Did we make a mistake leaving Europe for Asia? 6 months living in Japan!

I can't believe I'm about to say this but it has  been 6 months since we've lived here in Japan life   looks very different for us here in Japan than it  did in Germany and we're going to talk about some   of the things that we love about it and also  give our honest thoughts on if we feel like   we've made a mistake leaving Europe to come  here to [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Asia bye-bye well we've made it here to  Mira Beach the sand is hyping hot and this   is supposed to be a swim in the water  yes cuz cuz we' seen a lot of kids we   just to swim in a ble uh-huh we're here to  have a fun time huh yes let's go huh let's go it is a very sunny day here but it's a  beautiful day and we're very excited because   we brought out the paddle board stand up paddle  board we've missed this thing it's been too long   since we've used it we're trying to actually  decide when the last time it was that we did   but here it is it's a great workout our girls are  wearing these like white jacket covers that we've   seen a lot of Japanese children have yep as will  already told you you can swim in them but that's   really smart here for the UV protection  this isn't like something we haven't seen   um I was just surprised when we went to the  onen with my parents of like how many people   were wearing like full sleeve cover or jackets  because we were inside um there was just like   one little area that was outside but I think  they definitely cover up more than other places   where we've ever lived hey you're supposed  to have your hat on Noah keep it on you're   just like Willa everyone thought we didn't  put cats on our kids but they just take them off you're teeth hey yeah go Noah go here you hold this  so today our adventures take us here to mura   Beach and this is quickly becoming one of our  favorite places to be this is our third time   just this year already coming to the beach and  it's really awesome being so close to the coast   where we have so many options uh we love this  one just because it's a really big open beach   you're not crowded and there's easy parking just  right along the road here we just spent the last   little bit just being out on the paddle board  enjoying the soft quiet waves and just enjoying   being outdoors it's honest have been quite  a shock moving from Germany especially How   Deep South we were in Germany to living just 20  minutes 10minute walk in some places and just   like a 20-minute drive to so many beaches  around here it's it's quite a shock but we   do love the change and love the opportunity that  we have to get outside and to experience Coastal Life you loved it did you get a little wet and  you loved it I know they'll come back we can get   a little snack and then maybe you can go out not  that far though not only do we love living by the   coast but we have so many grocery stores literally  anything that we want and need to buy within a 5   to 10 minute walk or bike ride from us it is a  convenience that we've never experienced I feel   like the furthest we've ever been to a grocery  store was when we lived in Germany and so coming   from there is just like this new found convenience  that we've yeah never experienced and I'm loving   it it's so convenient for so many reasons like if  we forget something we can just go it's not a big   deal like Tanner can just pick it up on his way  home from work because he bikes to work so it's   just literally a stop right along the way that  he can get some groceries for us if not I'm like   I'll just go when Will is at school and me and  Noah will go walk I am trying to get out and find   more movement in my day anyways so when I'm on a  walk like I will pass by one anyways I'm sure that   we're buying a few more things because we're just  so close but it's nice because produce doesn't   seem to last very long here I don't know but once  things do get out of the plastic it seems to ripen   or soften up faster I can just buy what we need  for that day or for the next you know 2 to 3 days   and not have to worry about like buying in bulk  really going to miss having a baby right there on   my chest huh it's pretty easy to recognize that  as an island Japan has tons of Coastline which   means we have tons of seafood just really easily  available even at the convenience stores they have   like little Sashimi sets and like fresh seafood  the grocery stores are also a really fun place to   go and get some if you're not even going to go to  a restaurant so we've definitely loved having some   fresh food Sashimi Sushi shrimp uh tempura lots  and lots of fresh delicious food I don't think   that we bought seafood all that often and if we  did it was like locks or salmon now although that   we live in Japan and we've talked about like the  fresh seafood and it's definitely been loved we   had to also talk about something else that is  is kind of hilarious because it's not Japanese   at all but living in a bigger city and especially  probably with a larger American population as well   but especially because we're in a larger City  we have options to ton of ethnic foods the one   that I have to say that we love the most is having  fresh Indian or nepales that is just like by far   our favorite thing to get when we have take out  in fact we have to like limit ourselves to like   once or twice a week sometimes because we love it  so much and it currently is quite affordable for   