Bret and I are lucky, lucky ducks

Welcome back to our blog! Moving, job training, etc has been a bit tiring, so I haven't posted anything for awhile. Here's the update on our new situation and new diggs. Bret and I had no idea what to expect when we accepted the jobs in Shikoku teaching English for a private company that can't be googled (type in GEM school, you get nothing. Well, nothing relevant). We knew we were taking over a couple's jobs and moving into the apartment, but we didn't have any pictures, or even too much of a job description, so it was a bit daunting traveling all this way and not knowing what to expect. Luckily, everything is amazing and has exceeded our expectations tremendously. We can't believe how big our place is (compared to our Tokyo apartment, it's a palace) and everything is neat and clean and has been great. It could have been bad! Lots of the teachers at GEM school have horror stories of when they moved into their apartments, and the previous tenants left it in a dark, muggy/moldy, and garbage filled state. Chris and Courtney, the aforementioned couple have also been amazing to us, showing us the entire city, where to get everything, and are also training us this week. My first training day was yesterday and it was a lot of fun. Japanese kids are the cutest, and I'm going to have to work on not laughing at their mannerisms/shenanigans. The older students who do private lessons are also really great. It was sad watching them say goodbye to Courtney, though! Well here's the apartment, I'll try to take and post some pictures of Saijo soon.


Our living room is so big! That couch was 40 bucks. At a store. Yes.

"You guys want a free fountain thingamajig?" "YES"


Every cupboard/storage unit pictured in this post is chock full of free stuff. This one is packed with dry staple items, like pasta, oatmeal, coffee, tea, etc. We love Chris and Courtney


Kitchen. We inherited the fridge and cupboards FULLY STOCKED. We can seriously live for a month on all the stuff that was left.

First off, I love the windows in our apartment. You can't beat the floor-to-ceiling. Second, the bed is a dream compared to it's previous counterpart. Twin bed > single bed. I've already told this story a million times, but our bed in Tokyo was nearly unbearable. The first couple of nights I tried to get Bret to put the comforter on the floor to sleep on instead, but he wouldn't. One night I was so uncomfortable I slept on the floor by myself. So yeah, I am very happy with the entire sleeping situation here. Oh, and apparently the bed, despite being a huge upgrade from the Tokyo twin/slab of granite mess--is broken/missing something, so we're getting a NEW bed and mattress soon. I feel spoiled.


Our computer desk area. I know I'm saying this about everything, but when Bret and I first saw the apartment, I couldn't believe they weren't selling/taking this desk. It's huge, really space effective, and in immaculate condition. It's also amazing to not have to balance my laptop, cooling pad and mouse on teeny tiny tables, or my bed, which is what I did before.

Desk, closet. Chris and Courtney left all of their shelving and organizing things, so we have drawers and things now (picture this closet devoid of all plastic shelving. It's just a big shelf, and impossible to keep tidy when you have two people's wardrobe's crammed in it. That's how we lived in Tokyo for two months...)


Bathroom, laundry area (which in Tokyo was shared with 4 people, but now we have our own)

The Persimmon Tree Outside of our Window in Tokyo

I miss Tokyo, so before I start posting things on Shikoku, this is the last farewell to our apartment in Tokiwadai, Tokyo.








Derigible thing! They fly past every now and then

The night bus

Hypothesis: If we take the night bus from Tokyo to Shikoku , it will be an effective means of travel. We will get to sleep while traveling and it will be interesting. Like when Harry Potter took the Knight Bus in book 3.

Procedure: Take 600 pounds of luggage and travel on foot to nearby train station (approx ¾ of a mile away). Find elevator to avoid the flight up and down stairs required to access the platform. Board train to Ikebukoro. Exit train and try to find elevator to avoid another flight down stairs to access Ikebukoro Station. Travel through station to the other side and find another elevator to avoid flight up and down stairs required to access the platform. Board train to Shinagawa. Exit train and attempt once more to find elevator to move luggage from the platform to the station exit. Find bus station and take 600 pounds of luggage the remaining 1/2 mile on foot. Rest. Board night bus. Wake up in Shikoku feeling refreshed.

Test: 600 pounds of luggage is a lot of luggage. Found elevator. Boarded train to Ikebukuro. Exited train and were unable to find elevator. Dragged luggage down two flights of stairs. Rested. Traveled though Ikebukuro station with bulky luggage, knocking stray children aside as we went. Unable to find elevator to required platform. Dragged luggage up two flights of stairs. Received help from passers by and made the train just in time. Rested. Exited train station and found elevator. Looked for bus station. The bus station was further away than we anticipated. Trudged the mile to the station, taking breaks at 5 meter intervals. Finally arrived at station. Rested. Attempted to put luggage in storage compartment on side of bus. Rapid Japanese was muttered in our direction. Driver points at luggage storage compartment and makes an X with his arms. Confusion ensued. After 15 minutes of more rapid Japanese, none of which was understood, driver and front desk staff pull 600 pounds of luggage onto bus and directed us to take it to the back. Lifted 600 pounds of luggage up and carried it to the very back of the bus. Awoke tired and sore.

Results: Travel from home to end station plus 12 hours of night bus riding resulted in back pain, blistered palms, and little sleep. Other passengers were passed out, reeking of alcohol, which was unpleasant. Seats were highly uncomfortable, worse than airplane seats.

Conclusion: The night bus should not be taken by anyone. Ever. Nothing like the experience described by JK Rowling in Harry Potter, book 3.

Disney Building in Shibuya

The penthouse looks amazing

Ueno Park

prayer request wooden card things





Five-story pagoda



big statue of Prince Komatsu Akihito

park performer


funny ad. pick your chocolate bar size according to you body mass!

Another good commercial from the train

If you don't take your allergy medicine, you could die!

My favorite commercials in Japan

Its hard to find them on youtube, but on most trains they run little commercials (although there is no sound). anyway, this one pops up a lot and its hilarious. I'll add more when i can find them - bret

White people

Yesterday when we were walking through Ginza at night, surrounded by millions of lights and fashionably dressed Japanese people, we somehow got caught behind an American couple who was so poorly dressed I was embaressed for them. The woman had bleached blonde hair and was wearing a pink VELOUR TRACKSUIT with CROCS. Uuuugggggghhhhh. The man was wearing a baggy old t-shirt and cargo shorts. Mind you, these are people who looked relatively well off (the woman had decided to top off her stellar tracksuit outfit with a Louis Vuitton handbag). Ginza is a nice district and most of the men and women are dressed in well-tailored suits and are otherwise well put together. There are not many Anglo-saxon or American people in Japan, and many Japanese take their opinions of Americans from the few white people that they see. So please, don't come to Tokyo wearing a velour tracksuit. Please.

This building deserves it's own blog post

This is in the Ginza prefecture of Tokyo. We were walking along with Miyuki and stopped and just looked at it. It dwarfed the busy intersection and was buzzing and glowing with lights and activity. My camera had run out of batteries earlier today and I was thinking how sad it was I probably wouldn't see it again or be able to take a picture of it. Then I pulled out my camera anyway and it had enough battery for six pictures! Here are the best three.

Imperial Palace Grounds

men on the enourmous stone wall pulling weeds and grass out. There were about 20 of them out on there




music hall near garden/castle grounds

The fortress gates!


Just a pigeon taking a nap

We couldn't read the sign/plaque thing but someone told us he was a prince


Messing around in Paint



Fancy shopping center