up the hill, all creamed up with factor 50 and cozzies in the bag.
We found the pool at 8.50. With pure body language I managed to buy myself a ticket, explain the ages of the children, find out where we should go, get some basic instructions on pool etiquette. Also, I was told, politely with much bowing and apologies that little Evie would not be able to enter the water as she still wears nappies. And no, special swim nappies were not sufficient. Well, alright, we can live with that.
"Pool etiquette?" you may ask yourself. Yes! At the entrance, there's a GREEN mat with hospital-like curtains around it. Wierd! Anyway. At 9am on the dot, you may proceed to the GREEN mat. "DON'T TOUCH THAT MAT WITH YOUR SHOES ON". (...poor little Jozie did, and the Japanese woman was dancing around "HiHiHiHiHi" (speaking softly but with a little sense of urgency in her tone). So, today we learnt to take off our shoes and put them into a plastic bag they give you. Then, armed with your bag (a now additional load) you may go to the change rooms. Evie got to crawl all over these plastic boards for feet. Somehow, I get the feeling the Japanese people don't like FEET. They're very weary of the germs feet may carry! I don't want to imagine what they thought about me allowing Evie to crawl where other people had put their feet. Anyway. We got changed, motioned to a teenage Japanese girl to please help us with the lockers - at first I thought there must be a trick to it, but actually the one I picked was just stuck. The others worked fine. Then, we headed towards the pool. WOW....first you have a hot shower. Then you go through a special FEET-CLEANING-STATION, which you can't avoid. Then you go through a trough of water (up to my waist, i.e. Jozie's eyeballs- nearly!) and then finally you walk along a wet carpet which follows the pool to your spot in the shade which you may choose. There are stacks of lifeguards (I saw about 5 of them surrounding a relatively small pool of about 25m max!). And they take their jobs seriously. One of them never took his eyes off Jozie as she swam. And he came straight to me and said very seriously that I should be sure not to let Evie slip into the water from my arms. Shame, of course I told him I'd be as careful as I could. He then kindly brought Evie a big bucket so we could fill it up and let her stand in there and do some baby splashing. Once he kindly asked Jozie to please not jump off the step. After 20minutes of him standing in sun watching her, he waved his yellow horn at his colleague in the shade to swop shifts. She came over and I could just see him explaining to her all that had happened in the last 20minutes. It was a detailed report - body language speaks loudly! Anyway, the next interesting titbit was after 60minutes, a whistle is blown for about 10seconds. All the Japanese people wade to the edge of the pool, lift themselves out, and sit on the side of the pool for a compulsory 10minute break. At this point, we chose to make our exit anyway as Evie was tired and I was happy not to have additional bodies in the small changeroom as I got both girls changed and Evie in the backpack etc. We nearly put our shoes on in the changeroom, but I remembered the GREEN mat just in the nick of time!
At home, we ate an ice-lolly and Evie had a short nap.
In the afternoon, we went in the car to try and find a playcentre advertised on a brochure we got in the post. I found it! Yeah!!! Jozie fell asleep in the car, so I put her in the pram. Lots of stairs with no lift. Heavy! At the playcentre (much like Gambados) we were shocked to see that 30minutes of play costs....€6! (5 pounds for 30minutes of ballpool playing etc) and then every 10 minutes thereafter, another pound. That gets pretty pricey if one wants to stay there an hour! 1 hour would cost around £11 or €12! And an hour is usually quite tight...probably spend an expensive 10minutes trying to drag the darling away from her treasured game. And then...parking...for the 15minutes of ENQUIRING, I paid €5 (£4) for parking! Imagine after 60-90minutes. It becomes a mega treat to go to such a place.
Anyway, on our way home, I got LOST! Big time! On the big roads, the Japanese words are written in our characters, so one can understand (even if not recognise). Anyhow, if you find yourself on smaller roads, no such luck! It's all in Kanji/Katakana/Hirakana (the 3 other alphabets they use!). Anyway, due to all the one-way streets, toll gates here and there, general lack of knowledge, I found myself in ....Yokohama somewhere under some massive bridge just travelling in one direction with no option to turn around!! I phoned Michael kind of laughing at first. But then, getting stressed!! Shame, the poor man..."Well, where are you?" "I DON'T KNOW!!!" "Well, you need to stop and find out where you are or I can't help you." "I can't stop, I'm on a 1 way ticket to ??? !!!!" And that was our conversation for 3-4 minutes ending with "I'll phone you back in a few minutes".
Anyway, at the end of the day, I managed to turn around, and after being in the car for nearly an hour (a trip which should have taken 10minutes maximum) I finally saw our sign "Todoroki". I nearly thought that was the Japanes word for "Welcome home". What a relief!!!
In the afternoon, we went to Happy Road to try and make a doctor's appointment as Evie and I both need top ups for our Hep B immunisations. To cut a long story short, I just wanted an appointment. But the receptionist insisted I speak to the doctor himself as she couldn't speak English. Finally, he finished with his patient and saw me in his office immediately. I was all sticky from being out in the hot sun; shopping bags hanging off my buggy and just not-fitting-through-the-doors-without-a-bump day, 2 sweaty tired kids... But he was genuinely kind. I told him the doctors in Germany had given us the immunisations in a coldpack that we had properly stored in a fridge all this time (the doctors in DE were unsure whether the Japanese drs had the same type of immunisation available etc and kindly gave it to us to just get it administered). Well, it wasn't going to be that easy. Who would take responsiblity if there were side-effects from some potent immunisation vial from another country? So, after him calling a colleague and then me being put on the phone to that dr, then back to the other doctor etc (yes, it was confusing) he recommended that we go to a doctor at the embassy. Anyway, I think we'll go back to this Japanese doctor should there be any further medical question of another nature. He's around the corner and his English is broken, but if I speak clearly and a bit slower, he understands and gives good advice.
Well, this has been a long blog entry, but we've had quite a day!
But did I mention that Josephine like Japanese food of all kinds. Today she lapped up some Japanese soup with mushrooms (different to EU ones) and noodles. Evie has also mastered the slurp!
Goodnight
x
8.30am us 3 girls were trunching (is that actually a word?) up the hill, all creamed up with factor 50 and cozzies in the bag.
We found the pool at 8.50. With pure body language I managed to buy myself a ticket, explain the ages of the children, find out where we should go, get some basic instructions on pool etiquette. Also, I was told, politely with much bowing and apologies that little Evie would not be able to enter the water as she still wears nappies. And no, special swim nappies were not sufficient. Well, alright, we can live with that.
"Pool etiquette?" you may ask yourself. Yes! At the entrance, there's a GREEN mat with hospital-like curtains around it. Wierd! Anyway. At 9am on the dot, you may proceed to the GREEN mat. "DON'T TOUCH THAT MAT WITH YOUR SHOES ON". (...poor little Jozie did, and the Japanese woman was dancing around "HiHiHiHiHi" (speaking softly but with a little sense of urgency in her tone). So, today we learnt to take off our shoes and put them into a plastic bag they give you. Then, armed with your bag (a now additional load) you may go to the change rooms. Evie got to crawl all over these plastic boards for feet. Somehow, I get the feeling the Japanese people don't like FEET. They're very weary of the germs feet may carry! I don't want to imagine what they thought about me allowing Evie to crawl where other people had put their feet. Anyway. We got changed, motioned to a teenage Japanese girl to please help us with the lockers - at first I thought there must be a trick to it, but actually the one I picked was just stuck. The others worked fine. Then, we headed towards the pool. WOW....first you have a hot shower. Then you go through a special FEET-CLEANING-STATION, which you can't avoid. Then you go through a trough of water (up to my waist, i.e. Jozie's eyeballs- nearly!) and then finally you walk along a wet carpet which follows the pool to your spot in the shade which you may choose. There are stacks of lifeguards (I saw about 5 of them surrounding a relatively small pool of about 25m max!). And they take their jobs seriously. One of them never took his eyes off Jozie as she swam. And he came straight to me and said very seriously that I should be sure not to let Evie slip into the water from my arms. Shame, of course I told him I'd be as careful as I could. He then kindly brought Evie a big bucket so we could fill it up and let her stand in there and do some baby splashing. Once he kindly asked Jozie to please not jump off the step. After 20minutes of him standing in sun watching her, he waved his yellow horn at his colleague in the shade to swop shifts. She came over and I could just see him explaining to her all that had happened in the last 20minutes. It was a detailed report - body language speaks loudly! Anyway, the next interesting titbit was after 60minutes, a whistle is blown for about 10seconds. All the Japanese people wade to the edge of the pool, lift themselves out, and sit on the side of the pool for a compulsory 10minute break. At this point, we chose to make our exit anyway as Evie was tired and I was happy not to have additional bodies in the small changeroom as I got both girls changed and Evie in the backpack etc. We nearly put our shoes on in the changeroom, but I remembered the GREEN mat just in the nick of time!
At home, we ate an ice-lolly and Evie had a short nap.
In the afternoon, we went in the car to try and find a playcentre advertised on a brochure we got in the post. I found it! Yeah!!! Jozie fell asleep in the car, so I put her in the pram. Lots of stairs with no lift. Heavy! At the playcentre (much like Gambados) we were shocked to see that 30minutes of play costs....€6! (5 pounds for 30minutes of ballpool playing etc) and then every 10 minutes thereafter, another pound. That gets pretty pricey if one wants to stay there an hour! 1 hour would cost around £11 or €12! And an hour is usually quite tight...probably spend an expensive 10minutes trying to drag the darling away from her treasured game. And then...parking...for the 15minutes of ENQUIRING, I paid €5 (£4) for parking! Imagine after 60-90minutes. It becomes a mega treat to go to such a place.
