Catch Up!

Cruising on my "hog"

So it’s time for a catch up after a few weeks of woeful blogging neglect.  I have covered sports day in my other entry but more has been going in than that. We have had a holiday in Nara, I have bought an amazing new camera, we have added more stuff to our flat, we have been to the Boston exhibit, we have had the world’s largest meat supply delivered and we have also been to Universal Studios Japan!

So let us begin with how teaching is getting along. Well I am settled in my JHS now. I have made possibly some of the most awesome worksheets to grace the Japanese education system (my Microsoft Office and Adobe experience has found some use). The kids at my school range from shy but intelligent types to badly behaved boys who want to disrupt lessons or sleep.  I am only really teaching one grade of Junior High School (the second grade – age 13-14) which means I am in most of the English lessons for that grade. Normally the ALT would have each class for one of its three weekly English lessons and use that time to create fun lessons to reinforce the current grammar point and encourage international understanding etc. As a result my role swings from making and leading activities around certain grammar points in “my” lessons to me reading aloud from the textbook and keeping the peace in my teacher’s lessons.  I don’t mind this too much, as I hope that the increased exposure to spoken English will draw the kids away from the bad pronunciation they pick up from “katakana” English. Katakana is one of the Japanese alphabets and is the one used for foreign words. The problem is that each character equates to a slightly different sound to our English letters, for example “and” is made up of the characters with the sounds “ah”, “n” and “doh”. Alas a lot of time is spent encouraging the loss of the superfluous sounds that get added onto words.  There are few other quirks to the classroom here that take some getting used to.

Outside the classroom the school has gradually become warmer and warmer and I am beginning to feel more and more welcome. There are a good few members of staff who enjoy speaking English with me and I try to chat to them when the opportunity arises. The teacher who sits next to me in the staff room speaks to me every day despite very limited English. We have developed a bond over computer games and coffee. We have bother entered into a kind of competition collecting the free toy cars that come with the little cans of ice coffee here.  Alas, the teachers here work insane hours and are constantly busy so the main social interactions only occur at the occasional parties after big school events.

Elementary school is a slightly different kettle of fish. I am only there once a week so I do not know the staff as well. The children there are exhaustingly energetic and excited to see me, which I love. Teaching there is great fun and the kids are so cute. You do feel completely sapped of energy as soon as you leave the place though. Last week the children even prepared a lesson for me on Japanese culture. I was shown how to do calligraphy, Japanese chess and some Japanese children’s games. It was great fun and it was great seeing them figuring out ways to communicate with me considering my extremely rudimentary Japanese.

At lunchtimes some of the students don their miniature lab coats, face masks and hair nets and fetch the food from the kitchen to the classroom for lunch. Each individual desk has its own table cloth (most pokemon ones) and then a tray is laid out with the days fare. I always join the students for food and have a school lunch. They are generally very healthy if not a bit heavy on the carbs. The drink served with lunch is always a pint of full fat milk which makes me cringe to drink. Alas you have to clear your plate and drink your drink otherwise you are setting a bad example. This was fine until the day whole fish were on the menu and Luke Teacher got extras as he is a grown up.  I did manage to set a good example and I also managed to avoid vomiting profusely on a class of small children.

At the end of September we enjoyed a long weekend off following the Junior High School sports day. We spent this time exploring Nara, a place only about one and half hours from Kobe by train. We found a great little hostel to stay in which bought us a lot more time to explore the area fully. We spent our days exploring ancient shrines and temples and feeding the tame deer that roam the area. Nara used to be the capital of Japan back in the 700s so it has an incredible amount of history. On our second day there we rented bikes and met up with our New Zealand friends for a bike ride around the parks and temples and then a hike up the mountain. The view from the top was breath-taking. We didn’t sample any particularly local cuisine, but we did try some horse sushi, it wasn’t anything special.

These deer think they are zebra

For a while now I have wanted to get into amateur photography so I have been researching a number of digital SLRs. Our trip really drove home the need to have a really good camera to capture Japan as well as possible. After a trip to a giant camera shop in Osaka I made my final decision on a Canon kiss x4 DSLR. I made my purchase on Amazon Japan and saved myself a cool £250 from the UK version. Now I am reading books on photography during my lunchtimes (on my laptop) and looking forward to our next trip into the countryside. I fear if I keep taking pictures of Rachel to test my camera she will attack me.  I shall try and find a good way of posting the photos online without losing too much of the overall quality. The pictures posted on the blog are massively compressed and I think it shows.

