Yochien is 5 days a week- usually with 5 or 5.5 hours a day with a shorter day one day a week- Wednesdays in most schools I think. The reason we have considered keeping Noah at home another year is 1. Language development in English and 2. It might be easier to start the boys at the same time seeing as they are only one school year apart and I think Shion would be so bored if Noah went to school the year ahead of him. I worry that it might be hard for Noah to adjust though if all of the other kids have already been there for a year and also because at least at the moment his English understanding skills definitely outweighs his Japanese understanding.  Anyway we have until October of this year to decide.

Yochien forms are released October 15th and applications are accepted 1st of November. Some really really popular places have parents lining up at 3am to get forms and hand them back in. Insane! It is just the general enrollment forms that are released those days {for the nensho, nenchu, nencho programs}

Anyway, today I walked about 2km to a yochien that I had heard good things about thinking I might get some information about their “play” program. Lots of yochiens now have play programs for kids the year before they would enter yochien {so they have to be 2 by April and then start in April or May}. Anyway this yochien is relatively new but from the local mothers I had heard it was supposed to be good although I do not know anyone that actually sends their kids there. It was up a giant hill and I pushed the double pram up the hill so it was my exercise for the day. In hindsight I probably should of just rung them {or bothered to read their website instead of just looking at the pictures!} but hey, at least I did manage to get some exercise.

Noah & Shion are already down to go to play at one yochien from this year starting in April- it is about 500m away.  I have been there a couple of times and – the style is more “us” and I like that it has a montessori feel to it in many aspects. They also do not focus so much on academics but instead on play/leaning to do things by themselves {ie, life skills} and lots of outdoor and music time. Art & craft time also seems to be self directed in that they will make something but there is no “You must make this craft to look like this”.

The really close one to me is also pretty relaxed but to be honest I just don`t seem to like it as much and it might be a bit TOO close. It is less than 50m from our new house….They can also go to this local yochien for “play” as well as it is not so popular and they have several “play” classes. The yochien that is closest to my house is where my husband and his brother went.

Anyway I have heard lots of things from local mothers and mums that go to my rhythmic class. It seems that the one I visited today is quite popular and two others were mentioned as well- neither of which appealed to me because of their academic focus {and also cost. One of them is insane. It is contacted to the private school and university. Beautiful grounds and not so far away but I had heard that if you don`t go to “play” then you DEFINITELY can`t get in and the play application forms were due last year anyway}. The rhthmic mothers asked me recently which places I had the boys down for “play” and I said I hadn`t decided yet whether we would do any play or which yochien I might send them too. I think they were a bit shocked!

Turns out the place I went to today is also not accepting more “play” applications. They closed them last year in November as well. Who knew it could be so competitive? Or that you had to book six months in advance.

I have applications for one other place relatively close to me. I am not sure if we really want to do “play” at another place or not though. It is all so confusing! Even though “play” only happens once or twice a month I have rhythmic class with Noah and work at least one weekday a week as well as English playgroup once a month. I think it will be too much for me and for the boys!

Apparently if you want to send the kids to private elementary school then yochien can be a big deal and make or break for some places. We will be sending the kids to the local public elementary school so we have no problems there- they have to accept them . It does seem that in this area though that 50% of the mums I meet plan to send their kids to ritzy private elementary schools. I was asked recently if I was worried they wouldn`t be able to get into private junior high and high school if I didn`t send them to private elementary as well….must be getting more competitive. Shun & his brother went to private school from junior high even though they went to the local elementary school and they both got into private universities too. We would like to send the boys to private school from junior high but we are not 100% sure of that yet or anything {and have absolutely NO IDEA where!}

Anyone in Japan want to share their yochien experience? What about others in other countries- is it similar where you are?

Okay you didn`t really think that was all did you? You all know how much I talk.

I will be without the internet for a bit- probably til end of next week although Shun said someone is supposed to come to the new place on Tuesday I have my suspicions he could be telling me fibs to make me feel better ( and get me off his back) as he left contacting the internet company to the last minute. Fine for him, he can use the net at work- I will only have my phone to use.

We both had things we had to do before the move- I wrote his things on a list and stuck it to his computer (and I was nice about it. I wrote the list in English and then wrote notes in Japanese)- because without a doubt he sits in front of the computer everyday. I had to pack everything up (80 boxes done…..I ran out of boxes now though and still not completely packed. And yes, we move tomorrow), go to the city hall to do some paperwork, bring paperwork home to get hub to fill some of it in, then take it back, with screaming kids in tow, hand in notice to our current apartment and basically remind my husband to do all of his tasks over and over again(Cancel gas, electricity, water and internet and make sure we would have all those things at the new place. He also had to decide on a moving company but in the end we went with the people we used last time and they came and gave us an estimate and we took it).

