The apartment - Day 11

I figured I would do a post on our experiences of life in a traditional Japanese style apartment thus far. Our apartment is located in Nagoya & is very roomy by Japanese standards - although, there are a number of things "different" about a Japanese apartment & everyone is adjusting to these living conditions.
So far, the main points of interest are:

1) Abram's new house slippers (as you can not wear your shoes inside the apartment).  Lindsey and I have talked about this numerous times - babies HATE wood floors.  He has been a grouchy little guy, slipping and sliding around on these floors.  So, Grammy bought him a little pair of shoes today at the market (because we have lost all but 1 pair of his shoes - that is another post (blast those train station elevators)). What boy would be complete without a pair of Anpanman slippers, right? Come to think of it . . . he looks a bit like Anpanman & as such, has received a new honorary Japanese nickname. With his new shoes (or maybe it's his new nickname?) he is a much happier baby.

2) Tatami mats. If you're not familiar with these - they are tightly woven straw mats that cover the bedroom floor - instead of beds, you sleep on "futon" mattresses on top of the tatami mats. The only "american" bed in our apartment is the twin in the 2nd bedroom (which we have given to Brandon's Mom), which means that Brandon, Adison, Abram, and I are all sleeping in the tatami room together (which is how the traditional Japanese family also sleeps). Adison is LOVING this - I'm hoping we can make the transition back to "american" style easily upon return . . .

3) Toilets. Okay, I know this shouldn't receive it's own category, but it does - let me explain. The toilets in Japan are equipped with 2 very unique features: A) they have an exposed water "fountain" above the tank (not for drinking) that runs after a flush to refill the tank. In typical "eco" Japanese fashion, it is meant to be used to wash your hands, and B) shower toilets - I'll leave it at this - the Japanese are crazy about their bidet / back side sprayers; they are everywhere.

4) Appliances. We have a college sized mini-fridge (they say it's normal sized here), a washing machine but no drier (again, supposedly normal), and a whole array of small appliances for food prep (rice cooker, hot water pot, toaster oven, and microwave) - and thank goodness, as the "stove" is really just a glorified camp stove with 2 gas burners on a cabinet about 2 feet tall & just begging for an innocent 1 year old passerby to scorch himself with. As you can imagine, I do all dinner prep during nap time. 

Happy sleeper

My little Anpanman

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