It's Monday at 5:42 AM in Sakai. The four of us arrived Friday night from San Francisco, and, as of this morning, the children appear to have embraced the new time zone. (They awoke, and stayed awake, at 2 AM and 3 AM respectively the last two nights.) I am awake as I conked out putting Riku to bed at 8 PM last night.
Some highlights and other notes from the past few days ...
- A birthday and farewell party in San Francisco. Against all odds, we had a quick, fun, casual party the night before leaving for Japan. Thai takeout, four desserts (cheesecake, carrot cake, and date squares from my mom, and strawberry confections from Mari), beer, champagne, five wee ones ...
- Packing (both the big job of packing the bulk of our stuff for shipment over here, and last-minute packing for the flight over) was a fiasco, mayhem, and not enjoyable. A combination of many factors, the primary one being that we're bad at it. We left some loose ends, that's for sure ... but we left them in the hands of capable folks (some of whom didn't know their hands were open).
- The flight. Riku and Mirei are experienced travellers, and we are the recipients of that windfall. Akane bought a portable DVD player, and Riku watched Wall-E and Ella Enchanted, trip gifts from Susan (Mirei watched a bit, too). They slept about an hour each, and Mirei took about eight trips to the bathroom, and picked up some new vocab along the way ("occupied", "vacant"). She also kept an eagle eye on the fasten seatbelt sign.
- Akane's sister Ayako picked us up in her wonder-Honda, which managed to contain everything we brought over (three huge suitcases, three checked boxes, eight carry-on bags, a car seat, and a stroller) ... everything except me, that is. I took the train back to her condo, and had a nice little catnap along the way.
- Settling in ... we're here in Sakai for the next two weeks, about two hours by train from our new place in Kyoto. We're waiting for our stuff to arrive on the boat, and there's also lots of setup to be done as well (electricity, water, furniture, appliances, curtains ...). Riku and Mirei will be going to daycare these upcoming two weeks to give Akane time to set things up at the new pad.
- Day trip to Kyoto. Ayako drove us to see our new place on Saturday. Baa-ba (Akane's and Ayako's mom) came along as well. Riku, Mirei, and I hadn't seen it yet ... just pictures. Strange sensation driving through Kyoto for the first time with "home" and not "visit" in my head. Our new neighbourhood is just a few minutes north (by car) of the "city" part of Kyoto. I'll describe it in detail later, but on first glance, everything seemed so ideal ... beautiful backdrop of lush green hills in three directions, an empty lot with a little bamboo grove right across the street, a cool mix of older and newer homes nearby, interspersed with vegetable gardens ... kids riding bikes.
- The children went nuts in the new house ... reminded me of the scene in Totoro where Mei and Satsuki are running around and exploring their new home. The place is 2½ storeys, with a ladder that you move into place to get to the attic thingie (haven't quite figured out what it's for). There's a tatami room on the ground floor (for guests), another one on the 2nd floor (master bedroom) and a large room that we'll split into two with bookshelves or something for Riku's and Mirei's rooms. The place is about 20 years old and is charming ... feels just the right size.
It's now 7:30 AM and the condo is bustling. Masu (Ayako's husband) had left for work by 6 AM ... Riku and Mirei emerged from their den just before 7 (great job!), and Akane soon thereafter. Ayako is getting ready for work. Fruit bowls, the last of the San Francisco bagels and cream cheese, juice, tea ...
I'm heading to Nagoya in a few hours ... some administrative stuff to do at the Canadian consulate there ... I plan to read my new book (my trip gift from Susan) on the bullet train (I need to take two other trains to get to the bullet train, plus a subway afterward ... 2½ hours each way). Akane has asked me to bring some famous Nagoya fried chicken back with me.
Getting settled in my new country ...
Not too too much to report ... but I guess the days are moving along and I guess that we're actually doing things with our days.
I resumed work early Tuesday morning ... at my computer before 3:30 AM. Sounds crazy but I was asleep (the night before) at 8 PM with Riku, and was wide awake by 3 anyway. Plus, with San Francisco eight hours ahead, it gives me a nice overlap with the office there.
It's fun to work so early in the morning ... dead silence, sleeping family in the room behind me, and 3+ hours of work under my belt before the first of them emerges from their sleep. Then a nice break for breakfast and getting Riku and Mirei ready for school, then once again a quiet place to myself.
Riku and Mirei are actually on again, off again at daycare the next two weeks. Two days this week and three or four next week. Then it's the move to Kyoto. Akane's running around getting things organized ... ordering Internet, mobile phones (she got herself an iPhone), furniture, etc.
On Monday, I took a daytrip to Nagoya, a massive city east of here, on the bullet train line towards Tokyo. I had to visit the Canadian consulate ... there used to be one in Osaka but it's gone now ... glad it was here when we were dealing with Riku's and Mirei's Canadian citizenship.
The trip involved a train to Tennoji (big station in the south of Osaka), subway to Shin-Osaka (bullet train station in north Osaka), bullet train through Kyoto to Nagoya, then a subway run to the consulate ... about 2½ hours door-to-door. Akane put together a nice itinerary for me, which (after bragging that I don't lose stuff) I left on the kitchen table when heading out the door. But now I can brag that I made it there and back without the darned itinerary!
The bullet train was cool ... only been on once before, on a trip to Tokyo in '03 or thereabouts. It doesn't really feel that fast when you're on it, though ... but it's fun, as with any train trip through unfamiliar territory, just to watch the cityscapes and countryside roll along.
The night before was Akane's father's birthday, and the whole Goda clan got together for a buffet dinner at the Righa Royal Hotel, a favourite family haunt. Riku and Mirei got to see baby Kiyohito, their newest cousin, and play with Haruka, his older sister. They played together so well, drawing and eating during dinner, and afterward running around like crazy in the open plaza outside the hotel.
Yesterday, after work, I walked over to Sakai Higashi, the main commercial part of Sakai, and met Akane for lunch. We had Indian curry at a new place in the "restaurant row" under Takashimaya, the big department store ... it was great. Then walked over to a store that's going out of business to take a second look at some furniture we liked ... ended up buying an oak cupboard and a couple of old English wooden children's chairs.
Riku is having a nice little break before school starts in early April ... no homework, no piano practice, not even any reading (books all packed). He's doing lots of drawing, playing with his sister and aunt/uncle, and watching various superhero shows on TV.
Here's a quick photo taken during Riku's going-away party at his school in San Francisco. I think we had full attendance that day as well. Nice. We're all going to miss Starr King Elementary ...
A little something Riku created a couple of days ago ... didn't see it until it was finished. He was saying that he missed San Francisco ...
Congratulations Japan ... "we" won the 2009 World Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium yesterday!
An enjoyable writeup ... Land of Insatiable Baseball Interest:
"Generally speaking, we, sports fans, American sports fans, as a face-painted group, we hate anything we don’t understand or aren’t good at,” Tim Brown writes on Yahoo Sports. “And the only thing we hate more than those two things is change. We’re not much on the international baseball front, turns out, but we’re world champions of the narrow view."
We thought it would never come out ... it has been loose for literally MONTHS!
Came out today, after Riku's gentle wiggling of it, at Ouzora, Riku's and Mirei's (temporary) daycare here in Sakai.
Congratulations Riku!
Akane and I are finally married!
We got hitched at the Sakai City municipal office this sunny, chilly morning ...