Our application for a new rental apartment was just accepted,
but as we quickly move towards our moving date, problems compound that threaten to put our whole move in jeopardy.
But as things keep falling into place, the kids are finally able to see their new home for the first time.
OK guys, welcome home!
[Life in Japan Theme Song]
Well, it's typhoon season in Japan,
So it means that when typhoons come you get a lot of rain and sometimes wind too, and it's dangerous.
A category 4 typhoon is approaching Japan and is supposed to move through over the next day.
Japan is pretty well prepared for most typhoons, but the big ones can really cause havoc.
It might be raining outside, but oh it's nice inside.
Sarah, what's going on?
It's raining like crazy.
Yeah.
You want to come see it? And it's super loud.
Fortunately this storm wasn’t as bad as predicted and moved through in the night.
But it’s not just this storm that has us concerned, but two others storms that are backed up, as if in line behind this one.
Everyone wants good weather when they’re moving, and that’s certainly true in our case.
We’re praying for good weather.
It is so incredibly humid today, my goodness!
It's supposed to rain later too.
Well it sure looks like the fall, but it does not feel like the fall.
It is so warm and super humid.
In English we have to say two words: hot and humid.
But in Japan they actually have one word for it all: "mushiatsui"
Very convenient, this word.
The winds of change were blowing, and in this case right through our house as we were preparing for our big move that was still not finalized yet.
This is what packing looks like, oh my goodness!
Let's go see what is going on over here...
What's going on in here?
Lego Mario? Mommy's getting them all together for the move?
Make sure no Lego Mario is left behind.
We're all done. That's one's done. That was a short one.
Let's add it to this yellow one.
Oh nice.
So we are on our way. We have a number of meetings today. Paz Staff Meeting
Then afterwards we have to get busy on all the stuff you have to do for a move.
One of the first things is we need to sign up for a [specific] bank
We have address changes, we have schools that need to change
We have internet that needs to change.
What else? There's a lot of stuff that needs to happen here soon.
Well how do you feel about moving?
Well it's exciting. It's overwhelming all the things you have to do.
As a foreigner I think it's just a little more overwhelming.
Thankfully we have friends who help us.
Here we go. Here's our Paz Coffee Shop.
Four years running now. That's pretty cool.
Paz Coffee Shop is just about to open for the day, and the Paz Church staff meets here regularly for meetings.
We opened this shop around the same time we started this channel,
and it is one of the big reasons we chose a smaller place that was close over a larger place far away.
While are meetings are productive, we really enjoy our time together too,
so it’s nice to do some business as usual in the midst of the moving mayhem.
No job is perfect, but having work you love to do is a blessing of its own.
What do you got here?
This is a double-shot macchiato, a real one
Not the weird Starbucks stuff, this is the real stuff
And it's awesome, it's really good.
It's amazing. It will change your life, actually.
It will bless you in the deepest way that's possible.
Here we go.
Ahhh!
That's chicken soup for the soul.
Ah, look at Ben. He's full-on winter mode here.
Just enjoying his coffee with his parka on...
Oh, it's so good.
I've been waiting for fall.
It can't come soon enough.
Work and fun aside, moving day was coming closer, and we still didn’t have any papers signed or any boxes from the movers,
but on of those things was about to change.
Our boxes are being delivered.
There's a truck full of boxes...
And all the boxes here for us to start using.
We soon had a formidable stack of boxes in our entryway.
Well, it just became even more real, didn't it?
That's a lot of boxes.
It's a lot of boxes, my goodness!
How many do we have here?
[Counting] 70 big ones...
Put these on my dishes...
[Counting] 60 little ones.
We have a lot of crap in this house.
Here let's try one and see how big they are.
Let's at least put the heavy things in them and the lighter things we can transport on our own.
Then we tape!
This is the first box, here it is right now.
Let's do this thing.
See, it's good size but it's not a beast.
That's right.
I'm going to put all my plants in here now.
Looks like the plants are the first to safely be stored.
Get an idea of size...
Ready or not...
Ready or not, here it comes.
Well the typhoon missed us, which is really nice,
But all of that warm, windy, rainy weather came this way
And it's been quite the weather today.
Just with the rain, and then the sun— but lots of wind, always.
Well the winds of change are blowing, and they're certainly blowing our way.
And while we know there's going to be lots of things that we like about the next place that we're going to live in
We're going to be very nostalgic about the place where we've lived. This is very special for us.
8 1/2 years here, our kids grew up here,
Special memories. I'm glad it lives on in the YouTube archives.
Well I was out getting shots and it's beautiful over here,
But over here it's just black and the rain has started, so I got to get back.
From sunshine to downpour, let me tell you what, I got wet!
Kind of like this guy here.
But the biggest change of all will no doubt be for our kids.
Talking about school transfers, when's it going to happen. Oh my goodness.
Joshua and Sarah will be in October.
Wait, they're going to start earlier than us?
Yes! 'Cause we're moving!
Oh yea, we are.
I often drive Becca and Anna to school because they have a 40-minute walk from here to their junior high school.
Right Anna? Yes.
The move means we have to move junior high schools which isn't so great,
But the nice thing is that the new junior high school is very close,
Less than 10 minute walk from where we'll be living.
Have a blessed day!
Are you going to be too cold, Anna?
