So, we live in Japan now

Hey again loyal readers. Sorry for the 4 year lapse--won't happen again, or at least not soon.

Here are some pics from our first week in Japan. We are almost over jet lag, and excited for our real beds to arrive after our shipment clears customs.

In no order:

1. One thing I notice is mascots. Maybe our ward (like a district of a city) used to have a lot of squirrels? I have seen zero, but that's the mascot anyhow. I took this pic while waiting for our residence registration to get done. Turns out we also get a stipend for the kids. A few hundred bucks per quarter, nice!

2. First dinner out was okonomiyaki. Grill it yourself savory pancakes. Pretty meh, we thought. But fun to go out with new colleagues. Boys are only teacher kids among new staff, so they have been troopers. Bored some but helping out with classroom setup too. Other kids will be around as of next weekend.



3. It's weird how much baseball we have been seeing. The big summer tournament for High School teams is on all the time. Even soda can be named for crappy American teams:

4. This looked cool:

5. Hard to read, but this old dude I saw on a gym tour is sporting an Oregon Project shirt.

6. This name is not a euphemism. Actual marshmallows, I think.

7. These had better be the bomb for $39!

 8. The store called Donki has great costumes, as poo head and squid head discovered.

9. At a random corner downtown, we saw a mini replica of Mannekin Pis. Denis--how about it!?

10. obvi

11. Learned the ropes on subway today. Pretty chill. People here let you get off before they board. Unlike in some countries (cough, cough, China).

12. On a walk near home, several ponds to be enjoyed.

13. Safety Bear.

14. Hill near home makes for a great hike. Gary has been up it 3 times already.
We went Thursday in honor of Ellie B, who loved her some mountains.

15. This morning we powered up at Mister Donut. So good. Sarah caught D with his mouth full in this shot.

16. Hey South America fans--you can get Inka Kola here. so come visit!

17. This pig hosted us well, in so many ways, for lunch today. Tonkotsu!

18. The view from the empty lot next door. Storms are coming, and should be here for a lot of August. Could be a wild drive to IKEA tomorrow.

Bed now. We are happy and healthy and have AC and like our new school so far. One more week of prep and then school for real on Aug 20.

Love, G