February

 Happy Leap Year Day.

I don't know if that is a thing but maybe it should be!

I know February is the shortest month but it seemed very long.  I think people being sick didn't help.  Mikey started with a high fever, which lasted just 24 hours but then he had a week of sneezing and runny nose, maybe the start of allergies.  Then Christopher got a high fever, I thought it was the same thing but his fever lasted a few days. He then got a sore throat, so we thought he had tonsillitis, so he went off to the doctors only to find out he had B-type flu.  I wasn't happy about that as I usually isolate anybody who has flu but Christopher had been downstairs with us.  He was lucky as his symptoms were very mild.  Then Mikey got a sore throat again but no fever, which lasted a couple of days. David and Hannah escaped this time.  I haven't been sick but my allergies have started!

Hannah quit her part-time job at the local drugstore.  Although the fourth year of her course doesn't have so many taught lessons she has to write her thesis.  I thought that was the main reason for her quitting, but it turns out that two of the staff have been ignoring her.  Hannah said that these ladies are in their 40s but acting like teenagers.  Anyway, Hannah has another part-time job lined up to start in April.  She is going to work in one of the nurseries where Mikey teaches English.  I think it's a better fit for her.  

I haven't done as much as I had hoped on getting things sorted to move.  Cleaned out half of one cupboard, something I guess. Must focus from next month.  Time is not going to slow down!

I hope that March is better that I can get focused on doing things to make the move easier! 

Just a cute cat photo to finish.

Steve talking to the stray that hangs about

Memories

I think there will be a few posts with this or similar titles.  As I'm down sizing I find things that trigger a nostalgic feeling. Some good memories, some not so good and some bad!  This house was where my kids transitioned from children to teens to adults.  It's where my husband died and I had to cope with everything while grieving.  It's where I got cancer and ended up in hospital for a week, and still having checks every few months.  Fifteen years, lots of memories, lots of feelings.

This morning I was talking to one of my students about raising children.  She was telling me that her commute to work was over 90 minutes and that coming home she would spend as much time as possible with her children.  One thing she did was read to her children at night or make up stories to tell them.  I remember doing this as well.  I was lucky in that I could work at home but when I was working I would focus on that.  To be honest I would sometimes feel rather resentful that I had to spend time teaching other people's kids when I wanted to be with mine, especially if the kids were rather obnoxious.  

My husband would take care of bath time.  It's a tradition in Japan to have a bath every night, not just a shower, but soak in the tub.  When the kids were little it was a good play time for them.  They would come out all wrinkly, having spent up an hour in the water.  They would then have a snack and drink, brush teeth and either watch TV or read until I had finished teaching.  I would get into bed with them and read a book or two or three until they dozed off.  Sometimes they would wake up and ask for me to finish the story.  As they got older I would read longer books to them, Roald Dahl was popular and later the Harry Potter books.  Even though I was so tired some nights I'm glad I did it as all my kids love to read and I have so many good memories from that time.

A few of the books I used to read to my kids.

These I'm keeping!  There's another one that I want to find.  It's one I took and read to Hannah everyday she was in the NICU.

A lot of the other books I can let go of, but these are so precious to me!

Non Scale Victory

 I've been trying to lose weight for as long as I can remember. My life is dominated by numbers, how many kilos down this week, how many centimeters off my waist.  It's so depressing.  The scales aren't accurate in showing if I've dropped a bit or not.  Sometimes even eating clean (no sugar, no processed food and little carbs) for 10 days but the scale shows a 3 kilo increase, mainly because my water intake wasn't that much.  Or I eat bad and drop about 2 kilos. So I look for other ways to measure my health and fitness.  Yesterday was a victory for me.  Maybe a small thing for other people but huge for me.

