30 April 2009
Cool hello from Jakob
28 April 2009
Some photos finally...
Here are finally some long overdue news and photos from our new home. 
Above, you see the small front garden belonging to the house, where the children (there are now four living in the house, all in the same age) play and the friends from across the street come over for spontanous visits, while the mums sit together and chat (while the fathers work at the maintenance of house and garden) - it feels just like in Uenomachi in Kitakami.
There a big old trees at all corners of the house and in front of all windows; but not too dark, just beautiful. Our bedroom:
Jakobs room, during winter and with fresh green chestnut decoration in spring.
The dining room:
I forgot to take a photo of the house itself, but as the neighbourhood is much more beautiful to watch at, that doesn't matter.
The view to the street:
Above, you see the small front garden belonging to the house, where the children (there are now four living in the house, all in the same age) play and the friends from across the street come over for spontanous visits, while the mums sit together and chat (while the fathers work at the maintenance of house and garden) - it feels just like in Uenomachi in Kitakami.
Our view into the garden behind the house - unfortunately, we only have the view, not the acces. It belongs to the family living in the white villa. Isn't it enchanting? (and consider that we live only 5 minutes away - by bike - from the busy city centre of Frankfurt!)
There a big old trees at all corners of the house and in front of all windows; but not too dark, just beautiful. Our bedroom:
Jakobs room, during winter and with fresh green chestnut decoration in spring.
The dining room:
Living room; lots of space for cars and trucks.
Even the bathroom is bright and spacious. The only part of the apartment which is not is the kitchen, which reminds me a little bit our kitchen in Kitakami, too...
And that big park is just a minute away - one of three.
Come to visit us and make yourself comfortable!
24 Januar 2009
Bye bye, old house
Today is the last night in our old appartment. We almost finished packing (not entirely - tomorrow morning will be hard!), and although being sad about leaving this very nice neighbourhood, we are really looking forward to the new, quite bigger place. See you there soon - photos to follow!
13 Januar 2009
Short update...
... and sorry for the very long silence.
We had a very busy december, went to a nice and quiet place in Portugal after Christmas to relax, came back quite sick (Thomas and me with sinusitis, Jakob coughing) ,although the weather there was fine and warm, and then started to prepare our move to a bigger apartment (close to our work and Jakobs kindergarden) immediately after being back.
And it's SOOO cold here since ten days, all the time between -15 and -5°C, even during the day, brrr!
Wish you all a happy new year!
We had a very busy december, went to a nice and quiet place in Portugal after Christmas to relax, came back quite sick (Thomas and me with sinusitis, Jakob coughing) ,although the weather there was fine and warm, and then started to prepare our move to a bigger apartment (close to our work and Jakobs kindergarden) immediately after being back.
And it's SOOO cold here since ten days, all the time between -15 and -5°C, even during the day, brrr!
Wish you all a happy new year!
21 November 2008
Ready for winter
Ladybeetles awaiting winter, sleeping snuggled together in several corners of my parents house.20 November 2008
Autumn still lifes
Not that bad...
... is our new life, with our new jobs.
For mine, I had to travel to Brussels last week. I had to get up at 4 am and came back at 10 pm, and the topic of the meeting there was a little boring - but the contents of this box (one of severals I carried home with me) was certainly not boring at all, see:
For mine, I had to travel to Brussels last week. I had to get up at 4 am and came back at 10 pm, and the topic of the meeting there was a little boring - but the contents of this box (one of severals I carried home with me) was certainly not boring at all, see:
Bath tub monster
11 November 2008
New life
One week already that we started a quite new life:
Thomas stopped being a house husband and reconverted into a scientist, being conveniently located at the botanic institute where I still work, and - like my job - affiliated to the new Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre.
This is a big challenge and requires quite a lot of reorganization of our daily life.
For exemple, since Jakob's kindergarden place is only until 2 pm and we both work full time, we had to quickly find a solution for the afternoons - and we found a very good one: A young, very friendly japanese woman who picks him up at two and looks after him until we return home. Jakob is so fond of her that each time we return, he tells us to go back to work so that he can continue to play with her, almost starting to cry when she finally leaves. And she seems quite fond of him, too, I think we where rather lucky finding her.
