Orientation

After arriving in Nagoya, I think we were all more jet-lagged than I was aware. Kind of dazed and dis-oriented. Here's an overview of how our first weekend went.

Saturday 2014-03-29: Got up before dawn, probably around four in the morning. Thomas was taking the subway and then a train to a sports practice session, and I tagged along for the subway bit. The plan was to ride the subway back, but after I got out and looked around, I decided to walk back to the Freebell instead. Here are a couple things I saw on the way back.

A funny little cobbled stone path between a brand new parking lot and a bridge undergoing maintenance.

View from the bottom of the cobbled path, looking south along the canal.

Elevated highway, some lamps, and a few buildings. Reminded me of Midgard from FFVII

After I arrived back at the apartment, Anna asked me to go get some food. The bike ride to the grocery store took me past a building that was being demolished (picture to come... perhaps) and lots of funny little houses and shops. After that I walked to the convenience store and got some more food of the more readily edible variety.

After everyone ate, we all walked to a little park nearby. The girls ran around and played for a bit, and a mother struck up a conversation with Anna about her kids. When we got tired we went home, and everyone goes to sleep except for Leah and I (around two in the afternoon). We catch up on MLP:FIM and I finish some work on the computer before crashing at around four.

Sunday 2014-03-30: Got up before dawn, about six. There was rain and wind all night. We have breakfast and then go looking for a grocery store to buy more food. The girls have rain jackets, but Anna and I just get wet. We were pretty wet by the time we made it to the store, only to discover that most shops are closed on Sunday. We make it to the train station, buy some groceries there, and walk back to the apartment.

After a quick meal, we all walked to the local Korean Christian church. Anna takes Teddy and Charlette to the "quiet" room, and I sit with Leah in the main service. I don't understand more than a couple words of it, since the whole thing is in Japanese, but my spirit feels edified. It's a calming and uplifting time for me. Afterwords everyone is very friendly. The pastor gives us his contact info, he takes a picture with us, and they invite us to the meal afterwords. We also learn about a local English speaking church, but didn't visit it yet.

Get home, Thomas wakes up, has lunch. We all take the train to Tsurumai. Buy some pastries, including melon-pan (so tasty!) and walk around the park for a bit, admiring the cherry blossoms.

The girls beneath the blooming cherry trees.

Anna and the cherry blossoms.

Leah at the Koi pond.

Leah and some water elements.

Hang out in the playground with the children, then walk back to the station, take the train back to Nagoya Station. The girls have a bath back at the apartment while Thomas and I go fetch some curry and nan. Eat dinner, though it's a bit spicy for the kids. The children go to bed around six. The adults stay up wrapping gifts and talking until around nine or ten.