I walked to the City Hall from my house.  It's not far, about 300 meters but the last time I walked, before I started to exercise, I was in so much pain, just going about 100 meters my back, hip and knee were screaming.  This time I got to the City Hall, a little out of breath, but I was walking fast (very windy, cold and trying to rain) and I was talking to Christopher.  Had to walk around the City Hall to find the place I needed, got to sit for a few minutes while things were sorted out, then I went to the supermarket opposite the City Hall, walked around there and then back home.  I was shocked to see how much difference about 10 days of exercise made.  I'm only doing 10 minutes a day, of seated exercise, at the moment but I'm hoping to increase it as I feel better.  I want to say thank you again to my friend who challenged me, without that challenge I wouldn't be feeling so good.

Plans

I had a great plan today. Mikey, Christopher, Hannah and I were going to go to the other house and do a lot. I was going to throw out the rest of the stuff still in the house, burn as much as possible, and put the rest in the shed to be taken to the trash place.  I made these plans last week when the weather was cold and dry.  Although it's hard working in the house when it's cold, having a fire going helps, every hour or so go and warm up and start again.  The weather changed over the weekend, Sunday saw the temperature rise, Monday was warm and rainy.  Bit more difficult to work, can't burn stuff but with the temperatures up to 20C I could do some things inside, bring all the stuff to the big windows (more like sliding doors), and then the next visit just take the stuff out.  But of course, the weather changed again, Thursday and today back to winter, high of 8C and rain.  I woke up this morning trying to decide if it was worth the 40-minute drive when Mikey called me.  He has a sore throat and feels really awful.  So we didn't bother going.  I'm trying not to panic but there is so much to do at both houses and I feel like no time.  I know the problem is me, I don't want to move there so I keep putting off doing stuff.  It's not helping though.  Also, we only have one car and Mikey uses it a lot for his other jobs.  

Another worry is money.  I'm not making that much teaching.  David buys most of the food and cat stuff, Christopher and Hannah help out.  Mikey does as well.  But I always seem to be short.  I need to save to pay for things, even if we do most of the DIY ourselves we need to buy things.  Also, David and Christopher will have to get new jobs and that isn't easy. David will need his own car but I don't know how he can afford that.  Christopher needs to check his eyesight to see if he can get a driver's license.  Another worry!!  I don't want these young men stuck in that house.  They are too young to live a life of being in the house all the time with nothing to do!  I have so many regrets with my kids, so many nights I cry myself to sleep wishing I had done things differently. I know it doesn't help but that's where my mind is at.

Mama hiding

This was where we found Mama, we had a very bad thunderstorm, she gets in the shoe cupboard to hide from it.

Challenge

 After my last post on exercise, one of my friends challenged me to do 40 days of exercise.  I'm on day three and feeling awful but good!!  There is a saying in Japanese "Mika hi boz", which means giving up after 3 days.  The saying comes from Japanese Buddhism, becoming a monk is very hard so most people give up after 3 days!  I'm not giving up!  I can't give up.  I dread doing the exercises, I've found a channel on YouTube that has different levels of exercise, most for seniors or beginners, a lot of chair exercises, which I'm doing at the moment.  I feel good after but just getting going seems hard!  I'm not sure why!  Forty days takes me until March 21st, I think!  So I have to keep on! 

The reason I feel awful is the weather. It has suddenly changed.  Last week was cold, it didn't get over 10C all week, then suddenly we had rain (and a thunderstorm yesterday morning) and highs of 20C.  I feel really wiped out, the air pressure is low and giving me headaches!  Feels like spring has started!  I'm a bit worried as feeling this tired with the humidity and temperatures just up 20C, how will I cope in the real summer!  

The past couple of days I've been sorting out cupboards again, which is tiring physically and emotionally. I have to downsize, my brain knows this but my heart doesn't want to let go! I keep telling myself that the things I'm dumping are just things but it still isn't easy.  Part of it is letting go of things with more memories.  The first lot of stuff I threw out was stuff that I didn't have an attachment to, so a lot easier.  But as I throw out the easy stuff the harder it gets  Does that make sense?  For example, I have a lot of books I bought for my kids to study English, they've been used but are now just taking up.   space.  I bought these when Hannah was a year old, we visited England to see Mom as she had terminal cancer, so 21 years ago!  Part of the problem is I can remember Mom looking through them,  that was the last time I saw Mom as she passed away a year later!  When I pick them up I can hear her voice as she read passages from them.  I know these books aren't Mom but the memories they evoke are so special. I knew this move would be hard and we haven't even got to the crunch but even now it's so painful.

