Cherry Blossom Adventures

Yes it has begun. Since I have now finished up work it means that I need to spend the next two weeks cleaning up our apartment and packing everything into boxes. Packing is by far the worst part of moving….but when you are moving overseas but know you are coming back it is even more difficult. I quite like unpacking too but I won`t technically be able to do it for more than a year! So where is the joy in packing?

I have to pack according to three (sometimes four) categories. One, stuff we want to take to Australia (Then this has two sections too- take on board and sending), chucking out/dumping and leaving in Japan. Oh not to mention the fact I am packing up a couple of boxes for cat of stuff we don`t need that she can have (So far most of this has come out of the drugs drawer under our bed….. I have numerous over the counter medicine from Australia and here….Oh and clothes and handbags etc that I can`t take with me that she can have!). All of the stuff we are leaving in Japan is going to one of two place. Most of it is going to Shumpei`s parents place somewhere on their second floor and some of it is going to Cat (Mainly big stuff like our fridge, coffee maker, washing machine, oven etc- She will keep it for the year cos she has just moved and doesn`t have any of those things)

It would be different if we were moving to Australia for good. I could just do a good clean out, sell off our big stuff and then send everything else. But nope, we have to make it difficult by only going for a year. Plus, we will live with dad and he has a fully furnished house.

Well moving date is set to the 27th of April….then I will be out in Chiba for two weeks until I leave on the 13th of May. Shumpei will be here until sometime mid July (Which means I have to pack the stuff he will need between now and then into separate boxes….)….So I now have less than two weeks to get everything in order. At the moment I am trying to tackle one big task a day (although I can`t really pack much into actual boxes yet cos we still need it) and yesterday that was the closet……two full garbage bags later or stuff to dump and two bags for charity later, three coffees and two and a half hours later I was done. It felt good to clean it all out…..I realized, yet again, that I have way to many clothes. Even what is left in there now can`t all be taken to Australia. I packed up our winter coats because we won`t be needing them in Brisbane and even packed away some clothes that are too small now but that I hope to fit into again one day.

Now, I don`t know what to do with the clothes that I want to give to charity. Any ideas from those living in Japan? Giving stuff away in Japan is actually a hard task….All of the clothes are clean and in fairly good condition and I am sure that somebody could get good use out of them. If I can`t give them to a charity of some sort I will have to dump them which seems like such a waste.

Oh and another question. I have an old laptop (4 yrs old) which still works except if you wanted to use it you`d have to plug in a keyboard because the keyboard doesn`t work anymore…..how do you dispose of these in Japan? Can you get like a 100 dollar cash back for the parts somewhere or something like that?

OK, I better go do today`s task. Which is clean out the drawers under the bed…..These drawers are used for everything we don`t know what to do with like manuals, bits of paper, shumpei`s numerous soccer clothes (WHICH HE NEVER USES…..He only uses the same two uniforms every time yet he has like a million others under the bed)……..Wish me luck!

Ps: Shun and I also packed up all the books and manga we didn`t need over the weekend because the book off people came yesterday. 260 books and manga later…..I think we read too much.

Popularity: 45% [?]

A couple of posts ago I asked my readers to ask questions if they had any…..I only received a couple but figured I would answer them in this post….

Mandy asked…What do you consider to be the three most significant days of your life?

Um I am really bad with these types of questions…because generally I have no idea. But probably the day I started highschool, the day I arrived in Japan for the first time and the day I met Shumpei. Just because they all made me the person I am now I guess….By the time I started highschool I was so ready for it…I needed to be in highschool and after coming from a very small Catholic primary school it was all so different. The day I arrived in Japan because obviously if I had never come to Japan on exchange that year then I never would of learnt to speak Japanese, make so many friends here and decided to come back. I say the day I met Shumpei is significant because he is the man I am going to marry!

Oh and meeting you Mandy when we were 4 as well!!! hehehe!

Sara asked… Kind of a geek questions but what manga do you have?

Actually I have no manga. I never really got into the manga craze but I once read Nana (like the first 2) and another one which I think was called Peach Girl. I am more of a Japanese drama girl….my favourites being Orange Days, Boku dake no madonna, Regatta and a recent drama called Puropozo Daisakusen!