My new camera has the power to make people fly

We have recently had an exhibit of Japanese wood block prints dating back from before the 16^th century. This exhibit was on loan from the Boston (USA) art gallery. The collection was incredible. The level of detail carved into the blocks is incredible. The pictures feature all kinds of intricate patterns on clothing and other items in the pictures. It was great to see some artwork so detached from traditional European artworks. It is also great to think that good art can be “mass produced”. If you had £70 to spare you could easily buy a reproduction of one of the images, made faithfully using the same techniques.

The next day we got up at 6:45 (ON A SUNDAY!!!!!) to go to Universal Studios Japan. From what I can tell, having never been to the US version, the park is faithful reproduction of its parent.  The rides involved all manner of 3D imaging and live action fireballs and moving sets. We had a great time getting soaked on the Jurassic Park ride and playing along with the actors on the Jaws ride. The Back to the Future ride was particularly amusing, as the actors had all been redubbed in Japanese. We spent the entire day (arriving before 9am and leaving after 9pm) adventuring and going on nearly every ride. For food we went to an American-Irish themed restaurant, and I enjoyed an entire onion fried up in batter in the form on an oniony explosion. We even saw the twilight parade, featuring all kinds of themed floats and dancers covered in lights. I would certainly recommend it to anyone adventuring in Japan.

The furnishing of the flat had continued with the purchase of a Kotatsu. This is a fancy Japanese coffee table which has a heater underneath. In the winter the top lifts off and a blanket is spread over the table to keep the heat in, you then replace the table top to keep the blanket in place. Your legs can then be put under the blanket to keep them warm. We look forward to trying it out when the weather turns on us. Currently the weather still hasn’t dropped below 25 degrees and we have had limited showers. Alas, the kotatsu also provides our only table space until we track down a dining table and chairs. We have also purchased an electric frying pan. This comes with a griddle top, a flat top and a takonyaki top (spherical pancakes). It makes a great cooking space and can also be put in the centre of a table for Korean style BBQ. We have already tried this with the thin slices of boar we got as part of our massive meat delivery.

We stocked our cupboards this month with two suitably large online orders. One was from “flying pig” which offers Costco products with home delivery. We bought a few essentials in this order and also 2kg of jellybeans to make up some of our 5 a day. The other order was from “the meat man”. This is a American fellow who has setup a website selling meat in japan. We bought some ostrich, kangaroo and also a 3kg bag of mystery meat. The mystery meat contained chicken, British style sausages (most over here are hotdog wieners), sliced boar meat, a bacon joint, some bacon and a boar rib joint. We now have the kind of meat-crammed-freezer any self-respecting carnivore could be proud of!

Well that is a brief lowdown of what has been going on in our lives of late. I have made a resolution to study more Japanese and do more blogging. We have started taking private lessons for the Japanese, so hopefully this blog is the start of more frequent entries.

Kumitaiso and other blood sports

The biggest event in the schools recently has been sports day. When you think of sports day you most likely think of the egg and spoon race and sack races. In Japan it is a little different. Here sports day is not to be taken lightly. In the run-up to this prestigious event, after lunch every day is dedicated to sports day practice. The timetable has been completely rearranged to allow for all the preparation and training for this grand event.

At the junior high school the boys and the girls are then separated to their separate practice areas. The girls learn various dance routines. One of these routines is with flags but the other, rather disturbingly, is with black gloves. It looks like some kind of Michael Jackson tribute number.

 My contribution to training involved donning my white polo shirt and jogging bottoms (it’s nice to get out of my suit) and helping to supervise the boys. The boy’s routine is several types of human pyramid and other kinds of clambering on each other. This is called “Kumitaiso” and is very traditional. I should make it clear at this point that the school does not have soft green grass like England; it has hard earth and sand. This means that a good deal of the time is spent putting children back together and wincing at potentially horrendous neck injuries.  The routine builds up from pair work to a full group pyramid. By the end of the training the ground looks a lot like the beach scene from “Saving Private Ryan”.

