the future's o.k.

This is a funny website to check out -http://www.engrish.com/
also check out Rallye, the actual store is the best place I have been here, http://www.rallye-kanazawa.com/
This little shop has tons of crafty treasures, books, and their own record label, you can listen to some really great music on the website. I bought a cd there that I love, a band called au revoir simone, I think they are actually from NY.
I have to admit I have been a little down the last few days. I never thought that moving to Japan with a child and no ability to speak the language was going to be easy, but I just wish I had a burrito and someone to talk about make-up or my frizzed out hair with. (Who knew straight hair could frizz so badly?) I miss my friends and family and pretty much everything else.
It is freakin hot today. Alex and I rode our bicycle to the grocery store this morning at 9:45 to find the parking lot completly empty. They weren't open yet!! What is up with this idea that you can just open things whenever you want? I knew they must have been opening sometime today because we watched as every employee that could possibly be employed there filed out into the parking lot to primp up the landscaping. I don't know what they were doing, arranging rocks, possibly? It is not as if there is ANY garbage anywhere.
Today is Nate's first day as a school teacher. I wonder how it is going-we are very proud of him, he seemed a little nervous. Alex and I went to our first playgroup today which was super cute. It was a bunch of Japanese toddlers and moms-they were singing songs and blowing bubbles and doing all sorts of really cute things. It is funny because Japanese people think Alex is the so "kawaii!!" (cute) we hear it like 100 times a day, but Japanese kids are just the cutest, they are so funny and sweet! Also there was the cutest Japanese mom was also very sweet and we talked a little and she introduced me to her friend. It would be nice to think that maybe over time I will be able to make some Japanese friends, even though at the level of communication I am at now, it seems impossible!

I miss the O.C. (and you)

I cannot even remember today what happened on the last episode of the O.C.

Today we went to Libro bookstore that has some English stuff, and I thought- Oh! I'll buy some magazines. Except that the new Vogue is $22 here!! On the bright side, I found some really cool Japanese textile design books that are only $15, but it is just not the same, so I bought nothing.

It is hot again, I thought we were lucky and the cool breezes would last. I am taking private Japanese lessons starting Tuesday, and am a little freaked out about having a Japanese person come to my house! I really need to find a fabric store- the textile books inspired me to design a purse. For some stupid reason I didn't bring one, I can't bring myself to buy a new one (or actually can't afford to). The only fabric stores I have seen are, again, on the higher levels of department stores and not going to work. The sewing "aesthetic" of these stores is American quilting/country-home style. It is kind of cute, but not for me. It is all cotton calicos and expensive buttons. There has to be a store for me, I just don't know where it is. All that silk has to be hiding somewhere!

yay or nay

I am obsessed with this painting. It is on the 5th floor of this department store, back in the corner along with some other weird art, a sparse antique selection and stale kimonos. It is gigantic, like 3' by 5', huge. And it is only $350! How would we get it home? How much would that cost? Nate wants it too, but are we crazy? Help!



It is finally cooling off a little. We actually went out yesterday and didn't come home and immediately jump in the shower. And Alex wore pajamas to bed for the first time.

hot japanese chics

There was a point when I thought, thanks to my Aussie predecessor informant, that there was going to be a major lack of shopping and clothes here that fit me. I had some doubts, and tried to buy clothes to get by for the year (mainly some very unfashionable t-shirts). I really wish that what she had said would have been the truth.
Yesterday, I rode downtown to check out a shop called Uniqlo, which is basically like the gap. I had never been, but heard there was a sale and wanted to get out on my own for a change. I found Uniqlo, which was fine, not very exciting, but did manage to get some really cute tank tops for about 3.50 that I can wear inside the house, but not outside, thanks to the tattoo factor. I wandered around this 7 story mall, finally finding my way out.
As I headed uptown, my worst inclination had come true, and I actually gasped, then sobbed, when I saw the two Marc Jacobs stores up the road. I had a hunch that there was something major going on here. Kanazawa is a fashion mecca and there is no way in hell I will be able to afford any of the clothes. But I can fit into them.

I went into a "department store" (yeah right, there is nothing deparment store about this place) called Daiwa which was basically surrounded by Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and numerous other seperate designer stores. The department store itself was like Saks 5th Ave. times 500. There were at 5 floors of womans clothing, all designer clothing, (Agnes B., Michael Kors, Burberry, N. Miller, Gautier, etc,etc) -I'd say maybe 6-10 different sections of different designers per floor, at least.
Equally as impressive is the abundance of French patisseries everywhere. This is like having 500 pix patisseries in one town. And they are not a weird Japanese version, they are the real deal. At least these I can afford, on a short term basis. The Japanese know what's going on, they keep up appearances. All the girsl are hot and high fashion. Thank god fall is around the corner and I will have some semi-better clothes to wear and look kind of like I know what I am doing.
By the way, did you know that they actually sell wash rags (designer ones of these, too) in the accessories area of all the stores. These are for when you are fashionably wiping sweat off your face. Right next to the earrings.

