Getting more settled...

So, picking up where we left off... we slept very well the first night - owing no doubt to the fact that we were all completely wrecked!

On Thursday morning we got up and had our frosted flakes and sandwiches for breakfast. We then explored the house a bit. There are three tatami rooms - only one of them having a real bed so the rest of us use the traditional sleeping mats while Taran took the bed.

We suspect that the bed was acquired because the Canadian tendancy is to not put the mats away every day and the tatami mats will mildew when the bedding is left out. Joisan has solved the problem of putting her bedding away every day by setting it up on the shelf and sleeping in the closet! She does like her small spaces. Ian and Phaedra still have to set up and take down their bed every day :(

By lunch time on Thursday we were pretty much unpacked and the luggage was stowed. We still have little piles of mess here and there but we're pretty close to done. Ian made grilled cheese sandwiches and noodles for lunch and we got ready to go to Date City to meet the mayor. We were picked up by the same two gentlemen from the night before and they ferried us to Date with a few stops on the way - at the Jr. High School and at a roadside fruit stand. In Date we first went to the Board of Education office where we met the Date AET. Her name is Rianna and she has been here for only three months but because she studied Japanese before she came she was able to do much of the translating for us. After a visit and a cup of tea we walked over to the muncipal office and had our meeting with the mayor and then did some official paperwork and applied for our alien registration cards. It was all very official.

Before we headed back to Ohtaki we were taken to the local supermarket. We picked up a few more groceries - still not enough to keep us going but what we needed for the immediate short term - and then headed back home. We were deposited here about 6pm and Ian started supper right away. Joisan fell asleep before dinner was ready but was happy to be woken up to eat. We had salmon and rice and carrots with some special sauce for the rice that we got from the fridge -next door. Yummy! After dinner we pretty much headed right to bed - after a bit of computer time.

We didn't sleep quite as well the second night - these beds are going to take some getting used to! Ian was up quite early and couldn't get back to sleep and Phaedra is really missing her Tempur Pedic mattress! After breakfast and showers we were picked up to do some driving practice and sightseeing. Ian did all the driving today and he did really well with only a few minor flubs (turning on the wipers instead of the turn signal).

We were taken to Mushroom Country - a tourist attraction devoted to the mushrooms that are grown in this area. We tasted a few mushroom preserves and had a sample of the mushroom tea. Joisan and Taran didn't much care for it but Ian and Phaedra liked it. We also stopped at a farm market and picked up some very small bananas that seemed to be a good price.

We were then taken to a park office where they were displaying the entries from a pottery or ceramics contest. We were impressed with many of the pieces but were puzzled by the winners - it was not clear what the criterea were for the contest - they certainly were not our choices. The park we were in was called "Totem Pole Hill" and displayed many totems from Cowichan. We went just a little way up the street and stopped again at Ohtaki Niagra - a waterfall. Phaedra and Joisan took a few photos - we'll post a couple today if we can figure it out.

Next we went to the Jr. High School and the principal took us for a tour. The school is easily big enough to accomodate two hundred students or more but there are only 21 students in the whole school! Taran has 4 classmates and Joisan has 9!! It is a very interesting set-up and one that Phaedra would very much like to have in BC. Most of the teachers were working on prep when we arrived - only three teachers were actually teaching at the time. Each teacher has his/her own desk in the staffroom, which is connected to the principals office. There is a school nurse and a school nutritionist and hot lunch every day. Phaedra will be eating lunch with the kids every day except Monday.

For lunch we were led to a local restaurant for Ramen (noodles) and Gyoza. It was filling and very good! Afterwards we were set free and Ian drove around a little bit but it was raining and we were a bit tired so we came back to the house. Joisan and Phaedra have been invited to a ballet performance in Date City this evening. The local ballet class is in a Russian style and we are hoping that it will meet Joisan's needs for her training.

We are now pretty much caught up to the present and we will try to keep on top of the blogging every night. They will hopefully be shorter since we will only be blogging one day at a time. We strongly encourage everyone to get Skype and add us to your contacts... we are fireball.fairwells It is so fantastic to be able to talk to people and see them too!!! We have been able to connect with several people today and we will keep ourselves signed on whenever we are at home so if we show as "on" then please feel free to call! The house is small enough that we will be able to hear it from anywhere!

If you promise to remember the 16 hour time difference please feel free to call the phone too - our home phone number is 81-142-68-6834.

Our address is : 91 Hongo-cho, Otaki-ku, Date-shi, Hokkaido 052-0311 (we don't know the last digit but will post it on here as soon as we figure it out.)

Love to all...

The Fireball Fairwells