Thank you

Our life has totally changed. We are now officially POOR, but I have never seen George so happy. His smile has never disappeared since he moved here. Whenever we have a chance to go to the city, he misses Tsukahara.

I am often scared of the strong winds, wild boar, deer, snakes and bugs, but this is the safest environment he has ever lived in, according to George. We don’t have to worry about guns, gangs, violence or lawsuits. Our next door neighbor, Ms. Namba-san, shares with us all kinds of rumors which is a form of entertainment for us. Ms. Namba, often gives us some of her cooking. Her cooking tastes as if a world class chef had prepared it. We get more than enough nutritious food from her. Thank you Namba-san!

Each day, we experience something new…most of the experiences are good. We have so much news to share with you after spending our first month in Japan.

Our new car is a Nissan Moco. George’s cousin, Megumi from Tokyo, gave us a fantastic deal and managed to arrange delivery a day after we arrived home. George was complaining about the color and female interior style, but as soon as it arrived, Lucky gave his approval. That’s all that mattered for us. Since then, Lucky spends most of his time in the car and George has grown fond of the color. Thank you for everything Megumi!

Scaffolding: George had kept asking for it for a long time, but we couldn’t afford to rent it. On George’s birthday, Mr. Kiyonaga-san who is the best friend of George’s good friend, Mr. Yoshida-san called us. He found the great deal on scaffolding and he even helped us for an entire day to set it up. Thank you Kiyonaga-san!

George’s 50^th birthday: Our friends brought a cake for George and shared his birthday. We usually don’t celebrate anniversaries or holidays, but this was special. I did my best to make sure that we moved to Japan before his birthday. I wanted this to be the BEST birthday present that he ever had. Since we had to pinch every penny, he missed having dessert. The cake was sooooooo good. Thank you Nami-chan and Yoko!

Lucky and Kiley: They have experienced all kinds of creatures in this natural environment. They are often scared of strong winds and sudden downpours. Deer often visit our yard and the dogs go nuts! Kiley and Lucky can find all sorts of entertainment from the window. It’s a great relief to see that they have adapted so well to their new home.

I have so many stories to tell, but I’ll just summarize a few for today. Erika