25-August 2010
Posted by Jay

So yesterday our friends invited us to go to this place called the Children's Castle. The castle is 7 levels of kid-orientated fun from an open gym, to art and even two pools.

When we got there we attempted to let all the kids run around in the gym for awhile and then have lunch, but they were having a table tennis tournament at that time so we ate our delicious packaged sandwiches instead.

All of the kids brought swimsuits so we headed up to the roof to enjoy the sunshine and the pools.  The cool thing about the pools is that there was one regular sized pool that was only 2ft or so deep.  It was awesome!  Ella and the other girls could play in it without us having to worry about the depth of the pool, plus they had lifeguards.  Ella loved it.  There were also multiple kiddie pools with toys in them for the toddlers (and for the bigger girls when they got bored with the big pool).  Abby and her friend had a really good time too.

The girls had a blast and it was a great way for them too enjoy outside and stay cool.

Sculpture outside the castle

Abby and her friend enjoying the kiddie pool

Ella and her friends playing in the pool

All the kids in a kiddie pool

Enjoying a snack, and no we did not plan the matching swimsuits

Kanpai!

Jay

Posted by Ella
23 August 2010

Today Daddy let me take pictures with the camera.  It was fun!  Here are some things around the house that I saw.

the desk chair

daddy's water

what's gonna work?

where's the flyboat when you need it?

I'm going to bed soon because it's dark outside.
Have a good dream,
Ella

Posted by Jess
22 August 2010

Another uneventful day here in the Woehrle household which is ok by us.  We did go to church service this morning and for the cap to Vacation Bible School Week, the kids all got up and sang and danced the songs they learned.  Ella had told us over the last few days that she didn't want to do it (she was shy) and after some of our other experiences in this area with her, we told her that was ok.  Well today she changed her mind and wanted to go with the other kids and she got up there and sang and did the actions!  So proud of her for conquering her fear.  We couldn't see her too well from where we were sitting so no video to share, but she did great! 

Since there isn't much else to share about today (we had lunch then stayed in the apartment all day since it's still really hot outside), I thought I would post some pictures of the girls rooms now that we're all moved in.

First Up - Abby's Room

Abby has a twin bed in her room.  Right now she's still sleeping in the pack and play though!

Hard to avoid getting a picture of myself on this one

Abby's Closet - drawers are from Muji, a store across the street and the Huggies box was cut down to put shoes in

Next, between Ella and Abby's rooms is a Jack and Jill bathroom with a shower and vanity.  The toilet is in a separate room off the hallway into the living room.

I'm hiding in the shower to take this picture

Ella's Room:

Ella has a queen size bed, dresser, desk and closet.  It's a pretty big room!

Her train set is kept in her room, but that still doesn't seem to keep Abby away from it!

Ella's closet (again with Huggies box for shoes).  This was taken before we got some more hangers so its a little better organized now!

Ok, that's the tour of their rooms.  But we also have a playhouse!  Our apartment has two floors - the master bedroom is upstairs.  Underneath the staircase is a carpeted storage area with a light.  Jason thought it would be a good place for the girls to play and keep their toys, so we set it up.  It's been working pretty well so far and keeps their tornadoes a little bit contained.  A little bit.

Pictures of the playhouse:

Kind of a strange angle, but the door is about 2x2 or so.  Ella has to duck, but Abby walks right in.

Love those collapsible totes we packed along - one each for barbies, princesses, dolls, play food and little people.  And one for the rest of Abby's toys too.

So that's a quick tour of the girls' part of the apartment.  We'll take more pictures soon of some of the other areas like the master suite, the living room and the city views. 

Kanpai!
Jess

21 August 2010
Posted by: Jay

We found about this big party at the US Embassy called Friendship day.  We thought it would be fun to go hang out with a bunch of other expats and locals for a big grill-out.  We were told that it would be a good idea to show up a little early as there are only a certain amount of tickets and they sell out fast.  More to that in a bit.

So we headed down to the embassy about 1030 (party started at 11).  Luckily we ran into an embassy person and another family as it turns out the party was not actually at the embassy, but at the housing compound a hefty 10 minute walk away. When we got there we could not believe the number of people in line. We waited in line for 2hrs before we got in, luckily there was a park that I took the girls to while Jess waited in line.

We were a little worried when we found out that food was not included, but when we got in we found out that the beer/water/soda was free!  There were food vendors all along "Main Street U.S.A" which we could get anything from hot dogs and burgers to more traditional Japanese fare.  Now, normally I do not like MGD, but it tasted really good on such a hot day (see picture below). We met a couple of Jess's co-workers there also, so it was nice to meet them after hearing about them.

There was a ton of entertainment, including the U.S. Marine Band, a Sesame Street Live type show, tattoos, a blow-up jumper, firetrucks and a parade.  It was very hot and sunny, but we had a blast. The girls were troopers in the heat and had a really good time.

Here are some pictures of our day:

Marine Band

Enjoying a cheeseburger

Enjoying American Beer

Future race car driver

Tokyo Firetruck

hmmm, Krispy Kremes

Baskin Robbins after the party

After the party we went to the international grocery store and had ice cream.  Very tiring, but very fun day.

Kanpai!

