シェリー・スミス

While we are waiting to get our visas so that we can move to Japan, my husband and I are trying to learn some Japanese.  We have a very limited time in which to learn it, so I am sure to begin with, we will only be hitting the high points of the language, and learning some important and useful phrases.  Once we get to Tokyo, I hope to continue our study of the language.  I don’t want to always be hindered by my lack of Japanese language skills.  Maybe expecting to become fluent is too much to ask, but at least I would like to feel comfortable conversing at some simple level.

One really difficult aspect of learning Japanese is that it uses different characters — or Kana.  Plus…  they also use an  adapted form of Chinese characters called Kanji.  That string of characters you see above is, in fact, my name…  written in Japanese.  The Kana are phonetic symbols while the Kanji are iconographic symbols.  And, in written language, the Kana and Kanji are frequently mixed.  Confusing!

I started out my Japanese instruction with an audio program called Earworms.  It seems rather ingenious to me…  the premise is that the sounds of the language are set to music, and it is easier for your brain to remember.  I have used this program before when I was trying to learn Spanish.  I like it, and after listening for a few weeks, I feel like I am at least getting used to the sounds of the language.

Yesterday, we also started some individual instruction with  a Japanese instructor.  Our son has been taking Japanese classes since he was in college, and also spent a summer term in Japan studying the language.  He gifted us 3 hours of individual instruction with his teacher.  We had one class last night, and will follow up with another in a couple of weeks…  hopefully after some time to study all the information that she gave us.

It is going to take some time, but I am hoping that I will begin to be able to speak the language, and recognize some of the language that I hear.  Reading and writing it, I feel, is going to take much longer. Just learning the phonetic characters seems almost an overwhelming task. The Kanji? Yikes!

Although we have known about this temporary assignment in Tokyo for a couple of months now, we are still in the midst of working out all the details of moving a household halfway around the world.  First and foremost…  we are waiting for the visas to come through.  Until that is done, there can be no specific move date, and until then, no firm plans for apartments, movers, etc.  The documentation for the Certificate of Eligibility has all been submitted…  now we are at the mercy of the Japanese government.  Once we receive the COE, then (we are told) it is a fairly easy and straight-forward process to get the visas from the Japanese Consulate.

We have been looking at apartments online, and we are working with a relocation consultant provided by our Japanese company, to try to decide what part of Tokyo in which to live.  Though Tokyo has a very extensive and efficient mass transit system, we still would like to live fairly close to the workplace in order to minimize travel time to and from.  We also have to consider locations of grocery stores, and other shopping, restaurants, etc, since we will not have a car while we are living in Japan.  All of our travel will be via public transportation, or on foot.  Imagine…  carrying groceries back to an apartment…  I don’t want to be too far away!

All of this is very exciting, but nerve-wracking as well!  I will continue to post as the details emerge, and once we have arrived at our destination in Tokyo, I plan to post daily photos and blog about our new adventure.

We are moving to Japan… in January!  More to come soon.  Still working out the details….