New personal space on the web!

If you want to read my random ramblings and thoughts that aren't related to Japan or anything about the move, head over to http://chasingthenow.wordpress.com.

-maria

Five days

Only five more sleeps until I join my wonderful husband, J, in Japan! It has taken a little while for the enthusiasm and excitement to catch on, but consider me hooked! I can't wait until we're back together (and in the same zip code) and able to really begin our life together outside of our parents' nests.

J has been gone for over a week now, but he seems to really be enjoying himself. At first, when he was in Tokyo we were able to Skype each other and that was awesome. Just being able to see him made me feel SO much better. But since he has been at the apartment in Shizuoka we haven't been able to talk. It's been all e-mail and Gmail chats since then. Which is still much better than nothing!

I've found out a lot since my last blog post, so here's the condensed version (and what I can remember):

1. All new tatami mats are going into our apartment. Apparently the downstairs is already finished and the workers are supposed to be there today finishing up the upstairs. The school is paying for this... SCORE.
   
   
2. We were originally told our rent would be about the equivalent of $200 USD, but are now being told it will be more like $118 USD. DOUBLE SCORE. Now, that isn't including utilities, however, that kind of rent in Japan is unheard of almost. Definitely awesome and will really help us save some money once Jeremy's paychecks start rolling in!
   
   
3. Jeremy bought a bike. That's really about all I know right now, but he said it is a nice used bike (I'll post some photos once I get there) and it was a good price. I'm getting one very soon after I get there.
   
   
4. There is a Curves facility pretty close to our apartment. That is awesome. Even though I have never used a Curves fitness location, that is still much better than having no access to a gym... which might kill me! Between riding bikes with Jeremy (which I am soooo looking forward to) and doing some lifting at Curves, I can hopefully get back into the shape I was at our wedding. Sweet!
   
5. It's looking more and more like I'll be owning one of these soon. Japanese cell phones are so amazing that one company, Softbank, has been giving away iPhones for free* when you sign a new contract with them. Whatever, it may not be as amazing as some of the things other Japanese cell phones can do, but it will sure beat the hell out of my Palm Centro that occasionally decides it will call out when I want it to. Plus, I can download the application for SparkPeople. Whoo hoo!

That's all I can think of right now, but it is safe to say I am definitely getting excited. Packing began today but continues tomorrow!

It finally feels real!

Tomorrow is the big day. J has to be at the airport before six in the morning. Naturally, his parents and I are going to see him off.

The last few days have been a whirlwind of packing and unpacking. And then re-packing. And then realizing a suitcase is too heavy, or too big, or just too-something and will not work, thus packing again commences. It will nice, once we are both in Japan, to finally have a place to call our own that is bigger than a single room we are both attempting to cram our entire lives into. And just that fact will make it amazing for us--at least for a few months.

Either way, it's time to head towards the bed because morning will be calling VERY early.

Oyasuminasai,
maria

Visas, a wedding, and many thank-you notes later

It has been a few months since my last blog, mostly because there hasn't been a whole lot to say. However, a few really big things have happened that deserve a line or two (or maybe even three?):

• J and I were married on May 30. The wedding was beautiful and we both had so much fun at our reception and on our honeymoon. Since returning home from the honeymoon, J has been studying Japanese like a crazy man and I've been working.
  
  
• J sent in all of the paperwork for his visa, and after doing all the "fun" name change stuff (and receiving my new passport in the mail a few weeks and sixty bucks later) he sent mine in, too.
  
  
  
  
• We found out we will be living in the Shizuoka prefecture of Japan (the one where Mount Fugi is located) in a small town near Mishima. Jeremy will be teaching at an agriculture high school near our home.
  
  
• And speaking of homes: We are taking over the rent on a two-story Japanese apartment where the current English teacher (who J is replacing) now lives. Photos will come later after I arrive in Japan.
  
  
• Last, but not least, J and I bought my plane ticket a few weeks ago. I'll be departing from U.S. soil on August 14 and I'll arrive in Japan on August 15. Hooray for 13 hour flights. NOT.
  

Other than those pieces of news, J and I are working together to get everything ready for our upcoming trips.

-maria

No news is good news?

Things are pretty quiet on the "moving to Japan" front right now. I think our main focus is on the upcoming wedding at the end of May and graduation before that. However, J is mailing his packet today to officially accept the position in Japan.

Something we did find out since my last blog is that J will be leaving at the beginning of August, but I won't be able to come until about two weeks later. That isn't exactly what we had been planning, so it put us in a tailspin for a few minutes, but we've both accepted there is nothing we can do about the situation for now. For now, it appears I will be flying off to Japan sometime in the middle of August. We have to buy plane tickets soon! Right now prices for one-way tickets in August are upward of $600. Not as much as I was expecting.

-maria

It's all happening so quickly.

Where do you begin a new blog? I've often wondered that, and even now, many new blog beginnings behind me, I have no idea where to start.

I'll explain the purpose of this blog first: My fiance and I are packing up our lives and moving to Japan (or 日本 for any Japanese-speaking readers out there) in August, but not before getting married at the end of May and cruising around the Caribbean on our honeymoon. J, my fiance, spent three weeks in Japan studying abroad two summers ago. He enjoyed his time there very much. I, on the other hand, have never been out of the United States, so this is a whole new ballgame, so to speak, for me. This blog is to keep in touch with friends and family, to share our adventures (and probably more so our misadventures) with the world, and to entertain myself in the process of moving, learning about a new culture, and figuring out the world around me.

J and I eating at a Hibachi restaurant (where else?) to celebrate his new job opportunity.

I should also mention we are both graduating college next month and this move comes as a job opportunity for J to use his degree in English teaching by working with an English teacher in Japan. At this point I have no clue what I'll be doing to occupy my time while J works. I'm hoping to have my dependency visa switched to where I can work around 20 hours a week, but I'm still unsure of that process.

The whole idea of leaving the lives we know for a completely wide open future is scary, but very exciting. The process of gathering necessary documents to legally move and stay in Japan is intimidating and long. But I'm ready. We're gonna be newlyweds, broke, and immigrants, but we're determined to be happy!

"In the world through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself. " -Frantz Fanon

-maria