Anyway, on our way home, I got LOST! Big time! On the big roads, the Japanese words are written in our characters, so one can understand (even if not recognise). Anyhow, if you find yourself on smaller roads, no such luck! It's all in Kanji/Katakana/Hirakana (the 3 other alphabets they use!). Anyway, due to all the one-way streets, toll gates here and there, general lack of knowledge, I found myself in ....Yokohama somewhere under some massive bridge just travelling in one direction with no option to turn around!! I phoned Michael kind of laughing at first. But then, getting stressed!! Shame, the poor man..."Well, where are you?" "I DON'T KNOW!!!" "Well, you need to stop and find out where you are or I can't help you." "I can't stop, I'm on a 1 way ticket to ??? !!!!" And that was our conversation for 3-4 minutes ending with "I'll phone you back in a few minutes".
Anyway, at the end of the day, I managed to turn around, and after being in the car for nearly an hour (a trip which should have taken 10minutes maximum) I finally saw our sign "Todoroki". I nearly thought that was the Japanes word for "Welcome home". What a relief!!!
In the afternoon, we went to Happy Road to try and make a doctor's appointment as Evie and I both need top ups for our Hep B immunisations. To cut a long story short, I just wanted an appointment. But the receptionist insisted I speak to the doctor himself as she couldn't speak English. Finally, he finished with his patient and saw me in his office immediately. I was all sticky from being out in the hot sun; shopping bags hanging off my buggy and just not-fitting-through-the-doors-without-a-bump day, 2 sweaty tired kids... But he was genuinely kind. I told him the doctors in Germany had given us the immunisations in a coldpack that we had properly stored in a fridge all this time (the doctors in DE were unsure whether the Japanese drs had the same type of immunisation available etc and kindly gave it to us to just get it administered). Well, it wasn't going to be that easy. Who would take responsiblity if there were side-effects from some potent immunisation vial from another country? So, after him calling a colleague and then me being put on the phone to that dr, then back to the other doctor etc (yes, it was confusing) he recommended that we go to a doctor at the embassy. Anyway, I think we'll go back to this Japanese doctor should there be any further medical question of another nature. He's around the corner and his English is broken, but if I speak clearly and a bit slower, he understands and gives good advice.
Well, this has been a long blog entry, but we've had quite a day!
But did I mention that Josephine like Japanese food of all kinds. Today she lapped up some Japanese soup with mushrooms (different to EU ones) and noodles. Evie has also mastered the slurp!
Goodnight
x
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Stuck in the mud - for a while
Today we were stranded. My own fault. Grrrr! I left my purse in Michael's car... and I thought he had taken the buggy out of his car, but no, he hadn't....a misunderstanding. But before I realised that, the day started out with great intentions and then great expectations particularly of Josephine to go swimming. We were going to try and find a park with a public swimming pool nearby - something we had seen from the car driving past. So, I got the girls dressed, fed, packed a swim bag, creamed them up for the 40degree sun, got myself very basically ready too and then ..... "Um, where's the buggy? Ok. It's not here, it's not outside the door. Let's take all our things downstairs and go and look in the garage." Take the lift with baby in arm, other arm draped with bags, towels and managing a fully distracted 3 year old too who wants to stroke ceramic dogs at our Japense neighbours' front door. We get to the garage just to realise (after rummaging through my bags) that no, I forgot the car key. And the buggy is clearly not waiting for us in our 2nd bay. So, back upstairs. Get the car key, go downstairs, check the car. NO! The buggy is not there! Highly disappointed. Then thinking of plan B....1) no, we can't walk without a buggy as it's too hot and too far and I can't carry Josephine.....2) maybe we could take the car. Oh no! My purse. It's also in Michael's car. My own fault! Rats!! Can't pay for the enterance fee or parking. Swimming now ruled out. I think that I was the most disappointed out of us 3!
So, we were stranded at home for the day. Can't go out without the buggy as it's just too hot and the hill is very steep outside our flat - tough enough for me, and I think Jozie would be keen to start with but struggling half way.... And with no money, I couldn't pay for parking which is always an issue.
So, upstairs we went, unloaded myself off at the front door of kids, keys, bags, towels....and then still with the smell of suncream on our skins we went and had an ice-lolly at the kitchen table. Yum! After that, the situation cooled down (or let's say, I cooled down!) and we went to the "playroom" (study/guestroom) and soon we were racing around playing horse games and dolly games and princess games and Evie games.
Finally, it turned out to be quite a nice day! Both girls really enjoyed themselves. I did a lot of running -my name was "99" and I was "the slwo horse" while Jozie was "number 4" which was the fast, strong horse who could outrun me anyday.
Needless to say, we ate lots of ice-lollies that day (just water really) and spent lots of time tumbling, playing, laughing, dancing.
The cherry on top was a great Skype session with Gwan! Thanks Gwan! Always great to see you and chat with you. Both girls were dressed in the fairy/ballerina dresses and that was Evie's first time. She was surprisingly possessive of "her" dress!! When Jozie came to admire it and stroke it, she vehemently protested!
Anyway, now I'm rambling....the bottom line is the day turned out to be great!
x
So, we were stranded at home for the day. Can't go out without the buggy as it's just too hot and the hill is very steep outside our flat - tough enough for me, and I think Jozie would be keen to start with but struggling half way.... And with no money, I couldn't pay for parking which is always an issue.
So, upstairs we went, unloaded myself off at the front door of kids, keys, bags, towels....and then still with the smell of suncream on our skins we went and had an ice-lolly at the kitchen table. Yum! After that, the situation cooled down (or let's say, I cooled down!) and we went to the "playroom" (study/guestroom) and soon we were racing around playing horse games and dolly games and princess games and Evie games.
Finally, it turned out to be quite a nice day! Both girls really enjoyed themselves. I did a lot of running -my name was "99" and I was "the slwo horse" while Jozie was "number 4" which was the fast, strong horse who could outrun me anyday.
Needless to say, we ate lots of ice-lollies that day (just water really) and spent lots of time tumbling, playing, laughing, dancing.
The cherry on top was a great Skype session with Gwan! Thanks Gwan! Always great to see you and chat with you. Both girls were dressed in the fairy/ballerina dresses and that was Evie's first time. She was surprisingly possessive of "her" dress!! When Jozie came to admire it and stroke it, she vehemently protested!
Anyway, now I'm rambling....the bottom line is the day turned out to be great!
x
Monday, 19 July 2010
General happenings over the last few days
Well, the last few days have been busy! Getting a vacuum cleaner, kettle and other appliances. Again, we're a bit numb from shock at the prices. (We have to get it here as the voltage is different from the rest of the world and in general adapters don't work on all things, depending on the items).
But the fun things we've done are: we've been out walking quite a bit here around our area on the weekend...
We checked out "Todoroki valley" which is right across the road from our flat and I didn't realise it! It's basically a piece of paradise in the middle of the concrete jungle! A broadish but trickling river with big tropical trees growing lushly around it. Lots of little insects on the water, big black butterflies that were almost topheavy with their size and other dragonflies. There was a shrine (?) in the middle where one or two people stopped and bowed their heads at the front part after ringing a bell (probably to wake their sleeping god?).
Josephine loved it, until she slipped and landed in some mud. Hmmm. We didn't have a happy camper for the next few minutes and it took a lot of distraction to get her mind off her black legs. Evie was again in the Ergo (baby pouch) and was flirting with anyone (nearly everyone) who afforded her a smile. After that we went down Happy Road and found a nice ice-cream parlour and cooled off in the 40 degree sun. There are few trees compared to all the concrete flats, so Todoroki Valley is really a little treasure.
What else?
Ah, yes. Last week, us 3 girls walked past a little shop that sells motorbikes for children. Josephine was jumping up and down "What about me!?!?". So we took Michael on Saturday just to show him. Those things are small, but potent! Many go 90km per hour!! (50miles p/h?) Um....nah! Anyway, the humurous part (I thought) was the salesman who spoke to Michael. He couldn't speak any English and Michael had tons of questions. Each time Michael asked something he looked to me as if I could translate that question into Japanese. Do I look Japanese? I don't think so. Amusing few minutes. Must have thought I'm a very unhelpful/doff Japanese person.
On Saturday we went to Jiagouka as a family and just ambled around finding our bearings. For lunch, we stopped at a tiny little restaurant. My first taste of Japanese food made by a Japanese person. DELICIOUS!!!! Big fat noodles in a soup. Doesn't look fantastic, but tastes brilliant! Kids both loved it! They were finally allowed to slurp...that's the norm. There's virtually no talking done during eating - just full concerntration on using your chopsticks to eat from the soupbowl (all the bigger pieces only after which you may use an unusual shaped spoon to scoop up the remaining liquid). The four of us were sitting in close company around a tiny square table; the kitchen is open-plan (just due to lack of space available) so you can see the cook preparing all the food on the gas fires. Everyone gets a big paper bib to put on. Michael didn't feel up to looking like a big kid so, I wore my bib alone with the girls. He regretted it after splattering himself with sauces! Now we know that they are necessary! It was a lovely experience and not badly priced in proportion to everything actually. Not much more than preparing the meal at home, value-wise. To put it another way: the food at the grocery stores cost a fortune. Restaurant prices are the same as in Germany. The other good thing is they bring you a big cannister of ice-water to the table which is free. Many of the Japanese people I saw there didn't order additional drinks.
