Hi friends and family!
We are slowly getting settled and exploring more of the area. For those of you that didn't know, like myself, Japan is about the size of California. And the population is about 127.5million people which is about 1/2 the US pop. We are in Yokosuka which is about an hour bullet train ride south of Tokyo.
Some customs and manners we have observed here; bowing- people bow all the time in greeting, thanking, respect, etc. , exchanging business cards- everyone wants to give you their card and you should receive it with 2 hands, look at it for a while and then place it in a respectable place (not your seat pocket!), very little eye contact in public places, especially elevators and trains, face the person seated if you are standing in a train and someone is seated by you, don't turn your back to them.
We have seen women and men in kimonos each time we go off base especially on the weekends. A less formal kimono is called a yukata which is more common now but less dressy.
The Japanese language is tricky- they have 3 different types of written characters; Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. We are trying to pick up alittle of the easiest form- Katakana, but to get around it would be helpful to know all 3. It's so complicated, however, that many Japanese people don't even know all of the Kanji symbols (there are over 2,000).
A few phrases we get to use when we shop;
ohayo gozaimus (good morning)
konnichiwa (hello)
doumo (slang for thanks)
sumimasen (excuse me)
gomen na sai (I'm sorry)
Anyway, we are enjoying the adventure. We have gotten to go out Sat. evenings and do alittle exploring just the 2 of us. We went back to Kamakura for dinner and then to Yokohama, and around our own town of Yokosuka. The shopping here is amazing, albeit expensive. Each dept. store you go in has escalators going up 8 floors. And there can be more than 5 of these in a block! Huge underground malls, tons of small eating spots, crepes with gellato (our favorite).
Mark and I are signed up to start a basic Japanese language class for 10 wks. There are also opportunities to teach English. Another common thing is to have your children model in commercials- especially if they are blonde with blue eyes- cha ching!!!
Mark is loving his job- finally got to be on the anti-terrorism squad- yeah!
I'm meeting new friends and trying to keep from going crazy with 2 hyper-active, rough housing, maniacal boys- just kidding- not really. Things I miss besides pople are; a gym with child care, a yard, lower humidity (it's nuts here- my swim bag has mold growing in it in the laundry room), and the beaches! Thing I enjoy; new friends, fun places to visit, the parks, nice gym when I can get there, and THE FOOD!!!!
Anyway, hope all is well with everyone! We miss you!!!!
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
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