I'm actually here in Japan!!!
The traveling took a long time. Once I got to Tokyo, Tyler was there to meet me. We took a bus to the train station to get on a bullet train, or shinkansen, to Morioka. Our train was delayed, but with the help of a nice Japanese lady, the station attendants, and a little patience and tenacity, we eventually just hopped on a train that was headed to Morioka after an hour or so of confusion. The bullet train apparently went really fast and covered what would have been a 7 hour bus ride in about 2 hours 45 min, but I honestly couldn't tell you whether or not that is accurate since I passed out as soon as we were on the train and had pretty much lost all sense of time at that point. I woke up at Morioka station, we got my bags, and took a taxi to our apartment, my new home!
The apartment is pretty cool. It's a Japanese style apartment with all the rooms separated by sliding papered door panels, and the bedrooms and living room have tatami grass mat floors. It's pretty spacious and on the ground floor of the apartment building, so we have a little porch and access to a grassy area behind the building.
Tyler had warned me that the appliances were confusing, since the instructions are all in Japanese. This morning it took me three tries to figure out the shower. The shower water heater is a gas heater, so you have to turn on the gas, light the burner, turn on the water, turn on the shower, and adjust the temperature. But all in all the place is great!
Yesterday Tyler surprised me by taking the day off of school, and we walked around Morioka city. There is a lot to explore that we didn't see, and we took pretty much the whole day walking around! It's definitely a city. Highlights of yesterday's journeying include: Morioka castle park, where we saw ducks, turtles, and huge carp; sushi for lunch; visiting the pet store so Tyler could convince me to get an axlatl (we don't have one yet but will soon); and all the other shops and places we went. It's a cool place!
I definitely feel like I walked all day yesterday, though. Today I moved my stuff in, cleaned the apartment, then walked to the dollar store to buy some hangers and stuff to move in. It's only 1:45pm but I feel like I've been awake forever and I think it's time for a nap. That probably shows in this blog post, since it was pretty rambling and uninformative. Thanks for making it all the way through it!
The main takeaway should be: I'm pretty much settled in and really liking it so far.
More to come soon!
The traveling took a long time. Once I got to Tokyo, Tyler was there to meet me. We took a bus to the train station to get on a bullet train, or shinkansen, to Morioka. Our train was delayed, but with the help of a nice Japanese lady, the station attendants, and a little patience and tenacity, we eventually just hopped on a train that was headed to Morioka after an hour or so of confusion. The bullet train apparently went really fast and covered what would have been a 7 hour bus ride in about 2 hours 45 min, but I honestly couldn't tell you whether or not that is accurate since I passed out as soon as we were on the train and had pretty much lost all sense of time at that point. I woke up at Morioka station, we got my bags, and took a taxi to our apartment, my new home!
The apartment is pretty cool. It's a Japanese style apartment with all the rooms separated by sliding papered door panels, and the bedrooms and living room have tatami grass mat floors. It's pretty spacious and on the ground floor of the apartment building, so we have a little porch and access to a grassy area behind the building.
Tyler had warned me that the appliances were confusing, since the instructions are all in Japanese. This morning it took me three tries to figure out the shower. The shower water heater is a gas heater, so you have to turn on the gas, light the burner, turn on the water, turn on the shower, and adjust the temperature. But all in all the place is great!
Yesterday Tyler surprised me by taking the day off of school, and we walked around Morioka city. There is a lot to explore that we didn't see, and we took pretty much the whole day walking around! It's definitely a city. Highlights of yesterday's journeying include: Morioka castle park, where we saw ducks, turtles, and huge carp; sushi for lunch; visiting the pet store so Tyler could convince me to get an axlatl (we don't have one yet but will soon); and all the other shops and places we went. It's a cool place!
I definitely feel like I walked all day yesterday, though. Today I moved my stuff in, cleaned the apartment, then walked to the dollar store to buy some hangers and stuff to move in. It's only 1:45pm but I feel like I've been awake forever and I think it's time for a nap. That probably shows in this blog post, since it was pretty rambling and uninformative. Thanks for making it all the way through it!
The main takeaway should be: I'm pretty much settled in and really liking it so far.
More to come soon!
Cannot wait for more information, my daughter. Just a suggestion, that maybe carp and sushi should not occupy the same sentence. And the dollar store...you called the 100 yen store. I liked that idea. Makes it sound like you're a rich girl and an exclusive shopper. Nothing but the best for my kids.
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