It has been exactly one month since I boarded a plane and set off on a trip to the other side of the world. It will be two more days before I can actually say that I have been living here for a whole month, though... have I mentioned how long it takes to get here?! Anyway, it’s been almost one month of learning a new language, trying new things, exploring new places. One month of living in Japan. Everyone has been so kind to check in on us and see how we are handling the changes, so we made a list of the top 10 things that have impacted our transition to life on the island:
First off... PICTURES. Pictures make all the difference. They are literally a lifesaver. Sure, we all like to look at pictures on a menu, because if the picture looks good, it may help our decision on what to order. Here, it makes the decision. If you are lucky, a restaurant might have an English menu but for the most part, it’s pretty much look and point (and you still probably won’t know 100% what you are getting)! And if you think that ordering food at a restaurant sounds tricky... you should try cooking it at home! What would be a quick and easy meal in the states, will probably take longer here. The directions are all in Japanese and we don’t have measuring cups... but again, thank goodness for the little pictures. It’s still a guessing game, but it’s close enough! I want to go ahead and thank whoever decided that the boy/girl signs are the universal sign for restroom! And I can always follow the train/ bus pictures to the station. If it weren’t for pictures... we would probably be eating horse, need to wear adult diapers in public, and would still be wandering around trying to find the train. I’ll say it one more time, pictures are saving us!
2nd: We are learning to branch out! You know how people say that you tend to buy whatever brand of items your parents bought growing up? Del Monte green beans, Bounty paper towels, Dove soap... Yeah, that’s all out the window here! First of all, paper towels are $5+ a roll. Not a pack, not a pair, A ROLL! So we only use those for emergency spills and spaghetti. Green beans (canned goods in general)... yeah, we haven’t found any of those... so, I would buy just about any brand that I could get my hands on. Who knew I would miss a canned vegetable this much! With that being said... Japan may not have all the brands we have in the states, but they do have some brands we have heard of. It isn’t all foreign but we are learning to branch out! If you are worried about us at this point because “you just can’t change brands on some things!”, don’t stress, we have made a friend with a shop owner downstairs. Let’s just say we really like Hiroaki, he has Cholula and Snickers!
Third: McDonald’s. We have eaten more McDonald's in the last month than we have eaten our whole marriage, combined. (Mostly because we have one right beside our apartment and it’s easy/ familiar, not because we don’t like the other food around here.) On the bright side, chicken nuggets are a side here. Order a burger and get nuggets on the side... I’m all about it!
4. Take the train. Yes, we do have a car. It’s a cute little Nissan Note, if you don’t know what that looks like... look one up and decide for yourself how well Tyler fits! Back to the point... we do have a vehicle, so we don’t have to take the train everywhere but we advise it. Tyler takes the car to the field everyday, so it is worth having one, but in general I would choose the public transit anyway. First off... driving on the opposite side of the road, while trying to dodge pedestrians, and somehow read foreign signs... not exactly my cup of tea. The trains are nice, clean, so incredibly accurate, and I don’t have to stress about finding a parking spot! Also, they are cheaper! Pretty much every road here is a toll road, so that adds up. Honestly, just in general, taking the train is a really cool experience and it’s worth the extra time it takes to get places. Well, for now at least... check back with me during the summer, when it’s super hot!
5th, learning Japanese is HARD. We are picking up the basics. Things like: hello/ good morning, yes, excuse me, I don’t understand, thank you, check please, water, 1-10. But when I come home to visit... don’t expect me to speak to you in fluent sentences. Also, if you are thinking I will be able to write your name, forget about it! Side note... books are read from back to front, top to bottom, and right to left... it’s super impressive!
Number six involves Yen. You know, Japanese money. Well, all I have to say is... coin purse... because SO MANY COINS. The smallest bill is (about) equivalent to our $10 and it’s ¥1000. Then they have a ¥2000 (which I have never seen... apparently it doesn’t get used much), ¥5000 and ¥10000. That’s it. Everything else is a coin. Coin purses are a necessity.
7th: I have no idea what is going on at home. If there is something big or political going on, just tell me about it. Don’t ask if I have seen it... because I haven’t. All my Twitter “trendings”, YouTube advertisements, Instagram ads, etc. are all literally in japanese. I couldn’t understand it if I wanted to! Oh, speaking of politics... apparently it is election time around here, and they do campaigning a little differently. Vans drive around town BLARING some kind of speech, I guess. It doesn’t sound that bad, but let me paint you a picture of the first time I heard this happen. Tyler was on the road... meaning he was playing in a different city, so I was at the apartment by myself... for the first time! I’m in the living room watching Netflix when I hear what sounds like screaming outside. I go on to the balcony and there’s a van parked on the street with horns on the top and words bellowing out of it... I text Tyler because at this point, I may or may not be a little worried that there is a Tsunami approaching and I am going to have to handle all the *insert all the bad things that happen during a tsunami* by myself. Fortunately, Tyler’s translator/ friend was able to confirm that I was going to be fine... it’s just election time. Sheesh! (reach out if you are interested, I have plenty of videos to share with you!)
Eight- it’s about the formentioned Tsunami. We haven’t experienced one of those, but we did feel our first earthquake. It was weird. It was a 5.2. What we could feel was quick, literally less than 30 seconds... and nothing really “quaked”. It was more of a sway. We were sitting on the couch and we started sliding a little. I honestly thought Tyler was about to stand up and made the couch slide back... and then I saw his face and realized.... it definitely wasn’t him!
9... When they say everything is bigger in Texas... they may be lying, but everything is definitely SMALLER in Japan. Let me start this one off by explaing that, I am a blanket girl. I don’t really even know how to sit on a couch without one. If you know me at all or have been to any of the 8 houses/camper/ apartments that we have lived in (in the last 3 years) then you know that I always have 100 on hand. ~Tyler will agree that this is not an exaggeration.~ Where as I usually travel with a (at least one) blanket... this year I was limited to 3 suitcases instead of my Jeep... so it didn’t make the cut. When I walked into our apartment I knew right away I was going to need a blanket for our leather couches. Well y’all, I quickly realized that everything here is much smaller... *see image below, try to imagine Tyler using it, and then proceed to laugh* Since the blanket issue... we have added clothes, beds, and food portions to the list of “smaller things”.
Last but not least: FaceTime. I don’t think this one needs much explaining. It’s literally the only way to SEE our family and friends. It’s all WiFi, so no matter if we use image or audio, it’s the best way of communication. Most importantly... it’s how we get to see our best girl, Bella! She isn’t very good at it yet, but we will get there...
Oh, and Tyler’s addition... “The hitters are a little different.” LOL. When I said that we made a list of 10 things... I meant, I compiled a list of 10 things... he agreed, and then added number eleven. Which makes sense, because what would our life be like without a little touch of baseball!
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