Our New Home

Ahhh...home sweet home in Sapporo and, more importantly, NO MORE LUGGAGE!!! Arriving in Sapporo, I was picked up by one of the English teachers from my school. He took me out for a nice soba noodle and sushi lunch before heading to my new apartment...

...which I was surprised to find was not an apartment, but actually an awesome little HOUSE!! Ours is on the left, with another co-worker and his family living next door, and my Kyoto Sensai (vice-principal) and his family living in the two story house (more on them and the AMAZING time I've had with them so far in a later post).

Here it is, up-close, in all its glory (note our fabulous bikes which came with the place, courtesy of our wonderful predecessors).

Come on in...this is our entry way complete with plenty of hidden closet and storage space. The toilet room is on the right (and yes, we DO have a western-style toilet! Don't even get me started on Japanese-style toilets...)

In Japan, the front entry area where you put your shoes is considered public property, so locking the door is always a pretty good habit.

Looking out through the front door...the parking lot leads to my school where I will be teaching, so it's literally a 40 second walk to work!

Looking back towards the front door and entrance from the door that leads into the main part of the house.

Enter into our little living room...

From our last apartment to this place, we upgraded size-wise in everything but the kitchen (sorry, Jacob)

Many Japanese homes have rooms with tatami floors, kept as kind of a connection to their traditional past. Tatami mat floors are intricately woven of grass and are soft, but extremely fragile (which lends to the Japanese custom of not wearing shoes in the home as they can severly damage tatami mats).

We are fortunate to have two tatami rooms in our home! It makes me feel more Japanese-y! An upclose shot of tatmi:

Our bedroom, which is a 6 tatami mat room.

The "office" (soon to be plastered in photos) -slash- versatile guestroom for Snow Festival guest overflow...

Our shower and Japanese-style bath

The second tatami room which we will use for guests. Don't be shy...we have PLENTY of futons, blankets, and pillows!! Come and enjoy the soft wonders of the tatami!

I leave you with the wonderous view outside of our living-room sliding door:

Okay, so it's not the best view, but I do like that Sapporo's surrounded by beautiful mountains and nature-y things.

All in all I am extremely happy to be here and the place feels so much like home! The only thing that's missing is a husband, which I will be getting at the beginning of September, and some lovely guests (contact me at any time)!