Getting Adjusted

We have been here about a week and a half now and are starting to get into the swing of things again. For Christy and Terence the adjustments are more a matter of getting back into the way of doing things in Japan. For example, we have to separate our garbage here. We have burnable and non-burnable garbage, as well as a variety of recycled trash, each of which gets picked up on different days. Add to this the fact that in our neighborhood you now have to put your burnable trash in special yellow bags and the non-burnable in special pink bags, which we didn't know about at first. I had the distinct privilege of going out near midnight last night to retrieve my burnable trash from the garbage collection site because the city wouldn't pick it up. Each bag also contained a note telling me to use the approved yellow bags.
The boys are having a great time learning about Japanese culture and food. Last weekend we visited Jindaiji temple, which is a nearby temple famous for it's soba noodles. Around the temple there are all kinds of traditional shops selling snacks, meals and souvenirs. One shop we often went to was a paint your own pottery shop. We made each of the boys their own tea cups with their names written on them in Japanese. We also ate noodles sitting outside by a little pond with Koi and a waterfall. Our final stop that day was the hospital where Tai was born last time we were in Japan.
We are also spending a lot of time teaching at the pre-schools. The boys are welcome there too and are having fun helping the kids in English class and learning Japanese language, games and stories. We also are enjoying getting to know the children at the schools and getting reacquainted with the teachers we remember from before.