Nihon

Ben and I have been like the tortoise preparing for our move. Slowly but surely, we have cleaned up the bountiful goods we acquired during our time in Portland, in preparation of living in tight quarters in Omuta, Fukuoka, Japan. It feels good to give clothes away, throw 10-year-old sneakers to the curb, and sort through the mess of papers we don't need, but I just can't get over the hours and hours it has taken me. How could I have done all this if I had been working this summer? Yikes.

So here is a diagram of the apartment we will probably have in Japan. I need to give the OK to Ayaka soon. Let me know if you see any glaring problems. Fortunately, it's furnished. And we won't have to buy a bed.

We were going to have a band called The Soft Helmets, and these would have been our band pictures.

This is the Carmela Soprano picture.

Vacating the Premises

The First 18 Things I Will Miss about the Northwest (in random order):

1. cool, green, beautiful summers
2. family
3. abundance of fantastic restaurant food
4. farmer's markets
5. dogs on every block
6. very, very, very laid-back atmosphere
7. super casual business attire
8. art
9. my bicycle
10. Pele and Mikka
11. friends
12. porches
13. space
14. big beds
15. friendly people and neighbors
16. the mountains and the coast
17. walks
18. trees

Isle of Reversible Destiny

Ben and Chrystal are moving to Japan!

Above is a drawing of the city of Fukuoka, which we will be living near. It is on the southwestern island of Kyushu, a stone's throw from the tip of South Korea. We will be teaching English there, in the public schools, and look forward to taking our shoes off indoors and eating ramen.