Oh yeah and I haven`t redirected our mail yet- I might send hub to do that tomorrow since he is off work anyway. Someone told me it is just a matter of filling in some paperwork. I hope that is all!

I hate moving. Can`t believe we will have to do it all again in a years time once the house is built.

So yeah, probably won`t be blogging much or around online the next week or so. Tragic for you all I know.

At about 10am this morning I realized today was a non-burnable rubbish day (They come only once a month) and I panicked as I had quite a bit to throw out and thought they might have already come and got it. Put Shion in the sling, put Noah`s shoes on and walked downstairs with the boys to ask the building manager if it was today and if it was too late and he said I was in luck as they usually come around 12. I raced back upstairs (with a screaming Noah as he thought we were going to the park I think) and Shion had fallen asleep so I put him in Noah`s cot near the back window, opened the window and went back outside to our storage room (about 20m away from our apartment door) which is where I had our non burnable rubbish stored.

Noah came with me and was still grizzling about the fact he couldn`t “play”. Tried to pack everything into the special red bags (Yes, special bags for different rubbish) and then put most of it in a large bag to carry downstairs. Ran back, checked on Shion, he was still sleeping, so  took Noah and went downstairs to chuck out the rubbish.

Phew, made it. Rubbish was out! Picked up Noah (he had been walking beside me and holding my hand) and ran back to the elevator and came upstairs.

There was a lady at our door ringing the doorbell…she asked if I was “….-san” (my surname) and I said yes and she explained she was from the city health centre.

Some of you may remember the visit I got when Noah was 5 months old- I wrote about it here. This ended with my husband telling the city health centre and nurses that they were not to drop by unannounced and that if they had any questions about our child (it was just Noah then) that they could ring his mobile. Anything they needed to give us they could send.

When Shion was born but still in the hospital I got a call when he was about 5 weeks old saying that they were from the city health centre and wanted to pop in- I told them that I wasn`t home and that the baby was still in the hospital and that even after we got home I would not like them to visit thank you very much. I also told them that all phone calls were supposed to go to my husband and not me and I would prefer if they did not contact me again.

I hadn`t heard anything since- I refuse to do any city health checks or cattle calls (except Polio as the only way the boys can get this is through the city health center on specialized days throughout the year) and I, under no circumstances, was going to let any city official in my apartment again.

Anyway back to the nurse that was visiting- she said she was here to see Shion and then looked at Noah and asked me “Where is the younger baby” and I replied “He is inside sleeping, we are moving, I had to take the garbage out as no one else is home to do it” I then continued with “I am sorry you wasted your time, you can not come in, I have not had good experiences with the city health centre in the past and I was under the impression that nobody would be dropping by to visit us again. You really should of rung my husband” and I opened our door to go in and she said “Oh, can you bring him to the door?” and I said “No, I told you he is sleeping” and she said “Have you been doing his health checks and immunizations? How much does he weigh” and I said “Yes, he is almost 6kg. Now I am very busy please leave” and I closed the door.

I was incredibly rude. I know I was rude but frankly I don`t care.

It probably did not look good that I had left Shion asleep in the apartment by himself for 2 minutes while I dashed down to take out the garbage but oh well.

I wonder if my husband will be receiving a call about this….

Several weeks ago I wrote about an issue I was having with the city government town nurse and also the issues I was having with the clinic I had been going to when sick and where I had been taking Noah for his immunizations. I was unhappy with the clinic in general even before these issues came up so I was on the hunt for a new one.

Shun had already contacted a different clinic (one that was recommended to me by a Japanese friend in the area) and scheduled Noah`s next immunization but late last week I got another throat infection and I knew it wasn`t going to go away without antibiotics so I made an appointment for Saturday morning.

I had the same thing about 2.5 months ago and the doctor I went to said it was strep. I am not sure if it was or not though since they didn`t take a swab to test it or anything. It came back though so off to the doctors I went. This time to inspect the new clinic.

Overall I was very happy. Although I did have the song “Witch doctor” in my head the entire time.

Shun came with me and he had Noah in the carrier but he spent most of the time outside walking around because we didn`t want Noah to get sick from others in the waiting room (all kids by the way, I was the only adult patient- I guess they don`t see many adults either because when they called me in they called me by my surname then first name-chan as opposed to -san and then the receptionist yelled at the nurse- “no, no, m***-san, m***san” which was kind of funny.