Today was a public holiday (Marine Day) and we went to Yokohama Port to check it out. The atmosphere in Yokohama is very different to Tokyo, we thought. There's more space! Despite it being the 2nd biggest city (and actually there's no visible boundary between Tokyo and Yokohama), it's more green and a bit less hectic. It was only a 20minute drive to the sea! Where we landed up, it was lovely, but no beaches as it was just a harbour and waterfront. But very nice. However, we were only able to stand 1hour and 15minutes between 9.15 and 10.30 in the 40degree sun. It was so hot, humid, no wind. The weather really knocks it out of you. I don't know how sick people cope in this weather? And I've seen one or two morons running up the hill in front of our house. Can't be good for them, don't you think?
Anyway, one of the highlights at the Port were just experiencing a bit of a holiday feeling (one always feels a bit more relaxed at the ocean) and also seeing about 1000 jelly fish! "Kollagi" is the Japanese word. They are like graceful ballerinas wearing big white tutus...with their long thin legs kicking out and their skirts billowing and falling to propel them around. Josephine was very fascinated! Amongst all the white ones there was one bright red one which we thought looked a bit more potent!
Well, I think I better get to bed now!
But the fun things we've done are: we've been out walking quite a bit here around our area on the weekend...
We checked out "Todoroki valley" which is right across the road from our flat and I didn't realise it! It's basically a piece of paradise in the middle of the concrete jungle! A broadish but trickling river with big tropical trees growing lushly around it. Lots of little insects on the water, big black butterflies that were almost topheavy with their size and other dragonflies. There was a shrine (?) in the middle where one or two people stopped and bowed their heads at the front part after ringing a bell (probably to wake their sleeping god?).
Josephine loved it, until she slipped and landed in some mud. Hmmm. We didn't have a happy camper for the next few minutes and it took a lot of distraction to get her mind off her black legs. Evie was again in the Ergo (baby pouch) and was flirting with anyone (nearly everyone) who afforded her a smile. After that we went down Happy Road and found a nice ice-cream parlour and cooled off in the 40 degree sun. There are few trees compared to all the concrete flats, so Todoroki Valley is really a little treasure.
What else?
Ah, yes. Last week, us 3 girls walked past a little shop that sells motorbikes for children. Josephine was jumping up and down "What about me!?!?". So we took Michael on Saturday just to show him. Those things are small, but potent! Many go 90km per hour!! (50miles p/h?) Um....nah! Anyway, the humurous part (I thought) was the salesman who spoke to Michael. He couldn't speak any English and Michael had tons of questions. Each time Michael asked something he looked to me as if I could translate that question into Japanese. Do I look Japanese? I don't think so. Amusing few minutes. Must have thought I'm a very unhelpful/doff Japanese person.
On Saturday we went to Jiagouka as a family and just ambled around finding our bearings. For lunch, we stopped at a tiny little restaurant. My first taste of Japanese food made by a Japanese person. DELICIOUS!!!! Big fat noodles in a soup. Doesn't look fantastic, but tastes brilliant! Kids both loved it! They were finally allowed to slurp...that's the norm. There's virtually no talking done during eating - just full concerntration on using your chopsticks to eat from the soupbowl (all the bigger pieces only after which you may use an unusual shaped spoon to scoop up the remaining liquid). The four of us were sitting in close company around a tiny square table; the kitchen is open-plan (just due to lack of space available) so you can see the cook preparing all the food on the gas fires. Everyone gets a big paper bib to put on. Michael didn't feel up to looking like a big kid so, I wore my bib alone with the girls. He regretted it after splattering himself with sauces! Now we know that they are necessary! It was a lovely experience and not badly priced in proportion to everything actually. Not much more than preparing the meal at home, value-wise. To put it another way: the food at the grocery stores cost a fortune. Restaurant prices are the same as in Germany. The other good thing is they bring you a big cannister of ice-water to the table which is free. Many of the Japanese people I saw there didn't order additional drinks.
Today was a public holiday (Marine Day) and we went to Yokohama Port to check it out. The atmosphere in Yokohama is very different to Tokyo, we thought. There's more space! Despite it being the 2nd biggest city (and actually there's no visible boundary between Tokyo and Yokohama), it's more green and a bit less hectic. It was only a 20minute drive to the sea! Where we landed up, it was lovely, but no beaches as it was just a harbour and waterfront. But very nice. However, we were only able to stand 1hour and 15minutes between 9.15 and 10.30 in the 40degree sun. It was so hot, humid, no wind. The weather really knocks it out of you. I don't know how sick people cope in this weather? And I've seen one or two morons running up the hill in front of our house. Can't be good for them, don't you think?
Anyway, one of the highlights at the Port were just experiencing a bit of a holiday feeling (one always feels a bit more relaxed at the ocean) and also seeing about 1000 jelly fish! "Kollagi" is the Japanese word. They are like graceful ballerinas wearing big white tutus...with their long thin legs kicking out and their skirts billowing and falling to propel them around. Josephine was very fascinated! Amongst all the white ones there was one bright red one which we thought looked a bit more potent!
Well, I think I better get to bed now!
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Happy Birthday Gwan!
Today is Gwan's special birthday.
Gwan, you are a very special person in our family. You mean a LOT to us and we love you STACKS!!!!
Thanks for the great Skype session!!
Hope you have a lovely dinner this evening with Gwamps!
Love from us 4 here.
Wish we could hae spent some of the day with you at your place!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ooooooooooooooooooo
}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{} (my Ouma's sign for tickles)
Gwan, you are a very special person in our family. You mean a LOT to us and we love you STACKS!!!!
Thanks for the great Skype session!!
Hope you have a lovely dinner this evening with Gwamps!
Love from us 4 here.
Wish we could hae spent some of the day with you at your place!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ooooooooooooooooooo
}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{} (my Ouma's sign for tickles)
What does Pappa do at work?
Early this morning while Pappa was getting ready for work, Josephine pretended to get ready for work too...
Me: "Where are you going to, Josephine?"
J: "I'm just going to work Mamma. I just going to pick up the money so you and Evie can go shopping."
Michael and I....gobsmacked and highly amused. If only it were that easy. A young and innocent view of work. But now we know what she thinks Michael is doing during the day. He's simply picking up some money. ;-)
Putting Josephine to bed this evening...
Jozie speaking in a low voice with big eyes: "Mamma, look! There! In the corner! There are monsters!"
Me imatating the low voice and big eyes: "Where? Ah there. Yes."
Jozie: "Look! They've got bumpy blue things on their heads. And a prick thing between their eyes. And they can PRICK you wif dat thing. And it will be really owa to you. And dey've got eyes like dis (making slant eyes). Mamma, they're Japanese monsters. But Japanese monsters are friendly monsters. .... in England dey've also got monsters. And dey're only a little bit dwangerous. And in Germany (with big eyes and serious mimic) dey've got verrrry dwangerous monsters. Ja."
Me: "Where are you going to, Josephine?"
J: "I'm just going to work Mamma. I just going to pick up the money so you and Evie can go shopping."
Michael and I....gobsmacked and highly amused. If only it were that easy. A young and innocent view of work. But now we know what she thinks Michael is doing during the day. He's simply picking up some money. ;-)
Putting Josephine to bed this evening...
Jozie speaking in a low voice with big eyes: "Mamma, look! There! In the corner! There are monsters!"
Me imatating the low voice and big eyes: "Where? Ah there. Yes."
Jozie: "Look! They've got bumpy blue things on their heads. And a prick thing between their eyes. And they can PRICK you wif dat thing. And it will be really owa to you. And dey've got eyes like dis (making slant eyes). Mamma, they're Japanese monsters. But Japanese monsters are friendly monsters. .... in England dey've also got monsters. And dey're only a little bit dwangerous. And in Germany (with big eyes and serious mimic) dey've got verrrry dwangerous monsters. Ja."
other impressions of Tokyo
Us 3 girls have been getting out and about every day! We're painting Tokyo red!! We've been to places we don't know how to write or pronounce, and even landed in places we weren't planning to go to. But we've had a good share of fun and enjoyed it!
On the weekend, we just got some more things sorted out for general living in Japan. Some cleaning agents, a Costco card, some electrical items, etc. And we both had headaches, so we tried to rest in between.
On Monday, us girls tried to go to "OK shop" again as that was the most "reasonable" one. We followed the navi's instructions and after sitting in heavy traffic, we finally made it off the "Dori" (Avenue) and went into the park house. The wrong one. Oops! Nothing looked familiar. Couldn't find OK! But Josephine kept piping up "Mamma, this looks good! I want to go in here!" So I thought "Ah well! We're in here now and...." So out we go, without a buggy or baby carrier, and had a look around. We found Gap (the cheapest shop - by far -for kiddie clothing we've seen so far...but still pricey for our standards...). Anyway, it was a pleasant hour (parking cost €9).
Yesterday we took the train to Jiagauka - a nearby suburb part of our ward. It was lovely. There is a lovely market flare there with lots of people ambling around.
General impressions:
- there are LOTS of Japanese people here!!! Very few Westeners - a rare sight, indeed!
- the trains are speckless and punctual
- people are very accomodating and service-orientated, everywhere you go
- traffic is quite heavy at certain times, but no aggressive driving (no hooting, not much overtaking, etc)
- the people like to mop themselves with kerchiefs
- cycling is in
- a car is seldom necessary as public transport is excellent and close and parking away from home is a nightmare
- hardly anyone is overweight, rather all are very slender.
- food is 99% delicious. Looks suspicious, but tastes lekker!
- shopping is hit and miss. Everything looks and reads foreign. Hardly anything easily recognisable. Grocery shopping is an adventure!
- the Japanese are fanatics about how they pack their things. Very neat!
Trial and error:
- bought some really ill-tasting white fish today...and I'm not fussy... Urgh!!!!
- nearly rode over a tiny Japanese man today by mistake.
