Sayonara and Tere

Nearly a week ago we boarded a plane and said goodbye to Iwakuni, Japan.  We loved our nearly three year stay and had many adventures.  Japan is the only home Zach knows.  It took just over 25 hours from the time we left our apartment and walked into our new home in Tallinn, Estonia.  In case you were wondering "Tere" is hello in Estonian.

While the trip was long, I think it went as well as it could have.  Our cat didn't make the flight.  That is a whole different post but was by far the biggest glitch.  Let's just say that I have spent a lot of time on the phone trying to get the kitty here.

We love it here!  Our biggest wish was to have a yard, and we have a nice big yard with plenty of pavers for bike/scooter/skating fun.  Our home is very nice and meets all of our needs.  I must admit that I have had to adjust to European appliances.  Although the loads of laundry must be smaller here and take 4 to 5 times the amount of time per load to complete, I am getting it done.  I've not been brave enough to run the dishwasher, but we have so few dishes it hasn't been necessary.

Everyone has been so very kind to us here and kept us quite busy.  My sponsor has introduced me to quite a few people and shown me how to get around.  We had a tasty lunch at Vapiano one day in which I had the Asian Pasta.  Yum!  The kids each had a bear shaped pizza and loved it based on how much they consumed.  We went to a yard sale where I scored an alarm clock and hair dryer for 1 euro each!  It was so nice drying my hair without the transformer today.  Anyway, I've also had a cappuccino at Gourmet Coffee in Kadriorg, and enjoyed dinner with several ladies last night at another neat place but I do not recall the name.  Today the family caught the bus into the city and did a little stint into Old Town, did some shopping at a couple nearby malls, ate at McDonald's and came on home.  Next week I'll be touring a couple of schools to consider for Clara.  Charlie has been very busy learning things at work.  Clara has already been able to play with several children although she still misses her friends.  As you can see it has been a whirlwind of activity for us and we've not even been here for a week yet.

I must admit it is a bit cool here.  We are expecting it to warm up a bit as we begin the warm time of year. It is 5pm here and 54 degrees F.  Not too cold, but for June 2nd it is a little cool.  We are also adjusting to the long days here.  It wasn't completely dark last night at 10:30pm when Charlie and I went to bed.  When the kids go to bed it is still quite bright.  Luckily the blackout shades help make it a bit dimmer in the bedrooms.  I think it is cute that Zach likes to vacuum!  I plan to drastically increase the number of chores each child performs while here.

 Here are a few pictures while we were in Old Town.  I am really looking forward to exploring it in more depth and going on up the city wall (3 Euros a piece...I wanted to wait for a warmer day) you see here in the picture.

 Zach fell and needed a little first aid on his finger.  That is what Charlie is doing.  The little shop behind them is a neat children's shop.  We found several items we would love to get friends and family in there!

 This is the exit from Old Town.  

 This was inside Solaris shopping mall.  Although coats are needed outside, they wanted ice cream.  This was Zach's first cone and he did really well!  There were lots of people eating ice cream.  I'm guessing the locals consider this quite warm right now, although they are still bundled up right now. I've heard the locals will actually lecture you if you do not dress your children warmly enough.

Grocery shopping has been an adventure.  I've been shopping at Selver and have found that while it isn't quite what we are used to, we will mostly be able to get what we need.  So far the kids haven't complained about the juice, milk, eggs, etc.  My sponsor has been helpful and I've also downloaded two Estonian language apps to Clara's itouch that are helpful as well.

Oh, we also discovered we can have pizza delivered!  And we did.  It was pretty good.  Now we just have to get a car.  Aside from work, that is Charlie's main mission for this coming week.

I've rattled on enough at this point.  More to come later...