The weather is definitely warmer now. We are no longer using our heaters, and getting out the shower doesn't cause extreme goosebumps. Biking long distances now produces sweat, and you sometimes find yourselves wanting to get out of the sunlight.

A new school year began this month. New students with a different schedule for me (Marc). This year looks like it'll be busier, as I've inherited an extra two classes, as well as the fact that my schedule is organized so that it leaves me less long periods of open space. Additionally, we have a meeting every week instead of once every two months.

Kim and I will have been married one year on May 6th. To celebrate our first year anniversary, we're heading over to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. We have a pair of free tickets that Kim won during a sports competition at the church. Additionally, the week happens to be Golden Week, one of the longest strings of holidays in the Japanese calendar. Unfortunately, these 5 days of holidays are broken up by two days of school that I have to teach; seems so silly to have school in the middle of a week of holidays.

We have a special event at the church coming up in two weeks. Apparently, a jazz band is coming, and they are playing requested songs (with a jazz style). Other than that, life is continuing as normal. We are still finding lots of new things, but experiences are starting to level out to where we feel we are doing "the usual." It's fine by me, since always feeling like a newbie and an outsider is not a good thing after a few months.

Feel free to leave comments on here for us, or e-mail us. Look us up on Skype if you want to chat!

Trip to America

America: Land of the Pizza
I've chosen this photo of a portion of the pizza selection at a local Meijer as a representation of our trip to America. Although we ate very little pizza, it was definitely one of the things that we missed while in Japan (Japanese pizza, although unique in its own right, just doesn't seem as good with all the squid, mayo, and corn).

While in America, Kim and I were together for around 3/4 of the trip. the other 1/4 we spent separately, hanging out with our own friends. I (Marc) spent a few nights in Ypsilanti with my friends Jeremy and Dave, and Kim & I both spent a night at the Gubbini household (Nick and Kelly). We visited Kim's church once, my church once, and then that was the end of our Sundays.

One of the most comfortable and relaxing parts of being back at home was the fact that I didn't have to struggle at all to understand what was going on, what was what in the grocery store, or try to form language for my peculiar desires (and no one argued with me at the fast food restaurant when all I wanted was a water).

Kim and I also spent 4 days taking a trip down to see her brother and his wife along with their not-yet-one-year-old baby. Unfortunately, Kim's mother ended up catching a flu-like virus from Kim's brother, and then Kim ended up catching it from her mom (or perhaps from the baby, who ended up getting sick). I have yet to catch anything, thankfully. Kim is still recovering even now.

I am not so sure about staying in Japan for the long-term, even if a job is offered to me. With the economy in Michigan, however, it doesn't seem that staying close to family and friends is an option, either. Regardless of wherever we move, if it's not in the immediate Southeastern/Mid-Michigan area, we will only see our family and friends on special occasions (and I think Kim and I were both hoping to return to the previous days of being able to see everyone we wanted to within an hour drive or less).

Speaking of driving, that is one of the things that we both missed a great deal! We loved being able to drive while in America; it gives us a lot of freedom and sense of control. I noticed that the lack of that sense of freedom dampened my experience in Japan; hopefully now that I am aware of that, it won't have so much effect.

In addition to all of this, Kim and I also enjoyed Mexican food (especially Taco Bell), Meijer, American milk, Icescapes (a specialty ice cream spot in Ypsilanti), sleeping in a bed, indoor heating, Wendy's, Olive Garden, American salad dressing, pretzels, worshipping at church in English, not having to bike everywhere in the cold and rain, cheap fruit, cheap food, steak, chicken salad sandwich (Marc), a large refrigerator, cheap over the counter medicine, cheap vitamins, wide open spaces, spacious rooms, DVD players that play our region 1 DVDs, radio stations that actually play music (and more than two of them), listening to music while cruising in the car with the windows down, talking to everyone in our native language, driving on the right side of the road, cars that actually stop for red lights, seeing familiar faces and places, and more.

Things we didn't enjoy, however, include: drivers who have no restraint in showing their disapproval of other drivers' behavior (including hand gestures), groups of Americans who can't make the simple decision on where to eat because everyone wants their own thing, long distances to the nearest anything (stores), not having mobile phones, and a few other minor things. Overall, however, the things we liked are more than the problems we had, especially since "not having mobile phones" was not an issue before we left for Japan.

We'll post again soon about our feelings on being back in the big J (Japan).