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!
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