After chatting with our daughter last night, and another email from her this morning, we are challenged to reduce our luggage by one checked bag (we have 3) and one carry on (also 3 right now). It seems that although we were way below the US standards of 2 checked bags of up to 70 pounds EACH, the requirements there are much stricter, and they only allow for one checked bag each, and only one carry on each, and not to exceed about 40 lbs.
So, again, we will unpack, repack, and see what we can come up with.
Mark thinks that he'd rather just pay for the additional weight/bags, but the kids seem unsure if they would even allow for it....so this will take some discernment on our part!
OH, and we woke up to about 3 inches of snow on the ground here....SURPRISE!! It wasn't even in the forecast!! OH well...it's one way to make sure that I stay inside today to get this stuff packed up! sigh....
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Tuesday 2/26/2008
Although it was REALLY cold today, it was really relaxing! I woke up late (around 10:30!) after a disrupted night's sleep....no problems, just didn't sleep well....well, I was coughing (lungs irritated about something) and just didn't rest well. I was grateful when I did get to sleep, and was clueless that everyone else was up and about....Mark even said he had gone in and out of the room and I didn't budge. :) That was a good thing.
We showered and got cleaned up, but didn't have anything on the schedule, knowing that the weather was going to be colder. Mark and J2 ran out for these special "burritos" that are made by one of the vendors down the road (look for a video post soon) and they brought them back here for us to eat for lunch. After getting that cleaned up, we all ventured out to go to the local police station to "register". It's supposed to be done upon arrival in the area, but we had heard that we may be able to do it in the school foreign affairs office, and had some difficulty hooking up with them, and then when we did he said that we should just go to the police dept. since he was so busy. So we did. It just took a few minutes to walk to the office, and then about 10 minutes worth of us filling out the form and the officer doing her part to certify us. No biggie. It was a really cold walk though!
Once home, J1 resumed cleaning the house, and made a batch of brownies for our company later on. We met up with their friends, G and A1, and A2 and J3, for dinner at the little restaurant on campus. We had a huge assortment of dishes, some repeated from the few nights before, and some new, but all of it was really good. We were grateful to have one of their "private rooms" to dine in, and the heater was so nice....I even took off my coat! :) Usually the restaurants are so cold (or outdoor) that you end up eating with your coat on the whole time you are there.
After dinner, all of us came back to the apartment to have brownies and hot beverages (cider, tea or cocoa) and to visit. It was so fun to talk with these other young couples, and for them to all get to know each other better, as well as for us to get to know them too! It was so good to know that there are always new people moving into the area to learn the language and have similar goals for their future, as well as the same heart for today. I know that as time goes on, they will continue to bond, through good times and bad, and be their "family" when we are not there. That brings peace to my heart. :)
So, now it's late, and I'm relaxed and ready to hit the hay. The weather is still supposed to be cold, so I'm not sure if we'll make any plans or not. There are still a number of things we had hoped to accomplish this week, and we may just have to get out in the cold to do them...only time will tell!
~marina
We showered and got cleaned up, but didn't have anything on the schedule, knowing that the weather was going to be colder. Mark and J2 ran out for these special "burritos" that are made by one of the vendors down the road (look for a video post soon) and they brought them back here for us to eat for lunch. After getting that cleaned up, we all ventured out to go to the local police station to "register". It's supposed to be done upon arrival in the area, but we had heard that we may be able to do it in the school foreign affairs office, and had some difficulty hooking up with them, and then when we did he said that we should just go to the police dept. since he was so busy. So we did. It just took a few minutes to walk to the office, and then about 10 minutes worth of us filling out the form and the officer doing her part to certify us. No biggie. It was a really cold walk though!
Once home, J1 resumed cleaning the house, and made a batch of brownies for our company later on. We met up with their friends, G and A1, and A2 and J3, for dinner at the little restaurant on campus. We had a huge assortment of dishes, some repeated from the few nights before, and some new, but all of it was really good. We were grateful to have one of their "private rooms" to dine in, and the heater was so nice....I even took off my coat! :) Usually the restaurants are so cold (or outdoor) that you end up eating with your coat on the whole time you are there.
