No Pictures Quite Yet... But Soon.

So we ran into some problems with my computer which means for a while our blogs will be without pictures (since all of our pictures on on Kellyn's computer). Sorry for the inconvenience, but here goes:

For Kellyn the plane ride went well. No major problems. In fact, everything went better than expected. None of the airlines charged Kellyn for the extra piece of checked luggage and once she landed in Osaka her bags were checked through to Sapporo. Joe waited for Kellyn at baggage claim in Sapporo with some dinner and a cardboard sign that read "wife". It was a great moment! However, Kellyn had to wait on one side of a glass wall for her luggage while Joe had to wait on the other side with dinner and the sign. But once the luggage arrived we were reunited and everyone at the airport cheered. Well, that last part didn't really happen but it was still a great moment.

Our home is wonderful! It is a little old and not totally up to our cleanly standards but it's a good size and has everything we need (including a guest room for visitors). However, the first few nights were kind of rough. We didn't have a bed for the first week or so, which meant sleeping on the floor. For the first night Kellyn slept on the couch and Joe slept, well, on the floor with our winter coats for padding and warmth. The next day Joe's supervisor, Watanabe, drove us to a home furnishing store, Nitori, where we purchased a bed. Although we bought our new bed along with pillows, a comforter, and mattress pad the bed would not arrive for about a week. This meant we were camping out on the floor with our mattress pad. Needless to say one of the best moments since we have arrived was when our bed came.



So far we had done some exploring and experienced many "firsts." For instance, our first sushi and ramen, our first home cooked meal, our first time in Susukino (the downtown area), our first taste of Japanese ice cream, our first summer festival, our first time exploring our neighborhood, and our first time in a karaoke bar (and yes Joe sang). Some of these stories will be explained in more detail in up coming blogs. But for now we must be off to more exploring.