Questions & Answers

Questions & Answers:

Q) Why don't you blog more often? I check your blog everyday and you never update it!

A) First of all, thank you for being such loyal followers! I know I have promised to blog more ever since I got to Japan and I could write every excuse in the book right here but I'll save your time. I have every intention of blogging more often than I do.

Q) Are you enjoying living in Japan so far?

A) Yes! We are getting more and more adjusted every day. It's a routine to be "normal" during the weekdays and explore Japan(ish) things on the weekends. The hardest part was and is the food--but we are managing. Yes we have an American(ish) grocery store but the options are not endless as they are in the states-- and I'm picky, its hard. Oh, and the part where you can't get in the car and drive to Panera or Starbucks. That part sucks.

Q) What is the weather like?

A) Are you trying to make small talk with me? Just kidding! Apparently we are about the same latitude as Norfolk, VA for a comparison. It's Spring here. It is cold and rainy most days and nice and sunny some days. If I was better about converting Celsius to Fahrenheit (Side Note: Whoever decided that America should be on a totally different system of measurements was ridiculous! I needed more centimeters, liters, and Celsius in my life as a child!) I would tell you the temperature it typically is.....instead I will tell you that we wear light jackets most days.

Q) How is driving?

A) I have only driven on base but honestly after one day it has been a breeze. It seems so silly but the hardest part is making sure you use your opposite hands for the blinker and or windshield. It is SO SCARY when you are going to make your first turn driving the wrong opposite way, you go to hit your blinker, and the windshield wipers fly on. Profanity was involved! Ryan is driving more so now my biggest hurdle is walking up to the correct side of the car to be a passenger....I do it wrong all the time!

Q) Is it Cherry Blossom season yet?

A) Yes! And its soooooooooooo much more beautiful than you can ever imagine. These trees are everywhere on and off base.

That's all for today....I will be doing a full post on Cherry Blossom season in a few days, its so worthy!

Here is a preview of my next post....

Whoever can correctly guess what is in this photo wins a special prize delivered from me!

XO

Ashley

Our First Japanese Sushi Experience.

Hi All! Long time no blog, again. Sorry about that.

We have been in our apartment a week now and received our first "express" shipment this past Monday. All I can say is, we didn't plan that shipment very well. No Keurig. No Brita. Not the right clothes. While it is nice to have a few of our own kitchen items and to cook again its definitely not the same as having our entire kitchen. Maybe its just me and I can't think straight but almost every recipe I plan without remembering that I don't have this item or that item to help me with the process. I guess the banana bread and soup will have to wait....

Oh, but we packed our smallest TV. I have been watching HGTV alllll day long when I can. Please don't judge me.

I wish I could tell you that we have been exploring all over Japan and seen lots of cool stuff but that's definitely not the case. Since the last post we have been off base once. Once. Now base is not some "just like America" island, we are surrounded by the culture entirely--but this is why I haven't blogged yet. In my opinion my posts should be about some big elaborate trip we took but that won't happen all the time and I must realize that. We live here, we are not on a vacation here- we have to find that exploring/living balance. 

This past weekend we took it easy. We did venture off base once to the 105 Yen sushi place. For reference 105 Yen is approximately 1 US Dollar. I know what your thinking- "Ew, why would you trust sushi from a place that charges a dollar?!" My thoughts exactly..but when in Rome Japan, do as they do. Eat dollar sushi. 

It is a bit hard to see and understand but this is at the end of our table, its a Sushi "go round"aka automated belt that travels? Hopefully that makes sense?! In this picture there is an apple juice box passing our table. The faucet looking thing is a hot water dispenser for tea. The rest is typical sauces, chopsticks, etc.

 Sushi goes around on the belt as you can see in the picture above. As they go around you can take certain plates that you find appealing off the belt. Each plate costs 105 Yen. They have English menus that describe what food is going around the belt so you don't have to pick something and have no idea what you are eating! They also have touch screens at the end of each table, as seen above. If you don't see what you want coming around the belts you can order something specific and it comes on the belt to you and plays a song as its arriving, pretty cool!

 Shrimp Tempura.

 Cucumber Rolls.

California Roll.

It was an experience. The Japanese people in there have these little plates stacked a mile high and just keep eating the sushi. I was skeptical. I won't lie, the only thing I ate were the cucumber rolls and some pineapple. Ryan was more adventurous! I have never been one to eat the sushi that has fish on the top not in the roll and almost ALL these options were on the top. We will go again and I will try more. I will try any vegetable, legume, fruit, fungi etc. on the planet but I will always have a hard time with meats, including raw fish! 

Oh, and the chopsticks. We use them. They aren't easy but we are getting better. Noodles and chopsticks....its so fun!

Since the weekend we haven't been doing much that is worthy of writing about. Ryan is pretty ill with a cold and we are both crabby because we are sleeping on a full size bed without our favorite pillows.

Lastly, big news, I'm on a volleyball team. Its almost laughable- but I am way better than I thought I would be. Ryan's command has a team and I'm on it. Nothing like playing with a bunch of sailors. More on that later...