- been a bit lost several times while exploring, but nothing serious or too worrying
Tomorrow we're going to try and go swimming. I've heard that's an experience in and of itself. Let's see!
Goodnight,
On the weekend, we just got some more things sorted out for general living in Japan. Some cleaning agents, a Costco card, some electrical items, etc. And we both had headaches, so we tried to rest in between.
On Monday, us girls tried to go to "OK shop" again as that was the most "reasonable" one. We followed the navi's instructions and after sitting in heavy traffic, we finally made it off the "Dori" (Avenue) and went into the park house. The wrong one. Oops! Nothing looked familiar. Couldn't find OK! But Josephine kept piping up "Mamma, this looks good! I want to go in here!" So I thought "Ah well! We're in here now and...." So out we go, without a buggy or baby carrier, and had a look around. We found Gap (the cheapest shop - by far -for kiddie clothing we've seen so far...but still pricey for our standards...). Anyway, it was a pleasant hour (parking cost €9).
Yesterday we took the train to Jiagauka - a nearby suburb part of our ward. It was lovely. There is a lovely market flare there with lots of people ambling around.
General impressions:
- there are LOTS of Japanese people here!!! Very few Westeners - a rare sight, indeed!
- the trains are speckless and punctual
- people are very accomodating and service-orientated, everywhere you go
- traffic is quite heavy at certain times, but no aggressive driving (no hooting, not much overtaking, etc)
- the people like to mop themselves with kerchiefs
- cycling is in
- a car is seldom necessary as public transport is excellent and close and parking away from home is a nightmare
- hardly anyone is overweight, rather all are very slender.
- food is 99% delicious. Looks suspicious, but tastes lekker!
- shopping is hit and miss. Everything looks and reads foreign. Hardly anything easily recognisable. Grocery shopping is an adventure!
- the Japanese are fanatics about how they pack their things. Very neat!
Trial and error:
- bought some really ill-tasting white fish today...and I'm not fussy... Urgh!!!!
- nearly rode over a tiny Japanese man today by mistake.
- been a bit lost several times while exploring, but nothing serious or too worrying
Tomorrow we're going to try and go swimming. I've heard that's an experience in and of itself. Let's see!
Goodnight,
Friday, 9 July 2010
...and then a hero came along...(Mariah Carey song?)
Ahhhh, today was sweet! AT 8.15 I got picked up by a Finnish lady (Marjo) who led the way to a grocery store called "OK". And that was, well, more than ok for me. It was a relief to find an apple costing only €1 and not €3 (I still can't get over the fact that a single apple can cost €3!! Or 15 grapes costing € 18). OK is a discount store (but not crummy) with prices about 1/3, I'd guess and a good variety. Yeah!
Marjo showed me these tubs with a paper sheet over the top and balls inside ... a vital cupboard friend if you don't want mildew or miff growing on your clothes from the high humidity. So I got 6 of these tubs and have already distributed them through the cupboards. Apparently the tub (which is half full of balls and half empty) fills up with water and then has to be replaced every so often. Interesting! I would never have known that this existed if it hadn't been for Marjo! Thanks Marjo!
For Josephine, the most exciting part of the shop (the rest was as dull as any other apart from toy stores) was the seafood section. They have so much fish and seafood! Really nice! Josephine was captivated with the complete fishes which still had their heads on and eyes in. She wanted to adopt one right away. So, we got 1 of those. I fished it out with tongs and put it into a clear bag and into the trolley. Gives me the heebeegeebees just thinking about how slippery that thing felt through the plastic (about 20cm long). Urgh! And then, we found a small try of teenyweeny fish (about 5mm long) white fish with teeny weeny black eyes. They were little. Josephine declared that they were the other one's babies. They were the baby fish and had to come too, she said with big eyes expressing deep concern. Her weak mother agreed, but also with the thought to try some different food. Marjo said they actually tasted quite good, so I thought....let's give it a go! (Apparently, they're a snack. So as Western folk would eat peanuts in a bowl, the Asian/Japanese, would eat these tiny dried fish in a bowl.). I must add that these things do look suspiciously like worms when seeing them in clumps. All the way home, Josephine begged to hold her fish. Well, that was pushing it, so the fish stayed in the boot till we got home.
I followed Marjo home again too and she took all the little roads. Left, right, right, left, curve to the right, sharp left, quick right, down tiny roads that were actually for dual carriage (ha)...man, she was incredible with her driving skills. I want to be just like her! My hero! And she could even read a little bit on Kanji! I was pretty blown away!
Anyway, the second we got home, Josephine carried her movver fish upstairs and put it to bed in the freezer. The little teenyweeny baby fish received little mercy and got scoffed by the handful at lunch time.
During the afternoon, every so often, she went to check on her movver (mother) fish. "Oh Mamma, Mamma, come quickly. Da Movver fish has a great big ouwa (sore). It's bleeding!!! Ahhhh, poor little fing (stroking it through the plastic bag). And when Pappa came home, he got introduced to the new family member (was he surprised? Yes. And grossed out.).
At dinner tonight, we ate sushi and salad. Josephine says "I loooove squishy (sushi)!!" And she does! I must say, it is delicious!
On some of the sushi rice, there were fish eggs. Orange ones. Just like the nemo fish egg. Josephine looked at it and at first just shook her head strongly while looking at it saying "No, I just can't eat dat. Dat's Nemo. I can't eat my fwiends. No."
...10minutes later..."Mmmmm! Nemo tastes yummy! Actually."
Putting her to bed tonight we were talking about old people...
Me: "Josephine? Who do you know who is old?"
Jozie: "Mmmmm....(thinking)....Gwamps? Maybe Gwamps is old. Ja. Gwamps."
Me: "Why do you think Gramps is old?"
Jozie: "Um. Gwamps is just weally weally old. Ja."
Me: "And what do you like to do with Gramps? What's your favourite game with Gramps?"
Jozie: "I like to jump with Gwamps. And dance wif him." (see Gramps, you can't be thaaat old! ;-)
Me: "How old do you think Gramps is?"
Jozie: "Um.....(starting to count on her fingers...)one, two, three, four. FOUR! Gwamps is 4. He's weally old."
Me: "Ah! So you're 3 years old and Gramps is 4? Then you'll be old too soon!"
Jozie: silence....
Me: "Who else do you know is old?"
Jozie: "Gwan. Maybe Gwan is old too!
Me: "And what do you like to do with Gran?"
Jozie: "I like to play worm games and hiding away."
Me: "And how old do you think Gran is?"
Jozie: "Ummmmmm....(counting on her fingers one by one)....five! 5! Gwan is 5!"
Besides that?
It rained this afternoon a lot (rainy season).
Evie standing by herself not holding on to anything. And then sitting down after a minute, crawling away.
Evie also likes to horse ride on my back - she slaps me to make me go faster, clicks her tongue to get me to go and strokes me as if to say "Well done. Goood horse!"(just like Josephine did to Lizzy).
Evie does high 5's on demand and with a big smile.
Marjo showed me these tubs with a paper sheet over the top and balls inside ... a vital cupboard friend if you don't want mildew or miff growing on your clothes from the high humidity. So I got 6 of these tubs and have already distributed them through the cupboards. Apparently the tub (which is half full of balls and half empty) fills up with water and then has to be replaced every so often. Interesting! I would never have known that this existed if it hadn't been for Marjo! Thanks Marjo!
For Josephine, the most exciting part of the shop (the rest was as dull as any other apart from toy stores) was the seafood section. They have so much fish and seafood! Really nice! Josephine was captivated with the complete fishes which still had their heads on and eyes in. She wanted to adopt one right away. So, we got 1 of those. I fished it out with tongs and put it into a clear bag and into the trolley. Gives me the heebeegeebees just thinking about how slippery that thing felt through the plastic (about 20cm long). Urgh! And then, we found a small try of teenyweeny fish (about 5mm long) white fish with teeny weeny black eyes. They were little. Josephine declared that they were the other one's babies. They were the baby fish and had to come too, she said with big eyes expressing deep concern. Her weak mother agreed, but also with the thought to try some different food. Marjo said they actually tasted quite good, so I thought....let's give it a go! (Apparently, they're a snack. So as Western folk would eat peanuts in a bowl, the Asian/Japanese, would eat these tiny dried fish in a bowl.). I must add that these things do look suspiciously like worms when seeing them in clumps. All the way home, Josephine begged to hold her fish. Well, that was pushing it, so the fish stayed in the boot till we got home.
I followed Marjo home again too and she took all the little roads. Left, right, right, left, curve to the right, sharp left, quick right, down tiny roads that were actually for dual carriage (ha)...man, she was incredible with her driving skills. I want to be just like her! My hero! And she could even read a little bit on Kanji! I was pretty blown away!
Anyway, the second we got home, Josephine carried her movver fish upstairs and put it to bed in the freezer. The little teenyweeny baby fish received little mercy and got scoffed by the handful at lunch time.
During the afternoon, every so often, she went to check on her movver (mother) fish. "Oh Mamma, Mamma, come quickly. Da Movver fish has a great big ouwa (sore). It's bleeding!!! Ahhhh, poor little fing (stroking it through the plastic bag). And when Pappa came home, he got introduced to the new family member (was he surprised? Yes. And grossed out.).
At dinner tonight, we ate sushi and salad. Josephine says "I loooove squishy (sushi)!!" And she does! I must say, it is delicious!
On some of the sushi rice, there were fish eggs. Orange ones. Just like the nemo fish egg. Josephine looked at it and at first just shook her head strongly while looking at it saying "No, I just can't eat dat. Dat's Nemo. I can't eat my fwiends. No."