Have to keep going, no choice!

I made lasagna the other day.  Not that healthy but very nice.  I overcooked it a bit!

Overcooked lasagna

Soon it'll be too hot to make these kinds of meals so I'm doing a lot now!

Exercise

 I always thought I'd never done exercise but reading back on some old journals, until my knee became very painful, I exercised a lot.  I logged how many minutes I walked or used my exercise bike, how long I walked the dogs.  I also did a lot of stretching and hand weights, until  I cracked a rib!  Two things happened that stopped me from really exercising, one was having a really bad asthma attack when I was walking one time.  Very scary, I was just walking when I started to cough and couldn't breathe. After that I started to do walking at-home videos, I felt that if I had another attack then at least at home I could cope better.  The other thing that stopped me altogether is the pain I have from having arthritis in my knee.  That has made even the most simple of movements difficult.  Since I've lost about 16 kilos that feels a bit better. But still, if I've done a lot of walking one day the next day the pain is terrible.

On days when my knee isn't too bad, I try to do some walking in place or I pace up and down the corridor, when I feel adventurous I add the stairs to the tour, but not very often.  I decided I needed something I could do on the days when my knee is too painful.  So I did a search on YouTube.  There are so many to choose from.  I searched for chair exercises for seniors.  I hate that I had to add seniors to the search, but that's what I am!!  I watch the video one time so I have an idea what is coming up.  The first one was an elderly man who never smiled, I got halfway through that video and felt so depressed!  Not for me.  Next, I found a lady who has a few different ones, some just stretching, some more cardio workout, hers I liked and did for a bit.  But I wanted to try some others.  One was a yoga video, this one I didn't watch first, big mistake.  The title was Chair Yoga for Seniors/beginners.  Started off nice and easy but ended up twisting into rather interesting shapes. Not for me!  Another one was very upbeat, nice music, very happy lady showing the exercises, but I found out that I have no co-ordination at all.  Her arms and legs were working independently of each other, mine won't!!  Then there was the one where we were told to sit on the edge of the chair, I started to copy the movements only to find myself on the floor.  Lots of fun but I'm still searching!!

My big problem is that I don't keep going. I do a few weeks or months then I stop.  Usually, because something has happened that puts me off exercising, for example, a broken rib and asthma attack, sometimes I get bored. Mostly because I don't see any results, no weight loss, no change in my size.  But I'm wondering now if doing some kind of exercise is what stopped me from getting diabetes earlier.  Even though my exercise wasn't consistent I was doing some and I know that when I push to exercise I'm more careful of what I eat.  I don't like to exercise so to do less I eat better, I don't know if that makes sense but to my logic it does.  

I have to get back into doing something every day.  I need to be in better shape for moving to the other house.  Also living in that house I'll have a massive garden to take care of, plus the land nearby.  If I don't start now I'll end up being housebound, which isn't a nice idea.  Even if I can't get to the shops I should be able to walk to the land we own nearby. I hope to grow some vegetables or fruits there.

sunbathing

Of course, if we could have a cat's life there would be no problems!!!

Neighbors

 Before we moved to this house we visited it a few times.  The lady renting here was a friend of a friend, she was running an English school and wanted someone to take over.  Perfect for us.  We visited at different times and liked what we saw here.  One thing that worried me was how quiet the neighborhood was.  At that time there were no families with young kids, everybody was either old couples or had kids that were in junior high or high school.  We are a noisy family, especially when we moved here, Christopher and Hannah were still in elementary school, David in junior high, and Mikey in high school.  Mikey and Hannah play piano, we all love music, classical, musicals, pop, and rock.  I blast Queen and Meatloaf at all hours of the day.  Then we have students coming and going, usually until 9pm.  

