Hello, Hi, Hoezit, Konnichiwa

You have to love the power of email and Facebook. Before even getting on a plane, let alone reaching Japan, I’ve been in contact with future colleagues and, dare I say, friends. I’ve chatted to people in Japan, Ireland, the USA and New Zealand and explored our future home town through the power of digital photography. I’ve never really fully comprehended the connective power until now, realising that without current technologies communication would be so much slower and less effective.

Mind Map of Madness Minification 

To help remember everyone I’ll be meeting and dealing with I’m making a mind map to record basic information about each person, including their name, location and other facts. I won’t post the mind map here (that would be a privacy no-no), but I will say that, since my mind is a sieve when it comes to names, I’ll let you know how it all works out.

Yay for birthdays

I’m really lucky to have celebrated my birthday before we head out. I’ve received a mass of clothing, including two suits, three smart shirts, chinos and some much needed thermal underwear (I shall no longer be freezing my backside off this winter). Everything helps while we’re packing for the big move, and getting clothes has really put my mind at ease in a big way.

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!

Site of the Day 

trendytushies.co.za probably has nothing to do with Japan, unless you consider that they sell nappies made of bamboo. As far as I’ve heard, bamboo is very echo friendly and seems to have more uses than a modern day Swiss Army Knife (although I have no idea what Swiss Army Knives have to do with Japan).

The staff of Trendy Tushies are very friendly and knowledgeable and I highly recommend them, especially if you want a money saving and environmentally friendly nappy option for your baby.

Word of the Day

Not a word, but a phrase really. “So desu ne” can be translates as “that’s so, isn’t it.” The word “so” is exactly like our own word “so”, while “desu” (pronounced des) is like “is” and “ne” means “do you agree”. You’ll use the sentence to affirm what someone else is saying.