We're back... a year later...

We did so much in New Zealand that I don't even know where to begin. I suppose it doesn't help that almost a full year has gone by since I've last written a blog post (I'm back-dating these posts for my own sanity). So much for my three week "break" from the blog.

The last year has been a whirlwind, to say the least. The week after we got back from our vacation, Joe got a job offer from Boeing in Charleston, SC - he took it. So we quickly packed, said our goodbyes, and headed to the U.S. before the airlines wouldn't allow me to fly anymore because I was hugely pregnant. We arrived in SC, adjusted to the time change, bought a house, and then had a baby the day after we moved in to our new house.

We've not only had to adjust to life back in the U.S. - but we have also had to adjust to a new city, a new house, and a new family member.  I suppose that's my way of justifying why I took almost an entire year off from the blog.

So it's time to retrace our steps a bit and travel back in time to tell you about our life over the past year.

Break

I'm taking a 3 week break from the blog. We are heading out on our last vacation before Baby #2 arrives... and our final trip while we'll be in Japan!

We're ending it with a bang: 2 weeks in New Zealand, 1 week in Fiji!

Picture us driving around New Zealand in this awesome camper van, checking out all the local sites and staying at campgrounds. It's going to be an adventure! We're starting in the North island, then finishing our time there in the South.

We're going to be exploring glow worm caves, checking out the scenery for the famous Lord of the Rings movies and taking a Hobbiton tour, witnessing geothermal geysers, swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura, bungee jumping in Queenstown (well... Joe is anyway!), taking a helicopter tour and walking on Fox and Franz glaciers... just to name a few!

After an exciting and action packed two weeks in NZ, I think we'll be ready to sit back and relax on the beautiful private Savasi Island in Fiji.

Check back in 3 weeks friends, I'm sure I'll have lots to tell you. :)

Washi Eggs

Today I went to a washi egg decorating class. The pic above was taken from google images, and is what the eggs are supposed to look like when finished.

They are called washi eggs because of the "washi" style paper used to decorate them. I think most are made out of ceramic or real eggs, but we used wooden - because let's be real - after all the hard work of making them we don't want our kiddos to break them. ;)

It's quite the process of measuring the paper, drawing the appropriate lines, cutting it to the right dimensions, and then folding it ever so gently around the egg while trying to smooth out the glue.

I went to the paper store over the weekend and picked out a variety of prints, which you can see above. I'm excited to try out all of them and make eggs with each pattern. I managed to almost complete 2 eggs during the class, however, they still need to dry and then I have to finish by painting them with lacquer... actually, our teacher said they will need several coats of lacquer.

I love the eggs so far, and I think they will be a really cute decoration in our future house. Let's just hope I stay motivated to complete all of them. Do you remember the yukata I was working on? It's still sitting unfinished in my closet. Apparently sewing is NOT my thing. But I generally like crafts, so I think this will be a fun project for me!

Menu

We went out to dinner tonight, and this was the menu.

Welcome to our life. We constantly feel illiterate, every single day. It's frustrating.

Yes, I know, it's partly our fault. We should have kept up with our Japanese classes and took advantage of the language opportunity here. But the fact is, we didn't. Life events overtook the priority, and it is what it is at this point in the game.

The language barrier has certainly made it difficult to get out and try new things, especially when it comes to food and restaurants. If it doesn't have an English menu, or at least pictures to look at, forget it! So we find ourselves always going to the same "safe" places; places where we know ahead of time that we can get by.

Luckily we had a couple Japanese friends with us tonight, who went ahead and ordered for us. But can you imagine that feeling?... not being able to read a single word, and then someone just going ahead and ordering what they think you would like..? Sometimes it feels like we're children here. But I'm not complaining, because it it wasn't for friends, we would never try any place new.

I feel very fortunate that several restaurants here even offer English menus. I wonder what do people do when they move to the U.S. and can't speak a word of English? Americans aren't usually quite as accommodating when it comes to foreigners and language barriers - many just expect people to know English.

Living here has certainly been an eye-opening experience, on many different levels. The language barrier is just one of them. It's truly been a fantastic opportunity to experience another culture and see the world. But with all of that said, we're both looking forward to going home for good in the fall. Being able to read AND understand everything is such a great feeling!

Foreign Stores

Garrett Popcorn opened it's first Japan location in Harajuku (Tokyo) on February 1st! Joe's friend Eric was in the area for work, so Joe met him there for a weekend of Tokyo fun. Hubby was thoughtful and waited 30-minutes in line to bring me back some famous cheese popcorn... and it was even in a pretty pink tin... thanks Hubby! According to this article, the wait can be 2-hours sometimes! That doesn't surprise me in the least, this is Japan after all - waiting in line for new products is what some people live for.

But go figure that Garrett Popcorn arrived in Japan shortly before we leave... this is a triple whammy type of situation for us because Old Navy is also scheduled to open in Nagoya this spring, and Costco is coming to Nagoya this summer! Two familiar stores that I could have frequently used this past three years will be opening just in time for our departure. Very annoying!

But instead of thinking about proper clothing sizes for foreigners, cheaper prices, and American bulk food, I'll try to think of it in another way - I survived here without those luxuries. And for this fact, I'm proud.

Final Four!

As most of you already know, Michigan made it to the Final Four in the NCAA basketball tournament. They played Syracuse today, and WON! Hubby was beyond ecstatic! There was a lot of noise coming from my house, and I'm just thankful he watched it live instead of during E's nap time.

So now we look forward to the final game on Monday against Louisville. As Joe says, "GO BLUE!"