After dinner, all of us came back to the apartment to have brownies and hot beverages (cider, tea or cocoa) and to visit. It was so fun to talk with these other young couples, and for them to all get to know each other better, as well as for us to get to know them too! It was so good to know that there are always new people moving into the area to learn the language and have similar goals for their future, as well as the same heart for today. I know that as time goes on, they will continue to bond, through good times and bad, and be their "family" when we are not there. That brings peace to my heart. :)
So, now it's late, and I'm relaxed and ready to hit the hay. The weather is still supposed to be cold, so I'm not sure if we'll make any plans or not. There are still a number of things we had hoped to accomplish this week, and we may just have to get out in the cold to do them...only time will tell!
~marina
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Sunday, 3/2/2008
This is going to be my last post from J's house. We are starting to pack up and get things ready to go, as we'll leave from here tomorrow early afternoon...rent the same taxi bus to the airport, and then fly back to G....try to find a hotel, and then leave for Japan in the morning on Tuesday for the LONG flight back home.
Today we had a great meeting and lunch with a group of friends of theirs, a blend of students and teachers. They are a really neat group of people, from many different places, and have been here for different lengths of time, so it was fun to meet them all and hear their stories.
After lunch we went to go to the minority store in HX, but it was closed, so we walked back to the campus and then took some photos in the park on campus, then went and got ice cream bars (yum) and headed back to the apt. It's been SO warm, in the 60's each day, so none of us wanted to stay indoors (where it's colder!) and we wanted to enjoy the sunshine. :)
J1 is feeling a bit better, and I'm feeling a bit worse. sigh. I'll sneak some of her meds for the trip home. Nothing worse than flying with a head cold....ugh.
Mark and J1 are spending the afternoon figuring out sudoku puzzles :) together, and J2 is working on the details of sending his computer in for service work (which we'll handle for him in the states). We're all winding down, and I'm not sure what dinner will be tonight...where we'll walk to for our last dinner in town.
The kids have a meeting in the morning on campus for the start of their classes, and Mark and I will finalize the packing up then. After a quick bite of lunch, we'll pile back into the taxi van and head out....it seems like yesterday that we were piling into it for the first time to come to their town.....it's gone by so fast.
All in all, it's been amazing. I'll work on a few posts, top 10's and final thoughts while we are flying home....and will post them once we are home again.
Thanks for coming on this journey with us!!
.....marina....
Today we had a great meeting and lunch with a group of friends of theirs, a blend of students and teachers. They are a really neat group of people, from many different places, and have been here for different lengths of time, so it was fun to meet them all and hear their stories.
After lunch we went to go to the minority store in HX, but it was closed, so we walked back to the campus and then took some photos in the park on campus, then went and got ice cream bars (yum) and headed back to the apt. It's been SO warm, in the 60's each day, so none of us wanted to stay indoors (where it's colder!) and we wanted to enjoy the sunshine. :)
J1 is feeling a bit better, and I'm feeling a bit worse. sigh. I'll sneak some of her meds for the trip home. Nothing worse than flying with a head cold....ugh.
Mark and J1 are spending the afternoon figuring out sudoku puzzles :) together, and J2 is working on the details of sending his computer in for service work (which we'll handle for him in the states). We're all winding down, and I'm not sure what dinner will be tonight...where we'll walk to for our last dinner in town.
The kids have a meeting in the morning on campus for the start of their classes, and Mark and I will finalize the packing up then. After a quick bite of lunch, we'll pile back into the taxi van and head out....it seems like yesterday that we were piling into it for the first time to come to their town.....it's gone by so fast.
All in all, it's been amazing. I'll work on a few posts, top 10's and final thoughts while we are flying home....and will post them once we are home again.
Thanks for coming on this journey with us!!
.....marina....
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