Hey folks,
So I have an interesting week 10 baby update for you. We're now on welfare! Yay! In Japan when a lady becomes knocked-up, her doctor gives her a form to take to the social welfare office. On Monday, 6/6, Jonathan and I went to the social welfare office to register our pregnancy. At the welfare office, the lady turns in the form and gets a book called the 母子手帳 (boshi techo) which means mother-and-child handbook. The mother and her doctor fill out this book with info about the pregnancy, subsequent delivery, and the child's health and immunizations until he or she turns 6 (years old, not months).
In the back of the book are coupons for free doctor's visits. Pregnant women have to go to the doctor a lot! I will be making at least 14 doctor's visits over the next 7 months, and I have 14 coupons in my book. Score! I have to go to the doctor once every 4 weeks during the first 23 weeks of pregnancy, then once every 2 weeks from weeks 24-35, then every week from 36 on. This is pretty standard in America as well, I believe. But it seems like a lot of doctor's visits to me.
Anywho, I am pretty happy about not having to pay for all of these doctor's visits. We had to pay for the first 2 visits before we got the book, but the total of both visits was under $100, and I got ultrasounds both times. BTW, we went to the doctor on Friday 6/3 and I have one baby growing in the incubator. Also, I got to see the little dude's heartbeat which was pretty awesome.
One last thing about the boshi techo. They could not find a bilingual one for me, so they gave me the Japanese language one and then an English translation of an old version from 2003. I was a little disappointed about this, but I don't think my town has ever had an English speaking mother. I know that none of the past 15 ALTs have had babies before, and I assumed that things would be a little more difficult for me, but I was hoping to get a bilingual book.
UPDATE:
The lovely welfare office workers ordered a recent bilingual boshi techo for me and sent it in the mail. I believe we got it on Thursday, 6/9. I was pretty pleased about this. Also, they hand-wrote a nice note congratulating me on my pregnancy and thanking me for my patience as they obtained a new version of the handbook for me. Isn't that sweet?!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
June Update!
Hello folks, it has been a while since we last posted.
We have made some lifestyle changes that will result in exciting new blogging topics, so our June resolution is to update this blog more. And also post pictures. Also the content will be more personal and private than before, so prepare yourselves for the inner workings of our lives!
So our big news is... We are having a baby! Yay! We are only 10 weeks along now (11 weeks on the American scale) so we are still worried and nervous about the pregnancy. I prefer not to stress about things that are out of my control, but that also means that my brain is not really recognizing that we are pregnant yet in case we were to lose the baby. I have had no real motivation to read my pregnancy book or make any baby plans in case something terrible were to happen. Luckily I have Jonathan to read his daddy book and make me eat fruit and take my vitamins. He is the best pregnancy partner ever, and I am so lucky that he is not losing his mind like I am. I hope that I can relax and enjoy the baby once my first trimester is over. Here we have a little problem...
In the US, the first trimester is weeks 1 through 12 or 13. In Japan, the first trimester is weeks 0 through 15! It is an extra 3 or 4 weeks. That gives me 3 or 4 more weeks to worry! Also a Japanese pregnancy is 10 months not 9 months. lol How is this possible? Are Japanese women pregnant longer than American women? No. In both countries a pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks. In the US, we use 9 calendar months to mark the passage of time. In Japan, they measure pregnancy in lunar months. That means that each "month" is exactly 4 weeks or 28 days. So if you divide 40 by 4 you get 10 "months". Since I live in Japan, I will be having the baby in Japan, and I will be going to the doctor here 14 times over the next 7 months, I am going to use the Japanese scale to measure my pregnancy. If you get confused, just post a comment and ask me to clarify.
I will post ultrasound pics and some info about Japanese social welfare (all of my doctor's visits are free!) next time so stay tuned!
xoxo
Laura (and Jonathan!)
We have made some lifestyle changes that will result in exciting new blogging topics, so our June resolution is to update this blog more. And also post pictures. Also the content will be more personal and private than before, so prepare yourselves for the inner workings of our lives!
