The Carmel Haven : Our Awesome (and talented) New Neighbors

One thing that stands out about our house is the the pottery designs in it. We came to find out that our neighbors (who our the owners of our house) are pottery artists! They have a whole studio where they make everything right in their home. They own a shop down in Naha (the main town in Okinawa). They made all the little designs that make our house unique. The name of our house (which is on our mailbox) is called "Potteries Side." They gave us two "husband and wife" plates as a welcome gift. They hand carve everything. I can't imagine how much time goes into what they make. We plan to purchase some items from them to decorate our house even further. We'd like a nice pot to put a plant in and a coffee table that coordinates with our rug.
Our neighbors on the other side of us own a little cafe out of their home. We have stopped in to get pastries, coffee, and tea a number of times, but have yet to eat there (ironically). It's a cozy little place that features 3 items on the menu. There are always people there, so it must be good. Especially since it's a maze for any driver to get down to us! They gave us a tray of their homemade cinnamon rolls as a welcome gift. Yummy! They delivered them on the day we have Liesl and her family over for dinner, so that worked out perfectly.
I love being immersed in the Japanese culture. We find that the people here are very polite and friendly. Not as stressed/in a hurry as Americans. Maybe we'll take some of that with us when we head back! For example, it's illegal to honk your horn at someone unless it's to prevent an accident.