Jay 

Posted by Jess
19 August 2010

Catching up on some blogging from this week.  Thursday was a routine day for me at work, but Ella had a play date with our neighbors after Vacation Bible School.   As he and our new friends were talking, they decided that we should all watch the fireworks together that night.  These aren't just any fireworks we're talking about! 

The Jingu Gaien fireworks festival took place in the baseball stadium about 1 mile from our house.  Over 1 million people attend every year, so I was advised to get home early and its a good thing I did. Even at 5pm, our train station was chaos.  Groups trying to meet up, police with megaphones directing the crowd, traffic stopped on the street corners and roads blocked. 

We were just going to watch from our balcony, but our friends were able to get tickets into the stadium and we had great seats.  We got there around 6pm (fireworks were at 7:30).  The kids had treats, the parents had beer and we were listening to the live music groups on stage.  There were two groups - the first was more of a solo singer and we think she was from the group "My Little Lover".  People sang along but nothing too exciting.  As the stadium filled up around 6:30, another group took the stage.  There was one lead singer and 4 back up dancers.  The guy we were with described the lead singer as a Japanese Pat Benatar.  He was pretty much right on.  This group was called TRF and the crowd went CRAZY.  People were clapping, singing, dancing, and very excited each time they started a new song.  We of course were clueless, but danced along a bit anyway. 

At 7:30 the fireworks started.  These are no average fireworks.  The Japanese love fireworks.  They shot off 12,000 fireworks over the course of an hour.  Abby wasn't too sure at first but started to clap and point about half way through.  1 hour of fireworks was a little long for Ella and she started to get bored with about 15 minutes to go.  Jason and I think they are the best fireworks we've ever seen and could not believe that they went on for an hour.  We left the stadium right as the grand finale was going on so we could beat the rush a little.  It was helpful to get out of the stadium, but the streets were full of people sitting and watching the fireworks so it was still a little hard to get through. 

We got home around nine, said goodnight to our friends and hit the hay.  Everyone was a little crabby in the morning from the late-r evening, but we were glad we got to experience it like true Tokyo-ites!

Here are some pictures from the evening's events.  I had tried a different setting on the camera for night shots, but apparently it was not the right one to use - sorry for the blurriness!

the baseball stadium - also home of the Yakult Swallows baseball team

People coming in and starting to sit down on the street outside the stadium to watch the fireworks

Ella and our friends' girls waiting for the fireworks to begin.  snacks and drinks of course!

their little boy and Abby dancing to the music groups

the fireworks start!

Abby checking out the fireworks

I apparently caught Ella off-guard!

one of the in-stadium displays sponsored by Nico Nico Douga (a Japanese version of You Tube)

more fireworks...there were 12,000 be glad I only have 3 pictures of them!

Group shot!

A good night with new friends and a little bit of pop culture to boot.  

Kanpai!
Jess

Posted by Jess
18 August 2010

Pretty uneventful day around here, so I thought I would take a post and let you know what my job is, in case you are wondering.

First a little background on what the company does - the company I work for (and Jason worked for this past summer) makes medical devices and items that help with surgery.  Our mission is to improve the quality of life for people with chronic diseases.  We sell devices that help keep the heart pumping in the right rhythm, devices that deliver pain medication for people with chronic pain, items used in spinal surgery, and devices that are implanted in the brain that can help with neurological disorders like epilepsy or Parkinsons.  Our company is split into different divisions based on the types of conditions that are treated (so there's 2 divisions for heart devices, one for spinal, one for neuro, one for diabetes, and one for ENT). 

Along with the business divisions, we also have offices all over the world to help support the sales of our products to hospitals.  We have the offices and headquarters in the US but then there's also sales and regional offices worldwide.  I'm working in the office that supports all the sales in Japan and has regional support for the Asia-Pacific region (including China, Australia, India, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Vietnam...you get the picture).
 
My role is with the pricing team for the Asia-Pacific region and is not specific to one of the business divisions I mentioned above.  Our goal is to make sure that our products are priced competitively and fairly in each country, to help in negotiations with government agencies that pay for procedures (like Medicare in the States), and to help provide information for our sales teams to make better decisions.  My role is just a 1 year rotation in a 2 year program that I am in so we are here from August to August.  I completed my first year of the program in Minneapolis.  At the end of this year, I will be looking for a new role within the company's finance department and Jason will hopefully go back to working for the company as well (not doing finance though!). 

I will find out more about what this job is as the year goes on and hopefully share a few projects along the way.

Kanpai!
Jess

Posted by Jay
17-August 2010


So to say that Abby kinda likes rice, is like saying I kinda like Spotted Cow, she loves the stuff. I swear it is toddler crack.  She eats the stuff like it is going out of style, luckily it is dirt cheap here and we have a rice cooker that makes it easy to make.  Here is a picture from lunch today. I don't think it does justice to how much is on her and in her hair.

Covered in rice!

If you are wondering, it sticks to everything.  I have been picking it off of the floor and our clothes all day.  There was a trail of it between the table and the bathtub.  Thought I would share.

Also I washed and dried our cell phone this morning, luckily it was the free one and not the iPhone I am getting in a couple weeks.

Kanpai!

Jay