New blog address

I have moved my blog to the following address:

http://japanmama.blogspot.com/

I am sure WordPress is great and everything, but it is all a bit complex for a simple gal like me ;P  Things are always going wrong!  Hope to see you at the new place.

Japan Mama

The House Saga Continues

Not sure if I mentioned this on here or not, but we has some land that our MIL gave us to build a house on.  Houses and land are generally measured here in relation to tatami mat size.  One “tsubo” is two tatami mats.  Usual land size in Gunma for a new build is about 50-70 tsubo.  The land that we have is about 150-200 tsubo (yes, I know I should listen more carefully).   So it’s pretty nice  

The land is in Misato-machi, where we are living now, and also where MIL’s house is.  It’s surrounded by farmland, although it’s near a road, and there are other houses nearby, so it’s not particularly isolated.  Now here is the crunch.  Our land is registered as “farmland”.  At the moment, MIL is letting someone use it for whatever, because if it’s being used, it’s not getting overgrown and means we don’t have to tend it.  In order to build a house on it, we need to convert it to residential land.  For this, we need permission from the council.  Here it is a bit cloudy in my head, but the farmers have a say in whether we convert OUR land or not…It will affect their farming, as it would mean them not being able to use pesticides or other chemical nasty things they want to use.  I can understand that having a house next to your farmland might be a bit of a pain, I suppose.  We have applied to convert the land so many times, that I can’t remember how many any more.  We can only apply two or three times a year, I think it is.  The last two times, MIL has employed a solicitor to help draw up plans and the like.  I found out yesterday, that he costs 50,000 yen a time, so it’s not really something you want to be doing too many times.  In fact, if it were me, after the first time, I might call it quits, but MIL is certainly one for trying.  Yesterday, my husband and MIL went to apply once more.  Afterwards, someone told them that since Misato merged with Takasaki city, almost all applications for converting land are denied.  Downer…

We had been thinking about buying a used house.  MIL has said that she wants to provide us with land, because it was something that she and FIL had promised before FIL passed away.  I told her that circumstances change and that she doesn’t need to feel obliged by a promise made years ago.  But she is erm, how shall I put it..strong-willed, so I didn’t go on about it too much.  Later that day, we found that there was an open viewing day on a used house out in Annaka city, about 25 minutes from Misato.  As we didn’t need to make an appointment and could just go and have a look, off we went.  Neither of us have thought about Annaka before.  It’s not exactly an attractive town, but then neither is Misato really.  Beautiful mountains, but lots of old ramshackled houses.  We just wanted to see what the used house market is like here.

A hairpin bend and a few small roads later, we end up at the house.  A rather bored estate agent jumped out of his car and readjusted his tie when he saw us arrive.  The house was old, but at 10,300,000 yen, there is scope for doing it up so we had to look past that.  It was pretty old, but the space compared to other houses was noticeable.  Most new builds are 31 tsubo and this was 33 and seemed much bigger.  After looking around and seeing what changes we could make, we noticed the house next door was empty too.  The estate agent said it was available too.  So we went to look inside.  After going in there, the first house was pretty much forgotten.  The house had been repossessed, bought by developers and refurbished.  It was 38 tsubo, but as the first one, land was only 64 tsubos.  In terms of space, even for 4 million more than the other, it was HUGE.  And although the colours aren’t really for us (lots of dark woods), these are things that can be fixed. 

I was a bit annoyed to be honest.  Because I had expected to just go and see what was on offer, come home and not really think much more about it.  I didn’t expect to be looking around a house, see another couple arrive and think, “don’t buy it, don’t buy it!”

We hadn’t taken photos yesterday, so today, on the way home from shopping, I nipped over just to have another look.  A critical second viewing, I suppose, with no pressure of an agent breathing down our neck.  Although to be fair, he was quite restrained.

These are the cons.: 

• It is VERY rural, even compared to where we live now.

• It is VERY quiet and surrounded by forests, so might be a bit scary at night time

• It is surrounded by forests, a stream, and therefore, lots of bugs and creepy crawlies

• There is next to no scope for a garden, which I really want for the children to be able to play in

 

And the pros.:

• It’s pretty

• It’s quiet

• There are lots of places to “go for a walk” without getting mowed down by a tractor or a ten-ton-truck

• There are not many close neighbours

• It is cheap as chips

• there are FIVE bedrooms, with two downstairs, so if I wanted to start a little school, there would be plenty of usable space for it

• It is at least 20 minutes drive from MIL’s place…

 

After looking around at other houses on the way home, I am realising that I really want a garden, and that it might be a bit too lonely out there, even if it is a short drive to civilisation.  Pretty is good, but in terms of somewhere to live, I don’t think it’s my highest priority.

