Ganbatte Means Good Luck*

*And do your best!

First day of school!
It's an easy 10-minute walk to Patrick's kindergarten, and the route is festooned with children in these little smocks, all on their way to school.

A quick hug at the gate...

...and off he goes. Just like that.
Ganbatte, Patrick! Do your best!

Smiles at the end of the day!

Konichiwa Means Hello

 After registration, Patrick is introduced to his classmates
by his teacher, the sweet and spirited Yukika-sensei.
His first day is tomorrow!

Connected

Chris checks in with his students as they prepare a specimen for testing.  Patrick usually offers a word or two of advice.

First day of work and off to catch the train!

The Other Side of the Table

Any native Japanese would have known.  We three, in our eagerness to make a good impression, looked carefully around before heading to a wall framed in cubbies housing shoes of all sizes. Surely this was where you paused to remove your shoes before entering the building. I mean, just look at all these shoes! As we stooped to the task of removing our footwear, a flurry of hand-waving and a frantic scurry to retrieve slippers indicated our failure to choose correctly.  We had walked where we shouldn't have walked and were now stooping where we shouldn't be stooping. And so began our formal meeting for enrollment in Patrick's kindergarten.  Sigh!  Silly gaikokujin!

We headed for one of the classrooms, my one-size-fits-all slippers shooting forward off my foot with every other step or so, causing me to chase the slipper in stocking feet, reuniting my foot with the slipper in a corrected gait resembling more of a shuffle.  Can I just say silly, awkward gaikokujin?!

While Patrick and Evelyn played for the following hour and a half, I was neatly taco shelled into a child-sized chair around a child-sized table along with four other adults, similarly seated.  With my stomach a-flutter, I tried in earnest to follow the spirited and lively conversation conducted almost entirely in Japanese. From time to time I was mercifully rescued with a brief explanation by one of the two interpreters kind enough to attend the meeting on my behalf.  With big smiles, enthusiastic nods, and earnest attempts at explaining the requirements of the program, the Director gradually tamed the butterflies.  The meeting shed its awkward beginnings, and suddenly we were laughing and anticipating and making plans.  Some words need no translation: warmth and reassurance are two of them!

Oh, how many times in my career have I been on the other side of the table, rapidly chatting away as a parent sat in stupefied silence, nervous and unsure across from me?!  Were their butterflies any different than mine?  I have a new appreciation for those many parents...Mexican, Russian, Ukranian...neatly taco shelled into a child-size chair around a child-sized table, an interpreter rescuing them from time to time with a  brief explanation.  If I could hope for one thing, it would be that I, too, included words needing no translation. :-)

98.6: A Celebration

Chasing the Moon

Somewhere above the cloak shrouding Tokyo tonight hovers a brilliant hunter's moon I want so much to see!  I keep returning to our apartment window to scan our fetch of sky and I am repeatedly disappointed...the sky is bright, but only thanks to the streetlights twinkling below. There will be no hunter's moon for me tonight! For those who are lucky enough, enjoy this heavenly gift!

While the sight of this gorgeous moon eludes me, I've received a gift of another sort this week:  Evelyn is back!  Her fever finally broke after a feisty seven-day run and I am hugely grateful that she has returned to her spunky little self. We went out as a family today for the first time since last weekend and it was fun to watch her boldly conquer the train station, confidently feeding her ticket into the machines and singing sayonara over her shoulder as she skipped through the gates. Look out, Tokyo. Evelyn is indeed BACK!

It is not uncommon to see people wearing these masks, in some cases as a
measure to prevent the spread of illnesses. Isn't that considerate?
Obviously, Evelyn's needs a trip to the seamstress...

Hooligans Abroad

Is it just me, or are mine the squirrel-iest and loudest children on this island?!

Stateside, I'm told my dear ones are (mostly) well-mannered and (mostly) well-behaved.  But since our arrival, I've noticed they stand out just a little in terms of their noise and energy.  Children here appear to have perfected the act of camouflaging themselves against the hustle and bustle of daily life...that's not so much the case with my kids who find great joy in skipping-twirling-hopping-singing through a busy train station, for example.  You just don't see a lot of that, unless you're in the same train station as my kids.

