our sunday adventure

we left early sunday morning and ventured out by car to find beaches around Nagoya. luckily i found some listed online and we were able to type them into our navigation system and it just took us right there! what an amazing device! love it! knowing we could always put in home and it would get us back too, bonus!

we went first to an island with two beaches, sunset beach and sunrise beach, original i know. they were called Himakajima Beach. we were able to catch a small ferry over to the island and wander around. it was great at the ferry terminal, we were sitting there, totally confused as to when we catch the ferry, which one do we get on, etc. when out of nowhere a japanese man comes by "hello, can i help you?" seems we stick out enough that they can spot us anywhere and come to our rescue. yeah! he told us to take boat #1. we sat there some more, he stuck his head out the window and says "now!", oh! ooops! and we were off. the island is small and rather deserted in the winter. but it definitely warrants coming back to when the weather is nice. i had read that you can pet dolphins there or somewhere nearby. we will definitely look into that.

after the island we bought Hombow for lunch, steam dumplings and fried chicken and potatos. the boys have been remarkably open to trying new things, just a bite sometimes, but at least they try. depending on how hungry they are we do pretty well.

off we went to another great area called Utsumi. a lot like Alki or La Jolla. long stretches of white sand, so soft to touch. people playing volleyball, running on the beach, us with out trucks.

loved it. i'm sure it'll be crazy busy in the summer. but us being from the NW we can go anytime.

next up was the beach the boys and i visited the other day, Shinmaiko Marine Park. one side has tons of shells, crabs, anenome, like home, and a nice little coffee shop with cappaccino for me! yeah!

across the bridge is a wide sweep of sand and an area to swim, a big grassy field and walkways all the way along the water. lovely. we will be there a lot.

today we had a relaxing time waiting for our Costco delivery and the Pumpkin Pie! it arrived late morning and was all we had hoped for, lol! all 6" diameter of it! Ghett declared it "super good", Kirk says it was "ok", mine is waiting for me now while i blog. hope not to be disappointed. but oh well, lots of things are different here. made a pretty good taco pie tonight i must say. using whatever i have available. i have to be creative.

things are going well so far. lots of fun and tourist activities so far. we will need to scale back and start to get into a regular routine. Ghett starts school next week so that will help. if we keep up this pace we will be exhausted and broke soon. it was nice actually to spend the day at home doing laundry, ironing (although i remembered how much i hate to iron), cleaning and organizing. the boys did well entertaining themselves with the boxes everything came in, boxes are the best toys EVER! we wrapped gifts for the neighbors, part tradition, part bribery on our part for them not too hate us too much for all the noise my boys make running around up here. i can only hope they have very thick floors between. anyways, the boys drew pictures to decorate each gift, and we delivered them to each door a floor below us. only one woman opened the door, but we were already in the elevator on our way up, i waved and she smiled. hope she will forgive us for our misbehaviors to come.

on to tomorrow! bye for now!

Photos! finally!

Tipsy!

stopped at my local wine store "Tipsy" last night. how lovely to wander down the street into a darling little shop full of wonderful wine! heaven! i purchased a Japanese wine that was rather good, crisp and fruity. a good sipping wine, and an Australian Viognier. The owner, Toshi, was very nice and spoke good English and complimented me on my japanese, well my four words. It'll be a nice sanctuary for me. (she goes running to the shelter of her mothers little helper)

so, that's it for now, just happy i have wine! sanity will follow.

central park and beyond

the day started rather quietly, organizing, putting clothes away, setting up house. the boys entertained themselves on youtube watching/listening to strange children's song in all different languages. they loved it. jaxon tried out the vacuum. we found new chores for each now that we are in japan. (mommy really loves that part) i manage to find places for all of our stuff, so far, and still have lots of storage space left. the rest of our stuff is still on a ship somewhere in the Pacific, but should be arriving next week sometime. then the real challenge will start. ski gear, appliances, christmas tree, decorations, art supplies, and tons of toys! for now i will enjoy my organization and clean uncluttered space.

the boys and i ventured out to Sakea today to a shopping area called Oasis 21. it is very cool. kind of space inspired. a huge pool on the roof top, and a skating rink (temporary) below. we found a toy store that sells toy cars like Matchbox cars on steroids. they have all of the toys out and available to play with like at Barnes & Noble with it's train table set up but EVERY toy they make. needless to say, the boys were in heaven! they actually did wonderfully well listening today especially considering i brought them into places they absolutely did not want to leave, but each time i said "time to go" they came, almost immediately and almost without complaint. we found a Pokeymon store as well, and they watched the cartoon with wide eyes, of course it was in japanese so they didn't understand a word, but they got the gist.

