Saturday, March 29, 2008

Japan!

We're in JAPAN!!! How did that happen?

Well, about 2 weeks ago Jared was offered the opportunity to come to Japan to do some training. We jumped on the opportunity knowing that it would only be for a few weeks and may not come up again. So...after crazy packing and last minute preparations we boarded a flight on Thursday around 11 am to head on over. We had a short layover in San Francisco and then continued on to Tokyo. The flights, layovers, and commute to our apartment afterward came in around a 20 hour adventure. Lucikly Brigham did amazingly well through it all.

On the flight he even sat still to watch Baby Einstein, complete with headset and all!
It was so wonderful to finally make it to our new apartment Friday night. Jared's co-worker, Ikue, helped get us in and showed us all around and had even stocked our fridge with milk, juice, and muffins for breakfast in the morning. She showed what we're finding to be the epitome of Japanese hospitality. They are all so incredibly kind and willing to go out of their way to help. We'd also been warned before about how much Brigham would be fussed over. That is already becoming very apparent. Even Ikue offered to stay and play with Brigham while we unpacked that first night. Unfortunately we were so tired that we declined her offer and decided to turn in for the night instead.
:)
Yesterday was our first full day in Japan. We decided that our goals for the day were to find the international grocery store for some shopping and to get a look around and some experience on their train system. Well, after many, many hours we can finally say that we accomplished all three. Unfortunately, it really shouldn't have taken that long.
We were told that we could "walk" to the area where the store was through the "subway." After a few hours we finally realized that their "subway" is different than England's "subway" and that you really couldn't walk through the subway. Luckily, by the time we were getting tired, we got on the Japanese subway (which is an underground metro) and made it to the part of town we had been directed to for shopping. As we continued to wander through this part of town the most amazing thing happened...We walked around the corner and saw the Angel Moroni in the distance! Aaah, suddenly everything became so much better. We wandered through a park on the way to see the temple. It was a truly magnificent site and really smoothed our whole day over.

Notice the beautiful Cherry Blossoms! What a site to behold!
After the temple we felt so much better and headed on our way to the international grocery store to pick up the food we needed. Can you say expensive?! We thought England was bad...

Here is the food we bought for a grand total of 95 big ones! Can you believe it?

We took a taxi back to the apartment because Brigham was getting tired. He was asleep before we could even get in the taxi. The best part is that he didn't even get grumpy. He just snuggled in and fell asleep. What an angel!
For those of you who are interested in what our apartment looks like we've included this slideshow. Enjoy!


Also, take a look at this piece of porcelain in our apartment. We aren't exactly sure what all of the buttons do yet.


Well, that's about all for now. Hope you enjoyed the craziness of our life as much as we are.

Love you all!

9 comments:

Ginny said...

Hello CRAZY!! I am so impressed with the adventures you take on. It makes me tired!! But what a ride! Enjoy it for the rest of us that are hangin' out in the world of norm! What a great opportunity!! Have fun and be safe! (And OUCH on the groceries!)

Lexie said...

I love it! I'm so excited for you guys and glad you made it through the travel portion. I can't believe how expensive the food was, or the buttons on the toilet. I love the cherry blossoms and the picture of Brigham with the headphones. What a cute little man!

Joe and Liz said...

Hi Allyson! I found your blog from Merri's. Hopefully you remember me....I used to work with you at peoplewise! You can check out my blog too if you want. It was fun to see what you guys are up to. Your little guy is such a cutie!

Rachel said...

I can't believe you're in Japan!! How long are you going to be there? Keep me posted on what you do over there!

millie said...

You guys are always up to something wild and crazy! That grocery bill was outrageous!!!! We might be going to Japan in 2 1/2 years (when trent's done with residency) so I'm very interested to see the rest of your posts! i also just started a blog, so check us out in a spare moment. it's trentandmillie.blogspot.com

Amber said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amber said...

Japan-I'm so jealous. What a fun opportunity. Little Brigham looks like he had a blast on the flight. Have a great time!

-Amber

Don and Amy Bennion said...

Just make sure that the water pressure is low when you push some of those buttons :D. It looks like you guys are in the same place where we stayed. Great location eh?!!

The plaza at the mall just right across the street was a favorite place to let William run around and people watch. It's amazing how beautiful they keep the grounds around Ebisu isn't it?

Does the fridge open on both the right and the left side? That was one of my favorite Japanese inventions.

Thanks for the pics.

DB

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