Howie Hayman

A story about an international couple raising and home educating three young boys on a small island in Japan, half living in buses, engaged in organic, self-sufficient farming in the middle of a mountain forest while dealing with climate, cultural, and personal challenges. These pages are about pretty much anything and everything all guided by our family motto, Taking Chances, Making Changes, Being Happy. Thank you very much for joining us on our ongoing crazy adventure.
- UnHappy Anniversary. Today is the one year anniversary since arriving in Japan. This is my fifth time in Japan, and at one year, the longest of all the trips. Things certainly did not work out as planned with the house turning out to be much more of a mess than anticipated. Working alone for one year now repairing and replacing almost everything and still not finished. Aside from a few projects, including the finish floor coverings on the first floor, the house is mostly complete. All I can say is I am extremely tired and do not ever want to go through this again.
- Driving Test. Yup the rules changed and Americans can no longer renew their international drivers license as residents in Japan. I needed to take a written test today and scored 100 percent on what turned out to be 10 pretty easy questions.
- Trip To Nara Park. I was trying to figure out what to do today and finally settled on going to Nara Park. It turned out to be a pretty interesting day. This was the first time for Shai to actually play with the deer instead of looking at them from the stroller. Aside from him falling several times including once hitting his head on the concrete, it was a lot of fun. We bought some senbei (rice crackers) which are sold especially for the deer to eat. Shai received a pretty decent head butt from one deer. Then we met a girl who had the same first and last name as Akiko. She introduced us to her friend who is Swiss and traveling around the world on a recumbent bike. Pretty cool stuff.
- Holiday Party. Well with the holiday season winding down, it was time for our end of the year holiday party. We woke up to temperatures hovering around 32 degrees F and were happy to see it snowing outside of our house for the first time. Was not enough for any accumulation but it was nice nonetheless. This party began at 1:00 pm and lasted until late into the evening. Many friends came and returned home during the course of the day. We took a bunch of group pictures hoping to get everyone in at least one picture.