Ah well, at least now we know that there are other possibilities.  MIL is set on us building new, but then we are the ones who will have to struggle with a new build budget, so a used house in another location is definitely something to think about!

Approach to the houses

Hmmm...

Garden possibility...small!

Living/Dining area

Bike storage at side of house

Little forest opposite house

Back of house

Little stream across the road from house

 

View from picture window

Picture window, floor to ceiling!

 

Layout

Upstairs layout

Silver Week

Luka and Mako

 

Is it just me, or is Silver Week a bit of an anti-climax?  For those of you who aren’t living in Japan (hello family), Silver Week is new for 2009.  Golden Week in May is when a few national holidays fall in the same week, so many companies decided to make the whole week a holiday (although I don’t know of many..).  So this September, there is Respect the Aged Day today, Autumn Equinox on Wednesday, and I have just been reliably informed by my husband that tomorrow is “the holiday between the holiday.  Wakaru?!”  So basically, the holidays fall nicely together and attached to a weekend this year.  I wonder whether Silver Week will continue, or if this year is just a happy co-incidence.  Will let you know next year

So far, Silver Week has been exhausting.  I can’t even really pinpoint why, but I know it has something to do with children and men.  Or a mixture of both.  Although my children have no relation to men, but my man has more than a little of the children still lurking inside…hee hee.  Anyway, during the week, Hannah is at kindergarten, and Yusuke is at work, so lunch for me and Luka is a very simple affair of sandwiches or egg on rice, or defrosted leftovers.  This weekend there have been cooked meals left right and centre.  Do I LOOK like a chef?  Does anybody really need two cooked meals in one day?!?  Of course, if I were a model Japanese wife, there might even be a cooked breakfast of grilled fish, miso soup and the rest of it.  But I am not.  So there isn’t

I go about my cleaning duties as usual, and technically, it should be easier than usual, if not the same, because my husband is here to watch the children while I am working away.  But in reality, it turns out that it’s actually more difficult.  Everytime I get stuck into something (usually down the toilet bowl or in the bathroom drain..), there is a loud bang and crying children.  Turns out “watch the children” means just that.  Watch the baby as he climbs up on the high chair and slips down and donks his head on the table top.  But it has been quite productive.  I have done a lot of jobs that needed doing.  Packing up more clothes and changing the seasonal clothes over.  Putting the photos onto discs and cleaning up the P.C..  I am still trying to get rid of some of my books.  I am getting a bit tired of having them hanging around.  Wish there were charity shops here

We went for a picnic today with Yusuke’s friend, his wife and baby, which sounds nice, but of course I was responsible for all the preparation.  Sandwiches, rolls, veggies, fruit, drinks, etc..  Yusuke said he would drive, so I snuggled into the passenger seat and closed my eyes ready for a sneaky nap.  But 10 minutes later, after a near-collision with a two-ton truck, I took over and Yusuke stole my nap from me!  Turns out, he had taken some anti-histamines for his hayfever.  Recipe for sleep at the wheel, yikes!

So although the picnic was nice, it was quite a tiring day overall.  Went to the gym tonight though.  My membership is from 9p.m., but as it’s Silver Week, the gym closes at 10p.m.  I made sure that I was there at 9 on the dot and was working away on the leg press, listening to my ipod.  Suddenly, one member of staff was talking to me, “sorry, but we are closing at 9:30p.m. tonight.”  What?!?!  It was 9:40.  I looked around and I was the ONLY person in the gym..so funny.  They must have made an announcement, but I was just carrying on oblivious.  I apologised profusely (turning Japanese much?) and made my way out.  Quite surprisingly though, I managed to get quite a lot done in thirty minutes.  I had thought that it would be packed in there tonight, but quite the opposite.  Even the “buriburi” machine was free (that vibrating platform thingy).  Usually you have to make an appointment and it is booked up all night.  Didn’t try it though.  Something about my bum jiggling about in front of the world makes me feel a bit green.  Even though they have put up a screen behind the machines, you can still see in from the side.

So this week, I find myself slightly confused and a little bit guilty, although there is nothing really all that unusual there!  Silver Week is just not really what it’s cracked up to be and having Hannah and Yusuke at home is pretty demanding!  Plus Luka is teething, so he’s like a bear with a sore head.  Although the weather is pretty nice.  Cool breeze, sunny days   No plan tomorrow, but I’d like to get out of the house for a while.  Might just stay close to home.  The children seemed quite tired today too.  I would have thought Hannah would be more tired after a day at kindergarten, but she always seems more tired after a weekend day.  Strange.  Hope tomorrow will be a slightly more relaxing day.