So our big news is... We are having a baby! Yay! We are only 10 weeks along now (11 weeks on the American scale) so we are still worried and nervous about the pregnancy. I prefer not to stress about things that are out of my control, but that also means that my brain is not really recognizing that we are pregnant yet in case we were to lose the baby. I have had no real motivation to read my pregnancy book or make any baby plans in case something terrible were to happen. Luckily I have Jonathan to read his daddy book and make me eat fruit and take my vitamins. He is the best pregnancy partner ever, and I am so lucky that he is not losing his mind like I am. I hope that I can relax and enjoy the baby once my first trimester is over. Here we have a little problem...
In the US, the first trimester is weeks 1 through 12 or 13. In Japan, the first trimester is weeks 0 through 15! It is an extra 3 or 4 weeks. That gives me 3 or 4 more weeks to worry! Also a Japanese pregnancy is 10 months not 9 months. lol How is this possible? Are Japanese women pregnant longer than American women? No. In both countries a pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks. In the US, we use 9 calendar months to mark the passage of time. In Japan, they measure pregnancy in lunar months. That means that each "month" is exactly 4 weeks or 28 days. So if you divide 40 by 4 you get 10 "months". Since I live in Japan, I will be having the baby in Japan, and I will be going to the doctor here 14 times over the next 7 months, I am going to use the Japanese scale to measure my pregnancy. If you get confused, just post a comment and ask me to clarify.
I will post ultrasound pics and some info about Japanese social welfare (all of my doctor's visits are free!) next time so stay tuned!
xoxo
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Laura at School
Hello Family and Friends!
Happy New Year!
I hope you had a great fall and beginning of winter!
Sorry it has been so long since we last posted, but we have been extremely busy and extremely lazy in turns. I am back at elementary schools, junior high schools, and the kindergarten this semester, and I missed these kids so much!
Jonathan is loving his 2 jobs, and will be continuing them for at least a few more months, probably through June.
I wanted to post this cute link to the website for my Monday school, Natasho Junior High School. There is a picture of me taken today teaching the 8th graders a lesson about a blind boy names Aragaki Tsutomu.
http://natasho-jhs.blogspot.com/
Also, below the picture of me teaching you can see my students doing fun stuff and the giant pile of snow in front of the school! We had between 1 and 2 feet of snow over the weekend, and Japan looks like a winter wonderland. On the down side, Jonathan has to walk to the train station since riding his bike would be too dangerous on the ice.
We think we will be staying in Japan for another year! So our plans are to be here through July of 2012. We love and miss you all, but we are enjoying our life here at this point in time. Who knows what the future can hold?
xo
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Well, we love you and miss you all!
Happy New Year!
I hope you had a great fall and beginning of winter!
Sorry it has been so long since we last posted, but we have been extremely busy and extremely lazy in turns. I am back at elementary schools, junior high schools, and the kindergarten this semester, and I missed these kids so much!
Jonathan is loving his 2 jobs, and will be continuing them for at least a few more months, probably through June.
I wanted to post this cute link to the website for my Monday school, Natasho Junior High School. There is a picture of me taken today teaching the 8th graders a lesson about a blind boy names Aragaki Tsutomu.
http://natasho-jhs.blogspot.com/
Also, below the picture of me teaching you can see my students doing fun stuff and the giant pile of snow in front of the school! We had between 1 and 2 feet of snow over the weekend, and Japan looks like a winter wonderland. On the down side, Jonathan has to walk to the train station since riding his bike would be too dangerous on the ice.
We think we will be staying in Japan for another year! So our plans are to be here through July of 2012. We love and miss you all, but we are enjoying our life here at this point in time. Who knows what the future can hold?
xo
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Well, we love you and miss you all!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Mid-September feels like home
Hey hey hey!
So it is now mid-September in Fukui and we are starting to get more bearable weather. Jonathan is mourning the end of summer and I am rejoicing in the beginnings of fall. Now that the weather is getting a little more pleasant, we will be going out on bike rides and walks around town in the evenings and weekends. On the downside, it gets dark so much faster now! It is dark around 6:00 or so I believe. So our bike rides and walks will have to be done with flash lights and reflector sashes, lol.