The Higgins Duo in a quieter moment, enjoying a peaceful evening
on our back porch.  Moments later, the air will fill with a sweet
little song played throughout Tokyo at 5:00 each day.
Happy Hour!

Typhoon

We are grateful to be fine after the storm.

The sun is shining again!

Feet on the Ground

Evelyn in the 'great room'.  If someone could instruct me on how to bake
in the toaster oven the birthday cake I packed, I would be most grateful.  :-)
The apartment is small but efficient, and we've had great fun
further appointing it with spectacular finds from the "100 Yen Shop".

Out and about in our neighborhood on one of our daily
(and sometimes twice-daily!) excursions for groceries and supplies.

Tokyo Institute of Technology was hosting a "Tech Fest" on campus the first weekend
we arrived.  Here's Patrick on one of his multiple test drives at the "Frame Car" exhibit.

Fever All Through The Night

Some new numbers have skulked into our lives since our arrival. Worrisome and unwelcome, they are the confirmation that Evelyn is fighting some kind of bug.  Poor little lamb!  She had but one request yesterday afternoon and that was to put on her jammies and take a rest, so that is exactly what we did.

Chris and Patrick spent the day exploring the narrow and bustling streets of our neighborhood, eventually finding themselves at a local noodle shop for dinner. Patrick has wasted no time in adding 'koko-kora, o kudasai' to his arsenal of useful phrases and is clearly delighted when his efforts produce an ice cold bottle of Coke, all for his consumption.  The scamp!

The weather is much warmer and more humid than I would have expected for October in Tokyo. There is a lovely sweetness to the air, the fragrant gift of the kinmokusei trees flowering in abundance along the city streets.  Also in abundance - and not quite as heavenly - are tiny stealth mosquitoes that have bewitched Patrick's legs with a trail of itchy welts. We've had great fun today trying to explain in broken Japanese our need for anti-itch ointment from the pharmacy.  When your book of useful phrases fails you, thank goodness for the Internet!

Chasing the Sun

It starts with a whisper of ideas.  A what if we tried and do you think that we could, and before I know it we are making plans and packing bags and  living that dream that months before was just a whisper. We are going to Tokyo, we four, and here are the numbers so far:

5:35 - The hour at which a cheerful airport shuttle driver scuttled his way through dark streets this morning to find us mostly ready at the front door.  As I surveyed the five bags packed for our seven month stay it occurred to me the apartment may not comfortably house the abundance of our possessions.  I am willing to learn this lesson and am intrigued to embark on this pared-down version of our lives.  In the meantime I am nervously eyeing the not-quite-bulging but generously-filled bag bearing my name...

50.0 - The anxiously-awaited and well-received display (in pounds) on the baggage scale at check-in this morning.  Can Mommy pack a bag or what?!  

40 - The winks I am in no way getting on this 11 hour flight.  I know I'm going to regret it later when surely I'll be standing slack-jawed and bleary-eyed as an attaché of Dr. Kasai's earnestly explains to me the  inner workings of the appliances in our apartment…BUT!  I'm too excited, I think. Besides, a cheerful Evelyn sits beside me, passing the time coloring and painting, chattering and imagining, giggling over some secret game she has going with the tiny dolls and animals we've packed. I'm taking it all in!  As for Patrick, i haven't seen much of him.  He's comfortably tucked across the aisle in his coveted seat next to Chris where he's been lost in his own world of miniature Legos and Playmobil.  

7 - The number of seats at our disposal on this flight.  For all my intrigue with my new pared-down life, I'll confess my guilty pleasure in living large when it comes to international flights. Both kids have taken some dreamy little snoozes in the extra real-estate afforded by this not-so-full flight.

1 h 12 m - The time remaining on our flight into Narita. Perhaps I should use these precious minutes to review some useful phrases in Japanese.  Truth be told, I've only got a handful at my immediate disposal, and, unfortunately "it's nice to meet you" is a one-trick pony where useful phrases are concerned.

The next 7 months...packed and ready for our early-morning pick-up.

A journey of 5,000 miles begins with check-in at United

Safety first!  Patrick never fails to study the safety placard prior to take-off.

Evelyn takes her painting to new heights. ;-)