I have actually had a really great experience in Japan and have really enjoyed our time here. There are a lot of things I will miss about Japan, but there are a few things I definitely will not!!! These are just a few of them (or at least the ones I thought to get pictures of!)
This happens all the time and is so frustrating!! People just stop where ever and whenever they want on the road. Either to make a turn when there are no turn lanes, or to just pull over for whatever reason they want, they just feel the need to stop and don't care about disrupting traffic!!
Does something look wrong with this picture?! It is very awkward driving on the "wrong" side of the street!! (and don't worry I was at a red light when I took this picture!)
Our galley kitchen...it doesn't look as small in this picture as it actually was in person, filled with two 6 foot and taller people and one running wild 2 year old while trying to fix dinners!! I will not miss my lack of counter space here and the fact that the counters were so short, they only came as high as my groin...my back hates them too!!
I will definitely not miss hand washing dishes day after day, I swear I don't know how people live without a dishwasher!! I just never felt like our dishes were ever "clean!" no matter how hot I made the water, it just grossed me out!! Also, I will not miss the cupboard above the sink which I constantly hit my head on every time I bent down to get a dish out of the sink!
This was my least favorite thing about living in Japan. No garbage disposals meant you had to use this net thing, which would catch all the food and then you would have to throw it away as it filled up. This just grossed me out completely, and I will be very happy to not have to use this again for a while!!!
Other things I won't miss: the mosquitos...they are rampant in Japan, especially near our apartment complex and at the park we play at, they seem to absolutely love our family! They are so annoying, especially when we are all covered in mosquito bites!!!
Also, the garbage system...it is so frustrating dealing with garbage in Japan. You have to use a specific bag for each type of garbage. A red bag for all burnable garbage, a blue bag for all cans, and a yellow bag for all bottles and glass. Garbage gets picked up twice a week, which isn't so bad, but you have to take it outside and put it into a locked cage only on the day of pick up, only from dusk to midnight. So it piles up quickly in your apartment!! Recyclables are separated; plastic and glass are picked up only on the 2nd wednesday of each month, and the cans are only picked up on the 4th wednesday of each month, no exceptions, and can only be put out in the cage on the day of pickup. So needless to say, you have bags of stuff lying around your apartment or on your porch, it is crazy!!! I won't miss that!!
2 comments:
We are just SO HAPPY to have you back!!!!!
So glad you enjoyed your adventure in Japan! Your list is great, and we had many of the same struggles, except that we lived in a western style apartment, so our kitchen wasn't so horrible :) We hope that Brian's arm heals quickly and that he is ready to play in time for next season. We left Japan on Friday and will not be returning. We both decided it was the best decision for our family and Scott's career if he played in the states next year. Two years of Japan was enough for us! Maybe we will sign with a team that has AZ Spring Training and will get to visit! Enjoy your off season!
Post a Comment