Nay asked... Just to help you out with your blog posts, here is a question from me!
Would you say that your move back to Australia is filled more with excitement of going home, or sadness for leaving Japan? How is Shun feeling about coming to Australia for 1 year, giving up his job, losing his spot in the “Japanese job market” etc?

I think that my move back to Australia is filled with both excitement and sadness…I will only be gone a year though and I know Japan will still be here when I get back. I am a little nervous about going home….for me as well as Shumpei. I am nervous for myself because it is has been 2 and a half years since I lived back in Australia and even then I was only there for 10 months while I finished uni….most of my close friends are here in Japan and most of my close friends in Australia are no longer in Brisbane bar a couple! So that will be difficult because I have such a great support network of friends here in Tokyo who I will miss so much. But my family is in Australia and I need to be with them for awhile. I am nervous for myself also because I will need to find work and I know how stressful that can be! I am nervous for Shumpei because he is leaving his job and his friends and family behind and his motivation to do this is me….that is a lot to bear. As most of you know Shumpei`s English is not great and while it is getting better all the time he can`t really hold a conversation with someone that doesn`t understand Japanese…while he understands English quite well now he finds it very difficult to respond in English. I am hoping this will get better while we are in Australia.

It took Shumpei a very long time to decide to come with me. I had decided that I would be going back for six months whether or not he came with me or not because I needed to be with my family and he understood that. I gave him the choice and said that he could come of course….when he finally told me he was coming I cried. He had been thinking about it for about three months already and I really thought he wouldn`t come. As for giving up his job I think this is what he had to think about most. As some of you know the job market here is weird….people do not change jobs willy nilly and most stay with the same company for life. While this is changing a lot more now it is almost unheard of for someone to leave a job unless they already have a job lined up. Shun`s company has actually told him that he might be able to come back to his old job after 1 year….

I think the pressure from his family about leaving his job was more the problem that his own feelings about it.

Christelle asked …I’d love to hear more about your wedding plans, I know you said you couldn’t think about much before going to Australia, but you must have some image in your mind? Traditional wedding? Garden wedding? His family going to Australia for the ceremony? Big? Small?

When people ask me about my wedding plans I never know what to say because basically I haven`t done any. I never grew up thinking `OMG at my wedding I want to do this this and this` In fact I had never really given it much thought. But we have told quite a few people we are engaged and I am ultimately always asked the `What will you do for your wedding` question.

So far we have booked a venue…I wanted a place where we could have the ceremony and reception at the same place because we will have international guests most of which would not have transport to different venues. I also wanted it to be fairly local to the area that my parents live so my mum helped me book a place that had received some good reviews and had recently been done-up. We will be having a garden wedding and the reception in one of the function wedding rooms on site. The best thing is that this place also has a motel on the grounds so international guests will have a place (super close!) to stay!!! While I am Catholic, I never really had this huge desire to get married in a church and I quite like the idea of a garden wedding!

I have asked three friends to be bridesmaids! Catherine (who is here in Tokyo), a highschool friend Clare (who lives in Mt Isa for work) and Mandy (who reads and comments on my blog) who is my best friend from primary school and she lives in London. So yes my bridesmaids live in three different countries and none of them live in Brisbane where the wedding will be (Although Mandy and Clare are from Brisbane originally!) Shumpei has asked our friend James to be best man because we thought it would be best to ask someone that spoke English! hehe….It is great because James speaks Japanese fluently also! While James is actually originally my friend him and Shun have gotten really close and it was Shumpei who suggested we ask James (Although Shumpei had no idea what a best man was as the time) Shumpei has mentioned to a couple of his friends that he will need two more friends to be groomsmen it is something we can`t really decide right now because we are not exactly sure who is coming but I think he will ask two of his university friends! Having all of the wedding party so far away will make dress fittings for bridesmaids dresses a nightmare!