...10minutes later..."Mmmmm! Nemo tastes yummy! Actually."
Putting her to bed tonight we were talking about old people...
Me: "Josephine? Who do you know who is old?"
Jozie: "Mmmmm....(thinking)....Gwamps? Maybe Gwamps is old. Ja. Gwamps."
Me: "Why do you think Gramps is old?"
Jozie: "Um. Gwamps is just weally weally old. Ja."
Me: "And what do you like to do with Gramps? What's your favourite game with Gramps?"
Jozie: "I like to jump with Gwamps. And dance wif him." (see Gramps, you can't be thaaat old! ;-)
Me: "How old do you think Gramps is?"
Jozie: "Um.....(starting to count on her fingers...)one, two, three, four. FOUR! Gwamps is 4. He's weally old."
Me: "Ah! So you're 3 years old and Gramps is 4? Then you'll be old too soon!"
Jozie: silence....
Me: "Who else do you know is old?"
Jozie: "Gwan. Maybe Gwan is old too!
Me: "And what do you like to do with Gran?"
Jozie: "I like to play worm games and hiding away."
Me: "And how old do you think Gran is?"
Jozie: "Ummmmmm....(counting on her fingers one by one)....five! 5! Gwan is 5!"
Besides that?
It rained this afternoon a lot (rainy season).
Evie standing by herself not holding on to anything. And then sitting down after a minute, crawling away.
Evie also likes to horse ride on my back - she slaps me to make me go faster, clicks her tongue to get me to go and strokes me as if to say "Well done. Goood horse!"(just like Josephine did to Lizzy).
Evie does high 5's on demand and with a big smile.
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Visit to Yokohama
Last night I couldn't sleep. I read a book called "Japan for Kids" and by the end of it my mind was swirling with all the ideas they came up with. I'm so amped to be here now! And one thing I've learnt quickly about moving between countries is: get out. Staying home leads to cabin fever. And cabin fever is bad. Get out, even if it's hot and sticky. Go and see new things. It's fresh air for the soul.
When I woke up (or let's say, when I was woken up by a friendly little person), I had it clear in my mind that we were going to try and go to Yokohama today. We've made it to Happy Road now several times and that's where the Todoroki station is. We took our time getting ready after Michael had left for work as we didn't want to hit peak traffic. By 9.30 or so, we were hitting the hill outside our apartment, creamed up, water bottles, nappies, the toot in the pram. Evie on my back, Jozie in the buggy. At the station, no one really spoke English. But they understood "Yokohama". So I bought a ticket from a machine (with the kind help of the station master who pressed all the right Japanese buttons for me) and soon we were on our way. Jozie was excited about the train ride and Evie just goes along with things mostly. We had 1 change over, but everything went smoothly.
The reason I wanted to go to Yokohama was because of a rooftop play area I had read about as well as a toy store. I wanted to get them 1 more toy each as we're just really hobbling along with Sassy and a handful of horses. The girls are fighting over the select few! So, just for a change of pace in our playing games I thought it may come in handy to get something new.
We found the place easily and headed for the toy store first. Despite Jozie knowing the purpose of our trip to the store, was overwhelmed with the choice and everything she fancied got put into the basket. She wanted a golden ballgown, some princess shoes, a little bag/wallet, a puppy that walks and wags its tail, some rabbits, a ball, a swimming cap, some more shoes, some earrings. With some of the smaller items, she slipped them in without me seeing, so I just slipped them out without her seeing. Bigger things like the dress, I told her we'd first look around and decide on 1 thing right at the end. The shoes were really very expensive, so I told her that and said if that was what she wanted, we could rather then look for more reasonable shoes (which we didn't find). In the end, she chose the puppy. And a cute little thing it is!! It's a cuddly brown poodle with pink bows in it's hair and has a collar. "We can call it "Lady" ", she said, "like Lady and the Tramp".
So Lady Schmidt has been welcomed into the family this afternoon much to Jozie's delight. Lady ate supper with us this evening and has been on walks and is now sleeping soundly next to Josephine.
The rooftop play area was quite nice. We stayed about 20 minutes but couldn't bear the heat any longer after that. They had a nice "igloo" with several entrances for the kids to dash in and out of. They could also climb over the igloo. The igloo was however covered with plastic grass sheets making it look more like a jungle hideout. But which was rather conspicious on top of an otherwise nearly bare rooftop space.
All in all, we had a great day. Bushed at the end, desperate to cool off in the bath, but happy.
Evie went to bed at 5pm tonight and even Josephine couldn't make it past 8pm.
And now, I'm off to bed too with a happy heart and tired eyes (and legs).
Goodnight!
When I woke up (or let's say, when I was woken up by a friendly little person), I had it clear in my mind that we were going to try and go to Yokohama today. We've made it to Happy Road now several times and that's where the Todoroki station is. We took our time getting ready after Michael had left for work as we didn't want to hit peak traffic. By 9.30 or so, we were hitting the hill outside our apartment, creamed up, water bottles, nappies, the toot in the pram. Evie on my back, Jozie in the buggy. At the station, no one really spoke English. But they understood "Yokohama". So I bought a ticket from a machine (with the kind help of the station master who pressed all the right Japanese buttons for me) and soon we were on our way. Jozie was excited about the train ride and Evie just goes along with things mostly. We had 1 change over, but everything went smoothly.
The reason I wanted to go to Yokohama was because of a rooftop play area I had read about as well as a toy store. I wanted to get them 1 more toy each as we're just really hobbling along with Sassy and a handful of horses. The girls are fighting over the select few! So, just for a change of pace in our playing games I thought it may come in handy to get something new.
We found the place easily and headed for the toy store first. Despite Jozie knowing the purpose of our trip to the store, was overwhelmed with the choice and everything she fancied got put into the basket. She wanted a golden ballgown, some princess shoes, a little bag/wallet, a puppy that walks and wags its tail, some rabbits, a ball, a swimming cap, some more shoes, some earrings. With some of the smaller items, she slipped them in without me seeing, so I just slipped them out without her seeing. Bigger things like the dress, I told her we'd first look around and decide on 1 thing right at the end. The shoes were really very expensive, so I told her that and said if that was what she wanted, we could rather then look for more reasonable shoes (which we didn't find). In the end, she chose the puppy. And a cute little thing it is!! It's a cuddly brown poodle with pink bows in it's hair and has a collar. "We can call it "Lady" ", she said, "like Lady and the Tramp".
So Lady Schmidt has been welcomed into the family this afternoon much to Jozie's delight. Lady ate supper with us this evening and has been on walks and is now sleeping soundly next to Josephine.
The rooftop play area was quite nice. We stayed about 20 minutes but couldn't bear the heat any longer after that. They had a nice "igloo" with several entrances for the kids to dash in and out of. They could also climb over the igloo. The igloo was however covered with plastic grass sheets making it look more like a jungle hideout. But which was rather conspicious on top of an otherwise nearly bare rooftop space.
All in all, we had a great day. Bushed at the end, desperate to cool off in the bath, but happy.
Evie went to bed at 5pm tonight and even Josephine couldn't make it past 8pm.
And now, I'm off to bed too with a happy heart and tired eyes (and legs).
Goodnight!
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Princess Josephine
Nope, she's not a tomboy anymore! She's now a princess. Loves pink. Loves dresses. Loves pretty things. Wants nailpolish and lipstick.
Well, when I say she's not a tomboy, let's say: she doesn't look like one and well, while many of her games are now "princess" games, she still does a lot of running around, climbing, jumping and even wrestling. But all in dresses.
Today I tried to put a T-shirt on her..."No, Mamma, no. I just a girl!!!! I need a dwess!" (in the exasperated tone as if to point out how daft I am.) Was however still above board and cute. ;-)
I think she's really at a stage where she's identifying herself as girl and therefore different from a boy. And she wants her identity not to be mistaken by anybody. So gone are the days where I could just put on any coloured T-shirt I liked. Now, it either takes a bit of convincing to get on my choice or else let her choose something she likes. Actually, it's nice to give her this independence and power to choose...letting her grow up a bit.
Lipstick however is labello (just strawberry flavoured lipice) and her nailpolish is clear with a bit of glitter. Oh, she loves it!! And we have girl nailpolish parties. Pappa has been invited to join, but so far has declined and merely watched from the sidelines with a thick pair of socks on. Evie couldn't care less yet.
She's started with sayings like, "Mamma, nobody loves me." or "Nobody cares bout me". A real surprise hearing that for the first time all from her own. I must say, I was so surprised and it was so obviously not true in the situation it happened in that I even started to smile when I said to her "Hey, Jozie, how can you say that??" only making her smile at her own comment. All I can put it down to was a bit of attention seeking. But it does make one feel pretty bad and start to wonder why she says these things. I guess, it's normal. But on the other hand, I think she is getting a bit of the short end of the stick at the moment....Evie is quite demanding and needy at the moment (always having to watch for her safety etc) that many games Jozie and I are playing together are often interrupted or disrupted or whatever.
