Interesting Things About My House

1. Our doorbell has an intercom and video camera. So you can see and talk to your visitors from the living room. (I would totally give this up to have a garbage disposal.)

2. Our downstairs toilet is heated (awesome) and has a bidet (not so awesome). The upstairs toilet is just heated.

3. There are strange compartments under our kitchen floor.

4. My oven has a tray just for cooking/steaming fish. (Unused and likely to stay that way.)

5. You adjust the water temperature with a unit on the wall. One for upstairs, one downstairs.





How Did I Get Home!?

Since we've been here, we have been out three times with other company employees and spouses.  All three times involved dinner at a local Japanese restaurant/bar and lots of alcohol.  (Also smoke....unfortunately smoking is much more popular here and you don't see the smoking limitations that have become popular in the US.)

There is no "legal limit" of alcohol consumption here so if you have been drinking at all you can't drive for 12 hours.  Japanese people seem to be very conscientious about this although I have read that drunk driving does happen.  Designated drivers don't seem to be the thing to do....  Instead you call (or you stagger up to the bartender and ask him to) a daiko [die-ko] to drive you home.  Daikos are dudes that hang out around the bars and will drive you home in your own car for a small fee.  The daiko will get a taxi to follow him to your house and then the taxi will take the daiko back to whatever alley he waits in between trips.  We've experienced this twice while riding with other couples (the third time we went out I managed to get away with drinking ginger ale and thus was our "daiko") and it's a little strange.

Sorry no photos....hopefully one day I can get some of the "red-light district" of Ota (including the "SexyPubs" aka Japanese strip clubs).  It's pretty seedy interesting. ;)

Meet and Greet



free prize: cherry blossom bath herbs and a change purse

When we arrived our company representative told us that when you move into a new neighborhood it is traditional to go around and bribe meet all your neighbors. You are supposed to take a small present and introduce yourself. When I asked for gift suggestions, she said small, decorative soaps were a good idea. So while we were in Tokyo, we went to this awesome chain store called Tokyu Hands and bought soaps. Tokyu Hands is kind of like a combo Target and Hobby Lobby but bigger and way better. They even gave me a free prize because I bought so much dang soap (we have fourteen neighbors).   My Internet research says this is an old custom that a lot of young Japanese people do not do anymore. 

 

The next weekend our next door neighbor was kind enough to go around with us and introduce us to all the other neighbors. Everyone was very nice and welcoming and we met lots of dogs and cats. Everything from a tiny pink-bowed Poodle to a fat Shiba Inu (the most popular dog here by far) that rolled over on our feet.

not so nice: our next door neighbor's dog (also a Shiba Inu)
- he hates us and we're told he DOES bite

this is Goro....he thinks our yard is his too