Here is Alex. I know most of you want to know what is going on with this little bear. Here he is in his own room and a huge bed, which is more than I can say for Nate and I. He has only fallen off the bed once, but it didn't seem to even wake him up. We are in the process of finding a playgroup, there is a huge park and playground nearby with a childrens center that is one of the coolest places for kids I have ever seen. There is a huge toddler room with every cool toy, a little aquarium, tons of kid-made crafts everwhere. When we were there some kids gave us some huge bug carcasses (I didn't know what to do with them, so I gave it back, I probably should have just kept it). From what I understand, everything there is free. Alex has been doing really, he's adjusted quicker than any of us. He is not that fun to take shopping, but he loves riding around on the back of the bike and mimicking Japanese people. He also seems to be the loudest kid around, Japanese children are so quiet, even if they are being crazy. There are a couple of little kids in our apartment building, we have met a couple, so hopefully we get to play with them, too. There are crickets everywhere that are gigantic, they look like small birds when they fly and are super loud, all the kids wander around with nets and little boxes trying to catch them. In the parks they are so loud and piercing it hurts your ears. Alex has also been eating well, trying new things, and enthusiastically trying to use chopsticks. He calls all little kids Holden.

owl

residence k-1

This is our apartment building, I know it is kind of ghetto, but it's not so bad. The river runs right by our house, huge cranes flew away right before I could get my camera working. Our apartment is the small concrete structure sticking out from the right side. You can hardly see it. It has been raining a lot so the river is brown, it usually is very clear.

Our address is: Nate, Krista & Alex

#102 Residence K-1

23-1 Kosaka-Machi-Naka

Kanazawa Shi, Ishikawa Ken

920-0811

Japan

And our phone is country code 81 (076) 252-2283. I am not sure exactly how to dial it from there, maybe it depends on your phone/cellphone. We aren't getting cell phone, still, and don't have an answering machine, so it we don't answer, keep trying!!

Our house

Here are a couple of pictures of our house. It turns out that our camera does work, just the lcd screen is broken (the best part of the camera). So, we will take a few pictures before we ship it back home to get it replaced. Here is one of our two tatami rooms. Nate and I sleep on the tiny couch, soon we will get something else figured out. Today I scrubbed the bathroom, which is about 5' X 5', for 3 hours on my hands and knees. I feel like I am in a warped version of Little House on the Prairie, every day requires actual housework to keep things from going to shit. Nate's even got me ironing his clothes. Just a side note to everyone, I really am not a master of the English language or grammar (which is also obvious to anyone who has heard me talk). I did win a trophy for a spelling bee when I was in 2nd grade, but even that isn't very good any more. So, bear with all my bad sentences and grammatical errors, I am terribly self-conscious of my writing abilities!!

Mold Farm

Unfortunately, our wonderful, new camera experienced a meltdown on the way to Japan, so it is going to be awhile until you see the first-hand account of this country. Although, this mold pic really does a pretty good job of getting the point across, and it is kind of pretty, don't you think? We have made it to the other side of the world, where I found Nate with a bag of small, individually wrapped kit-kats and a canister of stale pringles. Our apartment is actually cute, despite the mold, it has potential. Luckily, we bought $800.00 worth of furnishing from probably the cheapest and also not the cleanest people alive, so now we are stuck with trying to get rid of it, which in itself is no easy task, as garbage separation and fees are probably as complicated to figure out as the language. I am excited to buy new stuff, though, thank god we will at least have some money soon. Other than that, I am at a total loss. The weather is so unbelievable that I almost like it, who knew 85% humidity would be good for my skin. Constant rejuvenation! Basically, we are taking about 3 showers a day, everytime you step out the door you are dripping with sweat. I understand nothing, and don't know how to get anywhere, really. Alex is doing really well, I am excited to find him some friends, but until I figure it out, we have been managing together really well. This is going to sound terrible and I really don't mean it in the way it will sound, but I think Kanazawa is called one of the most beautiful cities in Japan because Japan really is not a beautiful place. At least at first, the landscape is constant urbanization and also makes no sense-there will be a quiet, little park with a shrine and a vending machine. Or gigantic ferris wheels that seem to be in the middle of nowhere. I also haven't been out of the house too much, but I really like the looks of the neighbors air conditioner.