Once we moved in we found that this quiet neighborhood isn't that quiet. One lady had a dog who would bark and howl all night, her standard greeting was "Sorry about my dog".  The son of the family behind us has some mental health problems (I think the mother does too).  The first summer here we had to call the police as we could hear, over our air conditioner and TV, the son slapping the mother and her calling for help.  This happened a few times.  Then the son decided that 1am was the best time for a bath, which is okay, but not the screeching that he thought was singing.  

Over the years new houses have been built that has bought in younger families.  Somehow it's nice to hear babies cry or kids playing in the park.  The neighborhood has a new life and that is as it should be! I was happy with the new neighbors, until yesterday.

I got inspired by this one lonely flower that is growing in my garden,

My only flower.

I decided to go out and clear a little patch so I could buy some vegetables to plant.  The weather was nice, warm and cloudy but also very windy.  Just started when I noticed my new neighbors were outside.  They had friends over so I thought they were just showing off their new home.  Then I noticed the tables being bought out and the food set out.  Then they started up the BBQ.  I gave up then as the wind was so strong and the smoke from the BBQ was blowing toward me!  Who has a BBQ in February?  I know the weather is mild but that wind was really crazy yesterday, I  wondered how safe it would be.  I came in and read for a while but could hear the neighbors talking, that's okay, but every now and then one of the ladies would let out a high-pitched squeal. The kind that sends shivers down your spine. I don't begrudge them having a BBQ but they could have chosen a day when the wind wasn't so bad!

So I've found another good thing about moving to the other house, no neighbors that close!  The house behind has been demolished, it was empty for many years.  The house in front is an elderly couple and over the road is another elderly couple.  I'll miss not hearing kids play.  The only sound of people being around is when the cars and small trucks roar past!!

Reform or Rebuild?

 After last week's meltdown, I decided to do something about the situation.

I spent hours using Google Translate to try and figure out what to do!  There are so many companies out there that either build houses or reform houses, some companies do both.  The problem is that they don't show any plans online, or estimates for reform.  If you want information you have to request a catalogue, that's alright but they keep calling, asking if you would like this deal or that deal!  If the people calling weren't working for a company they could be charged with stalking.  Anyway, I bit the bullet and asked Christopher to fill in two forms, one for a company that builds houses, the other a reform company.

This morning Christopher and I went to talk to the reform company and it was very educational.  

One big problem is the broken sewage tank for the toilet.  We asked about that, the salesman suggested calling the city hall as the city can help to pay for that as it's a health risk.  If we can get money to help pay for that or get connected to the main sewage that would be the best.

The next thing, I wanted to move the kitchen back, into the bathroom area.  The bathroom is big and basically dead space.  But one of the main support beams is in the kitchen wall, so can't move the wall.  

We asked about a loan, we can get one through the company.  He went on to explain about getting a mortgage to rebuild versus a loan to reform the house.  Apparently, because I'm inheriting the house there are certain documents I would need to get.  Just that would cost about 5,000 pounds before doing anything!

So I've decided that putting in the toilet tank is the most important, no tank we can't use the toilet.  Then a new kitchen.  I could live with the one in there but the black mold is inches thick and I have no confidence I could get it clean.  Also with mold even if you clean it, it comes back.

To help myself deal with the massive amount of stuff I have here I've been watching videos about hoarders.  I know I'm not at that stage, yet, but I think it's easy to get there.  The room I cleaned out the other week was really bad but I honestly didn't see the trash, going around with blinkers on!  One thing a lot of hoarders seem to say is that they didn't notice it was bad until it got too bad!

Fred with the toy!

The toy in the photo is one Fred bought downstairs a few months ago, problem is no one knows where it came from and who it belongs to.  I had never seen it before and all the kids say it isn't theirs.  None of the students said they had lost a toy, also it was upstairs where the students don't go.  It's a mystery, where did it come from?

Poor Christopher!

 At the beginning of the week, Christopher got a fever.  At first, I thought it was similar to Mikey last week, fever for a day and then a few days of allergies but no!!!  Christopher's fever wouldn't break, constantly 38C and above.  Then he got a sore throat so I sent him off to the doctors thinking it might be tonsilities.  He has the flu but very mild, with no body aches, just fever and sore throat!  He is not happy because he had four days' holiday from work this week and had planned to go out to a few places!  I'm a bit worried as he was hanging about for a few days not realizing it was flu so there is a possibility that everybody might get it!  I'm feeling tired but not sure if that means I'm getting sick or just tired.