us in en it's just cheaper to eat out um than  it was in Germany and so we definitely have   been doing that more and we love it of course we  don't just only go out to Indian when we go to eat   out there's tons of other places that we've tried  especially Japanese restaurants having guoa having   Ramen and tons of other foods that we've been  trying along the way we've had a blast trying   the different food options and one thing we've  really enjoyed for the convenience as well is   using Uber Eats or like a food delivery service to  be able to bring our food to us without having to   go out I have to say that I'm really surprised  because the delivery fees for this is like 50   Yen 50 Yen which currently in the like market for  the last few months is like what 35 cents give or   take a little bit and we definitely tip at the  end of it but it's extremely cheap to have the   food delivered and it's just so foreign because  even food delivery in the states or in Germany   is just much much more expensive obviously today  we're away from our home which means we're away   from our Wi-Fi and something that I haven't done  yet and honestly don't have plans to do is get rid   of my Us number I've kept it since we even moved  to Germany and so that's been like my main point   of contact is using that thankfully a lot of the  contacts that I had in Germany had WhatsApp and so   that's how I would communicate with them and here  in Japan I use other messaging apps to communicate   with the locals but thanks to mobile I have an  eim and I've been using it it's been so nice cuz   I have a Japanese number and I'm able to have like  complete coverage fast high-speed data anywhere I   go and I'm loving that Mobile's Japan SIM card and  E provide voice and data services ideal for both   long-term residents and those visiting short-term  there's a lot of benefits for choosing mobile and   I'm going to explain some of them so the first  one is getting a Japanese phone number now having   a Japanese phone number is very important in  order to set up a Japanese bank account you   have to have a phone number another thing is  contacting Japanese yoin we're calling them a   lot or they're sending us updates and it's just  so nice to be able to directly call them have a   Japanese phone number and it's no issue the second  thing is you're getting Ultra fast data on trusted   networks here in Japan there's no contracted  included in this you can cancel it anytime   another benefit that we love about this company  is that that they donate a lot of their profits   to projects here in Japan and also in Malawi and  not only do they have an eim and SIM card options   but they also have a mobile pay prepaid Master  Card available for use getting a payment card   here in Japan can be very difficult setting up a  Japanese bank account is not easy when we went we   had to have a local with us someone who's fluent  in Japanese help us working with mobile is very   convenient because they make it so much easier for  foreigners or expats to have some sort of payment   card be sure to click the link in our description  below where you can learn more and purchase one   of these for yourselves another thing I wanted to  touch on is the exchange rate between the Yen and   the US dollar that has actually been at alltime  lows or like highs I guess for the dollar but the   Yen has becoming weaker and weaker as we've been  here which we thought it was actually pretty weak   like people would use comparisons at saying going  to Japan is like getting 30% off of things now   because of the exchange rate and it has only over  the last few weeks it has only becoming weaker and   weaker so obviously for us where we are used to us  dollar and that's what we're getting charged like   on our credit cards and um pulling money out of  the ATMs it definitely has been to our advantage   it's unfortunate for the local economy and of  course we don't have any direct control on that   we're obviously still going out and purchasing  groceries purchasing things but that has been an   interesting thing to have uh kind of go in our  favor I guess during our time this says please   open this tiny thing buty hard you have to do a  l that's what it says yes Peach PE jelly peach   jelly guys have you ever had it no let's try it  yes it looks like ooh it's like clear it's like   kind of Juicy huh actually it's like thicker  than I thought I think there's a little bit   of like the juice within like there but most of  it is like a thick jelly we've see a lot of like   Peach flavored stuff and melon you said Peach  and it reminds me of the Little Peach uh gelato   that they have at the 7-Eleven just over here we  might have to get that we might have to get that it's jelly oh wao there we go  there's the jelly there you [Music] go foree [Applause] [Music] it's the next day and we've made our way here  to yosa Iris garden and this is one of our first   Japanese Gardens that we've been to it's quite  a large area and it's very peaceful you can hear   the insects birds it's windy but Sunny it is like  amazing temperature right now it's perfect we were   just saying we're happy we came like later in the  day cuz it's it's just like such a calming feeling   and environment before we ended out the video  we wanted to talk about a few more things about   life here in Japan and share that with you so now  that we've mentioned the convenience of so many   things being close by and just like walking  distance and