Joy Joy Karaoke- 1:30 AM to 7:00 AM

How did we live this long without Karaoke in our lives?

For the small price of 1300 yen, we were able to sing (or rather scream) our hearts out in a small and very soundproof room.



Jake was an all-star. Jill didn't let tone deafness get in the way.


Graham's tambourine skills really added to the overall talent of the group.


Katy and Katie went strong all night. We lost David somewhere around 4:30 AM. Not even our never-ending screeching could wake this kid.

Definitely one of our best nights in Japan.

Too Good to be True?

This evening a wonderful surprise appeared in our mailbox. Peanut butter from home? Homemade cookies? Oh no. Something much more exciting...our NOVA paperwork! That's right friends, we might just be able to return to the US and not live in poverty. We have finally received the proper documents to get our unpaid wages from NOVA, or rather the Japanese government. We will file tomorrow and if all goes as planned, we should receive 80% of the wages we earned for September and October. It's about time!

It's Official

On Saturday, Jake and I purchased our return tickets home. For a variety of reasons, we have decided to end our adventure in Japan a little earlier than originally planned. As of April 24th, we will once again be bunking with the wonderful and delightfully charming couple I call, "Mom and Dad".

Jake will start grad school to get his teaching license for high school English at PSU or UO sometime in the middle of June. We are hoping the family doesn't disown us, should he choose to go to UO.....

For those of you who so willingly volunteered to store our wedding presents and other micellaneous treasures while we have been overseas, thank you, thank you! You will have your storage rooms, garages and guest bedrooms back in early June when we settle into a place of our own.

*******************

37 more days until the Denbrooks and Moores arrive!!!!

The Winter of Our Content

We had the privilege of our first snow in Nagoya last weekend. It snowed about 6 inches, although it all melted the next day. Japanese people were out in droves throwing gentle, limp snowballs. They don't have the American militaristic complex when it comes to snowball fights. At home, if you're not taking out an eye socket, you don't belong outside.

As you can see, Jill built a snow-woman, complete with yellow flower hat. After we played in the snow for a bit, I posed with our local garden gnome, and we were off to book flights for America. We had a sweet Boyd's coffee, and found old posters decorating the shop for the Pendleton Rodeo in Oregon. Sometimes it's crazy to see things from your home state halfway around the world.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures. We love you all.

Jake and Jill

25 Whoop, Whoop

We just wrapped up a very exciting birthday weekend. It was full of shock and surprises galore.

1. We discovered the Japanese like to drink their red wine chilled. We disagree whole heartedly. One should never get a brain freeze from Cabernet.

2. A man somersaulted down an escalator. Head over heels, head over heels, and again head over heels. Shockingly, when he reached the bottom, he simply picked up his briefcase and went on his merry way.

3. Jill was asked to model by two different university students. Having no desire to ever work for free again, the offers were declined.

4. JAKE HAD HIS FIRST DAY AT WORK! After four months, Jake is now officially on a payroll.**

** Five total days of work during February and March

5. Jill was mistaken for a high school exchange student.

6. We too watched the New York Giants slay the mighty Pats. We watched the game on delayed video tape. However, during the third quarter, the sound went out. The Shooters Bar management staff quickly deployed their crisis prevention department. Everyone in the bar was treated to a free beer or shot of jagermeister for the inconvenience. Instead of a half-time show, we got to see an old 60 minutes segment from Bill Clinton's presidency. Tom Petty was playing one moment, then the TV cut away to an interview with Hillary Clinton. If that's not propagandist than I don't know what is...



Jill's Birthday Dinner at Kappa.




Mmm. We love Mister Donut.



Katy and Katie joined us on round two of birthday celebrating....dessert at Outback!

Inappropriate?

Check out what little Sakuya's shirt says...