The doctor I saw was very nice. He took a look at my throat and said “sugoi” (WOW!) and claimed it the worst throat infection he had ever seen. He even called in the other doctor, an older doctor (maybe in his late 50s), to have a look too. Kind of weird because it is not even the sorest throat I have had but anyway- It is pretty sore though and very red with white spots all over it (so gross!). Anyway they dosed me up on some drugs and said that since I had been sick a couple times since Noah was born that I might be lacking vitamins because I am breastfeeding so recommended I start taking some vitamins of mainly vitamin c and b. This is the second throat infection I have had and I have also had 2 or 3 colds?

The doctor asked if I had stopped eating because my throat was so sore and I said it took more than a sore throat to stop me eating. If only!!! I wish I was one of those people that when sick lost appetite and didn`t eat- I would be so skinny of that was the case! Instead I think I might even eat MORE when I am sick.

Both doctors seemed lovely, and the nurse on staff that day was a younger lady (not like the old nosy biddies at my other clinic!) and the receptionists seemed nice too. It was a pretty small place and packed on Sunday and I waited for 40 minutes to be seen. I had an appointment though and most others who arrived before me were still waiting when I left because those with appointments get seen first.

I think taking Noah there for his immunizations and eczema will be fine. And of course any other time he get sick or needs to see the doctor.

I was wondering though, what you used to get when you went to the doctors as a kid? We always got jelly beans. This clinic gives out stickers to the kids- INCLUDING keroppi stickers. I love keroppi!!! I kind of wanted to ask for some for myself…

I had a nurse visit when Noah was about 2 months old- she talked me through the immunization processes, dropped off some information and a note for Shun to read and weighed Noah to make sure he was getting big enough I guess. The one that came then was super nice and friendly and we had no issues at all.

The one on Friday however came to check on me and Noah to make sure we were coping okay and I get the feeling she was also checking that I wasn`t neglecting Noah. She arrived unannounced on Friday afternoon while Noah was napping.

At first I didn`t really think much of it- I thought perhaps there was supposed to be a second visit although I do remember telling the nurse that had come previously that next time it would be better if someone RANG before just showing up.

A couple of weeks back I had a 24 hour stomach bug and then a couple days after that I got a cold- the cold wasn`t that bad at first but got worse and I went to the doctors to get some meds in the hope it would knock it on its head. The doctor`s surgery on the day I went was packed, I didn`t have an appointment and it was so hot inside the waiting room. After 90 minutes I was still waiting to see a doctor and I felt like crap and just wanted to go home and lie down. I was getting stressed out from waiting so I went up to ask how much longer it would be and I got a bit dizzy and fainted (although it was a weird kind of faint because I could still hear all that was going on and I was aware of what was happening- not like other times I have fainted). I was holding Noah when this happened but I sort of crumpled downwards and Noah didn`t hit himself on anything. They took me to the back room and I waited a further 20 minutes or so before seeing the doctor.

I was pissed off by this time. I just wanted to go home and I was certain Noah was going to get sick now because we had been waiting so long in a room full of sick people and I was beginning to wish I hadn`t come at all. Anyway- I saw the doctor, he gave me some medicine, and I paid the bill and left.

Well someone at the clinic contacted the city nurse people and told them I was not coping with taking care of Noah. Apparently.

Yeah- there is no doctor patient confidentiality in this country. But that is a whole different story.

So yeah, the city nurse came.

She asked me all these questions about whether I was sleeping, whether I was okay taking care of Noah by myself and also some weird questions about who bathed him (I think she was hinting at the fact I might try to drown him if I was upset????) and what time Shun was coming home and whether he helped out. Also she commented that I probably didn`t have much support because I lived far from my family and asked whether Shun`s family was close and whether I had friends I could talk too.

Then get this, she asked me if I was taking my medication for depression and coping okay. So yeah, whoever rang from the clinic revealed my history with depression, knew I was on medication and told the city nurse people. Not that I hide this fact but seriously….

I suspect it was one of the nurses from my clinic- I doubt it was the doctor but still. At this point Noah woke up from his nap and he was happy as larry to see we had a visitor and was all smily and what not but he was due for a feed and I was so pissed off by this time I just wanted this lady to leave so I told her he was due for a feed (which was true) and stood up indicating that I wanted her to leave now.

