Life so far in Japan

We've been in Japan for a little over a month, so we are slowly starting to figure things out, with an emphasis on the word "slowly." Things are quite different over here, as you can probably imagine, some changes make us laugh, others take awhile to get used to. I've been writing some of our adjustments down, here's my list so far:

1.  Driving!  This is by far the biggest one, but it's not as bad as we thought it would be.  Driving on the left side of the road isn't so hard to remember because I see the other cars doing it.  The hardest part is remembering which side of the car to get in on and not turning on my wipers when I want my blinker on. This happens at least once every time I drive!  The good thing is that the speed limit is very slow.  The fastest you can go is 70kph (which is about 42 miles per hour).  Slow is definitely better here! However new drivers are encouraged to place green and yellow stickers on your car to alert others that you are new to driving.  I have two on my car, one in the front and one in the back! Here's a picture of our new (tiny) car named Sassy (get it, we bought her in Sasebo?).

2.  Even though we enjoy our cho, it has taken some getting used to as well. Japanese chos are not insulated, the walls are very thin, and they don't have central heating; therefore, it gets super cold inside.  Each and every room has a door so we have learned to keep all the doors closed and only heat the rooms we are in.  The good thing is that our heaters have timers on them. This is important because you don't want to come home to a freezing house!  We also have kerosine heaters that get carried from room to room.  

3.  In Japanese culture, the entry way of your house is considered public property. So it isn't uncommon for a person to ring your door bell once, and if you don't answer quickly, they walk right in, but they don't go past the entry way.  In our pictures of the living room you might see a random phone on the wall, this is an intercom to the front door. Usually I would like that, but since most visitors are speaking Japanese, I find it easier to just go to the door.  

4.  All of our major appliances are in Japanese, with the Japanese writing symbols on them. It has taken us awhile to learn how to use our four different heaters, kerosine heaters, washer, dryer and stove.  I posted a picture of the buttons on our washer, fun times!

5.  I was thrilled to find out that our cho came with cable, but when Chris turned the TV on we found out we had about fifty Japanese stations, none of which we could understand.  The next day we quickly went to the base to rent a dish and now I have seven American stations! I'm thrilled!!

6.  I love the fresh produce in the Japanese grocery store. The fruits and vegetables are presented so nicely, most of them are even individually wrapped. Sometimes its tricky to figure out what is what, because of the writing and many of the grocery store workers don't speak English. But they will try their hardest to help you out. It's always a fun and new experience when I go.

7. Using the Japanese money, the Yen, has been fairly easy to switch over to, the only tricky part is the coins.  We have to remind ourselves that even though they resemble American coins they have a dollar value. For example when we buy coffee from a vending machine we insert what looks like a nickel and two pennies, but actually we are paying $1.50.

Our favorite thing has been the kindness of the Japanese people.  They always have a big smile on their face and they are so willing to help. They actually feel bad when they can't speak or understand English which amazes me since we are in their country (we should be the ones apologizing).  They don't like to say "no," so they will do whatever they can to assist you. 

Okay, sorry this blog has become quite long, but I hope it gives you just a little insight of what life is like in Japan. We are so thankful to have this unique opportunity to live in different country and culture, each and every day we learn something new!