As for a theme, I am actually going to steal Nay`s idea (Don`t worry I asked her) and have a cherry blossom theme…as you can tell from my blog I love them!). While the wedding is in Australia Shumpei and I met in Japan, he is Japanese and ultimately we will be living here so it is very important for me to include something from Japan. I am not exactly sure how I will work it in but am thinking of cherry blossom invitations, cake, favors and maybe some decorations! Not really sure yet though and will have to wait til I get back to Australia before I decide anything for sure. I have also heard of a tradition they do in hawaii where they fold 1001 cranes which grants you happiness in your marriage. I like this because origami cranes are Japanese and I could give some to the guests etc but again not really sure about this.

I have no idea about colours yet though, this part is difficult as I love pink! and would love my bridesmaids to wear pink and for me to have pink flowers etc but I am not 100% sure yet. So maybe pink, silver and white for colours….

The wedding is not going to be very big. Maybe about 50 people. I thought less at first but I think a lot of Shumpei and my friends here in Japan might actually make it over for the wedding which would be fantastic. Obviously Cat and James are definitely coming but some other friends have said they would love to also!!! Shun`s parents are coming and maybe his grandmother and brother too!

The next question I am sure will be about the dress but this is something I really do have no idea about!

Because we will be having the ceremony in Australia a lot of people have asked whether we will be doing a ceremony in Japan also and at this stage the answer is no. But when we return we will have a ni ji kai for our friends and probably some kind of dinner with Shumpei`s extended family!

Popularity: 56% [?]

I finished up work yesterday and I have mixed feelings…On one hand the job of late had been exhausting me and I had been quite sick on and off for awhile and until recently the school was understaffed (I thought anyway)…I have had enough of been a teacher for awhile (I do know that when I return to Japan that I will probably return to being a kindergarten teacher as job opportunities for foreigners without level 1 of the proficiency exam are few and far between)….I think teaching kids so young is a very physically demanding job (I don`t know how mothers do it full-time…I guess they are super glad there are kindergartens to send them to!) and I have mentioned here before that it was starting to make me feel a little bit like I would make a very bad mother!On the other hand, I love my kids at school, some of them have been there since I started 18 months ago and I have watched them grow, develop and change!

I only cried once, when I was saying goodbye to Shion (Who drew the picture below)….I met him when he had just turned 4 and now is already 5 and a half….He is actually one of the kids that cause the most trouble for me but he is also one of my favourites! He hugged me and said ` I will miss you, please come to my house for dinner when you come back to Japan`…..

I received many gifts and letters from my students, one of my favourites was this… I love the bow in my hair! And the random strawberry!

It was sad to say goodbye but I am happy also. I am ready to move on…..

Popularity: 61% [?]

Dear Cherry Blossom Advenures readers…

It is hard to believe that a week has passed between posts…..so much has happened, stuff I will eventually blog about I am sure! Apparently this is the month of letters (If you are participating in NABLOPOMO) so I thought it was time I wrote a quick letter to you all!

Lets see. This Friday I finish up work at my current job….after 18 months.

I have already knocked a couple of things off my 101 things in 1001 days list but info on that will also come in another post. I am supposed to do a update at the end of the month and I hope to have at least another couple of things crossed off! Including actually adding a page to my blog with the list!

I am up to N in my encylopedia of me and I am still not sure what I will write about. N is for Names perhaps? Or maybe N for Nancy Drew……

I am spending way to much time on the internet reading blogs, playing around on entrecard and writing emails but not nearly enough time writing on my blog…..It is hard to beleive that after posting for 3 days in a row last week I thought I might be able to do NABLOPOMO this month…..and then a week went by between posts so I guess I am not ready for that yet!

We need to be out of our apartment by April 27th….I have not yet done any packing but I will eventually get to it…I have done some cleaning though and have a man coming to pick up all our books and manga on Monday to take to book off. I have also begun to clean out my closet but it is a bigger job that I first thought! I will also be leaving Japan in just over a month….This is even harder to believe and I know it really hasn`t sunk in.

You know what also hasn`t really sunk in yet? The fact that I am getting married next May (The 9th actually!)….so far I have booked a venue and that is it. I have just kind of given up on doing anything until I get back to Australia! Although Shun and I did go look at engagement rings on the weekend……

I sprained my ankle last week although it is healing ok but still a bit bruised and swollen. Get this I did it by WALKING in my apartment…..yep to the bathroom. I am such a klutz.