Putting her to bed this evening, I spent about 2 hours with her (Michael is at a business dinner tonight) and we had some time together after I put Evie down. We read, cuddled, played some games. Finally, when it was her bedtime she wanted me to go to sleep next to her. It would be fine if it would be once-off. But such a thing is never once-off. With Jozie, habits are learnt from a single occassion. She'd be heartbroken if I didn't do it tomorrow or the next day or the next. So, from past experience, I've decided that however tempting it is, rather not. So, I held her hand and we chatted a while, but then I said goodnight. She sat up in bed saying "Mamma. I just get so ustrated!! Nobody wants to sleep wif me." ;-)
Yesterday at the Japanese dept of Home Affairs type thing, we were waiting in a queue...Jozie doing role-plays right there with a large audience. Unfortunately, she chose to pretend she was a movver (mother). Dolly was along for the ride, and in the middle of everyone, she shoved dolly under her dress and announced she had "a big belly and da baby was going to pop out at da doctor." "Mamma", she directed me, "You be da doctor and I come to you wif my big belly." So she spread herself out lying down across 3 chairs on her back. "Puuuuuuush! POP!! Look Mamma, look! Dolly popped out of me!" Red-faced me...."Yes, Jozie! Look how cute your baby is!" Reply was...."Yes, Mamma, and now dolly is going to dwink from my boobies." Great! Pure innocence, but pure embarrassment at the same time. A game for home not at some government office with queues of bored people looking at wierdos like us. So dolly got some milk and then dat was dat. Phew! Fortunately, she moved on to pretending to be a ballerina. That was far less embarrassing. Actually I was so proud of her. She lept and twirled and twisted her hand at the end to keep all her fingers tightly together. And with eyes half open, she danced away in another world. She was beautiful. She is beautiful. I love her soooo much. Could eat her up alive!!!
Jozie is also eating a lot more things this last week. Usually she's such a picky eater. This week, she's been so much better. I have hardly given her snacks inbetween meals which has meant she's genuinely been hungry. "Mamma! Huwwy wif da food. My stomach is scweaming to food! It's gwowling so loudly Mamma." and then she ate: sushi (now is that impressive or what!?!?) and fish and brocolli (hello!?!) and potatoe and even a mushroom. Not bad for anyone's standards, but especially Jozie's. I'm super chuffed!
Tonight I asked her a couple questions about Gwan and Gwamps. She remembers where they live, what their place looks like, where Gwan used to hide the hairy worm for her, etc. And when I asked her what Gwan and Gwamps look like she said "Gwan is just like this little litltle hedghog lady." (showing the size of how little Gwan is with her fingers and speaking in a high pitched voice).
And Gwamps? "Gwamps is just like this huuuuuge hedgehog man. He's weally weally huge." (Jozie with big eyes showing the size of how tall Gwamps is with her whole arms spread out. Speaking with a deep voice too)
She's starting to like doing little games. There are some kiddie educational games on the internet where they give you a picture of 6 worms and ask you to find the one with red and green stripes, blue eyes and a long body. Each worm looks different and so it's a listening and recognising game. She really enjoyed that. Afterwards she said to me: "Mamma, you can buy me a liiiitle (high pitched voice) computer all to me? I weally need a small little computer all to myself. And also you can buy me a telephone. A long stwaight one? Dats what I weally like! You can just take me to da shops and I show you."
....um, hello! Cute, yes (edible actually) but ... er....well, maybe for her birthday or so we can find something like a small girl computer with little educational tasks. Let's see. I don't want another toy put to the side or spoiling. She has to learn to wait for things and not get them too easily. Let's see what Pappa says.
Lastly, I would like to say that I think she's getting taller. There's a definite growth spurt going on. Maybe the reason for all the good-food-eating going on? But she's no toddler anymore. She's definitely a little girl now. And we're so proud!! Just don't want her to grow up too fast...our little Jozie darling.
Well, when I say she's not a tomboy, let's say: she doesn't look like one and well, while many of her games are now "princess" games, she still does a lot of running around, climbing, jumping and even wrestling. But all in dresses.
Today I tried to put a T-shirt on her..."No, Mamma, no. I just a girl!!!! I need a dwess!" (in the exasperated tone as if to point out how daft I am.) Was however still above board and cute. ;-)
I think she's really at a stage where she's identifying herself as girl and therefore different from a boy. And she wants her identity not to be mistaken by anybody. So gone are the days where I could just put on any coloured T-shirt I liked. Now, it either takes a bit of convincing to get on my choice or else let her choose something she likes. Actually, it's nice to give her this independence and power to choose...letting her grow up a bit.
Lipstick however is labello (just strawberry flavoured lipice) and her nailpolish is clear with a bit of glitter. Oh, she loves it!! And we have girl nailpolish parties. Pappa has been invited to join, but so far has declined and merely watched from the sidelines with a thick pair of socks on. Evie couldn't care less yet.
She's started with sayings like, "Mamma, nobody loves me." or "Nobody cares bout me". A real surprise hearing that for the first time all from her own. I must say, I was so surprised and it was so obviously not true in the situation it happened in that I even started to smile when I said to her "Hey, Jozie, how can you say that??" only making her smile at her own comment. All I can put it down to was a bit of attention seeking. But it does make one feel pretty bad and start to wonder why she says these things. I guess, it's normal. But on the other hand, I think she is getting a bit of the short end of the stick at the moment....Evie is quite demanding and needy at the moment (always having to watch for her safety etc) that many games Jozie and I are playing together are often interrupted or disrupted or whatever.
Putting her to bed this evening, I spent about 2 hours with her (Michael is at a business dinner tonight) and we had some time together after I put Evie down. We read, cuddled, played some games. Finally, when it was her bedtime she wanted me to go to sleep next to her. It would be fine if it would be once-off. But such a thing is never once-off. With Jozie, habits are learnt from a single occassion. She'd be heartbroken if I didn't do it tomorrow or the next day or the next. So, from past experience, I've decided that however tempting it is, rather not. So, I held her hand and we chatted a while, but then I said goodnight. She sat up in bed saying "Mamma. I just get so ustrated!! Nobody wants to sleep wif me." ;-)
Yesterday at the Japanese dept of Home Affairs type thing, we were waiting in a queue...Jozie doing role-plays right there with a large audience. Unfortunately, she chose to pretend she was a movver (mother). Dolly was along for the ride, and in the middle of everyone, she shoved dolly under her dress and announced she had "a big belly and da baby was going to pop out at da doctor." "Mamma", she directed me, "You be da doctor and I come to you wif my big belly." So she spread herself out lying down across 3 chairs on her back. "Puuuuuuush! POP!! Look Mamma, look! Dolly popped out of me!" Red-faced me...."Yes, Jozie! Look how cute your baby is!" Reply was...."Yes, Mamma, and now dolly is going to dwink from my boobies." Great! Pure innocence, but pure embarrassment at the same time. A game for home not at some government office with queues of bored people looking at wierdos like us. So dolly got some milk and then dat was dat. Phew! Fortunately, she moved on to pretending to be a ballerina. That was far less embarrassing. Actually I was so proud of her. She lept and twirled and twisted her hand at the end to keep all her fingers tightly together. And with eyes half open, she danced away in another world. She was beautiful. She is beautiful. I love her soooo much. Could eat her up alive!!!
Jozie is also eating a lot more things this last week. Usually she's such a picky eater. This week, she's been so much better. I have hardly given her snacks inbetween meals which has meant she's genuinely been hungry. "Mamma! Huwwy wif da food. My stomach is scweaming to food! It's gwowling so loudly Mamma." and then she ate: sushi (now is that impressive or what!?!?) and fish and brocolli (hello!?!) and potatoe and even a mushroom. Not bad for anyone's standards, but especially Jozie's. I'm super chuffed!
Tonight I asked her a couple questions about Gwan and Gwamps. She remembers where they live, what their place looks like, where Gwan used to hide the hairy worm for her, etc. And when I asked her what Gwan and Gwamps look like she said "Gwan is just like this little litltle hedghog lady." (showing the size of how little Gwan is with her fingers and speaking in a high pitched voice).
And Gwamps? "Gwamps is just like this huuuuuge hedgehog man. He's weally weally huge." (Jozie with big eyes showing the size of how tall Gwamps is with her whole arms spread out. Speaking with a deep voice too)
She's starting to like doing little games. There are some kiddie educational games on the internet where they give you a picture of 6 worms and ask you to find the one with red and green stripes, blue eyes and a long body. Each worm looks different and so it's a listening and recognising game. She really enjoyed that. Afterwards she said to me: "Mamma, you can buy me a liiiitle (high pitched voice) computer all to me? I weally need a small little computer all to myself. And also you can buy me a telephone. A long stwaight one? Dats what I weally like! You can just take me to da shops and I show you."
....um, hello! Cute, yes (edible actually) but ... er....well, maybe for her birthday or so we can find something like a small girl computer with little educational tasks. Let's see. I don't want another toy put to the side or spoiling. She has to learn to wait for things and not get them too easily. Let's see what Pappa says.
Lastly, I would like to say that I think she's getting taller. There's a definite growth spurt going on. Maybe the reason for all the good-food-eating going on? But she's no toddler anymore. She's definitely a little girl now. And we're so proud!! Just don't want her to grow up too fast...our little Jozie darling.
Evie - our Japanese ambulance
Yesterday we had to go and register as "aliens" here in Japan (actually a normal international description for foreigner, but I can never really get used to this term). Anyhow, while sitting in the carseat at the back, she took a deep breath and let it out again with a loooong "aaaaahhhhhhhhh" while bopping her head back and forth at the same time. It was actually a happy sound for her. But our Japanese agent looked into his review mirror in fright saying with his strong accent "Oh! She sounds like the Japanese ambulance!"
Evie is crawling like a maniac. You can see she's thoroughly enjoying the power of going on her own steam. She likes to show off with it. Sometimes, it's a "cool crawl" ...an amble of a crawl. As if to say...guys, this is so easy...it's almost boring. Othertimes, she gets into her determined crawl. Actually her body language shouts. Just watch her eyes...you can see them getting bigger and focused on an object she wants. And she then puts her head down, eyes looking up though and crawls with a purpose. Focused baby, yes. And then, there's the turbo-boost-crawl. When she sees one of us as she comes around a corner...she lights up and puts on her super fast crawl just showing us what she's made of.
