Math

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I am constantly having to do math. Getting used to the money is hard in itself. Stephen taught me to think of 1,000 yen as being $10, but 100 yen (which would be a $1 if you are keeping up) is a coin. I have several times offered to buy my grande vanilla latte at Starbucks for 4,000 yen which would be $40. Thank goodness the Japanese are such honest people.

They also show the temperature in celsius, not that I am reading to many papers here. I just look up on weather.com and it shows me what the temperature is going to be in good old fashion fahrenheit.

They also show time in military time. I am having to do math again to figure out what time my workout class is when it is at 15:00. One really great thing they do everyday is at 5:00 pm (or 17:00) there is a beautiful bell chime that rings throughout the entire city. We can't figure out why because nobody leaves their jobs until well past 7:00 pm (even on Friday's), but for me, it is the one point in the day that I am sure of the time.

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Photos

View of our apartment court yard
Right outside our apartment door

View up of our apartment
Our apartment complex is a square and the top is opened so we know the weather right when we walk out the front door.

Shopping at the grocery store
Lots of fish to choose from

View down an alley in Akasaka
Their are just stores and restaurants on every single floor of every building

Out at a jazz club
With Stan the man. Last visit to a jazz club, it is 6,000 yen for the entertainment we discovered

You pour water on both hands and drink some from your hand
Stephen only cleansed his hands (his said drinking it was unsanitary)

Shinobazu Pond
A bird sanctuary in the middle of Ueno. Those are lotus plants.

Ameya Yokocho
Shopping district with hundreds of stalls. The peace sign is a joke because that is all the Japanese do when they take pictures.

View of the craziness in Ameya Yokocho
Can find some great deals though

Stephen after Ole Miss beat Florida
He had this smile on the entire day

Fountain in the center of our "community" Ark Hills
That is Stephen on the left sitting on the bench

Japan Open
I went to the Japan Open and saw the men quarterfinal matches

Maureen and Campbell at the Japan Open
We saw Andy Roddick play

Line outside of the new H&M
It opened 4 weeks ago and the line had to be over 4 hours long. The Japanese will wait in line for anything.

Shopping in Ginza
They shut down the main street on weekends and put tables and chairs down the center. It was a perfect day out.