I am the heaviest I have ever been and that is depressing…..I know I could start doing something about it now but have decided to start afresh the day I arrive back in Australia! Will be dieting with my mum and exercising with my dad I think! He walks everyday and wants to get a puppy so that will be our motivation. Also want to get a hoop!

I am going to Kobe in a couple of weeks to meet up with Sara which is super exciting and I can not wait! I will also get to go to Nara while I am down that way and that is also awesome since I have always wanted to go!

Oh last week on my week off I went to Disney Sea…another post perhaps?! Photos also? I also did Hanami on Saturday with Shun, Sumi, Junni and James and it was a random day but so much fun! We had no plans when we woke up that morning but the day turned out brilliantly!

I revised my resume for the first time in almost 2 years……I wasn`t even sure if resumes were still done the same way.

I signed up for entrecard….am already slightly addicted although don`t think it does anything for the traffic of my site but have already discovered some other great blogs! Although this isn`t helping my internet addiction at all because it just means I spend more time on the net reading blogs and stuff than I do doing stuff on my own blog or stuff like packing! Or even reading……I feel like I haven`t done nearly enough reading of actual books lately!

Now over to you readers, do you have any questions for me? You can ask me anything and I will try my best to answer! I have seen a couple of bloggers open up comments to their readers asking the same question `Do you have any questions` and it seems like fun. So fire away….

Hope you are all having a good week,

Love Lulu xoxoxoxo

ps: I just read the above…..talk about random. I do believe a letter is incomplete with a post script.

Popularity: 57% [?]

Sakura season is now over and I won`t be here for it next year which makes me a little sad….2010 is going to be a a big hanami year I think!

Popularity: 100% [?]

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)

*************************************************************************************

M is for mother…

I don`t write a whole lot about my family on my blog although in the past I have written posts about my dad and also my grandmother in New Zealand but as I looked though my archives recently I realized I have never really written much about my mum.

A lot of the blogs I read are by women, in particular mothers or those already planning their first children. In fact Sarah has written about this recently which started a discussion between Nay, Sarah and I on our blogs and also on facebook because we will probably be having children around similar times, and in Japan to boot! Actually I think they will both have babies by the time I get around to even getting pregnant. So the discussion of what it is to be a mother has come up a lot….some people have talked about how they are not sure if they would make good mothers or not due to their own experiences with their own mothers.

I am extremely lucky, and I don`t say it enough, that I have a terrific mother. While we have had our ups and downs over the years (as most mothers and daughters do) we are at the point in our lives now where we truly are great friends…I am old enough now to respect her in the way I should for all she has done for me! Her and my father raised us well and a lot of what she instilled in me as a kid I know that I am going to want to instill in my own children. Some very important lessons she taught me is that I could do whatever I wanted to do (My parents have always been very supportive of my decisions and what I have wanted to do with my life) and that I should always treat people the way I want to be treated.

My mother and I are very similar (which is why we often clashed when I was in my teens) and I can see myself in a lot of her (and I am sure she can see a lot of me in her). Looking at photos of my mother as a child is often like looking into a mirror….My favourite photo of my mother is of her in a yellow bikini with her hair in pigtails and she is about 18 or 19 and she had just moved to Australia from New Zealand (All by herself I might add). I like it because she looks so happy and because it looks so much like me but with long hair! Our personalities are also very similar also….we are both highly emotional! And we both tend to think we are always right! We are also very organized….I definitely get my organizational skills from my mother!

I love my mum and I miss not been around her all the time (Although I think we both know that we could never live together again for long periods of time….). We speak on the phone twice a week or so, she reads my blog and we email occassionly. The year I was on exchange in Japan we emailed almost everyday and she printed out every email I wrote and gave them to me when I got back to Australia…..It is kind of like a journal of what I did that year!

