Adventures in Japan - one (ichi)

We are all moved in to our permanent house on base.  We had temporary furniture delivered on move in day and will be using that until our household goods arrive (hoping by mid-October). It is a 3 bedroom garden unit which backs up to Hayden's school.  He is enjoying the short walk to school and so far has reported good days.  His only struggles so far have been with Japanese class and Spanish class which is understandable since he has never had either.  We are learning some basic Japanese words and both boys can count to five in Japanese....ichi, ni, san, shi, go.  We have visited two pre-schools for Lincoln, one a Japanese school and one an International school, both off base.  We really liked both and are in the process of deciding and getting things lined up to enroll.  More on that once all is settled.  In the past week we have stayed busy.  I attended a ladies church kick-off event where we made a Japanese flower arrangement called Ikebana.  Over the weekend I visited a Japanese antique sale on base.  These are held once a month.  I had never been to an antique sale of any sort but the girl I went with was a pro and helped me know what things were and how to negotiate on the prices.  I was able to purchase a beautiful full length mirror for our room and 3 Kokeshi dolls.  We also visited the library so the boys could check out books, dvd's and board games.  We are watching dvd's from our computer currently but it is better than nothing.  We were able to borrow a tv and microwave from the base loan locker which was helpful.  We have AFN (Armed Forces Network) tv which is limited in its channels but we can see some primetime shows and sports.  We enjoyed watching a Georgia football game on a Sunday morning and the Redskins on a Tuesday morning live.  :)  On Sunday we followed our new neighbors over to a cute shopping town off base called Mori Town.  They had a climbing wall for kids there, shops, restaurants, and a nice mall.  I am looking forward to going back without the kids to shop!  We walked around and got icecream.  It was interesting trying to order but we figured out which was vanilla frozen yogurt.  The cones were different too but very good.  I signed up for a wine and design class one night and painted a Japan painting which was fun.  Our sponsor/friend took us to the Costco here.  It was very similar to Costco's in the US except for some of their products obviously.  Eric bought sushi which he said was super fresh and delicious.  Most of the sushi here has raw fish so I won't be venturing to try any of that.  Here are some pics from our newest adventures in Japan....

Hayden walking home from school.  I am standing in our back yard.

My Ikebana flower arrangement.  Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement.  The stalks, leaves, and flowers were cut at different lengths and placed in different positions to symbolize heaven, earth, and man.

Kokeshi are Japanese dolls, handmade from wood, have a simple trunk and an enlarged head with a few, thin painted lines to define the face.  One characteristic of the dolls is their lack of arms and legs.  There were many designs and sizes to choose from at the antique sale.  I gravitated towards the girly one's. :)

Hayden on the climbing wall in Mori Town

Ice cream!  Yes, that is a KFC behind him which we have seen a lot of here.

We were safe and went with vanilla.  They had a vanilla/melon swirl which sounded interesting.  Our neighbor tried it and said it tasted like cantaloupe. 

Eric with his new grill and patio set.

We are trying new Japanese snacks each time we go grocery shopping.  The animal crackers had very interesting animals.  There are about 50 different animals named on the box.  They taste a little more like a cracker than a cookie but we all liked them and enjoyed a good laugh at all the animals.

Me with my painting.  Not sure I love Japan yet but I thought the picture would be nice in our new house.  :)

Eric eating Sushi....from Costco