Arrival in Yokohama

We arrived in Yokohama 12th August 2009. It was a smooth trip from LA. I bought a portable DVD player from Target before we left DC and that was especially useful on the plane. Khin barely cried and fellow passengers were pleased with us for not having loud kids. Some even came and said "great kids, and can't hear any crying etc." Of course we were glad. Who wouldn't?

On Thursday 13th August, we went to the FSI, Yokohama. Both Rob and I (separately) talked with the director there, trying to convince him that I should also be allowed to study there. In retrospect, the decision has been made for awhile but I wasn't sure why we spent a few hours that day talking about it. In any case, the FSI is on a hill, about 10 minutes walk for me from our house.

On Friday, 14th August, all the students and their families except dogs and cats, went to Tokyo to the US embassy for a check-in. My mom took Zey and Khin and went with other kids and the director's wife who kindly kept an eye on everyone's kids. We run into friends with whom we studied Japanese togeter back in DC. It was quite nice indeed.



One of the first mornings we arrived, we watched some kids' karaoke. I thought we would watch more but we stopped watching that channel and mostly watched BBC. I am a big fun of BBC still it amazes me to see how often the news get repeated or how often they advertise their own programs. Occassionally, we switch to some cartoons or some Japanese news channel and I would complain how I cannot understand most of what they were saying. After a year of learning Japanese, I could impress people when I meet them for the first time but after that it becomes an uphill struggle to keep the conversation smooth. More on Japanese later.

Rob started his school on Aug. 17th while I entertained Zey at home as he didn't start his daycare until the 1st September. It took over a week and several phone calls to get internet connection at home.

Before we got that, there was one unlocked wireless connection in our neighborhood which could be connected at the front of the house or on the stairs. So sometimes, I played some kids' video clips on youtube and kept Zey up there.

We had some friends visiting Yokohama the following weekend so we went to China town which is famous among Japanese. We went up to the marine tower from which the view of the bay was smoggy and interesting.

Well, enough for now. Here's the link to complete set of photos. http://ayeayemaw.shutterfly.com/1943