20 octobre 2007
Latest news from France and Japan
Hello dear english speaking friends :o)
It's been a while I haven't posted in English : some of you might have understood a few things from the french posts (good way to work your language skills, huh?) , but I need to cater for all my dear friends ;o)
So what's been happening in Tokyo these last days ?
The Todoroki house is ours. Actually, we had hoped for another house, slightly bigger, with more cupboards and also just in front of the school we want to put Romane in. The downside of this other house was its distance from the nearest tube station (15 minutes),which wasn't what Nicolas had hoped for initially. After some hesitations, we prefered this second house... but someone else got it before us. That leaves us with the Todoroki house, smaller, 18 minutes walk exactly from the Keiki School (at a relatively slow pace), but very close from shops and a tube station. Nicolas compares the area to Portobello in terms of what we will be able to find (not atmosphere of course). Pictures and floor plan can be found on the right hand side of this page (albums). Now he needs to set up the delivery of our furniture : these have been in Japan since the 12th of October and Sterling should cater for settling up the house. One set back is our bookshelves, a piece of furniture that had been given to me by me grand father : apparently the ceiling will be too low for it. I need to decide what to do with it : sell it ? find someone that will be able to keep it for us while we are in Japan...
Now that the housing problem is almost resolved, Nicolas is enjoying his first week end as a tourist. He is looking for a new cell phone (we will discover japan technology) and walking around the city... Normally, he should be back in Paris for three weeks on the 3rd of November... but events in Paris might change this...
Actually, this week has been quite a roaller coaster for me, miniboy and my family. I had 2 major fears : giving birth without Nicolas around, and giving birth during the huge strike that public service employees had planned on the 18th of October... and actually labour pains started on the night of the 16/17th October ! With me moving at my parents, the franco-british hospital is now far away (at least 45 min by car), and on a strike day, Paris can be completely paralized. On wednesday morning, as labor pains grew stronger, I decided to go there and I had to negotiate with midwives and obgyn for me to stay the night : it was indeed a false labour but if true labour was to start on the day of the strike, I was then at the right place to give birth and not stuck at home. Labour pains continued until mid afternoon wednesday. On thursday I didn't have any : fortunately for me and Nicolas it was really a false alarm. On thursday night my sister and brother in law drove me back home, where I have decided to stay put until Nicolas is back. I am seeing the doctor again on Tuesday 23rd, and we will evaluate the situation : if needed Nicolas will advance is stay in Paris...
So, things are progressing... in a few days, once miniboy is here with us, we will plan our trip to Tokyo. I will let you know all about it of course.
Don't hesitate to ask any question, or post a comment, I am always delighted at reading them :o)
Cheers
Flo
07 octobre 2007
Pictures of a prospective house
Hi guys !
the house I was talking about last week is still on the cards. Nicolas had a second viewing last saturday and sent me some pictures. You can view them on the album on the left hand side. Nicolas has prospected another area, closer from his office, but without success : too expensive, for poor quality, and no school for Romane. He has put an offer on the house... we expect an answer by thursday.
He has also started to meet french expats, which is another big thing to manage when starting a new life
In 27 days, he will be back in France for 3 weeks and labor can start. Until then , rest rest rest....
30 septembre 2007
Some news of houses and schools
(plus de détails en francais dans le billet précédent !)
Hello !
today Nicolas told me about his visits of houses and schools. I am quite excited : he has found a place to live that matches a lot of our criteria, 3 bedrooms, 2 floors (almost like a house) and 3 minutes walking distance from a tube station... you can find details at this link. He will get back there to check some details on thursday and hopefully will send me pictures !
He has visited 2 schools, one very expensive, the other much smaller : Apple House. This last one has our preference, not only because of the price, but for its smaller environment and simpler educationnal approach. It is quite close from the house quoted above (20 min walk, 1 tube station).
Nicolas is still researching, but to be honest I am quite happy at what he found so far...
More news asap !!!
24 septembre 2007
Strict rest for mummy now...
Visit to the clinic today : the cervix is open, not too much but enough for me to stay put, and I mean put ! My bed will be my best friend for the next 3 weeks. The problem is now to know whether Nicolas will be back on time for the birth : I don't want him to miss these first few minutes with his son... these are so important....
So now I will havep lenty of time to update my blog...
23 septembre 2007
Welcome to my blog
Hello all !!!
as I have many english speaking friends, I will post in english from time to time... It will not be as much detailed as in the french version, but it will give you the gist of what's happening for us in Japan.
So actually, I am NOT in Japan yet : Nicolas has left a week ago and will be returning early November for the birth of our second child. Travelling there now and taking care of finding a flat and Romane at the same time would have been too dangerous to manage for me, and I certainly don't want an early birth...
Nicolas has started work last tuesday, and has taken care of setting up his bank account. He has also started to look up for a flat for us to live in, and, as I had planned, Setagaya Ku is a nice area to settle in. I am impatient to know more and to see pictures of theses flats and houses (yesss ! a house is possible as well, that would be ideal !) .
As for myself I am back at my parents, and enjoying a lot these last week in Paris, especially in this area (6e arrdt) . The only problem is that my pregnancy is restricting what I can do... but that's for a good cause.
A bientot !