It's quite formidable how he tries to impress her, such as by insisting on walking the whole way home (which takes them ca. 1,5 hours) and showing her that he knows the way, instead of taking the bus. He would NEVER accept to walk such a distance with Thomas or me!
Relaxing in a hot bath after the long walk (don't be afraid, there's no blood of his ran-off feet in the water, it's just that he doesn't like foam bath, only some water coloring):
07 November 2008
Fascinating Japanese vehicles and trains
03 November 2008
Thomas' hidden side
01 November 2008
Ringo juice
The region around Frankfurt is famous for its delicious apple juice and apple wine. And there a lots of apples this year, everywhere. Lots of work for the juice makers.
At a place close to our garden, they work even through the weekends, and it's almost all handmade:
Some can't even wait:
You can carry the juice home...
... or drink it directly. 
More apples are waiting on the trees.
31 Oktober 2008
It's getting cold in Frankfurt...
... cold rain every morning, almost all leaves have fallen, and we miss Japan's autumn, which looked and felt so much like a late summer:
Well, ok, not everywhere, Kitakami is not THAT green all over the place:
But even that street has its charme, in our nostalgic eyes.
Well, ok, not everywhere, Kitakami is not THAT green all over the place:But even that street has its charme, in our nostalgic eyes.27 Oktober 2008
What's wrong here?
During our trip to Japan, Jakob insisted that yakkyu (baseball) was an interesting sport, after having seen it several times on TV.
His friendly japanese ojichan (grandpa) took him to the sports field and showed him how to play.
Jakob managed to hit the ball from the beginning - see why:
24 Oktober 2008
Watching Japan
Jakob watching the - really very nice - NHK children's program on the first morning after arrival:
and is again very interested by some soap opera:
... but the real Japan (for example seen from inside the Narita Express) sometimes can be boring...
and is again very interested by some soap opera:
... but the real Japan (for example seen from inside the Narita Express) sometimes can be boring...
...or exhausting (karakoe just after arriving in Kitakami - but HE insisted to go, not us!).
Oyasumi!
22 Oktober 2008
Still thinking a lot of beautiful places we visited again
... like Takada Matsubara Beach at Rikuzentakata, Iwate (rated as one of the top hundred beautiful scenic sites of Japan).
What a serene day that was . 20 Oktober 2008
Taiji dolphins...
Dear friends in Japan and elsewhere,
please contribute to stop this:
See more in this film (if you can stand it), read more here or here.
Get informed and active:
Here (in Japanese), here (in english) and for example here (in German).
Thanks!
please contribute to stop this:
See more in this film (if you can stand it), read more here or here.Get informed and active:
Here (in Japanese), here (in english) and for example here (in German).
Thanks!
18 Oktober 2008
Healthy japanese food
Both Thomas and I (not Jakob!) gained several kilos during our three weeks in Japan.
"But japanese food is so healthy, you can't get gain weight eating it!", many of you will wonder now. So why?
Well, because of that:
Breakfast:
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Another day's lunch: 
Some afternoon tea here and there (thanks for the picture, Hiroko-san!)...
Dinner: 
Another dinner: 
One more dinner:
Of course, it was all very healthy and even more delicious (a big ARIGATOU! to all those who took so well care of us!), but we ate ALL that almost EVERY DAY, and really, I had brought several pairs of troursers I couldn't wear anymore in the end of our stay...
Everything counts in large amounts!
Everything counts in large amounts!
PS: But since we returned, all these kilos are already melting all by themselves.
Gotchisou sama deshista!
14 Oktober 2008
Sorry for not posting yet... we're back in Germany since one week now, after a great trip .... but I had not enough time yet to write anything, I'm still busy classifying the 2000 or so photos we brought back with us.
Here's a first appetizer:
Our last ryokan breakfast.
Here's a first appetizer:
Our last ryokan breakfast.
16 September 2008
Back in Japan
We made it already until Narita airport, where we stay at a hotel with great runway view to relax a little, before heading to Kitakami tomorrow.
We went ofcourse directly down to the hotel's public bath - hey, it's like coming home!
Only Jakob keeps asking: "When will we arrive at the real Japan?" - which is for him Kitakami, of course.
We went ofcourse directly down to the hotel's public bath - hey, it's like coming home!
Only Jakob keeps asking: "When will we arrive at the real Japan?" - which is for him Kitakami, of course.