I forgot my jacket! Oh my goodness.
Oh no, I'm going to be freezing today!
The Mamachari [e-bike] was a real game-changer for Ruth
And now that we're going to be living a little further away from the coffee shop,
we're going to get a "Papachari" for me, an electric bike.
Here we go.
And I'm super excited because he'll stop borrowing my bike all the time.
Here we go, it's papachari time.
There are a lot of options, aren't there?
A lot of options.
Oh my goodness.
We got our bike
We got my bike, actually.
So another thing scratched off our list.
And the packing continues!
What's going on up here?!
If it works...
Ready?
Should I do this in slow motion again?
Yeah you can, like the boom!
It didn't work.
The PET bottle didn't work in there. The rest of it was pretty cool though.
Guess what Daddy's going to do?
Papachari!
Going to go ride my Papachari for the first time.
Can I go with you?!
Yeah, you can watch, OK? Come on..
Daddy!
Whoa!
Now he doesn't have to borrow mine.
Japan and Electric Bikes are a match made in heaven.
After 8 1/2 years living here, I’m finally getting my own.
This feels nice.
It does.
You going to crash into me!?
Look at that, to match my shorts.
This goes with your dress?
Um hum.
This? Cute.
Gloves? I can get rid of?
Wouldn't you know, it's a typhoon outside. My goodness.
We were a little over a week away from our moving date, but still no papers had been signed.
It started to feel like the move was in serious jeopardy, but finally we got the news we were waiting for.
Well we did, we got all the papers signed!
It took about 2 hours
There's tons of papers, and there's stuff that we still have to fill out.
But it's only one week until we get in there.
I mean it's going to be fast.
And what did we get to celebrate with the kids?
They wanted McDonalds.
Well guys, the papers are signed!
We are going to get into our apartment in one week!
It is really pouring down!
Ruth was so excited we were going to live close to her younger sister, whose family also works with Paz here in Japan.
We visited over 10 different places looking for the right one, and when we saw an apartment here, we knew it was the right place.
Now our kids were anxious to visit the apartment for the first time.
Tis the season for typhoons, I'll tell you what.
OK, you want to see something cool?
Whenever I get a notification
Bam! Look at that!
It's the girlfriend, but after she went to the beach and her hair could stand up on end
Ever since we came back to Japan from traveling this summer life has been in a typhoon-like whirlwind.
But after the typhoon comes clear weather, and that’s exactly what we experienced the next day.
It was a perfect setting for what was about to happen.
Well guys, do you know what today is?
We're going to go and see our new house.
You guys are going to see it for the first time ever!
[Singing] For the first time in forever....
Everyone was excited and maybe a little bit nervous to see the new place for the first time.
OK guys, welcome home!
I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so excited!
It's just like Aunt Debbie's
Let's go this way.
This way?
Which one is our room?
This is Joshua and Sarah's room...
Wait, our room is smaller than this?
Can we survive?!
Oh this is scary right here. It goes down.
Oh it's fine.
OK, let's go
And then this is the big room...
This is the big room?
It's mommy and daddy's room.
What happened here?
They had to take out at the screens and stuff because of the — don't step on that
Because they're doing the balconies.
This is where you can see to Aunt Debbies.
Yea so if Aunt Debbie is coming, you can see her coming down the path.
Oh my, I'm so excited
Wait a second... Our room is right here?!
OK, close your eyes.
Close your eyes, close your eyes.
It's tiny.
OK
How's a desk and a bed going to fit in here?
The bed will go right here. I'm on the top.
And then we'll put your two desks right here.
Can that fit?
Yea it will, we measured it.
We're going to put shelves in there You have a little closet.
We have all those like colored pens that we put on that shelf.
Well you know what?
We might be able to put a tall little shelf right here.
Wait for mommy...
Is this a toilet?! Yea, that's the toilet.
Oh my! It's pretty big.
It is big. Oh my goodness, it's so pretty.
Where's the washing machine going to go?
Is this a like a door right here? Can I open it?
Yea, that goes into the kitchen and washing machine.
Oh my freaky-freakiness!
You have your own washing machine room, Mommy.
And then here's the shower/bath.
It's tiny.
One person at a time.
But it's nice.
Yea it is.
OK, now we're coming out this way. Come this way Joshua.
This isn't bad.
So the refrigerator...goes like right here, right?
Right here.
And then you have shelf space right here.
Oh my freaky freaky, hey, can this be our room?
I want this to be our room!
Can this be our room? No.
Is it good for spinning, Dude?
Yea. Yea.
Is this part really cool here though?
Oh my goodness, the balcony is huge!
Well the balcony is huge!
That is nice, isn't it?
I want to see something
Is that our school?!
Oh Sarah!
Go ahead Sarah's checking it out.
Where is it? Where is it?
It's right outside the room.
Can I come in?
Yea, come in.
It's a little dirty, so be careful.
Yeah, that is a good statue place, huh?
This is weird to think that this is our house.
Well, it doesn't feel like anybody's house at the moment because it's empty.
My freekin' goodness
The Mamachatti
Packing kicks into high gear as moving day approaches,
Look what we got
Keys
and once it finally does, we say our final farewells to the home of our Life in Japan for over 8 1/2 years,
Oh my goodness! I'm trying to find curtains!