After my insomnia the other night and talking with my friends I've realized that fighting against the inevitable is a waste of energy.  We have to move to that house and I'm going to have to work hard to make it good.  So I'm looking at reforming the kitchen, bathroom and toilets. I would love a nice modern kitchen with an island, I think there is enough room!!  

Another thing that has cheered me up is, if the rumors are true, that Costco is opening in a city between here and the other house.  I'll never have any money!  I hope they open as buying a piece of meat for roasting would really help.  I have a slow cooker, so putting some meat in and leaving it to cook while teaching would help a lot!

Mommy Vlogs/Blogs

 Before I get into this post I just want to say thank you to my friends who reached out to me after my last post.  It's very easy to end up thinking the same thing over and over again, not finding anything good or different.  These friends gave me encouragement and a kick up the backside that I needed.  Thank you!!

Mommy vlogs/blogs have been around for a long time but are they really a good idea.  I will admit that I don't watch them and have never really thought about them being good or bad but a video came up on YouTube talking about how bad some of the vlogs were.  Of course, some are really bad, one famous vlogger was arrested for child abuse/neglect. One young lady who came from a family whose mother was a vlogger said that it was awful growing up with a camera constantly running. Some talk about things like their daughters getting their first period, really private things!  Another problem is showing kids bathing (mainly toddlers) or kids in bathing suits, maybe cute but there are, unfortunately, some people in society that don't see this as just cute but rather in a sexual way!  Could they be putting their kids in danger doing that? A lot of these vlogs focus on how they discipline their kids, but they aren't child psychologists and seem to get their ideas from different places.  Some seem to be using their kids as clickbait. One couple, mentioned in a few videos, were going to adopt a child from Thailand until they found out that Thailand has a law that says you can put videos or photos of the adopted child on social media for a year.  They actually made a video saying that they wouldn't be adopting from Thailand because of this law!  It made it look like the reason for adopting was to use the child to make videos!  The video I watched accused the parents of these mommy vlogs of exploiting their children.

What amazed me was the statistics from this video I watched. Some of these vlogs had millions of subscribers/followers.  Why?  Is how other people discipline their kids that interesting or what they had for breakfast?  Are we as a society so deprived of interaction that watching other people's lives is a substitute?

I admit I do watch a few lifestyle vlogs.  All Japanese, it's a way to listen to Japanese that is easy and I don't have to think of replying, also there are subtitles so I can learn new vocabulary.  One lady is a mother of 5 children, her vlogs are about cooking.  She uses seasonal ingredients and I've gotten a few new ideas from her.

The other two I watch are ladies about my age.  One I clicked because I could understand the title even though it was in Japanese.  The title was "A lady in her 60s with nine cats", that's me!  She talks about life in her old house that is difficult to warm and what she cooks.  One thing she does is to go out almost every day, she lives in a beautiful mountain area. Taking a walk means that she gets exercise and doesn't need to heat the house while she is out.  I think that might be something I'll be doing later this year.  The house we are moving to is also difficult to heat and maybe taking a walk to the other land we have will help!

The other lady I watch talks a lot about her garden.  She has just moved to her parent's old house before she would go on the weekends to clean and take care of the garden.  She has such a peaceful feeling about her and seems to enjoy her life.  Just looking at her you think that she had a lovely life but in one video talking about her family, she said that her daughter had died.  Apprently the daughter was only 14 years old at the time of her death.  

So mommy vlogs, good or bad.  Watching other people's lives, good or bad?  Why is this even a thing?

I think that it's a case of moderation, as with most things. I watch these ladies' vlogs but not every day.  Sometimes I get good ideas from them or a different way of thinking.  Sometimes I need some inspiration to get out of the negative cycle that my thinking takes.  I love my friends for helping me do that but I know everybody is so busy.  So these vlogs help.

