Living and Reading in Japan (1)

This weekly meme has been inspired by Michelle at The True Book Addict and Lisa at Lit and Life--Life: It Goes On...but I wanted to tweak it a bit for myself since I am living in Japan for the next 2 years (2014-2016).


I'm rebooting....I haven't done my own meme for awhile. I thought it would be nice to spice it up and mix it in while living in Japan. Gabe is now in all-day Kindergarten at an International School. I now have more time to myself and I'm enjoying the freedom, though I do miss him during the day. I'm taking a couple of online classes. I have virtual and real stacks of books to read. I have a whole city to explore, a new language to study, and lots of blogging to do! I try to keep myself busy :)

Books I'm Reading:

1. Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage by Stephanie Coontz
2. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
3. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Books Finished:

1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.
2. Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore.
3. Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer.

Looking Forward To:

Cooler weather. Hiroshima is a very hot and humid city during the summer. Though, according to the locals, this has been a very cool summer here! Yikes! We seem to pick the hottest days to go out and see the sights, I guess....I hear autumn is so beautiful here. They have trees and trees and more trees. I cannot wait to see the fall colors surround me.

I always make pumpkin bread, chilis and soups, and mulled ciders and wines during the fall but this year will be a bit tougher. Japan does not carry all the items I'm used to. But I am going to find a way ;)

Watching:

I find ways to get my shows out here that I need...

I've been going through quite the culture shock so I reserve nights for my me time on watching whatever I want. I just finished Haven, An Idiot Abroad, and have a few episodes of Eureka left. I'm also halfway through the new season of Orange is the New Black.

American/English movies come out a lot later in Japan than the rest of the world. And the prices here are very expensive more than double what I'm used to in Utah. So needlesstosay, we do not make it out very often to the movies. But we did make it last week and we saw Malificent. Gabe was too scared so Archie took him out while I finished it. It was a lot better than I was expecting. I thought it was a great twist to the Disney version. I liked a lot better! We've been rewatching a lot of our own movies. Archie and I sit down to a movie at least two or three times a week together. We just finished the Harry Potter series and are now working on the Lord of the Rings trilogy!

Things I Did This Week in Japan:

I'd like to list off some of the amazing things I've seen or that we've done as a family here in Japan.

• Visited bunny island! They have a whole island dedicated to bunnies. They hop around and you can buy feed and veggies from the store before you get on the ferry. Gabe loved it!
• Went to my first meeting for the Hiroshima International Women's Club. It's a club for women from all over the world who live in and around Hiroshima. Everything is done in English. It was so great to meet a lot of different women and connect. I haven't been able to get out much during the summer with Gabe not being in school. So this was nice.

Ikebana arrangement!

• At the meeting we learned about the traditional art of flower arranging in Japan called ikebana. Beautiful and fun.
• I also had the opportunity to help clean up the mud from the landslides that happened here in Hiroshima a few weeks ago. The devastation is terrible and it is nice to give back and do what I can.

Grateful For:

The Japanese people. Everyone here is so nice. They try to make it as easy as possible on foreigners.

I'm also grateful for their easy public transportation. I don't think I'll drive much in Japan since it's just too scary. But I can get around really well on foot, bike, and public transportation.

So cute! He's such a ham in pictures!

Gabe started all-day kindergarten last week! Sad and great and happy and scared and sad, but mostly happy that he's enjoying it so far!

Japanese Word of the Week:

Ikasu いかす. I learned this in regards to ikebana, but can be used for all things we wish to see like this. It is "bringing out the full potential of the object whether it is material or human." I think it is a beautiful and profound word.