#22 Free Health Care for Deacon...

It's hard to figure out what to tell you I will miss because the activities I have on my list aren't particularly exciting. But, they are things I will miss none the less. So, to kick off my list of things I will miss I have chosen this one (btw, these are in no particular order)....

Free Health Care for Deacon

All I have to do is to take this little orange piece (i would take a pic but it's got some personal info on it that I would rather not show) of paper with us to the doctor. I have no idea what it says but all I know is that I need to take it. One particular procedure that had to be done on Deacon's eye would have cost about $300 US dollars was free!

This is a great thing about national health care here in Japan. We had to make numerous trips to the hospital and even one to the ER when Deacon got the R.S. Virus and we left without having to pay a dime (or a yen). Immunizations, Check-ups, etc...all free. AND, to top it off, for the first year of Deacon's life the government gives us about $100 US dollars a month to cover any other expenses. Amazing.

I think the price of medical expenses will be one thing for me that I might experience as reverse culture shock when we return to the US. Not looking forward to that. So that makes this one thing I will absolutely miss.

22 things in 22 weeks...

I did a count the other day and we have 22 weeks remaining of our time here in Japan. That seems like such a long and short time all at once. Thinking about leaving has got me pretty emotional and trying to take in all that we have done here and all that we love about this country. So, I have started to make a list of things and people we will miss here in Japan. HOPEFULLY, I will give you 22 things we will miss...one for each week. But, if I am on the ball, I will possibly throw in a few extra here and there. My goal, however, is 22. It's not that it's hard to come up with 22 things it's just that it's hard to document all the things and people I want to tell you about in this place.

Topics will cover our favorite foods and drinks, our favorite activities and places, and, most importantly, our favorite people. I will try to post one tomorrow. I am looking forward to sharing this all with you!!

To Get Dinner...

Sometimes we like to go out to eat...who doesn't, right? I recently wrote a post about going to the grocery store that was done via pictures. So, this time I thought I would step it up a notch and give you some live action shots of us out and about again in our neighborhood. This time we bike our way from our apartment to Jiyugaoka (about 5 min bike ride) to go get some yummy dinner. I took this video while I was riding my bike...no, it's not the safest way and yes, i did almost wreck and/or run over people a few times, one of which I catch on video. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did the challenge of biking at night while videoing and simultaneously weaving around people and cars.


I have been trying to publish this video for the past several days and have been unsuccessful. But, after clicking on a few things and hitting the "ok" button when prompted whether I knew I needed to or not, I got this puppy saved, edited, and uploaded to "YouTube". I also came to the realization that I WILL be one of those people when I am older who can't figure out how to operate all the new gadgets and will need to rely on the experience of my grandchildren. Sigh, my life is flashing before my eyes.... Anway, back to the topic, here's the video......

We went to our favourite (for some reason I felt like typing British English there) obento shop, "deli breeze" and rented a movie from "Tsutaya".