She told me that someone from the clinic had contacted them and advised that they should come and check on me. Can you believe that? They said I had seemed stressed and also very tired.

Um yeah I was stressed when I was waiting at the clinic for almost 2 hours because I was sick, tired and looking after a baby. What do they expect?

Needless to say but we will be finding a new clinic to go to.

NOTE: I wanted to use much stronger language when writing this post but I try not to swear too much on my blog. But yeah, imagine that I was using the F word more than a couple times throughout! I was just sooooooooo angry and I still am. I realize that whoever called was concerned for me or for Noah but they should of spoken to me about it and asked if I wanted them to contact someone to come visit with me (I would of said no) but I am more pissed off about the fact that they just reveal any medical history they want and also that they thought I was neglecting Noah or that I wasn`t coping with raising him. The nurse also kept writing stuff down in her notebook and I do wonder what happens with those notes? She did say that he seemed very genki when she saw him- I am not sure what she expected?

I will not be letting any more city employee`s into my house either.

I didn`t realize that Children`s Day was celebrated in a lot of different countries- it is of course on different days but it was interesting to read that Korea celebrates on the same day as Japan (Today, May 5) and that also June 1st is another date that pops up for a lot of different countries Children`s Day. Even Australia has one- they celebrate the universal Children`s Day on November 20! It is amazing what Wikipedia can teach you!

We didn`t do anything special for Noah`s first Children`s Day really since now Shun has the cold that I had late last week and over the weekend. Although we celebrated with Shun`s family just over a week ago by going out for lunch (and Noah received money from his grandparents and also gifts from BIL/SIL). Several weeks ago his great grandmother also came over the house with Jiji (grandad) to set up some Children`s Day Children`s Day statues (not sure what you would call them- symbols I guess) including the famous kabuto (helmet). These were things she bought for Shun & his brother when they were younger so they are over 30 years old. We can keep them out at the moment since Noah is not really mobile but next year I think we will just set them up at Shun`s parents house- or maybe here but in the other room so that I could keep a toddler from climbing over them!

We also bought and set up koinobori (flying carp) a couple of weeks ago- we hung them inside up until today since we are not technically supposed to hang anything off our balcony. Shun moved them outside though just for today.

It is a bit of a shame we couldn`t really spend the day outside today since the weather was awesome. Maybe next year we will have a kodomo no hi (this is what the day is called in Japanese) picnic or BBQ!

For those that don`t know Children`s Day (which was originally known as Boy`s Day since Japanese girls have hinamatsuri or Doll`s Festival in March- it was changed to Children`s Day after WW2) is a day in which we celebrate children`s happiness and respect their different personalities. It is the last day of the Golden Week holiday as well. We celebrated the day by cleaning up lots of Noah`s drool which is in abundance, STILL!

Thanks to everyone who responded with a comment on the last post also. Was interested to see what kinds of things were in your first posts, who commented and get to know more about why you blog! Was lovely to come home from our trip (which I will try and post about soon) and be able to read so many comments.

We went to Musashigawa-beya which was about a 10 minute walk from Uguisudani station on the Yamanote line. I rang the day before and they explained all the rules so that I could relay them to Paul & Gem. We walked there in the morning (after stopping at the koban to ask for directions), arriving just before 8:30am.

They thought it was brilliant!!! I saw the last bit of the practice when I came back with Noah and then we had our photo taken with one of the stables top sumo`s (whose name I do not know!)

The rest of the day was spent in Ueno and Akihabara before having a super early (granny time) dinner just after 5pm at a local izakaya.

It was so nice having my brother and Gem in Japan- I really miss them already. I think Noah misses the attention too (especially after the weekend where he had daddy on call all the time!) because he has been super clingy these last couple of days. Not sure if it is a stage or not…

One of my favourite photos of my brother and Noah while they were in Japan

We left just after 8am and by the time we got home it was already after 8pm so it was a LONG day! It was lots of fun though.

We caught the shinkansen from Tokyo station to Odawara station where we bought our Hakone Free Passes (which allows you to use all of the buses/trains/gondolas/pirate boats/cable cars. Yes, we caught ALL of those things as well as the shinkansen on Saturday!!!

We went from Odawara station to Hakone Yumoto station and then we hopped on a bus which took us to Moto-Hakone where we could see Lake Ashi and also part of Hakone Shrine. Sometimes you can see a view of Mt Fuji from there but unfortunately the day was too cloudy for this and we didn`t actually see Mt Fuji at all (much to Gemma`s disappointment- but I have since heard she has seen Geisha/Maiko  in Kyoto so all is right again with her!!!)…Oh it was also FREEZING! About 1 degree although I think it may have been about 0 degrees at another point in the day!!