we snacked at Starbucks, of course, in the courtyard by the skating rink. i am forever amazed at how much busy noise there is here. everywhere you go there is a constant barrage of sound. bells, songs, jingles, blaring music, each trying to out do the other. constant advertising competing for you attention. my image of a serene, calm, zen environment has been blown out of the water. this is as far from zen as i could imagine.

it all seems like a parallel universe. mirror image of the states, or other places, malls, dining, schools, parks, all similar in many ways, except different faces, dark haired people talking, smiling, walking by. like being plopped into the planet of the apes movie, a society so exactly like my own at home, but at the same time completely different culture, language, traditions. it all looks so familiar, but i am totally an outsider when it comes to communicating and taking part.

the people are all so very nice, very patient with my lack of language, and understanding. i often think of crass, impatient people i have witnessed in the states dealing with people who cannot speak english. treating people like they are stupid, or deaf. i have a whole new appreciation for how hard it is for all those who have moved to the US and cannot speak the language. everything is foreign, every sign, every sound made by others. you want so desperately to understand, but it is impossible. it takes so much time and effort to learn. so often we do not give the deserved respect to these people. people that are able to speak more than one language are amazing to me. i bow down to them!

anyways, back to our adventure. we wandered across to Central Park, a long park that runs N/S through Sakea, tons of fountains, each different from the last. my boys love water, and it was impossible to keep them out of the water. one especially fun one, had rocks that you could walk across to the other side, fountains sprang up on each side more like waterfalls. another was like a river with small pools full of giant fish, mostly dark with a blueish hue to their fins, but there were typical Koi in white, multi colored and orange. a homeless man was feeding them bread. we spotted a really cool bird in one pond, a large white bird with a green head, looked a little like a King fisher, or a Cockiteal (ok, i have no idea how to spell that, but i hope you get the idea the only word spell check recognizes is cocktail and i know that's not it). anyway, the bird was beautiful.

there were rock paths and trails the boys ran on, bridges, and a huge TV tower. there is an area there with a walk of fame like in Hollywood, with hand prints and feet prints from famous hollywood stars. Marilyn Monroe, Juli Andrews, Clark Gable, and stars with Elton John, and more contemporary people on them. Las Angeles is a sister city to Nagoya apparently.

It was a fun place, i got to walk, the boys explored, all was good in the world. besides the traffic it was somewhat peaceful.

now, kirk is reading to the boys behind me, Toot and Puddle, the little world traveling pigs. we can identify with them. One little pig loves to travel the other loves home, but they have lots of fun adventures together too. I have a little of them both in me.

well, so far so good, getting the hang of it, getting a schedule of sorts. gonna hit the donut shop "Mister Donut" tomorrow with the boys. before we moved i had imagined walking the neighborhood, stopping for pastries in a cute little shop along the way to the subway. this will work for now, a little commercial, not so cute, but good donuts. i'll make due, for now.

i'm off to start dinner and have a glass of wine. cheers!

on my own again, naturally....

we took Ghett and Jaxon to see their new school this morning. they were very excited. it is a beautiful school and the teachers and children were all so welcoming. they asked Ghett lots of questions, how old he is, when his birthday is, what foods he likes, very cute. He was fitted for his new UNIFORM! so cute! it looks ridiculous but it was still awfully cute. they enjoyed playing at the nearby park on what they were calling the "large intestine" climbing toy. they slid down parts and it "pooped" them out. boys.

at lunch they scarfed down rice, yeah, something we can always count on. and we all tried something green together. i believe it was spinach but cannot be sure. the boys were game for the challenge so that made me proud and happy. Ghett said it was ok, but Jaxon spit it out. Ghett told him "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" good advice, since we'll be encountering a lot of strange things to eat here. at least they were willing to try! yeah!

i got to spend the rest of the afternoon on my own! yeah! sent the boys off to the zoo with kirk and i went SHOPPING! i was successful in finding a cool brown leather bag that makes into a backpack. i wandered around a shopping area called the Terraces, that was a little slice of home. GAP, Banana Republic, Starbucks, and many other shops. it was a lovely warm(er) blue sky day, and i thoroughly enjoyed myself, alone.

