Honesty Check

In the interest of (nearly) full disclosure:

On Saturday, while The Girl was having a sleepover and The Boy was off on a miserably-rainy Boy Scout camping  trip, The Husband and I went to Koblenz to obtain some needed items from IKEA.  We also visited two flea markets and came away with--nothing.  Absolutely zero (knew I should have picked up that Avon Cottage Wedgwood plate for one euro!).  Seriously, it was really disappointing.  We've had almost no flea market luck at all, in fact, though admittedly we've been to only a handful here so far because of icky weather and work on our haus.

Our lack of luck makes sense in light of the fact that few things have gone right for us since we moved here. It's been quite the comedy of errors, really, but we haven't always felt like laughing. I know I haven't talked very much yet on this blog about life in Germany, which must seem odd. I've been keeping busy with things like photos of my Japanese match boxes and Cath Kidston purchases as a form of distraction, I suppose.

Recently I had a request for more posts about the allure of Japan and what it was like for us to live there.  I'll be happy to oblige, especially because as much as I do like Europe, I love Japan.

Don't get me wrong--I am thankful to have a nice home and to live in a community where things are simple, slow, and safe.  I'm just still homesick for a place that shouldn't have felt so much like home, but did.  Here are a few reasons I miss this place--photos taken mostly by The Girl, in our little neighborhood:

our street (our house is behind that wall and hedge)

the cho (neighborhood)

vending machines--buying sports drinks, green tea, and the occasional Coke 

oh, sushi--cheap and good, just down the hill!

our home's inner courtyard, after a light (fairly rare) dusting of snow

our street, again--coming back from having sushi, I think

again, with the food--I just can't help it--delicious ramen and gyoza here, served with complimentary pickled mountain vegetables (my mouth is watering just thinking about them)

bamboo forests--the sound of the leaves rustling

Okay, my mini-venting session/photo tour is over for now. If you're interested in reading more about Japan, you can always hop on over to my Japan blog (where you'll also see some of the above pics).  And I'll be back here soon with some good stuff about Germany!