When we made our plans to come to Japan, friends and family often commented on the "big adventure" we were going on, or "all the adventures" we would have in Japan. Heck, we even used that word ourselves when talking about the move. But since we've been here, have we really had any adventures? It seems like all we've really had time to do is get settled in, work, and simply live life.
This was something I pondered as I was making breakfast, toasting bread in a frying pan because we don't have a toaster. When it was ready I sat on the floor in our tatami room and ate it at our Japanese-style low table, next to the window that was admitting a gentle breeze and the sounds of the river. Then the phone rang, which I answered, moshimoshi? Without caller ID, we have to assume any caller is Japanese.
And now, I'm about to go start a load of laundry. Our washing machine has a confusing array of buttons, lights, and LED displays, all neatly labeled in Japanese. The washer has about three hundred functions, and I've managed to figure out two of them.
So far, our lives here have been mostly mundane things. But it turns out that even the mundane things are adventures.
This was something I pondered as I was making breakfast, toasting bread in a frying pan because we don't have a toaster. When it was ready I sat on the floor in our tatami room and ate it at our Japanese-style low table, next to the window that was admitting a gentle breeze and the sounds of the river. Then the phone rang, which I answered, moshimoshi? Without caller ID, we have to assume any caller is Japanese.
And now, I'm about to go start a load of laundry. Our washing machine has a confusing array of buttons, lights, and LED displays, all neatly labeled in Japanese. The washer has about three hundred functions, and I've managed to figure out two of them.
So far, our lives here have been mostly mundane things. But it turns out that even the mundane things are adventures.