Hoikuen visiting

Today Yusuke took the day off work as his last “summer holiday”.  So we decided to visit a couple of nearby hoikuens this morning.  Today was the day that Hannah had to take two PET bottles into kindergarten to practice her bottle dancing (hmm, interesting..).  Yusuke had read the letter about a week ago, and told me she needed to have two bottles with rice or beans in them to use as shakers.  For the whole week, that letter (in red, as all the important ones are) has been attached to the pin board in the kitchen.  I had some PET bottles in ready, but forgot to put the rice in last night.  When I went to get them out of the cupboard, Hannah said, “you have to put dots on them to make them look pretty.”  I asked Yusuke to read the letter again, and he said, “they recommend you put  origami inside to make it pretty, and two 330ml bottles”.  I was livid.  My bottles were 500ml, and I hadn’t prepared origami to put in there, or anything of the sort.  So there I was, at 7:30a.m., with only Luka and I dressed, no one breakfasted, having to drive out to the stupid convenience store to buy drinks that I didn’t want, to make rice and paper filled shakers…actually sounds funny written down.  I slammed around shouting for a while, then went out, came back and set to work putting stickers on the bottles, and getting Yusuke to glue and cut origami triangles for the inside.  I had Hannah and Luka helping me in between eating their weetabix.  So finally it was done, but of course, I spied some bottles at the school gates that were infinitely “prettier” than Hannah’s, but Yusuke was more upset about that than me.  “I feel a bit bad about it now,” he said.  “Good, you should,” I replied!  Not in a mean way, but had he told me earlier, I could have prepared and Hannah and I could have made a fun activity about it.

Ho-hum, anyway, after dropping Hannah off, we whizzed back home and I cleaned the kitchen and got the washing hung outside before we went to the first hoikuen.  Kamisato hoikuen which is about a 5 minute drive from here.  The place is only four years old, so it’s really clean and new looking.  There is only one floor, and all of the rooms lead off one corridor in an L-shape.  Each classroom has their own little toilets, and under-floor heating.  There is a little tatami section for the 0-1 year old class and 1-2 year old class for their afternoon naps.  From 3-6 the children all nap on their futons in the hall.  Pretty funny to see all the futons when they are laid out   One class did some dancing and parachute playing outside while we were there, so all in all, it was a really good atmosphere.

The second one we went to see, Dai-Ni hoikuen, is about 5 minutes drive too, but up towards the mountains, so it wouldn’t be on any route I would take to work.  This place was also ok, but the teachers looked tired…really tired.  I had heard that since the city laws had just come in since the towns merged, their workload has been increased.  Their system is much harder now than before, so caused a lot of stress for the teachers.  Despite this, and the uniform items (bag, formal uniform to be used for ceremony, sportswear) it is still a pretty good place.  Both hoikuens had big playgrounds outside and clean, big classrooms, just that Kamisato had a better feeling.  Getting a place is still pretty competitive, so we will really have to cross our fingers that we get a place at either of them.  Twenty eight students will graduate from Kamisato, but there are already thirty five applications for next school year..yikes!

It’s a bit stressful too having to write the hours that I work on the application form…gives me a bad feeling.  Like when you are afraid of getting found out.  Ah well.  It’s a stupid system anyway, where it’s easier to get a place when you are ALREADY working.  How can you even need a place at hoikuen to look after your child, when you obviously have that facility anyway?!?! 

We will apply to Kamisato today and then fingers crossed that it all goes ok and we get a place for Hannah and Luka

 

More little girl’s clothes for sale

Have some more clothes for sale, these are a bit harder to part with.  Some summery clothes, some wintery or other seasons.  Clothes are mostly 80cm – 90cm although some little dresses suitable from 6 months (all depending on the size of your baby!)  Will sell individually or the lot for just 2000 yen plus chakubarai.  Photos are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35127137@N00/sets/72157622382826200/

Also, rather randomly, I have a black swimsuit to give away.  I have NEVER worn it.  The label is still attached.  ‘Anita’ 36D cup one-piece from Bravissimo.  Just pay postage

 

Hoikuen High!!!

Not sure if I mentioned it, but we have been wanting to take Hannah out of her kindergarten and enter her into a hoikuen/daycare. 

To enter a kindergarten here (usually ages 3-5 but from age 2 in Hannah’s place), there is no requirement income-wise.  However, should you want your child to attend hoikuen (public or private from 3 months old until age 5), both parents have to be working, with one working full-time and one working a minimum of four days a week, for four hours each day.

