eight crazy nights

Happy Channuka!!

On this night we lit three Channuka candles.  We have had to improvise our menorah as a menorah did not make the cut when we were packing our lives away to travel around the world.  My cowboy boots are another story (there are some things a girl just can't live without).

Fortunately for us we found these cute double-duty candle holders that on one side hold a tea light and the other hold a tall candle and were around 50 yen each (about 50 cents).

And they are cute so we can use them even if it's not Channuka.  Bonus.  And they remind us of a beautiful glass menorah we got from a friend for the wedding.  Double bonus.

This is how we configured them for the holiday:

Notice our lovely kitchen towel tablecloth?  We're working with what we've got here folks. 

Here is us lighting our first Channuka candles together as married people!

We've gotten pretty good at the self-portrait thing, but not as good at the self-portrait-with-object-in-background thing.  I swear there is a lit candle back there.  Right behind Jeff's big head. 

What did we get ourselves as our first married Channuka family gift?  Any guesses?  Looks like you'll have to wait to find out...

Mata ne,

Melissa

slow down, you're moving too fast

Every once in a while, if I time it right, and I'm really lucky, and I actually go out for a run, when I'm going along the river path by my house, I pass a turtle.  A big one. That's probably older than my mom.

This is not the kind of animal one is accustomed to seeing while running.  Especially not in a major city. At least he's wearing booties (which is more than we can say for Barefoot Jeff some days)!

He ambles along very very slowly behind his friend, an old man who I think secretly likes the attention.  They do make a cute old pair, though.  I imagine a Simon and Garfunkel song playing in the background whenever I see them.

I have about ten thousand questions for this man about how this human-turtle friendship came to be, but the language barrier limited me to "sumimasen" while pointing at my camera in a "can I take pictures of your funny pet?" questioning tone.  As you can see in typical man fashion, they don't stand too close to each other so as not to appear as if they actually came together.  I bet they leave a seat open between them at the movies too. 

Also, is this even a turtle?  Has anyone ever seen a crazier pet in a big city?

talkin' trash

Let us discuss the ridiculousness that is the Tokyo garbage collection system, shall we?

Garbage is collected every day of the week except Sunday.  That's right.  Everyday.  All over Tokyo.  Maybe they want to ensure that they have a lot of city jobs available?  (Also, it's not like people are in church so I don't know why Sunday was decided as the day of rest, but it is so.  This is for another time, however.)

It's not so much that it is collected everyday that makes the system ridiculous, but rather way items need to be sorted and set out on specific days.  AND no one puts it out the night before.  So you have to get up and put it out before 8 a.m.  Now if you have a job and need to leave the house in the morning, this may seem totally reasonable to you.  But hello, people!  We have no jobs!  We like to sleep in! 

This is the chart provided for us to make sense of the program:

Burnable garbage is the most basic and makes up the majority of our trash.  Maybe this is why it gets picked up  twice a week.  Jeff and I look at it as the first try and our second chance.  And if we miss it again- hey, it'll get picked up in another few days!  Unbelievably, things like plastic and styrofoam packaging are supposed to be put in this trash.



There is recycling, which is exactly what you'd think.  Glass bottles, cans, plastic bottles, etc. each have a color coded box at the garbage collection site for sorting. 

One annoying thing is that you are supposed to bundle your paper and cardboard by type and tie it up neatly before putting it out.  Needless to say, Jeff and I have four weeks of paper recycling in a bag in our house.



Then there is "non-burnable" garbage.  This is basically everything else.  Metal packaging, and um... other stuff.  We're busy acquiring things right now, not getting rid of them, so we haven't dealt with much of the extensive list of "non-burnables" provided to us.  Not surprisingly, we haven't taken this garbage out yet either.  And even if we had enough to bother, it only goes out the second and fourth Tuesday of each month.  We have enough trouble with the stuff you can put out almost any day.  There is a fourth Tuesday next week though.  I think.

Ok, and the last part of this ridiculous garbage collection situation is mostly due to the location of our house.  We are right on the line between two districts of the city: Toshima-ku and Bungyo-ku.  These wards have different garbage collection schedules and drop-off locations (fortunately, however, not different rules - then we'd be in trouble).

As you can see the drop-off locations are directly across the street from each other. Basically, if we forget to put the trash out on one side of the street, we can get up the next morning and put it on the other side of the street.  Unless it's cold and we want to stay in bed.

Mata ne,
Melissa

mythbuster

One yen is about equivalent in value to one penny, and just as much of a nuisance.  I, frankly, would be just as happy living without them filling up my wallet, but considering that the monetary system in Japan is based on this unit of currency, I don't see them going the way of the Australian penny anytime soon.  

Shortly after arriving in Japan I heard an interesting "fact" about this coin.  I was told that it was the only coin currently in use that would float in water.  Now if you've ever held a one yen coin, you know this is easy to believe.  It is so light I actually asked if it was plastic when I was first given one.

Being the "I've got to see this for myself" type, I had to test this assertion.  I got out one of the two drinking glasses we currently own and sacrificed one of the growing collection of yen that I have been accumulating in my oh-so-very scientific experiment in our living room.  Well you heard it here folks, it didn't float.

I was so disappointed it's still sitting in four inches of water in a glass on the coffee table.  What is it worth if it's not even good for party tricks?


Mata ne,
Melissa

Happy Birthday Cara!!

Happy birthday to the beautiful, talented, intelligent, and wonderful Cara (my maid of honor).

Here she is following her amazing speech that had everyone in the tent in stitches and in tears.

And dancing with her handsome father - nice looking family, huh?

Who's buying the first birthday drink?

Mata ne,
Melissa