I forgot to tell you that Jonathan successfully completed his summer beach challenge! He visited all 21 beaches in Takahama, Ohi, and Obama towns! Congratulations, Jonathan!
Well, school is school and work is work. One elementary school had their sports festival on Saturday the 11th, so I spent all day Saturday cheering on our 1st-6th graders and most of the evening relaxing with coworkers over some beers and food. My other elementary school has its sports day this coming Saturday the 18th. I get tomorrow off, then go in to work on Saturday, but get Sunday and Monday off. So it should be an interesting weekend. Monday and Thursday are national holidays, so I have a 3 day work week next week.
Jonathan is loving his new job. He enjoys working with adults and dealing with the unique challenges that come with having only 3 months to prepare workers in their 20s and 30s for life abroad. I am enjoying watching Battlestar Galactica, but I would rather be having dinner with Jonathan. I will have to see if he gets Monday and Thursday off too...
Jonathan and Grainne biked 45 km on Sunday morning. After that, Melissa and I met up with them at a beach in Oshima and we all had a picnic! Maybe when winter comes along and the newbies are more settled in we will see them a bit more, but for now we are happy to have each other and our good friends from last year. We miss you, Asa, Christine, and Felipe!
To our friends from high school and college who may be reading this blog - we love and miss you too! I hope that when we come home we can all meet up and talk and laugh and learn from each other like we always do.
Finally, to our families - We love you so much and wish we could be there for birthdays and holidays. We decided to seize this precious opportunity to live abroad and improve our language abilities, and it has opened up so many opportunities for both of us! But that does not mean that we do not wish we could be there with you and for you for the good times and the bad. Hopefully when we come home, we can make up for lost time.
I guess this was a more touchy-feely post than normal, but with birthdays coming up, I guess I just realized how much I miss you guys! We are going to miss Thanksgiving for the second year in a row, but we just cannot afford to come home as often as we would like. Send us an email or a facebook message or even a letter in the regular mail if you can! We have an Indiana area code phone number that you can call to leave us messages, so just let us know that you miss us or give us a call if you need to talk.
Love and peace,
Laura (and Jonathan!)
So it is now mid-September in Fukui and we are starting to get more bearable weather. Jonathan is mourning the end of summer and I am rejoicing in the beginnings of fall. Now that the weather is getting a little more pleasant, we will be going out on bike rides and walks around town in the evenings and weekends. On the downside, it gets dark so much faster now! It is dark around 6:00 or so I believe. So our bike rides and walks will have to be done with flash lights and reflector sashes, lol.
I forgot to tell you that Jonathan successfully completed his summer beach challenge! He visited all 21 beaches in Takahama, Ohi, and Obama towns! Congratulations, Jonathan!
Well, school is school and work is work. One elementary school had their sports festival on Saturday the 11th, so I spent all day Saturday cheering on our 1st-6th graders and most of the evening relaxing with coworkers over some beers and food. My other elementary school has its sports day this coming Saturday the 18th. I get tomorrow off, then go in to work on Saturday, but get Sunday and Monday off. So it should be an interesting weekend. Monday and Thursday are national holidays, so I have a 3 day work week next week.
Jonathan is loving his new job. He enjoys working with adults and dealing with the unique challenges that come with having only 3 months to prepare workers in their 20s and 30s for life abroad. I am enjoying watching Battlestar Galactica, but I would rather be having dinner with Jonathan. I will have to see if he gets Monday and Thursday off too...
Jonathan and Grainne biked 45 km on Sunday morning. After that, Melissa and I met up with them at a beach in Oshima and we all had a picnic! Maybe when winter comes along and the newbies are more settled in we will see them a bit more, but for now we are happy to have each other and our good friends from last year. We miss you, Asa, Christine, and Felipe!
To our friends from high school and college who may be reading this blog - we love and miss you too! I hope that when we come home we can all meet up and talk and laugh and learn from each other like we always do.