You can see part of Hakone Shrine in the background- the red torii (gate) is in the water.

Next we caught a pirate boat across Lake Ashi to Togendai port. It was such a cold and cloudy day that we stayed inside the boat but Paul & Gem went up the top of the boat to get a better look!!! At Togendai before we headed up the mountain (?) on the ropeway we grabbed some lunch- by this stage Noah had had enough of the carrier anyway so it was good to get him out so he could have a bit of a break. I much prefer him in a pram but I knew we would be on and off buses/trains and what not all day that the carrier seemed better- I think he may still be a little small for the ergo though (and he hates the infant insert) so later on in the day i swapped him to another carrier (that criss crosses across my back)- while I said he was a trooper all day, and he was, he was pretty much grumpy, hungry or sleeping the whole time!

He was happy at lunch time though

We didn`t eat onsen tamago (black eggs cooked in sulpher water) in case anyone is wondering- though we did see a sign advertising curry that had the eggs with it! haha

We hopped on the ropeway after lunch and headed towards Owakudani- sometimes known as the great boiling valley (due to his volcanic nature)! I have been to Rotarua in NZ which has similar sulfurous water and areas and I can safely say that Rotarua smells MUCH more than Owakudani! It was really pretty though (although sooooo cold!)- there is a nature trail near there apparently but we skipped it.

We continued on the ropeway, then switched to a cable car which took us to Gora. We stopped in Gora and had a quick look around at the little shops/stalls- we tried some of the taste tests that they had out. Let me say Gem and even my brother in some cases (which is totally weird since he is so picky!) were much more game to try the things on offer than I was. I fed Noah and changed him in a little rest stop which I think may have been for people waiting for taxi`s but it was deserted and well, Hakone was short on “baby” rooms! HAHA!

From Gora we took the train (kind of like a country train that winds through the mountain) back down and stopped at Chukoku no mori stop to see the Open Air Museum! This was probably my favourite part of the day- I loved how they had set it up and it is was great to see how they had incorporated art with nature. I would love to take Noah back when he is older (and can play on some of the exhibits designed for children!). There was also some galleries within the museum including work by Picasso & Henry Moore.

They also had a foot spa (with hot spring water) but we were all so exhausted by then and knew if we didn`t start heading for home we would be so late! Would love to have spent more time there!

There is heaps more to see and do in Hakone than we got to do- in fact it would make a great weekend getaway as the area is quite famous for onsen (hot springs!) and it would be lovely to explore some more as there is also some lovely gardens and parks as well as other museums. We grabbed bento`s for dinner at Tokyo station on our way home since there was no way I was cooking after such a long day!!!

Several weeks ago my MIL bought over a set of plates for Noah to use for this special day- they were more “modern” than the usual I imagine and his have little buses, trains and cars on them with blue trim. Quite quite actually but they are made from porcelain so we won`t be using them much since they could break but I guess they are more of a keepsake anyway. I was going to do the ceremony here at our house but in the end my brother and Gemma were going to be in town so MIL/FIL invited us there to do it and Shun`s brother, and his wife and grandma all joined us.

When a baby turns 100 days old (I have heard sometimes it is when they are 120 days old as well) you celebrate “okui- hajime” which means first food, or begin eating. Of course Noah is not quite ready for solid foods yet but we pretend fed him the special food which included baked sea bream (Tai) and rice steamed with beans (sekihan, common celebratory rice often prepared and eaten before starting a new stage in ones life like elementary school, university etc). MIL told me that often there would be pickled plum as well (umeboshi) but that she didn`t have any in the fridge even though she thought she had. HAHA.

A bit of research online showed that the fish represents happiness (hope the baby finds happiness), the pickled plum represents the hope that the baby will grow old and full of wrinkles and have a long life (like the pickled plum!) and the rice, as previously mentioned is often used at celebrations.. Apparently they also usually have a pebble served with the food (?) in the hope that the babies teeth will get strong so that they can eat anything including pebbles if need be.

Noah was in a good mood Sunday and while the photos don`t necessarily show it but he did try to “lick” the food when we tried to feed it to him. I used the special chopsticks that were given to us at him omiyamairi (first shrine visit) which are made from wood and a bit smaller than usual chopsticks.

More photos are in the set here.

Still to come in blog catch-up- Our trip to Hakone!