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So my good friend Em asked me to tell a bit more about my boyfriend, Shimon. And to post pictures of us together. The former will be easier than the latter.

One thing about Shimon is that he is the cameraman whenever we go places. There are always LOTS of pictures of me, but hardly any pictures of the two of us together. I'm trying to scavenge a few pictures from recently, but we haven't done a lot of travel recently where he's had his camera out. So here are a few pictures.

This was taken just after we started dating. It was the first time we went away for the weekend. It was late March or early April, but we didn't have to wear jackets anymore.

Fastforward to graduation! I know there are more pictures, but I think they are on Shimon's computer and not mine. Graduation was this past September and Shimon was a great sport. He came and took lots of pictures and even joined in with the party afterwards with all of my friends from my seminar. In Japan, you are assigned a seminar group to belong to during your 2 years as an MA. It was great to have him come and meet everyone he's already heard a lot about.

In March, my mom is coming for a visit. There will be A LOT of pictures then and I promise to update how that goes. My mom is nice, but she also talks a lot and I hope that Shimon isn't too intimidated by her. We'll see.

Interesting and frustrating things about living with Shimon... he is a total neat freak and I am a pack rat! Eeek! If only there were second hand stores in Japan, but there aren't so anything that you don't want goes straight in the trash. It makes me sick to throw perfectly good things away. Alas, it had to be done.
He is a night owl. I like to go to bed before midnight. I need more sleep!! It's ok, unless he starts talking and wakes me up all the way.

We both like doing things outdoors and like going to a park that is fairly close to the new apartment. I hope that we can do a lot of that kind of stuff when we visit Alaska in August. It should be a good time to get to know everyone and not have to talk the whole time. Climbing Angel Rocks (a spot in Fairbanks) doesn't need a full narration.

Hope this helps. If you're curious about something in particular, let me know. :-)

So, I've moved.

The big news is that Shimon and I moved in together at the beginning of February.

In Japan, undertaking a move is in many ways much more painful than moving in the United States. There is no craigslist or rooms for rent in a newspaper. You MUST go to a realtor. So we spent the better parts (weekend) of November and December looking for an apartment. This search was complicated because I have a cat. Pet friendly apartments are difficult to find. CAT friendly apartments are even more difficult.

Sometime in the beginning to middle of December we found a cat friendly apartment that we liked AND was the right price. By price I am not just talking your first months rent, last months rent and deposit. Of course there are those fees, but the list is longer. Since we have a cat it's two months rent deposit, plus 3,000 yen a month more in rent (roughly $35). The realtor fee (one months rent). Insurance and other fees. In all, it was a scary sum that we paid when we signed our lease agreement. (600,000 Japanese yen)

Fastforward... WE'VE MOVED!!!

And here are some pictures. We still don't have all the furnishings that we plan to have, but saving for things you want is part of the fun, right? :-)

The kitchen, notice... counter space. A real stove top! A big sink. I love it!! I've used it a lot already and can't wait to start experimenting!!



This is one half of the dining-ish area. The only half with anything resembling furnishings. And the shelf only arrived yesterday. :-) We're looking for a table, but have not found one to our (my) liking yet.


The bedroom. We have some more decorating to do (obviously!!). But we have a place to sleep, so the decorating can wait a little while.


The couch in the living room... it faces and empty wall where the TV will live when we get one. The couch is actually covered in blankets to keep Suzu (cat) from ruining it. Bah, cats and their claws!

There's the big update (well, for now... I'm sure there's more to tell)!

Neglect...

That is the word that best describes the last few months of blogging for me. After Christmas things just got MUCH more hectic and... I have neglected my blog. It's pretty bad when you get an email from your dad saying, "I was bored at work and checked your blog. You haven't posted since December 29th!"

First, bad that Dad is bored.
Second, worse that I haven't posted since December 29th. Eeek!

So, the next post (in a few minutes) will help explain a bit as to the busy-ness!!