Greetings from Japan!

My family has moved to Japan for my husband, Jeffrey's job.  Jeff works for a Japanese company and he was given the opportunity to relocate to Japan for a 2 year assignment.  We decided it would be a wonderful, once in a lifetime chance to explore and learn about another culture firsthand.  We also decided two years would be too long for the kids to be gone, so the kids and I are just going for one.  Jeff moved over the beginning of June to get everything settled before we came.  We have just arrived and I am starting this blog to keep all of our friends and family up to date with all of our new experiences!  

I hope you enjoy reading about our adventure abroad!  Here we go..... 


On Friday, July 27th, Katherine, Killian, Chloe, my Mom and I hopped on an airplane and flew to Japan. 

It was a long flight, 13 hours, and we had a slight delay due to storms.  The kids did well on the flight, especially considering it was the first time they flew.  They didn't sleep well until the end of the flight, of course, and I had to wake them up when we were landing. 

We made it through customs with no problem and went to collect our checked luggage.  We were the last ones from our flight to get our luggage, and the Japanese airport workers pulled it off the carousel and had it all grouped together for us.  As I walked up they said "Ms. Far-mer" and helped us load everything onto carts.  We walked out through the doors and see Jeffrey waiting for us!  It was so nice to see him, after being away from him for almost 2 months! 

We knew we couldn't fit all of our luggage in our car, so Jeff and I took it over to the airport delivery service.  Before they took our bags, the worker inspected all of our bags and informed us if something was ripped or anything was wrong.

Chloe made a little friend while Jeff and I were taking care of the luggage.  A little Japanese boy about her size was chasing her around and she turned and chased him!  I wish I had a picture of that, it was really cute!

We then went out to the car, installed the car seats and headed to our new home.  We were all so tired, I think we all fell asleep on the ride.

Jeff made us some hamburgers and then it was off to bed. 

We spent the next few days adjusting to the new time zone.  Most days we wake up around 5:30 am.  The sun is already up and bright in the sky, so it's not too bad.  On the flip side, it gets dark here at 7:30pm.  It makes it easy to put the kids to bed early because it's so dark.

When Jeff came home from work on Monday, a neighbor ran over and dropped off some watermelon for us!  Watermelon is very expensive over here.  The typical watermelon in the States costs a few dollars, whereas over here it's $30 and it's smaller.  It was a very nice gift and welcome present!

Jeff and I ran out to the store and a group of our neighbors were still outside.  As Jeff and I drove by, we rolled down the window and waved hi.  One of the teenage girls squealed and then jumped up and down and started clapping.  I just laughed, I suppose that's what some celebrities feel like when they see fans!  It was a very interesting feeling!

After dinner that night, the doorbell rang and it was the neighbors inviting us out to do sparklers and watch fireworks. 

Poor Katherine was just waking up and we couldn't get Killian to wake up because of the jet lag!  Katherine didn't want to do a sparkler and wasn't too sure about what was going on.  I suppose it would be very odd to just wake up and be surrounded by strangers speaking a different language and crowding around to see you better.  Thankfully she perked up the next day when we saw them again! 

Everyone was super nice and very happy to come over and meet us!  It was a great way to end the night and be welcomed by the neighborhood!