Soon enough it was September 18^th and time for the event itself. The week before training had reached fever pitch and I managed to stay past 7pm one night helping with preparations. I had to go into school a little early on the morning of sports day so I was a little tired. I was placed with the baseball team and we formed the squad incharge of putting out cones and various other elements between events. The opening ceremony consisted of the entire school marching around the grounds in their individual classes with their class flag (that they made themselves) held out in front. This was all to the sound of the schools brass band in full American fanfare mode. Once the school had formed ranks in front of the tents full of parents, most toting HD camcorders and giant DSLR cameras, opening speeches were made and the Japanese and school flags were raised.

Standard sprints and relays where spread through the schedule but there were plenty of interesting competitions too.  The superman (and woman) competition involved holding a sandbag above your head for as long as you can without dropping it for as long as 5mins. There was also a 3 legged race with progressed up to 8 legged race. There was typhoon, which involves teams of students lined up in ranks of 4. The first rank stand holding a long pole and must run abreast with the pole round a cone (turning takes some skill) and then backwards their team. They must then move to the edges of the pole and pass it under their team (about 6 rows) as their team jumps. The effect created resembles a wave and it looks very fun. Finally there is the “knights” game (I forget the Japanese name so that is the rough translation) four students create a horse and a 5^th student stands in the “styrups” made by their hands. The “knights” wear red or white hats and the objective is to charge full pelt at the other team and knock of their hat. The chaos and excitement of this game is truly something to behold. I do not know how there were no serious injuries!

There were two events I took part in; the teachers relay and the PTA tug of war. The PTA tug of war involved a rope that spanned the entire training ground with most of the parents spread out along its length. Each side was a team representing either the Kocho Sensai (principle) or the Kyoto Sensai (vice-principle).  Sadly the team I was on lost the first round, despite me weighing about as much as ten Japanese mothers. Other teachers were called upon to join in to ensure that the end result was a draw. The other event was the teachers relay. I only had 50m to run but I feel I did okay, seeing as even the aging members of staff are built like Olympic runners.

After the great event concluded there was just enough time to get back to the flat to have a shower and get changed for the sports day enkai (drinking party). The entirety of the staff met up at a German beer hall themed restaurant. It was an all-you-can-drink affair serving great German lager and black beer. Most people were drinking “half and half” which is half black beer and half lager. The food was a mixture of Japanese and German style dishes with about 6 different platters coming out through the course of the evening. Everyone gave a speech, including me – although I fear the teacher translating for me wasn’t doing too great a job as the speech caused uproar from the English speaking staff and confusion from the non-English speaking staff. Afterwards there was time for a quick karaoke and I murdered some Oasis and YMCA.

It was great seeing all the staff unwind, as sports day preparation had been hellishly stressful for them to prepare in addition to their other duties.  I don’t know if I have mentioned this previously but Japanese teachers play a much greater role in parenting the children than their UK equivalents. A lot of teachers have a “homeroom”. This is class that they are in charge of and each child in the “homeroom” becomes almost a surrogate. Should a child be picked up by the police, it will be the home room teacher who is contacted. The homeroom teacher must also visit the homes of all the pupils they are mentoring. This creates a huge extra workload and lots of stress.

As I am only at elementary school for one day I did not had any active role in its preparation.  Elementary sports day was held on October 3^rd so the weather was much cooler and sadly it got rained off at lunchtime. Despite this, the first half of the day was a huge success. The children all did various dances with hula hoops and balls and tassels. Generally these were cute beyond words, especially the dancing with tassels to a Japanese rendition of The Little Mermaid’s “under the sea”.  The opening warm-up exercises were done to the theme tune of Totoro (possibly the best children’s animation in existence) and I nearly had to steal all of the children, it was too adorable.  The Elementary school also did kumitaiso but there were no deaths, despite the 7 tier pyramid!

So now all the sports days are over it is time to prepare for the junior high school cultural festival, singing completion and the elementary schools music concert. Alas, I am not very musical so my involvement will only be helping to judge the contest.

Weeks 3 & 4

Well this blog has been a little long coming due to the woes of not having any internet. Alas our kind kiwi next-door neighbours have allowed us to steal theirs so I can get this uploaded. If our internet isn’t delivered soon I shall be storming into the shop to complain, unless they don’t speak English in which case I may just have to angrily ask about the weather.