Any thoughts?  Why, as a society, are we so interested in other people's lives?

Insomnia

 I've suffered from insomnia most of my life.  I'm a very light sleeper and any noise wakes me up, then getting back to sleep can take hours.  Last night, however, was on a whole new level, I didn't sleep until 7am!  My mind just wouldn't shut down.  I tried things that have worked before, deep breathing and relaxing each part of my body but nothing worked.  It's all to do with moving to this other house.

It's just over a year since we were told we have to move and I've really tried to think of positive things but have only come up with two.  No rent and the toilet is on the same floor as the bedrooms!

It's too small.  The house here has 6 rooms and a big living, dining, kitchen area.  We have two rooms set up to teach in, I'm writing this in one of those rooms. The living room has the sofa and TV, a place to relax. The other house has a Japanese-style room, two bedrooms, a kitchen/dining room and a separate living room. That means the Japanese-style room and living room will have to be bedrooms. Which means there is no living area to relax in.  If we want to watch TV together we would have to sit at the dining table, not very relaxing.  Hannah will move out late this year or early next year if she gets into graduate school.  Mikey might follow.  But still too small.  I can see that most of the time I will be in my bedroom. There is a lot of dead space that just can't be used.  The design is bad and not really for a family.

The next problem is location.  Here, within a 5-minute walk, there is the city hall, a supermarket, a drug store, a dentist, and a clinic.  A bit further is the library and eye doctor.  Twenty minutes walk gets you to the local shopping mall and train station.  In the other house there is nothing.  The nearest supermarket is a 10-minute drive. Somebody suggested getting an electric tricycle but the way people drive around there it would be very scary, I'm still thinking about that. The bus runs once an hour and goes to the city center, which has basically closed down. To get to the shopping mall would take over an hour.  We have one car, which Mikey uses most of the time. David will have to buy his own car.  Christopher can't drive and his eyesight is so bad he thinks he can't get a license.  David and Christopher have looked at getting apartments here but after paying rent and utilities, they wouldn't be able to eat or buy anything else.

Then there is our teaching business. We want to continue teaching here using the community centers but it's a 40 to 60-minute drive each way.  To make that work we need to put classes on the same days. Which means we might lose some students, as kids are very busy after school.  At the moment classes are spread out over the week, which is okay, makes it more relaxed.  But coming here just for one lesson isn't worth it.  Also, Mikey has more lessons than me, so most days I will just be hanging around waiting for him.  Here, if I'm not teaching then I can clean, cook or find other things to do.  I want to get online students but haven't figured out how to do this as yet.  

Even not paying rent won't save money if students quit. Also it looks like getting loans to pay for the house to get fixed up.  We will do as much as possible ourselves but some things need professionals, so I don't know how much money we would save.

All in all it's a lose-lose situation.  I've looked into finding another rental here but with the cats that is impossible.  I've looked into buying a house but we can't get a mortgage, even though it would be cheaper than the rent.  So we have to move or become homeless.  

This is what goes through my head at night.  Trying, desperately to find something good in this and there just isn't anything good.  Maybe this is why my stomach is bad, the stress of this situation.  I made a bacon sandwich an hour ago and am still trying to eat it!

End of moan!!  For now!

One good thing I've lost a bit of weight!!!

Bit Worried

Sunday I was very busy, cooked two full meals, and cleaned out one room. Not that much really but I'm exhausted!  Monday I had a headache all day, so just rested.  This morning I felt better so I tidied the kitchen and made lunch.  Since lunch I've felt sick and really tired.  I've noticed over the past year that one day of work or going out leaves me feeling tired the next day.  Is this just getting old or is something else going on.  What worries me is how do I cope with moving?  Even doing things bit by bit, cleaning out the other house and moving some things as the other house gets cleaned still leaves a lot to be done when we move altogether!  I know that the bulk of the heavy work will be done by the kids but still leaves a lot to be done by me!!

So what to do?  I guess get back to healthier meals and start exercising.  Sounds so easy but to start seems impossible.  Last weeks dinners weren't to bad, lots of vegetable soups.  Exercise is just chasing the cats!!

