If you think three years is a long time in Misawa, you are mistaken. Of course, it could be if you are not taking advantage of being in a foreign country and isolate yourself from other people on base. For us, three years flew by super fast. Looking back at how many adventures we’ve had here, I can say that the last three years were probably the most exciting years in our family life so far. My mind still refuses to look at the negative side of being in a place that is so out of the ordinary.
Kids have gone through three years of school. Mark learned how to walk and talk here. We have driven miles and miles on Japanese roads, visited dozens of shrines and bought several hundred pounds of beautiful Japanese apples.
***First day of school in 2009 (Katya starting 1st grade).
Moreover, we have learned how little our family needs to feel comfortable in life. A small three bedroom place turned out to be okay after all the worries I had in the first couple of months of moving here. Slow internet and not being able to get some things at a “Target” type store turned out to be just a small nuisance. Realization that we don’t need all the things that we thought we couldn’t live without gave us a different perspective on what it means to have a simplified life. Driving a fifteen-twenty year old cars has been an adventure in itself, but also showed us that cars don’t have to be something that defines people or shows off their status. I don’t believe you will find many lawyers and doctors in the states driving around in 1998 cars and think they are cool. Here that does not matter.
Three years later, the kids are bigger. Katya is nine, Alex is just a few days short of being seven, and Mark is three and a half. The stroller in the picture above was replaced by Mark’s bike with training wheels. The rattle was replaced by a red pepper (Mark’s favorite thing to eat when he is watching cartoons). And most of all, their view of the world has expanded tremendously giving them a deeper understanding that no matter how different culturally our Japanese friends are, we are all brothers and sisters here.
***The day after the last day of school this June, 2012. Two days after our household goods were picked up. Alex has the funniest haircut here-haha.
The rest of our stuff is being packed up on Friday. That means suitcase type living for the next two months—woohoo! And our new adventures are just beginning (and the stress level rising at the same time
)!
Countdown is ON: Thirteen days till we leave Misawa.
Kids have gone through three years of school. Mark learned how to walk and talk here. We have driven miles and miles on Japanese roads, visited dozens of shrines and bought several hundred pounds of beautiful Japanese apples.
***First day of school in 2009 (Katya starting 1st grade).
Moreover, we have learned how little our family needs to feel comfortable in life. A small three bedroom place turned out to be okay after all the worries I had in the first couple of months of moving here. Slow internet and not being able to get some things at a “Target” type store turned out to be just a small nuisance. Realization that we don’t need all the things that we thought we couldn’t live without gave us a different perspective on what it means to have a simplified life. Driving a fifteen-twenty year old cars has been an adventure in itself, but also showed us that cars don’t have to be something that defines people or shows off their status. I don’t believe you will find many lawyers and doctors in the states driving around in 1998 cars and think they are cool. Here that does not matter.
Three years later, the kids are bigger. Katya is nine, Alex is just a few days short of being seven, and Mark is three and a half. The stroller in the picture above was replaced by Mark’s bike with training wheels. The rattle was replaced by a red pepper (Mark’s favorite thing to eat when he is watching cartoons). And most of all, their view of the world has expanded tremendously giving them a deeper understanding that no matter how different culturally our Japanese friends are, we are all brothers and sisters here.
***The day after the last day of school this June, 2012. Two days after our household goods were picked up. Alex has the funniest haircut here-haha.
The rest of our stuff is being packed up on Friday. That means suitcase type living for the next two months—woohoo! And our new adventures are just beginning (and the stress level rising at the same time
)!Countdown is ON: Thirteen days till we leave Misawa.
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