About the this blog
Americans in Japan is a blog for a Social Media Strategies class for school but will also archive moments of being purposeful, engaging, fulfilling goals, and creating meaningful memories while living as an American family in Japan.
About Chantel: I am a focused and dedicated wife, mother of 2 (Camden 4 and Graham 2), and student currently living abroad. Supporting a career driven husband (Architect), being a non-traditional student, staying involved with children in a Japanese school, learning a new language, teaching English through play to children and exploring this wonderful world.
Prior to living in Japan my family lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. A great place that gives a big city atmosphere while feeling small in neighborhood pockets. It was a wonderful place to have a great childhood, a good education and of course do a little traveling. Charlotte is centrally located to have access to the Atlantic Beaches like Myrtle Beach or the Outer Banks. Cities like Wilmington, NC are great coastal towns. Then a short drive West takes you to the mountains you have great cities like Boone and Asheville for day trips and get-a-ways. I've managed to have major traveling access to cosmopolitan cities such as Atlanta, Georgia, Washington, D.C. and Nashville, TN. A small flight to Miami, Florida, or to places like Disney. And for further exciting destinations you can fly north to New York City, NY. Basically I have enjoyed seeing the similarities and yet uniqueness to different cities.
As a young adult I spent time in just north of Los Angelas in Santa Clarita, CA as an Intern for CBS studios and did some work on the Warner Brother lot for audience handling. After moving back to Charlotte for a few years and after meeting my now husband we made a big move to San Diego, CA. While still considered Southern California San Diego is a unique border city with many Mexican influences and appreciation. My husband and I even honeymooned in nearby Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Nevertheless, San Diego, with a large import and US Military presence you can easily develop national pride married with the laid back West Coast character. We made sure to check out the Grand Canyon, in Arizona. While my husband worked on developments and building I worked with a major financial institution, J P Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. and while there, we worked on handling national assets for government mandated third party oversight. After a bank lay-off, I moved back to my hometown of Charlotte to begin starting our family.
After another 3 years and 2 children later an opportunity of a lifetime presented itself to move for my husband work in either Wiesbaden, Germany or Zama, Japan. After many question, vetting, and researching on the possibility of living in Europe or Southeast Asia, we decided on spending the next 3 years in Japan.
As you can see, I've had many experiences traveling either as a young adult with friends, as a newlywed and now as a family with young children. Please consider this blog as a resource for quick tips, advice and links to a variety of resources and ideas on how to allow social media aid your traveling needs.
Thanks and happy travels!