Since I am still in Canada and don't have anything about Japan to write yet, I will start with "FAQ's". There have been a number of commonly asked questions lately so I will address them here.
When do you go?
I fly out on the 28th of September - that is only a mere 11 days from now. Yikes! Shawn will move there some time in November. Right now he is in Australia competing at the IDBF dragon boat world championships. To track his results go to the race website, he will race with the Premier Open crew from Canada.
Where will you live?
We will be moving to Sapporo (yes, like the beer and ichiban noodles). It is a city in northern Japan, check out the map below and follow the red arrow. Northern Japan gets snow in the winter, which will be nice to return to (or at least I think that it will be...). The city has a population of about 1.89 million and has professional baseball (the Nippon Ham Fighters....) and soccer teams. Others who have visited there tell me that it is a lot like Vancouver with its proximity to the ocean and a stunning mountain backdrop.
Initially we have a small apartment on the campus of Hokkaido University. If we are comfortable there, we may stay for most of the time there.
What will you do there?
I will be doing coastal larval ecology research with a lab at Hokkaido University and Shawn will finally get a break from supporting my destitute a$$. I know, as do most of you, that Shawn won't last very long cooking soba noodles for me every day and will soon need more stimulating challenges to keep him busy. I am sure that he will find work easily.
How's your Japanese?
Wakadimas nihongoga sukoshi hanashimas (= I speak a little Japanese). I have managed enough time to learn how to politely apologise for not understanding and am already enrolled in Japanese conversation lessons that will start in October. So far, the sounds are all very easy so our pronunciation seems good, but the sentence structure is backwards from the way we think so that will hang us up a bit I am sure. Reading Japanese is a totally different game. There are three "alphabets" and countless characters (or so it seems). I don't hold too much hope that I will be able to read easily even after being there for 18 months.
So that about covers things for now. I will surely have more to say soon - check back this weekend to see how Shawn did. I will post some comments on his races.
Thanks to everyone for their love and support so far in this big step! I can't wait to see you all in Japan!
3 comments:
Yay... Dani is attempting to be the first one to comment on this kick-butt blog! yippeeee!! Well, will it work?
Good luck my godchild, godspeed, you have always made me very proud, and you continue to do so. First time I've ever been on a blog, auntie has so much to learn. Enjoy it all and I will always be looking to see how you and your guy are doing. Have fun sweetie.
How on earth did you guys go from robotics to addiction withdrawal?? Well I guess anything is possible when you're an 'alien' who's travelled through time. But one smart, funny, and good looking alien! Hang in there big sister, your misadventures will all add up to one amazing adventure before you know it. Love you!
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