Category: Japan (Page 1 of 11)

Good (insert whatever time of the day it is where you are) everyone!

First of all, I’m happy to say that I have another year of hosting before I have to find another home for my blog. YAY!!! Sorry for the downtime, but it’s nice to be back up and running.

That’s really not the purpose for this post though.

As most of my readers here are also friends on one of the various social networks, you probably already know, I now have a Mini-Me!

Ren Kokubun (soon to be Kokubun-Ogden) was born at 1:14am on April 28th. He weighed 3020g at birth. That’s roughly 6.5 lbs. He’s a quiet one, but he always squeaks a little before he cries. Most of the time, he just stops at the squeak. It’s adorable.

But I digress…

Okay world, meet Ren:

This picture was taking just about an hour and a half after he was born. He was all cute and peaceful. One of the most surprising things was how quiet he was when he came out. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.

Since he was born in the early morning, I had the lovely opportunity to get kicked out of the hospital at 5am and then find my way home in the rain. Then, I went to work without any sleep. This was taken after I arrived back at the hospital after a half day of work and a full day of no sleep. I was more than just a little out of it.

This is officially day three. He was finally brought to Misa’s room to stay. As long as no other problems creep up, then we only have to wait two more days before he arrives at home!!! YAY!!! (Oh wow… that means that I just have two days to get his bed and all the other stuff I need…)

I’m sure that everyone says this about their own kids, but I think Misa and I did a pretty good job. Just need to keep him from scratching so much.

IT’S ALIVE!!!

Anyway, this is just the beginning of a new road.

I can’t wait to see what’s next!!!

Hi everyone!

It’s been a while, so I figured it was time that I update.

Things have been wild and crazy. To make things short, since it’s already midnight, I’m just going to bullet-list everything.

• For starters, we’re 33 weeks along now. We going to have a boy and he’s going to be an athlete. He’s really active. And he’s beautiful. We’re still working on a name for him, but I think we’ve got it down to a few ideas.
• Work is… well, it’s work. It’s really busy and I’m working a lot and not getting paid very much, but I think I’m on my way to making placements, so hopefully all the work I’m putting in will pay off soon.
• I finished my first book. It’s currently being edited, so I don’t know when it will be available to read, but I’m hoping to find an agent within a couple months. If I can’t find an agent within a couple months, then I’ll put it up in a digital format. I really don’t want to do that if I don’t have to though.
• I’ve already started my second book. I’m already 10k words into it. I’m hoping to finish it within a few months, but I’m not going to rush it. I’m already noticing that the sequel is more difficult than the first, because it’s difficult to avoid reusing ideas from the first.

So that’s where I am right now. I will try to post more in the near future.

Oh, and I’ve been asked to post a baby wish list or something. I have done all the research I can, and for some reason, Babies R Us in Japan doesn’t do a registry. Neither do they accept international gift cards. So, I hate to say this, but if you feel so inclined to send a gift, we would love cash, as there are so many things we still need to get, and for something as small as they are, babies are expensive. If you’re curious how to get gifts of cash to me, then please feel free to ask, or you can talk to my dad. He knows how to get it to me.

If you would like to challenge the Japanese Babies R Us site, just let me know. I can post a few things that we need, as well as give you all the info to get it to me.

And, if anyone has any daddy advice, please let me know. I know I’m gonna need all the advice I can get.

Wishlist:

• Baby Bed
• Baby Bedding
• Stroller
• Vacuum Cleaner – Yeah, I know it’s not baby stuff, but he needs a clean place to live.

PS – Check out the Gallery for our Maternity Photos

Hello to all my family and friends,

It’s been far too long. This is officially my first blog post of the year. I can’t believe that it’s already March, and I’ve failed to make any posts.

Anyway, here’s what’s been going on.

First, my new apartment is great. It’s a 2 bedroom with a very respectable living room. It’s still small by American standards, but it’s better than what I was living in before.

The job is also going well. I’m finally getting the hang of it. I think I will be making placements very soon. Can’t wait, because each placement translates into real money.

The part that you’re probably all waiting for. I’m still not married. We’ve had a few hiccups that have caused us to postpone the wedding, but that’s still the plan. The baby is getting bigger. She’s around 27 weeks now, so it’s definitely showing. By the way, I just want to complain about how expensive baby stuff is. Why are the clothes so expensive? Many of the baby clothes I’ve seen cost far more than anything I wear, and there’s less than a quarter of the materials used to make it. What gives?

Okay, that’s enough of that.

Finally, my book is finished… at least the first draft. I finished with around 87k words. It’s a survival story based in post 3/11 Fukushima It’s currently being edited, and I’m searching for a literary agent, so if anyone knows one, I’d be happy to hear about it.

It seems that I never write enough in these posts. If anyone wants to get in touch with me, you should all have my contact info. If not, feel free to drop a comment here, or on my contact page.

I’ll talk to you later!

~O~

Spring is the time of year when everything comes back to life! The flowers start blooming, the trees produce leaves, the animals come out, and love is in the air!

I love spring, and in Japan, spring brings the hanami!

I’ve talked about this before, but I can’t ever get enough of it. Hanami, directly translated means flower viewing, is a time when nearly everyone goes to parks and special places to view the sakura, or Japanese cherry tree, blossoms. This isn’t any typical cherry tree, as it doesn’t produce any edible fruit. It’s only claim to fame is the beautiful flowers, and the petal showers that come with it at the end of the one to two week season.

You see, the sakura flowers are different from most flowers. The petals fall off before wilting, so when they fall, it creates a beautiful pink and white rain. As the season progresses, you get streets and sidewalks of flower petals. It is a very romantic sight.

In traditional Japanese fashion, I also had a hanami party this year. I actually stayed up all night last Saturday preparing food for our picnic. On Sunday morning, my friend, girlfriend, and her friend, all met at my apartment, and we went rock climbing at a local gym. After that, we went to the park after collecting everything for the picnic. There were hundreds, if not a few thousand, people there. The weather was the perfect and my food was delicious. Everyone had a blast.

I love this season!

For a future post, I’m really looking forward to next month. My girlfriend and I have planned a trip to Bali. I’m really excited about being on the beaches, eating cheap food, and enjoying a private villa with her. This will officially be the cheapest vacation I’ve every taken, and yet, from what I can tell beforehand, the most luxurious. I’ll fill you in with details next month.

On a side note, I have a couple projects that I’m working on that I’ll fill you in more on as they develop.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I miss you all!

Comment request: If you have any specific questions about my time in Japan, please leave them in the comments. This is part of one of the projects I’m working on, so I would be happy to hear your questions. The more thought out and specific the better!