Starting our 4th month here and so much has happened it's hard to get it all down. Ron wrote this little verse in one of his emails and I thought it was worth sharing.
What you won't see there:(I think he means where you are......
Grown men riding a skateboard to work.
Mopeds with surfboard racks and beagles on the handlebars.
Guys with blue hair riding mopeds and singing with their I-pods.
Surffers doing situps and then having a smoke before getting on their boards.
Old Japanes guy power-walking with two tennis balls and a flower in his mouth.
Paddling a surfboard while standing - down the beach.
One bedroom condos for over half a million dollars.
$3.39 for gas - nowhere to drive though.

In wrapping up my time at the coffee shop in town I worked 2 days this week and waited on my first non-English speaking couples (they spoke only Japanese). Amazing how when someone wants to buy and you are selling it's a world wide language of pointing and shaking heads and using our hands for numbers, etc. Both couples did manage to get their point accross and ask for a discount which I immediately replied with an up and down head shake. We laughed alot and one couple pointed and laughed at the package of one product as it had instructions in Japanese on it.(They in turn bought 5 packages). Upon leaving they did say one English phrase 'thank you'.

Things seem to be moving well on our coffee farm purchase. So well that they are projecting closing sooned that we expected. This requires a fast trip back to Knoxville to either dispose of more furniture and things or shipping them. We are still in a dilema as to what we will be doing. It will break the bank to ship too much but then you know how much it can take to set up a household with everything new. Does $10,000 weight itself either way? I wish I could figure it out as then I would know whether to ship or buy. Either way I am still holding firm that that's a small price to pay for paradise.