SOFTWARE, JAPAN, SELF-ACTUALIZATION AND

Today I scooted down to the post office around lunchtime to mail off some important documents. Nice weather on the walk there, really felt nice to take that 10 min stroll. On my way there I pulled out my English to Japanese dictionary and memorized a few words to help make things easier. […]

So one of the songs Makoto sang at karaoke this weekend was a funny rap song by a group called motor men.  Here is a link to a mix version of the song (slightly different from the one he sang)
Essentially it is a song about riding a train around tokyo.  It even has the sound […]

so tomorrow is that day when the government gets to forcibly take money out of my bank, not a happy day.  A system that thinks it deserves 25% of my hard earned money is a system I don’t like.  Sure, I think some governmental activities are worth my money, but in the end I’m mostly […]

So Saturday was my birthday, and I spent a whole 2 days away from the computer in northern Japan.  Ayako and I traveled to Sendai to spend Saturday and Sunday with Makoto - her younger brother.
We had a great time hanging out.  Not only did we go see a Matsushima(sp?) a beautiful oceanside location with […]

Ok, so in about 20 minutes Ayako and I will begin our journey to north Japan, Sendai city to be exact.  Sendai is where her brother Makoto lives (some of you should know Makoto).  We are travelling by “night bus”, it was the cheapest way - so i hope we can get some sleep on […]

Tonight when we checked the mail there was a lovely little postcard in the mailbox.  The handwriting on the address was so familiar - it was from the immigration office!  The news is - I will get my long term visa!!
Next I have to go back to the immigration office and get a special stamp […]

So after work tonight we all went out to eat, about 11 of us.  Good times, great food, and better laughs.
Its late, so i:ll just post a few pictures here of what I ate

curry moundai?  cant remember the name, but it had curry in it - very tasty.

those are takoyaki dumplings with egg underneath

this is […]

So this morning I woke up at 7am, after staying up til 2am working and discussing apartments with Ayako.  I didn’t wake up tired like many days, instead adrenaline kept me focused on my task at hand.
I left the apartment around 7:30 and went to the train station.  From there I travelled 55 minutes to […]

Charles Abbott is tired, and will now go to sleep.
ちゃーるず　あっぼと　は　ねむい　です、　おやすみなさい。
We will dream our final dreams about apartments tonight, and hopefully when we wake up we can make a decision on one of the few we like… its been a long hunt.

Today we went to Funabashi station, and took a bus to the immigration office.  With our 14 pages of pre-filled forms covering our family and personal information, 2 photos of us as a couple, my passport, alien registration card, Ayako’s family records, birth record, tax statements, our proof of marriage, and  addresses of our current […]