Home away from home

Nothing too exciting to blog about today, but I am trying to be committed to this blog early on.

Our furniture arrived! A couple friendly Japanese fellas assembled it all and got us all set up. We bought some really cheap furniture so hopefully it can withstand a couple of fat Americans. While purchasing our dining set, the store owner insisted that Travis try out the chairs because he was afraid they would crumble beneath is rock-hard muscles. It was quite amusing. Fortunately, we convinced owner that all was well. The set was cheap enough that even if we broke a couple of them, it really wouldn't be a big deal.

We went to dinner at a great ramen chain restaurant. The ramen here is sooo delightful. I have always been a big fan of the $.37 stuff back home, but the ramen here is way better. After that, we went grocery shopping for the first time. It was quite an experience. We found a Japanese equivalent to a big-box discount store so we were able to get groceries as well as some other household items, like detergent. It was so crowded. Far more crowded than the O'Fallon Target on a Sat. morning. But after a few cart accidents, we managed to purchase quite a few groceries. Groceries are certainly more expensive here, but many items are comparable in price. Some things are just insane, though. For instance, we went to buy dryer sheets, and much to my surprise, they had Downy ones. The price--over $10!!! Wowzers. I guess we'll just have to wear stiff clothes for the next 18 months. Milk is also a challenge because it's pretty hard to find skim milk here. I think we found some, but most of the milk is 3.5% to 4%. I don't even drink cream in my coffee so I don't plan to eat it on my Frosties (Japanese frosted flakes). We also got some salmon steaks, and I'm proud to say that consuming them will probably be a first for me. I'm pretty sure I've only had Chinese salmon up to this point.

Well, I promise to post some pictures of the apartment once we get a little more settled. We're not all assembled yet and still waiting on our air shipment.

Ok, I'm off to seize the day! We have a walking tour of the city this afternoon and plenty to do until then.