i then made my way on the subway to the mall. i was very proud of myself for finding it. bought an iron and ironing board in hopes of making kirk look presentable tomorrow for his first day of work. i also found a large grocery store that had chicken nuggets! pizza! popcorn! Doritos! and other familiar things. i made it through the whole task with no tears and very little frustration. i am getting better already. yeah!

the language is a daunting thing, there are so many words to learn and i hardly know twenty. i must get kirk to get the Rosetta stone up and running for me soon. i will also be able to get a japanese teacher to come to my home and then i'll be on my way!

came home to an empty house for a short time and enjoyed a glass of wine in the mini-bark-o-lounger. usually kirk has commandeered it and sits there reading all day languishing in the sun like a fat cat. it's a competition who gets the chair first. it's the best view in the house.

the boys have made me some beautiful, colorful art work and the place is looking more like home. they, of course, are tearing pillows off the couch and have toys spread all over, so it is like home to them already.

kirk is still putting furniture together, that task may never end, but it's coming together.

jet lag seems to have ended, and for that i am very thankful.

till tomorrow!

the thing that almost brought me to tears was my first time grocery shopping, i actually did fine with finding stuff we recognized and could use, check out was going fine, but then i wanted a reusable shopping bag. the woman was so nice, and kept trying to tell me something, she just kept smiling and bowing, gesturing and talking, and talking, and talking. ghett says "mommy she's trying to tell you something" and i am smiling really big, ready to cry " i know honey, but i have absolutely no idea what!" i think if she had just kept it to a couple key words over and over it wouldn't have been so overwhelming. finally she just took me to another counter where i had to buy just the bag. then i was sent on my way to transfer my groceries to the bags from my cart. i was doing so, and the man comes over gesturing and talking at high speed again, and again i am clueless. finally he says "sample" ok, i get that one! the bag i had was their sample bag, so he gets me a new one, mean time ghett goes to return the cart. he however, takes the scenic route, and is gone for a long. i can't find him. i panic. i go to the man and am pointing to my eyes "have you seen", my hair "blonde", show ghetts height "small boy"? he says to me "what color shirt" ( the shit could speak some english after all!) and i have to laugh, like his shirt matters! how many blonde boys are in here! finally we locate ghett and make our way out lugging our bags behind. luckily we are a block away from all the action so didn't take long to get home. phew!

off we go!

so, no shit, there is was..... alone in the airport terminal, Jaxon asleep on my chest, Ghett asleep beside me. then that awful noise a parent knows so well, the wretching sound that alerts you that your child is about to throw up. Jaxon starts hurling, and i barely get the baggie in time. then Ghett sits up and hurls at my feet. Kirk had only moments before walked away to go to the restroom. of course. there i sat, two boys spewing at the same time. I am hardly able to hold to baggies for them. It is ugly. but this is not the worst. earlier in the day we had gone down to Alki beach for a last walk, play and lunch. After we were on our way to friends for dinner and to relax. on the drive over, stuck in 405 traffic, that familiar sound came from the backseat. Ghett proceeded to throw up numerous times all over the rental car. Jaxon joined him promptly. great.
thankfully our friends let us bathe them and do laundry. i figured it was nerves for the big transition to Japan. boy was i ever wrong. later at the car rental return both boys were hurling all over the Enterprise lot, seriously at least four times each. it was awful and comical all at the same time. i couldn't help but laugh. what does not kill us, makes for a good story. ugh. this was too much. but no, it didn't stop there. i've told you about the airport, so we are up to date so far. they both continued to synchronize their sickness for another couple of hours. just walking to the plane down the gang way i had to stop twice for Jaxon, each time just barely making it in time to hold the baggie. the boys were not a welcomed sight i should say when we made it to business class. we figure it was the cursed chocolate milk from lunch the only thing they both had that gave them food poisoning. poor things just slept, wake to hurl, then sleep some more. they were actually real troopers, not crying or whining, which is amazing. if one could over look the vomitting you could say they actually did really well. luckily they did manage to sleep most of the 13 (gruelling) hours of the flight and woke up in good spirits and feeling pretty good. in Taiwan we caught a second flight to Nagoya and we are now in our hotel room or at least i am, they have found their way to the pool. Ghett has already experienced dissappointment in the difference in pizza here. we have lots of getting used to to do. but for now, i am alone in the room and am intent on getting a well deserved nap. more later, lets hope all the vomit is behind us.