I have tons of blog posts planned and some BIG changes too! This weekend we're hoping to get out and explore more pending how Ryan is feeling.

If you are curious about anything specific you think I have already experienced in Japan please leave a comment and I will reply and maybe even post a Q & A post with all the questions. It sounds so silly but its hard to remember what might be interesting to people who aren't here to experience it first hand!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

XOXOXO

Ashley

A New Apartment!

Hi all, Happy Weekend if your in my time zone, otherwise Happy Friday! :)

Today (our Friday) we moved into our new apartment! It is on base, and nothing spectacular...yet. Right now we have the very most basic temporary furniture that the government provides....only a full bed a tiny couch and a table and chairs. On Monday we will receive our smaller shipment-- which includes lots of our kitchen items! I have never been so excited to cook in my entire life. Then later in March or maybe in April we will receive the rest of our household goods. This entire move has made me so much more grateful for what I do have.

Our apartment is located in one of several "towers" (aka tall apartment buildings) on base. It is a two bedroom and has more square footage than our previous apartment but it is definitely not as fancy. No granite here! All the floors are tile--an adjustment period will be needed for this flooring. Thank God for Shark Steam Mops! It's government housing, we knew it wouldn't be fabulous but we are more than taken care of here. 

After we "moved" our suitcases in I spent the day disinfecting EVERYTHING and doing laundry-- happy dance for our own laundry room in the apartment! Ryan spent the day trying to set up the Internet and creating our wifi, after many hours we finally figured it out. Phew. I can blog.

I am attaching the link to our apartment pictures via the website here. I will post pictures of our bare minimum set up soon and of course another tour when we get all our things!

This weekend we don't have much planned except probably some more exploring and possibly venturing to Tokyo Sunday. Shibuya will be our first visit in Tokyo-- lots of shopping, I'm sold. And for some crazy reason we haven't had sushi yet so we plan on going to a popular sushi place off base tomorrow! I plan to take lots of pictures. 

Tonight, since we have no T.V., we are both totally engrossed in our laptops watching different TV shows. I'm finishing Girls and drinking wine. Girls is AWESOME by the way. 

Have a fabulous weekend!

XOXO

Ashley

I guess I shouldn't neglect my blog for any longer...

Have you missed me? I've been meaning to blog since we arrived in Japan six days ago--that's right we have been here almost and entire week and other than a few Facebook posts, Instagram pics, and one lousy email to our closest family we have been MIA.

My sincerest apologies.

But, I have moved to another country, gotten the keys for a new apartment, bought a new(to us) car, got my Japanese drivers license, attempted to drive on the opposite side of the car and road, learned to take the trains, walked about a BILLION miles, enrolled into a new university, applied for a new job, and eaten lots of good Japanese food...so I hope you can forgive me!

I wish I could tell you I have some big, elaborate post for you....but I have been dreading this SO MUCH! For one, I am exhausted...I have not slept in past 8 AM one day since I have arrived here, if you know me, you know that is crazy town! Ryan and I both pass out before 10 PM every.single.night. Things will change, yes. But for now we are still overwhelmed in the best ways--which leaves us dog tired.

The second reason I have dreaded this post is because I have not been taking pictures like a good tourist should. I do not know when it is appropriate to take pictures. We were told to do as the Japanese do- let me tell you, they do not take pictures of every meal they eat. I am slowly learning when and where I can take a photo without being rude. With that being said more pictures will be coming for two years-- so please do not fret!

The third and last reason I have been dreading this post is because there is so much to talk about its overwhelming. Literally everything is new. I could blog about 90% of what happens during our days thus far and you would probably be entertained. So how will I proceed now that I have less time to blog and more to blog about?  Baby steps.  Short, frequent posts for the next week should get us mostly caught up. 

Below I will share some pictures and tomorrow I will be back with a better, more in depth post! We move into our apartment tomorrow!

Some of what we have been eating! I dig the broths and salad dressings. We had a great steak dinner, Japanese style!

They have these vending machines EVERYWHERE. On base. Off Base. EVERYWHERE. I'll snap a closer picture for you all to see what they have inside!

 Below is my favorite item from the machines thus far--Japanese green tea, you can have it hot or cold. Coolest vending machines ever!

 

I also found Starbucks in the shopping mall already! Its somewhat different than American Starbucks--because Japanese people live more in the moment than the typical "on the go" Americans hurrying through Starbucks. 

 A few pictures of the mall. Awesome shopping here!

 A terrible picture of the train station!

 Our new Subaru Forester! All the cars here are of course much, much different. We chose this guy because its sort of an "SUV" and has lots of room.....for when we go to IKEA soon! :) Right now Ryan can't drive but I can sooooo it is pretty much chaos. But I'm starting to rock at driving on the opposite side of the road and car! 

Sayonara friends!

Here's your Japanese lesson for the day: Arigato Gozimas = Thank You Very Much

XOXO

Ashley