The job I am currently in, teaching, sometimes makes me think I would make a terrible mother. I get stressed out and lose my patience when patience is something a teacher really really needs. It is one of the reasons I am leaving early to go home in May instead of the original plan of July. I need a break from teaching, I need to figure out what I want to do and I need to spend some time with my own family. I think teaching at my current school for 18 months has helped me realize the things I need to work on before I become a mother also….patience been one of them! But it also has taught me a lot…it has taught me to try to help kids reach their full ability without crowding them too much and also that some kids are naughty and that giving them time-out or getting angry is not always going to be the way to handle it…. In fact sometimes they act out because all the need is a hug! Sometimes I still think I won`t make a very good mother and I had this discussion with my school owner about a month ago and she told me she thought I would make a great mother. I am not so sure, but I hope so! I think at this stage in my life I am still too selfish to be a good mum…

I want to be a mother one day. Shumpei would be happy to have kids as soon as we are married (actually I think he would be quite happy if I was to get pregnant now) but I have told him that we need to be more realistic. We need to come back to Japan, set ourselves back up here with jobs and start saving before we can have a baby. Having a baby here costs anywhere between $4000-$10,000 dollars and while you get something similar to the Australian baby bonus it usually isn`t enough to even cover half of the medical costs (Pregnancy is not covered under National Health Insurance from what I can understand…which sucks since that is what I have) and that is just to have the baby! After the baby comes or even before there are a lot of other things that you need to think about that are going to cost money! I have promised that as long as we are in a fairly secure place financially then we can start trying for a baby before he turns 30 (May 2011).

I want to be a mother. I see so many people around with their children and I read so many blogs of those who have babies and children and I am a little clucky I suppose. There is so much I want to teach my child (children) and so much I want to do with them. I have always wanted a boy and a girl, like my family, but I know I will be happy either way. Shumpei and I are thinking about having two kids….

I think I am extremely lucky to have had my mother as a role model! Sure I am sure she made mistakes, but I turned out ok and if I can give as much love to my child as my mother has given to me and continues to give to me then I think my children are going to be pretty damn lucky!

Thanks mama, for everything! I love you lots!

xoxo

Popularity: 46% [?]

I don`t think I can be wordless…Trish suggested I sign up for Wordless Wednesday but I posted my favourite photos yesterday but here is another one that I quite liked…I am really really enjoying taking photos recently…

Popularity: 36% [?]

It`s the season of cherry blossoms, one of my favourite times of the year in Japan. I take way to many photos but taking photos of sakura is addictive! I have finally uploaded some from the past week or so!!!

The Cherry blossom (Sakura) and hanami (Flower viewing) culture of Japan only comes around once a year, and only for a very short time. It is almost always over within two weeks, which is a shame but it also makes it that much more special!
Last week I spent a lot of time in Inokashira Park with the Spring School kids having picnics….while they were eating lunch it was a good chance to take a couple of photos! The back of Inokashira Park has some great pink sakura!!! Even on the weekdays last week, when the weather was brilliant (warm and sunny), a lot of mums were out with their kids in groups having hanami picnics!! Inokashira is a beautiful park anytime of the year but it comes alive during this season! I also went through the park after the rain yesterday because I had had a private lesson in that area. All the photos from Inokashira park are here but here are a couple of my favourites….

On Saturday I went to Yoyogi Park for Hanami with Catherine, Sumi and some other friends! We kind of decided to go pretty last minute and I mailed around to see who would be interested but most people already had plans, work or other trips but Sumi had decided to have hanami last minute with some friends too so we merged and met up at Yoyogi for some wine, beer, snacks and flower viewing! Luckily the weather on Saturday was actually pretty nice…little windy but still great hanami weather (Better than last year when I went…IT WAS FREEZING!). It was nice to pack a picnic basket, a picnic sheet and head to the park…..Crowded as expected but we managed to find a nice spot!

Photos from the day were here but again here a few of my favourites!

I won`t be around for sakura season next year but will definitely be back in 2010! There are still some sakura left to be seen this year…hoping to go somewhere tomorrow that I haven`t been to before perhaps. Maybe Ueno or maybe near the river in Iidabashi since I have heard it is beautiful and have been past on the train before during sakura season!

Popularity: 20% [?]