Finally, to our families - We love you so much and wish we could be there for birthdays and holidays. We decided to seize this precious opportunity to live abroad and improve our language abilities, and it has opened up so many opportunities for both of us! But that does not mean that we do not wish we could be there with you and for you for the good times and the bad. Hopefully when we come home, we can make up for lost time.
I guess this was a more touchy-feely post than normal, but with birthdays coming up, I guess I just realized how much I miss you guys! We are going to miss Thanksgiving for the second year in a row, but we just cannot afford to come home as often as we would like. Send us an email or a facebook message or even a letter in the regular mail if you can! We have an Indiana area code phone number that you can call to leave us messages, so just let us know that you miss us or give us a call if you need to talk.
Love and peace,
Laura (and Jonathan!)
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
September is here!
Hello folks!
September is here and work has started for both of us. Some days I teach 7 classes per day and others I only have 1! Which is not really any different from how things were last year, hahaha. I am only at 3 schools this semester, Ohi JHS on Mon, Tues, and Weds, Hongo Elementary on Thurs, and Natasho Elementary on Friday. This schedule suits me just fine. I teach an Eikaiwa (English conversation class) on Tuesday evenings, take Japanese lessons on Thursdays and fill my other evenings with language exchanges and dinners with friends.
Jonathan has started his new job, and he is liking it a lot! He works Mon, Weds, and Thursday teaching English to engineers in Obama, and he is keeping his old job tutoring kids at the Kumon center on Tuesdays and Fridays. So now when I come home from work, Jonathan is not home! :( I guess it is nice to have a little time to myself, but I do miss Jonathan. Up until now I had the early evening free on Tuesdays and Fridays, but now that I have 5 evenings per week to myself, I need to figure out something cool to do with my alone time. I have started watching Battlestar Galactica during my new free time since Jonathan does not want to watch it. Maybe I will start taking a nap! He will usually get home around 8PM, so we still get plenty of time together in the evening, and we both have the weekends off as well.
We had a mild typhoon pass through yesterday, but there was very little wind and rain. From what I hear, Tokyo got a lot of crazy wind and rain and we were spared most of the bad weather. This year's typhoon was nothing like last year's and I hope we don't have many more come through during the fall.
I cannot really think of anything new other than the fact that we are back to work. I will try to post at least 2 more times this month to keep you updated. Send us an email is you miss us!
Laura (and Jonathan)
September is here and work has started for both of us. Some days I teach 7 classes per day and others I only have 1! Which is not really any different from how things were last year, hahaha. I am only at 3 schools this semester, Ohi JHS on Mon, Tues, and Weds, Hongo Elementary on Thurs, and Natasho Elementary on Friday. This schedule suits me just fine. I teach an Eikaiwa (English conversation class) on Tuesday evenings, take Japanese lessons on Thursdays and fill my other evenings with language exchanges and dinners with friends.
Jonathan has started his new job, and he is liking it a lot! He works Mon, Weds, and Thursday teaching English to engineers in Obama, and he is keeping his old job tutoring kids at the Kumon center on Tuesdays and Fridays. So now when I come home from work, Jonathan is not home! :( I guess it is nice to have a little time to myself, but I do miss Jonathan. Up until now I had the early evening free on Tuesdays and Fridays, but now that I have 5 evenings per week to myself, I need to figure out something cool to do with my alone time. I have started watching Battlestar Galactica during my new free time since Jonathan does not want to watch it. Maybe I will start taking a nap! He will usually get home around 8PM, so we still get plenty of time together in the evening, and we both have the weekends off as well.
We had a mild typhoon pass through yesterday, but there was very little wind and rain. From what I hear, Tokyo got a lot of crazy wind and rain and we were spared most of the bad weather. This year's typhoon was nothing like last year's and I hope we don't have many more come through during the fall.
I cannot really think of anything new other than the fact that we are back to work. I will try to post at least 2 more times this month to keep you updated. Send us an email is you miss us!
Laura (and Jonathan)
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