How my house is (probably) different from yours.

We live in very comfortable circumstances compared to when we lived here as missionaries and later as a young couple with Kate.  For as Western as our place is, there are plenty of things that are VERY Japanese.  For instance:

1.  Our house is an apartment in Tokyo, not really a "house".  It is five stories high and houses three apartments.  Scott's office is next door, seven floors.  There is a busy street right out front, plenty of shopping and hole-in-the-wall places to eat, yum!  I've learned a new Japanese word Shokugo Ramen--after dinner ramen!

2.  Our front door is an elevator door.  There is another way to get out with a fire escape, but the elevator opens straight into our genkan.  Once inside, I have to use our key to get the elevator to stop at our floor and open the door.  If you happen to visit, you have to call from the outside gate.  I have a video feed of the interior of the elevator so I know who is coming.

3.  This is two train stops down.

4.  There is a subway entrance/exit we can see from our family room window.  See large gray rectangle--roof of said entrance.  That would put us right on top of the subway.

5.  This is our yard/garden.  

6.  We can see the Tokyo temple out of one of our windows.

7.  We have two refrigerator/freezers because Japanese ones are too small.  It has so many drawers, it is hard to remember which are the fridge and which are the freezer ones.

8.  My microwave, steamer, defroster, toaster, multi-use thingy has instructions all written in Japanese--my kanjis are severely lacking.  I don't know which button to press to get what I want done.

9.  Our A/C slash heater is in centigrade.

10.  Lastly, in order to have a car in Japan, you must prove you have space to park it.  Check, thank goodness.  Now to just get a license....

Just kidding...

This is ours.

What we do have in common with most of you is that our "house" houses our beloved ones.