I have to give myself a kick up the backside and get things going.  I have a busy few days coming up,  couple of lessons tomorrow, have to go to the city hall on Thursday and somebody coming to see about lessons, then Friday and Saturday are busy teaching!  Also I want to make some worksheets for Fridays classes!!  It's early evening now so going to get some dinner and have an early night.  Tomorrow is a new day, I have to make it better!

Also there is a lot of flu going around.  Last week Mikey had a fever for one day but then the most awful runny nose and sneezing fits.  He's recovered but now Christopher is down with a fever, 38.5C and sore throat.  He should of worked today but had to call in sick!   The weather has been very mild here this winter and I think these bugs are just hanging around!

Just a cat photo, just because they are cute!  Unless it's 1am and they are shouting outside my room!

Cats life, snuggled up together!

Finally

 I made a start on sorting and packing.

We have two rooms that we use to teach in, sometimes Mikey and I have classes at the same time.  The main room is kept tidy, most of the time but the second room is a dumping ground and recently it became very bad, embarrassingly bad! 

looks like a hoarders place!!

I can't believe I let it get so bad, I think I was going around with my eyes closed!

So today Christopher and Hannah helped to sort, box up and throw out.  Christopher was good at moving the boxes and bookshelves out, Hannah was good at throwing things away.  I want to keep things but Hannah would just say you don't need it!!  We got about 5 bags of trash from two bookshelves, big bags!  Not finished but a very good start!

Also found some interesting things!

Hisao's notebook

Found an old notebook that Hisao was using to sketch out our first leaflet.  This notebook is 33 years old! 

Old marker pen

This pen as well.  Hisao made a lot of materials when we first started to teach so he bought a lot of marker pens!!  

I wonder what else I'll find as I sort out things!!

High Tech Japan????

 I'm on several Facebook groups about Japan.  Some of them are for expats who call Japan home, some are for tourists looking for ideas and some are people who haven't been here but love Japan and all things Japanese.  The last groups posts are the most frustrating, they see Japan through rose-colored glasses. One thing that comes up a lot is how high-tech Japan is.  It's true that Japan does have a lot of technology in place.  For example, last November Mikey and I went to a restaurant, we were greeted by a machine that asked how many were in our party, then gave a ticket with our table number on it.  At the table, the menus were already there and an iPad to order.  The meal arrived on a robot.  The only staff interaction was when Mikey's meal came, he had ordered a hamburger steak and it was served on a very hot iron plate.  Also paying was a staff member.  I liked to go to the restaurants and be greeted by the staff, then seated and also order from a person so I could ask questions.  

The same is true in most stores.  Self-checkouts are normal.  In some places, the staff still scan the products and you pay at a machine, but recently, doing everything yourself is getting more popular.  I miss the interaction with the staff and a chance to practice my Japanese.  Also, I feel some elderly people miss the chance to talk.  There are a lot of old people who live by themselves and the only conversation they get is going to the store and chatting with the staff.  Even if it's only basic greeting, it means something to lonely people.    

But Japan still relies on older technology.  Every week for the past 15 years our phone rings and it's somebody trying to send a fax.  Yes, that is still a thing in Japan.  Most businesses send faxes to each other.  I have no idea why.  Email is just as fast, then there are many different messaging apps that are free to use but faxes are the way to go.

Then there's this.

A telephone directory

Who uses these anymore?  This was delivered to me last week.  I have no idea why.  Even though I can't read or write Japanese using my phone I can find most businesses, dentists, and hospitals in this area and beyond.  Last week I wanted to go to a supermarket, they have a store in this city but I wanted to go to a bigger one in the next city.  I put the name in Google Maps, in a few seconds I got a list of stores, with telephone numbers, directions and opening times.  If I tried to use the telephone book it would have taken a lot longer, I would have to use an app on my phone to translate the Japanese.  Also because I had an idea where the store was but not the address it would have taken longer to figure out which store I wanted to go to.

So high-tech Japan?  Yes and no!!