Summer school was good fun. The summer school is a free event for Junior High School students to attend, hosted by the International University in Gakuentoshi (so this meant a lay in for those of us living in Gak). It is designed to provide opportunities to practice English and learn about other cultures. It consists of a morning of themed rooms staffed by JETs and then an afternoon of presentations from the university students on different countries like Russia and China. The day is concluded with presentations the students have made in English as part of a speaking competition and the awarding of prizes.  I was assigned to the speed dating room on the first morning, which was an opportunity for the kids to get talking to as many of us as possible and practice their basic conversational English. Other rooms included a Wild West room, where the students learned to make rubber band firing guns out of chopsticks, and the adventure room, where the children learned about different countries and solved puzzles to find Carmen San Diego (who had stolen all of the world’s cheese). The following day I was a guide and had a group of students to take round to the various rooms until lunchtime. After lunch we met up with Elementary teachers who wanted to practice their English skills in preparation for them working with JETs in their classrooms. I talked about the best places to travel in Japan with my teachers and was given some great ideas for short breaks around Japan.

I then had two days in school getting to know some of the teachers and getting my introductory lesson planned out. Everyone at the school seems really nice and as it is still summer break the atmosphere in the staff room is very chilled out and relaxed. I have constructed a Powerpoint and worksheet for my introduction as I was told to avoid any games at first as the kids can be hard to control. I guess I will have to figure this out once I have had my first lessons with the various classes so that I can pitch further lessons accordingly. As my role is very much to reinforce the grammar point that they have learnt already I think that it would be better to have fun activities that put the point into action so I shall be sad if games are a no no. Japanese Schools are certainly fairly far removed from those in the UK in many ways. Certainly Japanese teachers have a much larger part to pay in their students’ lives than their UK equivalents. The main plus of my school over others in the area is that we have air-conditioned classrooms!

Soon it was Friday and payday. Rachel and I booked the day off to get our furniture needs sorted and get the money out we needed to buy furniture in the first place. As we didn’t have our cash cards yet but we did have our bank books and Hankos (a Hanko is a stamp that you use in place of your signature – mine says “Orme” in katakana: “ｵﾒ”) we needed to go into a branch to get money rather than an ATM. This meant that we could only get money between 10am – 3pm during the working week!  Alas the dining set we wanted wasn’t in stock but we got a TV stand, TV and Sofa sorted easily enough. Having made ourselves a good deal poorer it was time to celebrate with a night out with the other JETs, starting at the British themed Hub then onto the traditional Japanese art of karaoke.

Saturday we went to Ikea and found it very similar to the UK equivalent. We didn’t buy much but did enjoy some fantastic hotdogs. We did procure a nice little red table to put our phone on and to put our bills on so that we can get them paid in good time.

The next week brought more time at school and some nice lunches out with the teachers. If the kids are anywhere near as nice as the staff I will have no problems here. Otherwise the main thing to report was the tiny little whisky bar we found after having something to eat in the centre. The owner of the bar spoke very good English and boasted a great knowledge of malts from his trips to Scotland. The back of the bar hosted more malts then I have ever seen in an English pub and a more international selection than any Scottish. We ended up staying for a few drinks and chatting with the owner and we will certainly be back. 

 My opening lesson prepared it was time for Job training on Thurs and Friday. We learnt lots of interesting tips and had some good presentations from Japanese teachers and experienced JETs alike. On the Thursday evening I went with one of my friends from New Zealand a South African sempai (experienced JET) to a Bouldering Gym. We had good fun and also provided amusement to the fit and agile Japanese as they watched a couple of unfit gaijin fall off some of the easiest courses. I think I shall be in attendance again this Thursday.

Friday was my first Enkai (drinking party) and it was very fun. The Chinese restaurant we went to was very posh and the food was very tasty. I had to deliver a brief introduction in Japanese which was nerve-wracking and probably was very incorrect but everyone seemed very pleased at my attempt. At an Enkai you never fill your own glass and instead fill the cups of others and it is a great way to get chatting to people. However, you have to be careful as you soon lose track of how much beer you have had!  We finished the night at a small karaoke bar and I successfully murdered bohemian rhapsody. The other teachers proceeded to show me up by singing perfectly in key for all of their songs – although nobody sang any English songs.

Saturday I spent recovering and awaiting our sofa delivery. Our sofa was successfully delivered (thanks, in part, to me removing one of the internal doors the night before). I also had a TV stand to build – I am the flat pack master. We then went out for a bite to eat in the centre of town and another explore. There are so many small streets and so many levels to the buildings here that the number of different bars and restaurants to discover is unimaginable. You might find the nicest bar on earth hidden down some backstreet on the 8^th floor of a building. One of the best ways to have a cheap bite and something to drink is to go to one of the many ¥300 or similar restaurants, where all dishes and drinks are a set price. Equally there are also other places that offered an all you can eat and all you can drink menu.

