Living In Japan
by Judy Trest |
| In
January 1997, I joined my husband, Mike, for an extended stay
in Japan. Mike was involved in the startup of a communications
company with Japanese investors. |
| Most
foreigners who work in Japan do so as employees of an international
company and enjoy a built-in support group of co-workers who
can guide them through unfamiliar territory. We traveled
to Shin Yokohama independently and had to learn the ropes ourselves. |
 |
Our new home was on the sixth floor of a brand
new apartment building—a ten minute walk from the office.
The apartment overlooked a park adjacent to a river which overflowed
during heavy rains. In spring, we watched cherry blossoms
bloom in the park; in summer, we enjoyed the breezes created
by our cross ventilation.
|
|
Our dwelling in Shin Yokohama was about 600
square feet and considered a luxury apartment—a far cry
from our home in the U.S. The bedroom had only enough space
for a double bed and two small end tables. We squeezed
a desk and computer equipment into a second room to serve as
a home office.
|
 |
| We shipped
the comforts of home from San Diego, then quickly learned that
any U.S. appliances operated by clocks (U.S. 60 cycles) would
not run in our section of Japan which is only 50 cycles. |
| Public
transportation in Japan is plentiful and traffic on the streets
a nightmare, so we opted to go without a car. That meant
frequent trips to the grocery store as milk and orange juice
only came in quarts. It wasn't possible to carry more than
a few bags at a time. |
| Fruit
was expensive; we bought it in small quantities. A small
head of broccoli would sometimes cost $4.00. Wheat bread
was a treat when we could find it. Otherwise we settled
for plain white bread. We were soon buying online at Amazon and
Barnes & Noble. It would take about four to six weeks
for delivery, so I ordered our reading material in bulk and then
spaced the ordering times out to coincide with the depletion
of our reading supply. |
| Our
Japanese sojourn came to an end in March 1998 with our return
to San Diego. While Mike has lived abroad before this was
my first experience with such an adventure. I know that
sometime in the future we will probably venture forth once again
as our love of travel and new places will never diminish. |
| Judy
Trest has been lucky to have a variety of exciting and interesting
adventures. Both Judy and her husband Mike are avid photographers.
Her interests besides photography and travel are in the Internet
and technology areas. Come Travel with Mike and Judy at their
Web sites http://www.judy.trest.com
& http://www.wandering-photography.com. |