And she cruises. At first she was holding on with 2 hands, little feet rolling in (flat footed still as per all babies this age), but now she's comfortably cruising along the side of a table or couch with one hand while the other is free to grab any interesting objects (including Josephine's ponytail) within reach.
Climbing is however the latest. And the coolest. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her scaling our couch. Up onto the seat and sitting there on her feet bopping back and forth with pride. I just caught her. And that's not all. The worst is, she thinks it's mega cool to nose dive back towards earth. So far, I've been there to catch her. So with me wanting to save her cute nose and so-far-straight teeth, I've at the same time taught her that there's absolutely no pain involved in the action. So leaving her alone in the lounge at the moment is a no no as it would be a bit much to learn that lesson through a fall. And to take it one step further, she also tries (and succeeds) in scaling the back of the couch, sitting on the top...bopping again with pride on the brink of life and death. What a dare devil. Not my genes there. I have heightfright.
Then the less pleasant part of this report is that baby tantrums are escalating. She beats herself up (literally) in frustration when she can't get something she wants (eg Josephine's doll which she's playing with). She pounds on her chest, does a dramatic flop to the floor (like a typical football player), then rolls to her stomach and beats the ground with her fists and kicks out her little baby legs in total anger. I don't remember Josephine doing these things at this age. Or was I blind? Or did she not do them as there wasn't competition then for the same toy/attention? Oh dear. And, she bites her own fingers when she's really cross. Why would anyone do that? I ask you.
Besides that, she's a very affectionate baby. I say to her: "Evie, go give Jozie a kiss.". She switches into her "determined-crawl-gear" and heads for Jozie with an open mouth. Jozie usually obligingly offers her her forehead or the top of her head to avoid all the slobber that goes with it.
She's a good sleeper - sleeps right through. She's a good eater - munches on brocolli, potatoe, carrot, apple, banana, virtually anything you offer her. Sometimes if she can't chew it enough she spits it out, but that's not the rule.
She loves bathing. Fascinated by the running water. Today, she sat in front of the running water with her hand under the tap spraying it everywhere. She got her eyelashes and face all wet....pulled herself up onto the side of the bath blinking the water away. Sat down but landed so her head was right under the tap. Got really wet. Blinked it away big eyed with her open mouth all oval and cute...surprise written all over her face. But liked it!
She says "touch" and "shoes" and "juice" too. Perhaps not 100% clear to an outsider, but clear to us.
That's it for now!
Evie is crawling like a maniac. You can see she's thoroughly enjoying the power of going on her own steam. She likes to show off with it. Sometimes, it's a "cool crawl" ...an amble of a crawl. As if to say...guys, this is so easy...it's almost boring. Othertimes, she gets into her determined crawl. Actually her body language shouts. Just watch her eyes...you can see them getting bigger and focused on an object she wants. And she then puts her head down, eyes looking up though and crawls with a purpose. Focused baby, yes. And then, there's the turbo-boost-crawl. When she sees one of us as she comes around a corner...she lights up and puts on her super fast crawl just showing us what she's made of.
And she cruises. At first she was holding on with 2 hands, little feet rolling in (flat footed still as per all babies this age), but now she's comfortably cruising along the side of a table or couch with one hand while the other is free to grab any interesting objects (including Josephine's ponytail) within reach.
Climbing is however the latest. And the coolest. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her scaling our couch. Up onto the seat and sitting there on her feet bopping back and forth with pride. I just caught her. And that's not all. The worst is, she thinks it's mega cool to nose dive back towards earth. So far, I've been there to catch her. So with me wanting to save her cute nose and so-far-straight teeth, I've at the same time taught her that there's absolutely no pain involved in the action. So leaving her alone in the lounge at the moment is a no no as it would be a bit much to learn that lesson through a fall. And to take it one step further, she also tries (and succeeds) in scaling the back of the couch, sitting on the top...bopping again with pride on the brink of life and death. What a dare devil. Not my genes there. I have heightfright.
Then the less pleasant part of this report is that baby tantrums are escalating. She beats herself up (literally) in frustration when she can't get something she wants (eg Josephine's doll which she's playing with). She pounds on her chest, does a dramatic flop to the floor (like a typical football player), then rolls to her stomach and beats the ground with her fists and kicks out her little baby legs in total anger. I don't remember Josephine doing these things at this age. Or was I blind? Or did she not do them as there wasn't competition then for the same toy/attention? Oh dear. And, she bites her own fingers when she's really cross. Why would anyone do that? I ask you.
Besides that, she's a very affectionate baby. I say to her: "Evie, go give Jozie a kiss.". She switches into her "determined-crawl-gear" and heads for Jozie with an open mouth. Jozie usually obligingly offers her her forehead or the top of her head to avoid all the slobber that goes with it.
She's a good sleeper - sleeps right through. She's a good eater - munches on brocolli, potatoe, carrot, apple, banana, virtually anything you offer her. Sometimes if she can't chew it enough she spits it out, but that's not the rule.
She loves bathing. Fascinated by the running water. Today, she sat in front of the running water with her hand under the tap spraying it everywhere. She got her eyelashes and face all wet....pulled herself up onto the side of the bath blinking the water away. Sat down but landed so her head was right under the tap. Got really wet. Blinked it away big eyed with her open mouth all oval and cute...surprise written all over her face. But liked it!
She says "touch" and "shoes" and "juice" too. Perhaps not 100% clear to an outsider, but clear to us.
That's it for now!
poking our noses out
Today us 3 girls hit the town! Well, sort of. I put Evie in the baby carrier (piggy-back style) and Josephine in the buggy and off we went exploring our neighbourhood. It was actually quite fun and both girls really liked it. I had to cream them with sunlotion before leaving and put a sunhat on Evie (Jozie has the buggy hood for shade). One only realises the steepness of a hill when one has to walk (and push) up it. From the comfort of an airconditioned car, it's a cruise. But with the weight of 2 little children in sweltering weather, one feels it. But it was good exercise! I'm hoping to get into shape by doing it!
We found "Happy Road" which was a mere 500m from our place (at the top of the hill basically) and it was a nice amble then down the road which has lots of little shops and stores. Mostly food stores, laundry outlets, odds and ends, but nevertheless interesting! We stumbled upon a bakery which Wiebke in Germany who has lived here recommended. "Little Mermaid" will surely be frequented regularly! Got some doughnuts which Jozie chose for us all to prepare a little teaparty at home in our nearly empty lounge. After we got home, we spread out a towel (our picnic blanket) on the floor with plates and juice bottles. Evie was bobbing to get some of that stuff in her little mouth and when she did, she never let go. Jozie picked all the chocolate sprinkles off (she doesn't like anything that looks "messy" on her food) while Evie chewed and chewed her doughnut with all 4 teeth until that thing looked....wierd. She took it out of her mouth from time to time, clutched it tightly, looked at it intently, turned it over, shoved it back in and repeated this process over an over. Gross.
In the late afternoon, we were in the mood to go out again and this time we didn't take the "long route" to Happy Road, but went up the hill straight to it. As we left our apartment, the skies looked heavy. Everyone had umbrellas. Everyone except the Schmidts. Well, have mercy on me - pushing a buggy, carrying Evie...an umbrella would have tipped me over. So we decided to brave the drizzle. And that's all it was. A very very light, gentle rain. It's rainy season here and actually, what I've seen so far, it's just really soft. But everyone has an umbrella.
Some impressions:
* a school girl with a lovely straw hat, 2 dark pigtails, a neat uniform, white socks, black buckle shoes and her mustard yellow umbrella ...waiting at the traffic light. If only I had a camera with me - she was somehow lovely.
* a queue of elderly Japanese people waiting at the bus stop. I didn't know how to say "excuse me" so waited and waited till someone finally saw I wanted to come through. But most impressive was their stature. Tiny people! They take me up to my shoulders. Small frames, very dainty, all with dark umbrellas. Few had grey hair.
* I'm constantly amazed at how tight parking is. I will post some photos when my camera arrives as I can't explain it in words
* perfectly shaped trees and bushes. Not many gardens, but where there is a tree, boy they take care of it.
* a tiny young lady (probably in her late 20's) driving a big truck with a tractor on it's trailer. You could hardly see her behind the wheel!
* detailed attention paid to wrapping and presenting things, even the most menial. Milk (or anything from the fridge section) is wrapped separetely in a clear bag with a small neat pack of ice, if you like, to keep it chilled till you get home.
* Expensive!! Just saw grapes - a handful of them (admittedly very nice looking ones, but nevertheless - going for a cool €18 (not per kg, but for that handful!). Scary. Will have to get a feel for where is the best place to buy these things.
We found "Happy Road" which was a mere 500m from our place (at the top of the hill basically) and it was a nice amble then down the road which has lots of little shops and stores. Mostly food stores, laundry outlets, odds and ends, but nevertheless interesting! We stumbled upon a bakery which Wiebke in Germany who has lived here recommended. "Little Mermaid" will surely be frequented regularly! Got some doughnuts which Jozie chose for us all to prepare a little teaparty at home in our nearly empty lounge. After we got home, we spread out a towel (our picnic blanket) on the floor with plates and juice bottles. Evie was bobbing to get some of that stuff in her little mouth and when she did, she never let go. Jozie picked all the chocolate sprinkles off (she doesn't like anything that looks "messy" on her food) while Evie chewed and chewed her doughnut with all 4 teeth until that thing looked....wierd. She took it out of her mouth from time to time, clutched it tightly, looked at it intently, turned it over, shoved it back in and repeated this process over an over. Gross.
