Friday, September 17, 2010

Japan Thus Far...

So, we've been in Japan for almost 8 weeks now and we are still really loving it here. I thought it would be fun for me to let you know five things I really love about Nagoya and five things that I have had to adjust to!! So here we go:

Five Things I LOVE about Nagoya.

Neat and Orderly- I love how the city is so clean! Everything is in it's place and there is no trash blowing around.
Family Friendly- This is probably the safest place I have ever lived in in my life. It is wonderful living in such a safe place with a little one and it is nice to be able to go out whenever I need to without worrying about my safety. There is also so much to do here!! Noah and I always have something to do if we want to get out of the house and there are still so many places we haven't even checked out yet!
Cooking and Grocery Shopping- I really love cooking Japanese food! As a lot of you know I really loved Japanese food in the States and coming here and actually learning how to make it has been so fun. I also enjoy my trips to the grocery shops during the week...there is always something new to try!!
Our Apartment- I LOVE our apartment!! It's just the right size with plenty of storage. The sliding glass windows are my favorite and it makes you feel like your outside which is so nice on days you have to be at home all day. Oh and unlike our apartments we lived in in the States the air conditioning works and the foundation is not falling in:) I am getting to decorate and work on it everyday and it really makes me happy!
The People- I love the beautiful people in Nagoya. The are so kind and friendly even when we have no way to communicate with them. I can't wait to learn Japanese so I can learn more about them! And also the people that are here with ICAN are great as well!! They have been so good at welcoming us and we feel like they are family already!

Five Adjustments to Living in Nagoya

Trash- It is so complicated here!! Everyday is something different. Plastics go in one can, burnables in another. On top of that we have cardboard day, newspaper day, non burnable day, etc. etc. It gets confusing and you have to put in a lot of effort just to get the trash out. Plus you can't just put them out anytime you want. It has to be on that day...which can sometimes be tricky. But the fact that twice a week we have white trash day makes it all better...haha.
Language- It can be hard sometimes not being able to speak the language of the country your living in. Some days I have no problem communicating through hand signals and other various forms...but some days I am drained just trying to communicate all day.
The Roads- Although there really isn't crazy roads here in Nagoya and everyone pretty much follows the road rules, I am still trying to remember everyday that the Japanese drive on the opposite side of the road as us and the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the States. So when crossing the street I sometimes have to sit and think for a minute which ways I need to look.
Advertising- One of the ways the Japanese like to advertise is putting a speaker on top of their car and driving around playing a tape about whatever they are advertising. This usually wouldn't bother me at all...but when there is a sleeping baby in the house I always wonder if it will wake him up. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. Either way it is an adjustment.

I really could go on and on about what I love about Nagoya and I actually had a hard time thinking of 5 things that I really needed to adjust to. Which shows you how much I love it here!

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