Three weeks to becoming expats

Hi there!

Thank you so much for following my blog, imperfect expat. With only three weeks to go before getting on a one-way flight to Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan, I am feeling every emotion under the sun. I am nervous about the unknown of living in a different country, sad to leave my family and friends, but also excited to embark on this new adventure. A moving truck came last week and took away almost all of our belongings so a part of me is also very anxious just to be there already. Then the other part pipes up and says, "make these last few weeks last forever!" The precious time left with my people is slipping away so much fast than I'd like it to.

Here are some questions you may be wondering about our big move:

1. Why are you moving to Japan?
• My husband, Joe, has been with his company, TerumoBCT, for over 13 years now. Terumo, the Japanese company, bought Joe's company, CardianBCT, 2 years ago. Since the merge, the two companies have been working together to provide superior products and services to blood banks and hospitals all over the world. But an obvious language barrier and cultural differences in the workplace have proven to be challenges between the two corporate offices. Joe was chosen to spearhead a project in the Tokyo office to help the two offices excel together on every level. Because our boys, Jackson (3) and Jacob (almost 21 months), and I would miss Joe when he is there, we are going with him!
2. When are you leaving?
• Our official move date is Sunday, March 30th.
3. How long with you be there?
• Joe signed a contract for two years, with the possibility of a third year. We will know for sure about the third year sometime into the second.
4. Are you going to keep your house in Denver?
• Yes! We bought our house two years ago thinking it would be our "forever house", not knowing about Joe's opportunity in Japan. So we are renting it until we come back. As it turns out, a lovely Japanese family is coming to Denver when we are going to Tokyo so they are going to rent it!
5. What an experience for Jackson and Jacob! Will they be able to learn Japanese?
• That's what we are hoping! J&J are enrolled in an International preschool where they will be taught half the day in Japanese and the other half in English, three days a week for 4 hours a day. The amazing teachers and principal at the school have assured me that although the Japanese will sound like gibberish to the boys at first, it will only take a couple of weeks for Jackson and Jacob to acclimate and start understanding the language. They will certainly come home and teach Mama a thing or two! In the wise words of my mom, "maybe you should go to preschool too." I am seriously considering it...
6. Speaking of, do you speak any Japanese?
• I have been taking Japanese lessons twice a week since December, so to answer the question, yes, a little bit. Japanese is a difficult language to learn (not as hard as English, though! I have a great, new found respect for individuals who learn English as a second language!), but I am really giving it my best shot. Joe has also been taking lessons but besides the few conversations we try to have together in Japanese, neither of us really get a chance to practice it much. Boy, oh boy, will that change in a few weeks, right? My hope is to have a good grasp on "survival" Japanese and at some point I'd like to feel comfortable enough to carry on conversations with other moms (so I can make friends!). 
7. Don't the Japanese speak English?
• Surprisingly, no. The younger people do more so but it can be difficult to find an English-speaking Japanese person, when in a bind... Like, when you're trying to find a train station by yourself with two toddlers and many bags in 95 degree weather... and 95% humidity... and you've already walked 9 miles that day... and you could really use a bathroom... and it's nap time. Just an example. Anyway, I am told that if you write something down, most Japanese people can read and write English much better than they can speak it, they will be much more likely to be able to help you! Why can they read and write it better than they can speak it? Evidently it is because to graduate from high school they must take a written exam on English. Reading and writing is all they need to pass that test!
8. Have you been to Japan before?
• Yes, the four of us went to Tokyo in July/August for two weeks. This was when my love affair with Tokyo began. Being the biggest metropolis in the world with 35 million residents, was intimidating... until I got there. The people there are so incredibly nice and polite and respectful of others. It's one of the safest and cleanest places on the planet. Hard to believe with 35 million people living there, right? But it truly is. I went to Target before we left for this trip to buy J&J matching shirts in case I lost one of them (mom crazies) and I laughed at myself for doing so after arriving there. Most people wanted to squeeze my boys' cheeks and touch their hair and many, not several, but many people said to me, "how beautiful" referring to my kiddos.  At one of the most popular Buddhist temples, two men, late teens/early twenties, came up to me and said, "can you, ahh, take picture of, us... and your babies." In any other place in the world, I would have freaked out and ran as fast as I could in the opposite direction, but there I said "why, yes, yes I can" and I took a picture of two strangers holding my babies. They really do just love children there, which is obviously very comforting for me. In those two weeks, we explored Tokyo and saw the most popular sights. One Japanese man Joe works with said, "you must leave some things for you to see when you live here!" I think there are at least a couple of things left to see! Then Joe and I went back again in January to find a place to live. And we did!
9. What is your place like?
• Before I visited Tokyo, I was under the impression that there would be many, many tall skyscrapers. This is not the case. Japan has approximately 1,000 earthquakes a year. Because of that fact, all buildings there must be earthquake-proof. The taller the building, the more expensive it is to make earthquake-proof. So, that being said, there are a few tall skyscrapers and TONS of smaller buildings tucked in their shadows. We are living in a four-story building on the third floor and there are four apartments on each floor. We have three bedrooms (room for visitors!), two bathrooms and a view of Tokyo Tower. I will post pictures when we are moved in and settled, but I think you should come see it for yourself! Our place is about two blocks from the boys' school and about a 10-15 minute bike ride or a 10 minute train ride to Joe's work. It is also only a block and a half from the nearest train station, and from there we can go virtually anywhere in Tokyo in minutes.
10. Laura, what will you do there?
• Well, one of my goals is to get lost. Preferably without the children in tow, that is. I want to explore everything that Tokyo has to offer. I want to stay busy enough to not miss my peeps too, too much. I won't have a visa, at least not at first, so I won't be able to work but just like here in Denver, my job is to take care of my little dudes (and my big dude). I am looking forward to cooking and eating how the Japanese do (or not cooking, in the case of sushi) and meeting interesting people. We are also planning on traveling across the country of Japan (mostly by way of the amazingly fast Shinkansen, or Bullet Train) as well as South Korea and Hong Kong, to name a few. I will also continue to foster my passion for letter writing to my many pen pals across the world. I am hoping to pick up a few more hobbies during our time there, but I am unsure what those might be yet!
11. You said something about a moving truck... Don't you still have time before you leave to pack and move?

• Most of our belongings must be shipped to Tokyo via boat. It takes about 6-7 weeks for said boat to get from LA to Tokyo so we had to pack everything up and get it loaded up so we can have our things soon after arriving there. With a move date of March 30th, we are still going to beat our belongings there by about two weeks! We left enough items out to live with for a month but most of our kitchen items, clothes, shoes, furniture, etc., are en route to Tokyo. (Thank goodness for our friends who are lending us kitchen items and having us over for dinner between now and the end of the month!) We do get an additional 250lbs to air mail right before we leave. Even that takes 7-10 days to arrive in Tokyo though, so we will be living out of suitcases for awhile here and awhile there!

Did I miss anything?

Thank you so much for reading. I love you.

XOL