Fe-buuurrrrr-ary

Whoa- that's right, a blog update! It's currently the day after Valentine's Day here in Yanai Japan. It's cold, wet and rainy(a little). I am currently sitting on my butt writing the blog update because it is the only way I can justify not getting up and doing something with my lazy self. If I write the blog I don't have to exercise today, get my logic?



So here we go- it's been nagging at us for a while, not writing on here, because we have actually experienced some pretty amazing stuff. As you may know my family came in on December 26th, the day after Christmas and we met them in Tokyo. It was an awesome experience seeing them here. We couldn't wait to hug and kiss, chit chat, laugh, cry......but what Isaac and were the most excited about was inducing as much culture shock as possible in hopes of simulating the last 5 months we had experienced in our time here. Ya know, share the love and the misery... :o)

Were we successful? Yes we were. You wanna know how we measured? I'll tell you:
We simply asked ourselves these questions-

How many times did their jaws drop open in shock and surprise? 93
How many times did they ask why? 101
How many times did they ask, "Erin, what is happening?"? 46
How many times did they ask what they were eating? Every time they ate- except when we went to Mac D's.
How many times did we visit McDonalds: 20 (that number is accurate)
How many times did we visit McDonalds in one day: 3
How many times did they ask if there was really fish in this_____? 53
How many times did they utter the phrase "What the F---?" 86
How many times did they vomit? Leigha took one for the team by barfing 12 times in a hole in the ground toilet.....yeah she's a champ.
How many beers did they drink? too many
How much Sake did they drink? a lot
How much Sake did my mom drink? more than anyone
How many inappropriate jokes were made? alot- especially at the end.

This is a basic measure of the culture shock they went through. They also went through the other end of culture shock- the part Isaac and I are only now starting to go through. This is when everything is idealized and seen through the lens of rose colored asian lovin glasses:

Wow it's so clean here. Wow people are so nice. Wow the service is amazing. Wow people are so efficient. Wow people dress better here. Wow this _____ is so smart. Wow they take everything and make it better! Wow they have better______. Wow the women are so beautiful in Japan (This is accurate, sorry men) Wow they are such good drivers. Wow it's so safe here. WOW! WOW! WOW!

These things are all true of course- and it was fun to have all these conversations and experiences with my fam while we traveled around the beautiful country of Japan.

We managed to hit up Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Mt Fuji's hole in the ground toilets, Shinkansen high speed trains, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Miyajima, and the great city of YANAI! We spent one week on the road and then the last week in Yanai traveling around to the various towns and islands off the coast. It was ideal. Especially the last week where my family got the chance to meet all the amazing people we have made friends with in our time here.

They left January 8th and since then Isaac and I have been feeling up- that sounds bad....I just mean we are feeling like we can make it here. After they left Isaac and I decided we were pretty sure we only want to stay for one year. Even though we have been having a difficult time adjusting to life here we had a difficult time making the decision. As you all probably know better than us right now- the economy sucks in the U.S. and Isaac and I are fairly terrified about what will await us when we return. We have pretty much accepted we will be jobless for at least a year......yikes. We get paid pretty well in Japan, life is relatively easy and at the very least it's extremely comfortable and safe.....really safe. Not to mention all the awesome friendships we have made..... So it was difficult to check the "no" box on Isaac's re contracting form.

Speaking of safe- Isaac and I read about all the shootings happening in America right now and we are honestly a little terrified to come home. People are killing each other all the time in America. It's like one troubled person to the next decides to Rambo out on everyone around them. And their weapon of choice: a freakin shotgun, AK47, grandma's pistol you name it. It's no wonder whenever we ask if people will come and visit us in America they tell us they are too scared to come, "No I am afraid I will die if I go there." That's what Americans say about the Congo or Afghanistan, and it's what the rest of the world says about us.....makes you think. I mean, a lot of people in Japan literally think everyone in the states owns a gun, and at first I laughed at this- but now, after reading the U.S. headlines and living in such a safe place I started to wonder myself: Does everyone have a gun? And I find myself wondering how I managed to stay alive all these years.

Needless to say, I think re-entry will be difficult but Isaac and I are looking forward to it. We plan on coming back in July-August, of which we explain more later. And with us we hope to bring some high school and middle school kids that I have been teaching and whose families we have become good friends with. So yay- cute Japanese kids eager to speak english who are NOT as terrified as we are about coming to America. haha. I hope some of you all can meet them when we get back.

So now we are enjoying the time we have left in Japan. January and February have been damn cold but relatively mild compared to you all buried in the snow over there in 'Merca. We have been to see a piano recital, Avatar in 3-D with some Japanese friends, the Mantani Family. We have gone to see some cool temples and shrines, we have hung out with other english teachers. And we have been having fun teaching our classes and I have been having fun hopping around from hobby club to hobby club getting in as much as I can before we leave.

Which catches us up to this past weekend. Valentine's Day was one of the best we have had. We spent Saturday reading, eating good food, watching movies, and writing. Sunday we went out for dinner to a new restaurant- always an adventure, and then headed to Oshima Island to help our friends the Kimura family pick Mikan- oranges! We spent a couple hours filling crates with oranges in the rural island of Oshima next to a hundred year old Shinto shrine- yeah, Happy Valentine's day. Then we went with the family to an awesome curry restaurant that overlooks the sea. It was wonderful.

We have some things coming up that we are looking forward too: A Naked Man Festival (yessss!) A visit from our friends Sarah Johnson and her boyfriend, more hanging out with our Japanese friends, ballroom dancing with one of my students in Hiroshima, another Tai-Chi festival, and a little vacation for Isaac and I on Shikoku island- a tour of onsens (hot springs) and rural country roads. This will be the first trip Isaac and I have taken alone since the wedding- a kind of honeymoon I guess, we are thrilled. We will be renting a car and hitting the roads of Shikoku Island to see one of Japan's hidden regions: Iya Valley. We will be sure to share more when it comes.

And in the distant future: A long visit from Tiffany Black May-June (horay!!!!). A trip to Turkey, and then finally a trip home. Time is flyin'.

We love hearing from you if you get the chance. Thanks for taking the time to read this and thanks for being patient as we get our updates out there.

February is cold here, but March comes bearing the infamous cherry blossom trees. Only 2 more weeks and we will have survived a winter with no central heating.

Love and Hugs
E & I