The Things We Get Used To…

June 12, 2015 by gospelgo 4 Comments

We’ve now been in Japan for a little over 3 months, and it’s amazing how quickly we’ve adapted to our new home in Japan. There are so many things at which we now don’t even bat an eye, but gawked at when we first got here, surprised and a little perplexed by the strange novelty inherent in moving to a new country and culture.

Here are a few things in Japan that are very different from what we experienced in America (please click on the first image to view as a slideshow):

The Japanese convenience store, which sells a wide assortment of groceries, prepared foods, and household items. They are like a mini-Target! A far cry from American convenience stores, they don’t overcharge for their products!

They sell sushi, among other deliciously convenient lunch items. When we first moved here, we literally lived off the food at the nearest “conbini.”

Fresh produce at the “conbini”!

Coming from California, an environmentally friendly and consious state, we were used to recycling. However, Nagoya takes recycling to a much higher and more elaborate level. Sorting recyclables is an art form!

This is the trash area of our building. Bags are neatly stacked; boxes tidied up; cans and bottles are organized. Very different from the green dumpster that used to be in the back of our condo complex in Irvine! 😛

The faucet above the toilet: making the most of water!

The separate shower/tub room in our bathroom.

Clean public bathrooms! Even the public restrooms in the subway station are clean. Plus they have elaborate cleaning options.

Immaculately clean subways, trains…

and stations!

Bentos! School lunch at the preschool is so healthy. Bentos are brought not only to school but to many outings.

Expensive fruit; even more expensive gift fruits. Yes, the box of oranges at 5800 yen is about $46 at the current favorable exchange rate. We miss the relatively well-priced fruits and veggies from the CA farmers markets! Produce is seasonal; it is hard to find kale and celery. When I visited Costco, they had a bag of celery but I couldn’t bring myself to pay $8 for a bag of celery!

The bicycle garage.

The mom bike! I love this thing!

Many mom bikes! The perseverance and strength of the Japanese mom!

Telephone booths. I think Superman still hangs out in our city. 🙂

Pedestrians who wait for the light to change before crossing the street.

Ubiquitous vending machines…

even in parks!

Design that is everywhere, including on manholes.

Not having a dryer…

but the kids like to help hang clothes! Checking the weather is essential to know where to hang clothes to dry: inside or out?

These are only a few of the many things (more to come!). Each day, each week, we discover new things. But all this to say, the Lord has made us very adaptable. Like I said, it’s amazing how adaptable he made us. But more than that, we are able to adapt to new situations and environments because one thing remains constant: our good and loving God, in whose hands we always live and breathe.

Our worlds are constantly changing, kids grow up, new worries form, our health changes, tragedy may strike, hardships come, and more…but let’s take heart; we are in the Lord’s good hands. I hope the message of our loving and unchanging God bring you comfort, and also will bring comfort to the Japanese people.

Thanks for reading,

ym 🙂

Prayer Requests:

• Praise! Thank you for your prayers!
  • Mikayla has been doing much better at school; she is adjusting better with no tears or anxiety. Thank you for your prayers for her.
  • Relationships – the Lord has provided a handful of wonderful Japanese ladies with whom YM can spend time, which has been a blessing.
  • Dissertation – Damon has made much progress on his dissertation, and he hopes to finish most of it by summer.
• Aliya’s 1st grade: please pray for wisdom in deciding on where to send Aliya for 1st grade. The two options are: a) Japanese public school and b) Christian international school. Each has it’s own challenges and logistics, so we need much wisdom in the next few weeks to make a decision.
• Relationships: please pray for more opportunities to get to know Japanese people and build relationships.
• Godly parenting: please pray for wisdom and guidance in teaching and instilling in our girls a love for God, a God-centered worldview, in each situation, including in discipline. We need perseverance and strength to do this daily.
• Homeschooling: Please also pray for YM as she restarts homeschooling the girls in English, a task that she finds very difficult! Please pray for patience, perseverance, and the ability to teach!!!