We left Japan less than 5 months ago but it feels like a lifetime already. We’re all missing our Japanese friends terribly. But we just heard from one family that they’ll be in Southern California and they want to meet up at the dumpling haven Din Tai Fung in Los Angeles. And one of Avalon’s little Japanese friends is getting on a plane bound for Las Vegas and Phoenix for the holiday. That’s a far drive though, so I’m not sure we will get to see her. [Update: she flew to Los Angeles and we picked her up at the airport on New Year’s Eve. We got to spend a fun NYE staying up until midnight, playing games and eating…
Re-Entry & Fun Photos
We’re back at home in California. We were away in Osaka, Japan for two years, nearly to the day. Is re-entry hard? Yeah. It is. The kids miss their friends in Japan. John is feeling some pressure to find a new job. I am trying to unpack everything that was in storage and figure out where it all goes. Even the cats are skittish. We sold a bunch of our furniture so at the moment there’s only one La-Z-Boy recliner that we are all fighting over, and usually the cat is already curled up there. John is mad at rude drivers in California. Driving here means you’ll be run over or run off the road if you don’t keep up…
Sayonara Japan!
The Crazy Last Day I woke up at 6am on Wednesday, August 1. Today is departure day. First thing is to feed the cats and hope they use the kitty litter box before we leave the house. They get to fly in the cabin with us again so puh-leeeze kitties, no mess on the airplane! Other last things on today’s to do list: Osaka Gas will come to shut off the gas and give us our final bill – between 9-10 am. It’s a relief to close our account before we leave. Our friend Chiharu will come at 9:15 am to pick up Halyard’s twin mattress so that it can be thrown away at her house – she has “big…
The Last Days
Aahhh Japan, we had so much fun. It’s sad to leave. My kids want to stay another year. Avalon loves the school friends she made here. Kaiyo loves having only 27 kids in his entire grade. Halyard loves the freedom and independence that Japan’s safe living affords us. And I love the ability to live without a car and instead walk, bike, bus and train everywhere. It means the kids don’t rely on us to drive them somewhere and they don’t have to accommodate to my schedule. I started teaching more English in the last year and I probably could have built that up more if we stayed. But here’s the thing. I learned that the California public university system…
Departure Day!
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13. DEPARTURE DAY. Last night Halyard and Avalon spent the night next door at Val and Greg’s house. Val had an outrigger race to get to early so she actually woke them up at 4 am and they scooted home. The rest of us were all still asleep! I had my alarm set for 4:30 am. This is a frantic morning of throwing more last minute things away from the fridge and freezer, taking things out of the garage and putting them out in the alley and finding forgotten items hanging in the closet – like John’s suit. What was he going to do with that anyway? He gave it to my mom to take with her. The…
Final Bits & Good-Byes
Today is the last day of Junior Guards! Here’s what we have going on today, Thursday, August 11: Kaiyo and Avalon are riding bikes to JG from 10-12 and Halyard goes from 1-3. All 3 are meeting up at the Fun Zone for lunch and arcade fun from 12-1. Big Al is coming back to install the new strikers on our stove at 9am. Tony our painter is coming over to look at our painting needs and give us an estimate. John plans to sell the BMW to a man named Mark today at 3:30! Then, at 5:30 we’re supposed to be at Balboa Peninsula Park for Junior Lifeguard Graduation. Phew! And I won’t be there for any of the…
The Last Week
Now we are literally down to the last week. Sunday, August 7 and there’s still a lot to do and a lot of people to see. I told Sandi that we need to leave for extended periods more often. Everyone wants to squeeze in time. First off today I’m taking Kaiyo to Side Street Cafe so he can join up with his friend Ethan and the Lovin Family. My plan was to go to the early service at church but we just didn’t make it there. But Halyard still wanted to go and say goodbye to his friends so we dropped him off. I decided it was probably better to continue packing since I was feeling the pressure of the…
Crazy at the End
The last month. The last week. Where to start? This has been a crazy month and even nuttier week to say the least. Let’s start at Monday, August 1. Avalon is trying to finish up her gymnastics classes plus make up a few that she’s going to miss because we are moving. The plan is for her to go to junior lifeguards in the morning from 9-12, then bike home and later go to a double set of classes from 3:20-4:15 and 4:15-5:10. After Kaiyo comes home from junior lifeguards with Avalon he will finish his last round of volunteering at Mariners library from 4:30-5:30. I am recruiting Halyard to head back to the storage unit to drop off more…