In the late afternoon, we were in the mood to go out again and this time we didn't take the "long route" to Happy Road, but went up the hill straight to it. As we left our apartment, the skies looked heavy. Everyone had umbrellas. Everyone except the Schmidts. Well, have mercy on me - pushing a buggy, carrying Evie...an umbrella would have tipped me over. So we decided to brave the drizzle. And that's all it was. A very very light, gentle rain. It's rainy season here and actually, what I've seen so far, it's just really soft. But everyone has an umbrella.
Some impressions:
* a school girl with a lovely straw hat, 2 dark pigtails, a neat uniform, white socks, black buckle shoes and her mustard yellow umbrella ...waiting at the traffic light. If only I had a camera with me - she was somehow lovely.
* a queue of elderly Japanese people waiting at the bus stop. I didn't know how to say "excuse me" so waited and waited till someone finally saw I wanted to come through. But most impressive was their stature. Tiny people! They take me up to my shoulders. Small frames, very dainty, all with dark umbrellas. Few had grey hair.
* I'm constantly amazed at how tight parking is. I will post some photos when my camera arrives as I can't explain it in words
* perfectly shaped trees and bushes. Not many gardens, but where there is a tree, boy they take care of it.
* a tiny young lady (probably in her late 20's) driving a big truck with a tractor on it's trailer. You could hardly see her behind the wheel!
* detailed attention paid to wrapping and presenting things, even the most menial. Milk (or anything from the fridge section) is wrapped separetely in a clear bag with a small neat pack of ice, if you like, to keep it chilled till you get home.
* Expensive!! Just saw grapes - a handful of them (admittedly very nice looking ones, but nevertheless - going for a cool €18 (not per kg, but for that handful!). Scary. Will have to get a feel for where is the best place to buy these things.
Monday, 5 July 2010
Vat jou goed en trek, Ferreria!
A lot has happened since I last posted:
On Wednesday last week, the packers arrived. They wrapped and packed everything downstairs and in the cellar and garage. On Thursday they wrapped and packed everything upstairs. The container arrived at 2pm on the dot (very punctual!) and within 2hours of loading, they were done and all gone! When one moves, one realises how quickly one collects "junk". We've only had a move 5 months ago, and even in that short space of time...we've collected things which we don't really need/use. Also, the kids are growing, their needs are changing...i.e. sorting out clothes, toys, etc. Primarily we had to sort out our things into 3 groups (for the ship which takes 6-8 weeks to get to us; for the unaccompanied airfreight of things we need for the 6-8 weeks; and for the 3 suitcases + handluggage we were taking on the flight). Also, we stockpiled on certain things (eg nappies, nutella, cereals, washing powders). Reasons for that were because of smaller sizing in Japan, costs in Japan, etc). So trying to estimate when a currently 1 year old will be potty trained, is somewhat difficult. I've bought enough for 1 year. Optimistic, I know! But maybe she's like Jozie who was potty trained at 23 months? Let's see.
So after the packers left (which was a big tick off the list and a relief to have that big task done) we checked in at the hotel. Despite the fact that we still had our home available, there were no beds... ;-) So, we stayed just around the corner to also have easy access to do the last things before locking up.
I must also add that during the entire move we had mega stress as Michael still hadn't signed his new contract. He wasn't happy with certain points and HR had just basically sat on it till the last minute. His own boss said: go ahead, your points are absolutely fair and it will be sorted. 1 hour later the HR boss said (while the guys were loading our stuff onto the container): don't go. You're not allowed to board the flight until you sign. That was pressure, I can tell you. But we stuck to our guns as it would have otherwise meant a big financial risk (to do with exchange rates etc) if we had signed the contract. Literally in the 11th hour, HR phoned again to say we could go on our terms. Phew!!
On Friday we had to drive past Michael's office, say our goodbyes to neighbours, goodbyes at the kindergarten, put potplants under cover for the winter ahead (!), close the windows, switch off the fridge, lock up and drive to the airport. Everything went well and smoothly.
The flight went very well. Best long haul flight yet. 2 reasons. a) we flew business class and b) we flew during the night so the kids were naturally tired. We flew via Amsterdam which was just a very short city hop (30min flight?), watched NL v Brasil where Holland beat the Brasilians 2-1! The whole airport roof lifted!! My Oupa would have been proud!!
We arrived in Tokyo at 11am (Tokyo time) i.e. 4am German time/3am UK time. We got picked up by a VW driver and taken directly to our home. That was hugely helpful. I can't imagine having tried to take a train or something with all our luggage and 2 little ones. The guy helped carry our luggage up to our flat and then went to pick up our company car and bring it to us. How kind is that. And on his Saturday! Very service-orientated!
Once we walked in at our flat, the house agent as well as our relocation agent were waiting to greet us. They handed over keys, showed us some things and then the relocation agent drove me to the nearest shop to get some basics for the fridge etc. How kind! Michael stayed at home with Jozie and Evie during that time as they had had enough of sitting in cars/planes.
On Sunday, the relocation agent came again and took me to another shop to get some electrical and domestic cleaning things. Again, very helpful.
We're very happy with our new accomodation and the area we live in. I think we'll be very happy here for the next 3 years.
Already had a great Skype session with Gwan and Gwamps this late afternoon (early morning in UK)
Michael's first day at work went well.
girls and I spent today at home. We didn't have a car today and also it was sooooo hot outside (very very high humidity that just makes one feel lethargic and where you can cut the air it's so thick and just haaangs!) we didn't make it outside. Also, it's rainy season which means there's a constant drizzle/light rain in the afternoons. Very different climate to what I'm used to.
Tomorrow, we have to get our "Alien Registration Cards". The agent is picking us up at 9am.
Still getting over jetlag. Feel really wide awake now and it's 10pm - my usual bedtime. Have to make tracks soon.
Goodnight!
On Wednesday last week, the packers arrived. They wrapped and packed everything downstairs and in the cellar and garage. On Thursday they wrapped and packed everything upstairs. The container arrived at 2pm on the dot (very punctual!) and within 2hours of loading, they were done and all gone! When one moves, one realises how quickly one collects "junk". We've only had a move 5 months ago, and even in that short space of time...we've collected things which we don't really need/use. Also, the kids are growing, their needs are changing...i.e. sorting out clothes, toys, etc. Primarily we had to sort out our things into 3 groups (for the ship which takes 6-8 weeks to get to us; for the unaccompanied airfreight of things we need for the 6-8 weeks; and for the 3 suitcases + handluggage we were taking on the flight). Also, we stockpiled on certain things (eg nappies, nutella, cereals, washing powders). Reasons for that were because of smaller sizing in Japan, costs in Japan, etc). So trying to estimate when a currently 1 year old will be potty trained, is somewhat difficult. I've bought enough for 1 year. Optimistic, I know! But maybe she's like Jozie who was potty trained at 23 months? Let's see.
So after the packers left (which was a big tick off the list and a relief to have that big task done) we checked in at the hotel. Despite the fact that we still had our home available, there were no beds... ;-) So, we stayed just around the corner to also have easy access to do the last things before locking up.
I must also add that during the entire move we had mega stress as Michael still hadn't signed his new contract. He wasn't happy with certain points and HR had just basically sat on it till the last minute. His own boss said: go ahead, your points are absolutely fair and it will be sorted. 1 hour later the HR boss said (while the guys were loading our stuff onto the container): don't go. You're not allowed to board the flight until you sign. That was pressure, I can tell you. But we stuck to our guns as it would have otherwise meant a big financial risk (to do with exchange rates etc) if we had signed the contract. Literally in the 11th hour, HR phoned again to say we could go on our terms. Phew!!
On Friday we had to drive past Michael's office, say our goodbyes to neighbours, goodbyes at the kindergarten, put potplants under cover for the winter ahead (!), close the windows, switch off the fridge, lock up and drive to the airport. Everything went well and smoothly.
The flight went very well. Best long haul flight yet. 2 reasons. a) we flew business class and b) we flew during the night so the kids were naturally tired. We flew via Amsterdam which was just a very short city hop (30min flight?), watched NL v Brasil where Holland beat the Brasilians 2-1! The whole airport roof lifted!! My Oupa would have been proud!!
We arrived in Tokyo at 11am (Tokyo time) i.e. 4am German time/3am UK time. We got picked up by a VW driver and taken directly to our home. That was hugely helpful. I can't imagine having tried to take a train or something with all our luggage and 2 little ones. The guy helped carry our luggage up to our flat and then went to pick up our company car and bring it to us. How kind is that. And on his Saturday! Very service-orientated!
Once we walked in at our flat, the house agent as well as our relocation agent were waiting to greet us. They handed over keys, showed us some things and then the relocation agent drove me to the nearest shop to get some basics for the fridge etc. How kind! Michael stayed at home with Jozie and Evie during that time as they had had enough of sitting in cars/planes.
On Sunday, the relocation agent came again and took me to another shop to get some electrical and domestic cleaning things. Again, very helpful.
We're very happy with our new accomodation and the area we live in. I think we'll be very happy here for the next 3 years.
Already had a great Skype session with Gwan and Gwamps this late afternoon (early morning in UK)
Michael's first day at work went well.
girls and I spent today at home. We didn't have a car today and also it was sooooo hot outside (very very high humidity that just makes one feel lethargic and where you can cut the air it's so thick and just haaangs!) we didn't make it outside. Also, it's rainy season which means there's a constant drizzle/light rain in the afternoons. Very different climate to what I'm used to.
Tomorrow, we have to get our "Alien Registration Cards". The agent is picking us up at 9am.
Still getting over jetlag. Feel really wide awake now and it's 10pm - my usual bedtime. Have to make tracks soon.
Goodnight!
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