Sunday we went to Osaka and went to the aquarium there. We saw sharks, otters, penguins and all manner of sea life. Apart from almost dying in the heat when queuing to get in it was great fun. We also went on the big wheel for a great view of the city. Finally we swung by a gigantic electronics megastore and drooled over some shiny gadgets. It was a great daytrip and highlighted just how easy it is to nip over to Osaka, which is only 45mins away from where we live by train.

The next week is a fairly full week of school but without any lessons. The opening ceremony for the new term is on the first but exams and sports day preparations stop lessons starting in full for another couple of weeks. 

Week 2

Our second week is now drawing to a close. It certainly feels a lot longer than that since we stepped off the plane in Tokyo.

Kobe skyline

We kicked off the week with a trip to a junior high school and some talks on how to be a good ALT. We picked up plenty of useful info to get us going.This then finished quite early so we had a chance to go shopping in the Sannomiya (the main shopping area of the city).

On Tuesday we headed to our schools for the first time. I set off a touch too early and ended up getting to school over an hour early! The school itself looks like something out of the cold war. Technology is certainly very sparse inside the school too. I will try to remember to take some pictures soon.

The teachers are all very friendly and the Kyoto Sensai (vice-principle) speaks English which is a huge help as he is my boss. I was taken on a tour of the school which is pretty empty as no classes are running. The school sports clubs are all in full swing so I got to watch some of a girls basketball match. I am to be teaching 2^nd grade only. This will amount to about 7 lessons a week with one day spent in an Elementary school. My first day was only a half day as I had to get back to the flat to have the landline phone connected.  With landline fitted we are now only a few short weeks from having our own internet. Over 50mbps speeds at £15 a month oooooooh yeaaaaah!

Wednesday was a full day in school and I was taken out to a lovely soba restaurant as a welcome to the school. The teachers I was with told me I looked very old for 24 but otherwise they were nice. The rest of the day was spent reading teaching materials to figure out what I am supposed to be doing. I’ve been told to keep games to a minimum as some of the classes are difficult to control. We shall have to see how much of that is true and think of other ways in which to motivate the kids into speaking English.

Thursday and Friday were spent at the board of education building doing Japanese language lessons. This was great fun even though Rachel and I were put in the intermediate class so it was quite challenging. However, in the end the difference between the intermediate class and the beginners wasn’t too great. The advanced class on the other hand just spent their time chatting away in Japanese. We were taught a lot of vocabulary and verb use that would help us make construct self-introductions in Japanese. I will be required to stand up in front of the school in September and a give a short speech in Japanese.

After Thursdays lesson we went over to a 280 Yen restaurant (where all dishes and drinks are 280 yen) and had a little party. The grub, the beer and the company were great. Was a good way to have a cheap night too!

ALTs unwind after a hard days learning

We finished off our lessons on Friday by giving a speech about ourselves in Japanese in front of the other jets and some of the board of education staff.  I managed to memorise my little speech and it seemed to go down well. After speeches it was time to head to the Hub for happy hour. The Hub is a British themed pub with cheap drinks and giant Gin & Tonics. The place pretty much had every JET in Kobe in it. Dining was catered for a nearby Ramen restaurant. I had a spicy Ramen at level two spiciness (out of a total of five levels), which was still enough to make my lips go numb. An after party was then held at a tiny place owned by the brother of one of the board of education managers.  The place was miniscule but we had some nice snacks of fresh tomatoes and deep fried shrimp and the drink was kept flowing. The Board of education manager actually ended up popping in and taught us all a good Japanese drinking game.

The smallest bar in the world

To round the week off there was the beach party on Saturday. We volunteered to help deliver the food and booze from Costco to the beach via a bus and a train. This meant having to get up in the morning but we were willing ot make that sacrifice for the greater good. This was especially as we wanted a Costco membership so that we can get things delivered from there. The food included two foot wide pizzas, wraps, sushi, cookies, crisps and muffins the size of a baby’s head!