As Luka is still very little, I don’t really want to have to work that much.  He needs his Mummy around, and I don’t want to miss at least the first years.  Plus,  we have enough to live comfortably enough, but nothing left over to save, to pay a mortgage, or to be extravagant even once in a while.  I suppose there is the cost of me and the children flying home once a year that could be saved, but I have decided that that is a necessary expense.  For my sanity, for my family in the U.K., and for the children (language/culture/family-wise!).  So for now, me working is the only way to get around this.  It’s a bit of a crazy situation though.  Kind of forcing mothers out to work for more hours than they would usually want to.  I don’t even think I could keep up with housework, that much work, and child-raising right now.  I suppose that skill will have to come sooner or later!  I never really imagined that I would be able to cope with one child, let alone two, but here I am..coping

I have met other mothers in the park who have said that their children are going to hoikuen.  I said that I would like that, but that I don’t really want to work the required hours.  Most of them confess to me that they don’t really work at all, but their in-laws or their own parents claim they are employing them in their own businesses (usually farming or some other small businesses around here).  I was pretty shocked to hear that at first, and thought it a little unfair to the mothers who really were working enough.  Now however, I totally understand why they do it.

Kindergarten isn’t a bad thing, don’t get me wrong, but it requires a hell of a lot of P.T.A. involvement.  Of course P.T.A. membership is supposedly voluntary, but it is more than “expected”.  It seems to me, that kindergarten is used as a social outlet for mothers.  I can understand that, but it’s not really what I want.  There is also a lot of teaching that goes on, seems to be quite strict at times (at least in my experience).  The hours are from 9-2, so even if you wanted to work, it would be quite hard.

So back to the yay part of the story.  I tentatively asked my previous employer, who is trying to find work for me, if he would fill out a form to say that I will work for him in April, when the new school-term begins.  I wasn’t sure whether he was aware of the minimum number of hours requirement, so was a bit nervous when I went to see him this morning, thinking he could just turn around and refuse to sign it.  So he sat down and looked at the forms, which had lots of boxes where the employer has to write the number of hours per week, and the days of the week you will be employed for. 

He put his mark on it, and said, “You can fill out the rest.  Write anything you like.”  YAHOOOOOOOOOO!!  Elation!  What is it with the law?!?!  I was worried a bit that it could get him into trouble, but have found out that apparently, the hoikuen and tax, etc. have no connection, so it’s impossible to get found out.  Got to love bending the rules!

So it means that when he gets me a job (hopefully 4-6 hours a week), If I want to, I can enter Luka into the hoikuen too for a couple of days a week.  At that time he will be 18 months old, which is about the same age that Hannah was when she went to hoikuen  for four months while I was pregnant (yes, that is an exception apparently) and she loved it.  So it’s been a really great day

Now to check out and apply for hoikuens and hope that we get into one of the ones we like!

Maternity Clothes Anyone?

So, I’m going on well with the clearing out.  Who knew that I had so much stuff that I don’t need?!?  Especially after we threw out so much after we moved last November!  Seeing it out of cupboards makes me wonder how it all fit in this place!  I threw out a big bag of clothes, old ones that I must have had for nigh on five years, and some maternity clothes that I had worn well.

I have a big bag of good maternity clothes (one of those blue Ikea bags) to offer to any pre-mamas out there.  There are about 3 pairs of trousers, two skirts, pair of shorts, a few dresses and a load of tops that I mostly got sent from family in the U.K., Italy and some tops from the U.S. (online).  Condition is mostly good down to decent (you know pregnancy is pretty short and I threw away the really worn ones!).  A lot of them I wore during one pregnancy and a couple of things for two.  I would prefer to send the whole bag out, chakubarai plus 2000 yen.  I can also send items out seperately if need be.  I will get some photos taken this weekend, but just wanted to put the feelers out to see if anyone was interested.