Also, look at my Christmas cactus now! It's in full bloom and stunning. I'm adding this plant to my list of house plants to buy when we're back in the U.S.  I love it. My sister-in-law has some pretty awesome plants too, you can see some of them here. Her family has recently moved to a new city and is remodeling the old house they just bought. She started a blog to share her experiences, and I highly recommend you check it out. It's called 42-windows.

She says this Christmas cactus is probably the thor alice or peach parfait variety, I'll take her word for it. :)

Cooped Up

E has had a low-grade fever for the past several days. I haven't taken her to the doctor because she has had no other symptoms and seems quite happy despite the fever. Unfortunately yesterday took a turn for the worse as her fever spiked to 103 in the afternoon and up to 105 in the night despite the medicine. So needless to say, I took her to the doctor first thing this morning. Turns out she has adenovirus. I'm glad I took her in so that I now know exactly what's going on, but since there are no antibiotics that I can give her to make it better... it's just a waiting game. And since it's contagious, we're cooped at up home.

It's 70 degrees and completely sunny today... the best day we've had in Nagoya yet. This is the view from my balcony.

We had plans to go to a doll making class this morning with our good friends, and then have lunch and a park play date on this beautiful day. But sadly, we had to miss all of that and I'm currently writing this post while E hopefully takes a long nap. She needs it... and so do I!

But on a more positive note, I have the windows wide open, country music playing, and my Christmas cactus is blooming!

This plant was given to me by another expat who was moving back to the U.S. and had to leave it behind. It was in poor condition and Joe thought I should just throw it away. I strongly disagreed and  thought I'd give it a little time and see if I could revive it. Let me be honest here, I have no clue how to take care of plants. I don't know the slightest thing about plants in general other than they need water and sunlight. I haven't done any research on this plant and still to this day do not know how to take proper care of it, but yet in its short time with me it has bloomed TWICE! :)  It's beautiful and I'll be sad to leave it behind when we move home this fall. I'll be searching for a good home for it to go to... hopefully to someone that has a little more plant knowledge than me.

Spring is here!

Spring is here, and it's bittersweet this year. I love spring time - the sunshine, blue skies, warm weather, birds chirping, flowers blooming... the time of year we can take off our winter coats and enjoy being outside before it gets brutally hot.

But sadly, this our last spring and cherry blossom season in Japan.

I feel fortunate that we've been able to experience the beautiful Japanese cherry blossoms four seasons in a row. Wow, is this really our fourth spring here? Amazing how quickly time goes by.

It's absolutely stunning here in the spring time, and probably my favorite season in Japan. But as much as I enjoy the beautiful sakura season, I'm ready to go home.

It is unusually warm in Japan right now, so the flowers bloomed a bit early this year. Luckily, I made it back just in time to see the peak. It's fun to look back at prior posts to see what I wrote about in previous years. Here are the links if you also want to revisit them:

2010: Sakura is here!
2011: Hanami
2012: Hanami ~ Cherry Blossoms

It's a....

BOY!!!!!!

We found these toys randomly at a little local shop here in Japan before I was even pregnant. We bought them for Elodie and thought they might foreshadow the future. Turns out it's true... we're having a BOY! :)

20 Weeks

Friday officially marked the half way point of pregnancy #2! I had my 20-week doctor appointment that afternoon.

They did the usual checks: weight, blood pressure, and pulse.
Then I had my blood drawn to test for anemia, white blood cells, etc.
I had a visit with my doctor, who told me the results from my blood tests taken 10-minutes prior.
This was followed by an ultrasound.
And finished with a 3-D ultrasound.
Oh, and I have a DVD of both the ultrasound and 3-D ultrasound. You can watch it below.



My entire appointment was free.

Yep, you read that correctly. I paid nothing. Got to love the Japanese health care system!

Baby 2 is checking in healthy and about average in size (according to Japanese standards of course). The only issue my doctor had was my weight gain - he said I'm gaining too much weight. I told him that's what happens when you spend 5 weeks in the U.S. indulging in all of your favorite unhealthy foods. He laughed. Whew!

So I bet you're wondering why I didn't have to pay for my appointment...?

Basically, once your doctor confirms that you are indeed pregnant he fills out a certificate of pregnancy. I then had to take this form to the ward office health center to register my pregnancy. Once I handed over the certificate, they gave me a huge envelope full of information, booklets, pamphlets, brochures, etc. --- all of which were in Japanese and pointless to give me. But I graciously accepted them and thanked them for all of the information.

The important booklet they gave me is the "Mother's Book," which contains "coupons" to give your doctor. These coupons cover the cost of certain tests and appointments because apparently the Japanese government pays for them. I don't quite understand why I get these perks as a foreigner, but I'm certainly not complaining about it! I would say that a good 25% of my appointments are free here. Substantially different from going to the doctor in the U.S. - where just stepping into an OB office costs you hundreds of dollars. Plus, the Mother's book keeps track of my records, and I get to keep it.

Oh, and they also give you this key chain and sticker. Basically you're supposed to carry it around with you on your purse or bag, and this gives you priority seating on trains, subways, etc. It's supposed to be a signal to others to give up their seat or help you if you need it - but unfortunately people aren't always that considerate. Women generally give up their seat right away, but men often pretend they are sleeping so they don't have to move.

I had such a great pregnancy experience with my doctor the first time around, so I'm excited to be able to experience it all again here. I love my doctor, I love the clinic I go to, I love that I get an ultrasound every time I go in, I love the overall care here... and is it weird that I'm actually looking forward to giving birth here again?

Also, we found out the gender at my appointment, but I'll save that for my next post. ;) Although if you watch the ultrasound video above, you might be able to figure it out yourself.