A feast fit for gaijin (foreigners)

Throwing the wannabe rugby ball

On the beach I tried my hand at some American football and wasn't terrible at it. Throughout the day I did a bit of swimming along with general mingling and getting to know people. Plenty of food, drink and fun was had by all.  The evening was then concluded with fireworks on the water’s edge, although the firework operators were somewhat inebriated. We all got out alive and another crammed full week is now over, plus we have summer school games to look forward to next week!

Japan Week 1

The view of Tokyo from our hotel room

What a whirlwind week it has been. After a long a laborious flight we finally landed in Tokyo and were met with a solid wall of heat and humidity. Luggage successfully claimed we were guided through Tokyo airport by many existing JETs, so many in fact, that getting lost would have required some serious talent. From here we were bussed to the Keio Plaza Hotel and given keys to our luxurious double room. We had a full sized writing desk, a toilet with control panel and even a heated bathroom mirror. Alas we were jetlagged and, despite the excitement of bustling Tokyo, it was time to grab some grub and head to bed. Grub consisted of a cool little place where each table boasted its own touchscreen for you to order from. We used the English language setting and ordered ourselves a tasty selection of Ramen, Sushi and a hot beef bowl (this is a dish served in a stone bowl still sizzling). My choice of beverage was Hoppy. This is non-alcoholic beer served with a good slug of wheat liquor (a bit like vodka).

Ramen with Hoppy. . .mmmmmh

Our two day orientation consisted of many workshops on various subjects, many we were too jetlagged to remember all that clearly. We met many people from all over the world who had come to join the programme and generally had a good laugh. On the Tuesday evening we were treated to a trip to the very posh British Embassy in Tokyo, where we were welcomed to Japan and told to behave. Cucumber sandwiches and tiny pasties were served along with wine and beer. There was then a performance of Taiko drumming on the embassy lawn.

The Kobe gang all seem like a great bunch but we have mostly spent time with the other couples so far and this had been great fun. There are three main areas where jets are placed around Kobe so there are also little communities within each area as well as an overall community of about one hundred Kobe city jets.

From Tokyo it was then onto Kobe itself. The gang was gathered together for a short (50min) flight to Kobe. The city looks great, sandwiched between mountains and the sea –much like Hong Kong. Since we have arrived we have been taken on tours, met the teachers we will be working with and gone to the Kobe earthquake museum – which was very moving. A lot of time has also been spent waiting around, as alien registration and getting mobile phones is a lengthy process. Importantly, we now have shiny new iPhones which are great fun and full of useful apps, such as a kanji dictionary (the Chinese alphabet where each word is its own symbol) and a GPS system in case we get completely lost.

Our flat in Gakentoshi was very bare upon arrival and we were sad about this at first. However, we have the essential air conditioning, washing machine and fridge freezer to make life comfortable. The rest of the stuff we can buy gradually and really put our stamp on the place. Shopping here is certainly a lot of fun and we have already bought a beanbag, bath mat, two sets of shelves, many neat baskets to fill up our shelves, kettle, iron, table top ironing board, zebra print frying pan and various other essentials. Things are really starting to take shape, and we will probably buy a nice sofa and TV etc. as the pay checks start rolling in.

Dining has been great and relatively inexpensive. You can pay £2 - £8 for a meal and get something really tasty and filling. So far we have eaten Japanese, Thai and even some Italian food.  There are several restaurants in Gakentoshi itself and the first two we have tried were both lovely.  Drinking out on the other hand is extremely expensive. The beer is heavenly but costs £3-£5 a pint. We have been shown a good couple of happy hour pubs and drink all you can places which are used on nights out. We will probably have an enkai at some point soon, which is a work drinking party. This can also be expensive but it is a great chance to get to know your colleagues as their guard comes down a lot.

Highly trained and qualified engineer constructs furniture purchase

Transport is also a breeze here as most of the stations have their names in romanji (English lettering) on the maps and on the station signs. We also have IC cards to pay for fares (like oyster cards) so we don’t need to mess around with ticket machines. We are about 30mins from the main shopping area, although there are some large shops in Gakentoshi itself.  Sadly I am a good 90mins from my school so I will have to get up early and commute.

Roo in awe of our new shelving and baskets ;)

Our micro-kitchen (now with Zebra frying pan!)

The view from our balcony

Our sparse living room complete with our shiny new beanbag

Next week holds summer school, our first days at our base schools and teaching and Japanese language training. So far so good and we are both looking forward to getting fully settled in our new home.

Our first home cooked meal (great success)