No takers for the books yet though   Hate to let things go to the Hard Off fat cats…

Baby Clothes, shoes and books :)

I have some baby clothes, a few toddler clothes, adult shoes and some books for sale/to give away for Chakubarai (buyer pays postage on delivery).  Check the links for clothes/shoes photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35127137@N00/

Dr. Sears baby sling (ring sling) size L black with black and white checked trim – free

Pilates for Pregnancy DVD (region 2 PAL) – 1000 yen

BOOKS:

• The Fabulous Mum’s Handbook – Grace Saunders (hardback) – 400yen
  What to Expect When You’re Expecting – Murkoff, Eisenberg & Hathaway (paperback
  2002 edition) – 500yen
• Active Birth – Janet Balaskas (paperback) – 1000yen
• The Dorling Kindersley Pregnancy Question and Answer Book – Lees, Reynolds & McCartan (paperback) – 700yen

The following, all 100 yen each, or free if thrown in with any of above:

• The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
• Brick Lane – Monica Ali
• Dreamcatcher – Stephen King
• 101 Rekyjavik – Hallgrimur Helgason (in English)
• A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini (Hardback)

Peace and Quiet

 

Ok, so it’s been about a month since I started weaning Luka.  I still want to give him a bedtime feed for as long as we both want to, but am really ready to cut out the daytime feeding.  It’s so tiring, apart from anything else.  So we are down to one in the morning, I use that term loosely because everyone I know would classify 5:30a.m. as anything but, one at bedtime and a “dream feed” at around 11:30p.m.  However, arghhhhh, today and I think it was a few days ago, I fed him mid-morning.  Just to get him to go to sleep.  I really did try today.  He was like the living dead. 

We went to take Hannah to nursery, then when I got him out of the car back home he looked as if he could drop off at any minute.  Then he came with me to play upstairs while I hung out the laundry, which I ended up doing while holding him..tricky.  Then downstairs I opened up the little sofa bed for him to lie on and rubbed his head..no go..screaming and yanking at mouth.  Paracetamol and bonjela later, still no go.  Put Baby T.V. on, but very lively for naptime..hmm, maybe I should record some of the relaxing whirly stuff they show on there at night, so tried The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  He wasn’t happy lying on his own, so he climbed on me.  Very calm, watched his eyelids getting ready to close, and then round God knows what, 3, 4?  He sat up and grizzled some more.  Tried knocking his head against the cabinet door, waggling his arms in protest, grizzle grizzle grizzle.  Carried him around and bounced him a bit, then just gave up and let him feed (  Felt INSTANTLY exhausted, and am now drinking coffee to wake up so that I can do the cleaning.  Not sure that I can keep it up.  I had no idea the breastfeeding was so tiring until I stopped.  No wonder, I felt pretty much the same, tiredwise, as I had when I was pregnant.  No wonder I can never get enough sleep!  I justified today by telling myself that the only person to lose out by giving in, is me.

Well, I suppose it means that when I finally CAN get down to just one bedtime feed, I have all this energy to look forward to!  Yay! 

Am on Day 700 of de-cluttering.  Who knew you could accumulate so much stuff that you really don’t even need?!?  I thought I would feel sad to let things go, but once they are gone, I don’t miss them even a little bit.  Wonder if that will come later…I am not from the wartime generation, of course, but think it has been drilled into me from my parents, hee hee!  Such a waste to throw “useful” items away.

Didn’t know what to do with the DVDs I didn’t want anymore, but yay, Sophie will take them.  Glad I could donate them, and even better to someone I know who can get use out of them without some corporate fat cat making a profit

Today I am attacking the bathroom cabinets.  This one could be hard.  I loved long baths and pampering, but I haven’t had time for the past three and a half years.  I’m sure a lot of the products are well past their best.  Deep breath, here I go…

Books and Rice Cookers!

Another week has begun (still think of Sunday as “weekend”) and this weekend seemed to fly by!  The free Japanese lessons at the community centre started up again on Saturday.  I had applied and was meaning to go, but ahhhh, just seems to cut out so much of my weekend time.  Weird, because I technically don’t “work”, but weekend is my chance to get things done while hubby is there to help out with watching the children. 

I am still de-cluttering, but quite frustrated.  Wish there were charity shops here.  There are lots of things that I don’t want/need in my house anymore, but hate to throw things away that other people could get use out of.  Books, hardly ever worn shoes, DVDs.  Then I remembered that the city hall has a free English library where they take donated books.  So yesterday, I piled all of my read and likely never to be read again books, and filled one of those paper Ikea bags.  Then realised it was a Sunday and there wouldn’t be anyone to take them *sigh*  So put them in the car ready for when I could face carting a heavy bag of books with children in tow.

Hannah is off nursery today.  She has a cold.  Usually I would let her go, because she is still up for playing, but everyone is paranoid about swine flu, so I kept her home.  Now she is bored, oh dear, where to go?  Too hot for the park, too snotty for the indoor play area.  Either to city hall to take the books (what fun!) or to K’s Denki to look at new rice cookers (yay for me, bit of a yawn for the children..).  But then, children can have fun anywhere, right?  At least the age that mine are   Books and rice cookers it is then!  Bye!