there was a couple more things   that came to mind that are indeed so close to  us so many of the things are part of like the   wellness culture here so we have a massage  parlor very close to our house we were very   happy when we found out about that because  our insurance actually covers massages and   acupuncture I've also dabbled into the head Spa  culture here so that's been really awesome to   experience we have a lot of different hair salons  nearby so honestly I just walked into one and you   know asked if I could make an appointment and  since and I've had two of them it's basically   like a fullon hair washing day except extra  because they're like massaging your scalp the   lady uses a brush and goes pretty intense on my  head and it feels good like it feels good she has   like this cool massager scalp thing that I've  never seen there's like four different things   anyways they're all rotating and it's just like  getting in there and getting the scalp clean and   massaging and she after does like a massage  on the shoulders and neck I mean it is just   nice and it's just fun to experience something we  tried to do in Germany but it was just so far away   like the chiropractor and massage place from our  house I don't know not like it was so far but it   was like 20 minutes so it was just a lot with  two kids like let's get in the car to then go   for an hour and we did sometimes but here it's a  5-minute bike ride and it's so convenient nice hi baby come [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] here it's really  perfect weather and a beautiful place to come   enjoy the afternoon although there has been a  chainsaw just like over the fence L that has been   going off for half of the time that we've been  here and there is the engine chainsaw or moped but   I'm pretty sure it's a chainsaw in the background  here so one thing I did want to touch on is the   onen culture here or like the sauna hot spring  culture that they have here in Japan because   there are so many volcanoes and so many like  geothermal areas they have quite a few bath houses   and whether that's like a natural bath house um  where it has like a direct spring there or it's   like a man-made one artificial one where they like  drilled down to a certain place to get some of   that hot water there's quite a few of them in fact  there's one that's just about 5 to 10 minutes walk   from our house uh We've yet to go to it we do want  to uh we just haven't made the time quite yet for   it but it's super nice because there are quite a  few even in like the bigger cities there are a lot   of people that go there quite frequently and they  enjoy just like they did in Europe especially like   in Germany you go to the sauna you would have the  different sauna rooms and the hot baths and stuff   really taking time to like enjoy and like relax  but they definitely do that as well here in Japan   and we love it and we've had a few opportunities  like when rissa's parents came we went to an Onsen   at our hotel and then we went to at least one  other one yep in Nagano we went to one to see the   snow monkeys um there was quite a few of them that  we saw on there so it's a really fun environment   and it's a really fun practice and thing to do  to just really de-stress relax and focus on like   self-care which definitely is something that we've  loved coming from Germany and probably prepped us   much better for when we came here to take more  time to do like advantages with it and like riss   mentioned with the massages just really trying  to emphasize more self-care and taking time for   ourselves now all of the things that we've touched  on in this video don't go without saying that we   loved our time in Europe and in Germany and we're  really excited for the time that we do get to go   back because there are so many aspects that we  love about there and we definitely miss some of   them as well but we have greatly appreciated all  of the conveniences here in in Japan uh especially   being able to have so many different opportunities  in a more populated area I think that's one thing   that we've mentioned several times before we love  traveling and visiting different countries getting   to see different cultures customs and like I  guess day-to-day activities that people get   involved with just like coming here to this Nature  Park and going to the beach or going to the onen   um or going to one of our favorite things is the  kinis it's just one of the ways we've been able to   connect with Japanese culture here and we're  really looking forward to spending more time   getting to know more of the local area and finding  little hidden gems uh because there are so many   so many places to go around here we're just  scratching the surface so looking forward to   more of them as the time comes as I close out  this video here I wanted to ask anyone else   who's lived in Japan or lives in Japan right  now like what are some of your favorite things   that you've done that are unique to anywhere  else in the world so go ahead and leave that   in the comments below and we're definitely looking  forward to hearing some of those responses thanks   again for being here everyone don't forget to like  And subscribe and we'll see you on the next video it's in German [Music]

Channel: Our Story to Tell

Views: 11,551

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Id: y--gPh2bBa0

Length: 16min 19sec (979 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 09 2024