When you travel to another country as a tourist there are things that you get to experience that are geared toward just that...tourists. However, when you travel to another country and get to be in someone's home who lives in that country, you can experience a part of the culture that tourists don't see fully...the daily aspects of life. So, instead of giving you landscape or traditional Japanese pictures and experiences I am here today to give you the mundane. And what could be more mundane than going to the grocery store?
This is the street that we walk down to get to our local grocery store. Armed with our shopping bags we make the 7-ish minute walk to Coop down this narrow strip of pavement and pass many shops and people along the way. A french restaurant, a dental clinic, a sewing shop, a liquor store, an electronics store, a sushi restaurant, a pharmacy, a few houses and apartment complexes, a tofu store, an ice shop....basically, a wide variety of establishments all along this street!
Inside the store....
I am as tall as all the shelves. In front of me is a wide selection of green tea!
Many varieties of rice from which to choose. I have no idea what makes one different from another or why different ones are so expensive. We just grab which ever bag it seems most people have taken. :) That method has served us well.
The checkout.... Do you see how small the shopping baskets are compared to those in the States? This is as big as they come in Japanese stores.
After our stop at the grocery store we make our way to the vegetable and fruit vendor. We can buy fruits and veggies from Coop but the produce isn't as tasty and the prices aren't as cheap.
A loaded down stroller with all our goodies!
Then back home to unload it all and we will make the trip again next week or sometimes later in the week.
Deacon and I spent from December 1st-January 10th in the good ole' U.S. of A. It was nice to be home. Jason came later because he had to stay in Japan for work. He arrived on the 19th of December. After two and a half weeks apart it was beyond wonderful to see him again!
Here's our time at home in pictures!
We spent a couple of weeks in my stomping grounds...Boyd, Tejas. Deacon got to hang out a lot on this trip with his great-grandparents! Dee Dee and Papa Bill!
With Aunt Mary and his Santa suit his great-aunt Christy gave him.
Time back to the US wouldn't be complete without a visit to Lubbock to see the Lathams! We LOVE THEM A LOT! Too bad Papa Scott is missing from this picture.
We then went up to Nebraska to see all of Jason's family. In spite the three of us being sick for a majority of the week it was still a good trip. I wish we'd had more time there.
Deacon got to meet his cousin Marc for the 1st time at Christmas...well, all his cousins actually. Marc is 4 months older than Deacon.
All bundled up to brave the Nebraska cold!!
Kuiper Christmas Eve celebration. We read some scripture, sang some songs, and even had a snippet from Shakespeare preformed by my 8 year old nephew Braden.
Here is Braden preforming a monologue from Julius Caesar. My niece, Samantha is a dead Julius Caesar. Braden is Marc Antony
The Babies...Marcus and Deacon
All the grandkids.
Leaving Nebraska and saying good-bye to grandma and grandpa Kuiper very early in the morning.
After Nebraska we headed down to Florida for some not-so-warm weather. That was a bit of a bummer. However, it didn't stop us from having a good time at Disney World. We did 5 theme parks in 5 days!! Phew...we were worn out!
Family pic in the Magic Kingdom
The Kuip-RRRRs after Pirates of the Caribbean
Everyone needs a pair of mouse ears!
All tuckered out. Love his little feet sticking out from underneath the blankets.
Florida was great. Then, we went back to Texas to relax a bit before heading off to Japan again.
We got to spend some time with the Reeves and Deacon got to meet his new friend, Lily!!
We loved our time in the states and we are ready to move back. We will be making our final trip across the pacific in july. It will be here before we know it.
Getting "excited" for the long plane ride.
We were very blessed to get the bulk head seat where we could use the bassinet for Deacon. I think he liked being up high.
What a wonderful trip! The time went fast but we will be back in the US before we know it.
we came here for an adventure and we have had one for sure. We had our first baby here. We teach English and our Japanese is terrible and seems to get worse. ;) We love the Lord, Jesus is all we need. Many days I just really wish for a nice big plate of Mexican food!
