A Portrait 3 Years in the Making

It is hard to document memories when you're busy making them. That has been the reality of the past several months. Family gatherings, family departures (Sumie's brother's family sadly returning to Japan after two years in the states), friends, preschool, work, and the occasional tantrum have kept us on our toes and away from our keyboards.

Mimi, of course, has been the busiest of all. She, along with her aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends, helped Sumie celebrate the impeding addition to our family at a cute tea room in downtown SF.

And she spent a special night away in Bodega Bay with Mama and Papa in a lodge overlooking the sea.  

 At Bodega Bay, Mimi had but one use for the sea... it was a  place Papa could secure water to make muddy sand. She was busy making Onigiri Pasta (Rice Ball Pasta). We're still not entirely sure what this is, but I do hope to make it for her some day.

 Despite the frantic making of fusion cuisine, Mimi still took a moment or two to take in the sights.

Most of our days have been sent settling into the busy routine of work, commute, dinner, study, and sleep. Two or three times a week we'll stop by the grocery store. Mimi has decided that she wants to be a professional shopper. Today, on the way home, she cried for 10 minutes because her cruel parents had denied her shopping request. Yes, we are tough, but if we went shopping every day, she obviously wouldn't enjoy it as much!

 Mimi has also taken a shine to drawing each evening, and at school. This has taken Sumie and I - both aggressively horrible artists - by surprise. We enjoy art, but never had the aptitude, or even the innate interest to routinely put crayon to paper. Mimi, however, can't get enough it seems. Today, she came home with the following self-portrait.

She also penned this masterpiece:

 I asked her what was going on in the picture above. Apparently, this is also a self-portrait (despite the square jaw, I suppose this is Mimi). The potato croquette looking object (I'm always thinking with my stomach) is a bracelet. The line above Mimi's eyes? That's her forehead. Yes, she's become obsessed with foreheads. I don't recall this stage in my child development textbooks.

Lastly, she came up with the picture below. This is the first one that depicts an actual story. At preschool Mimi learned the following song:

Coo-coo bird sitting in an old gum tree

Eating all the gumdrops he can see.

Stop, coo-coo bird, stop!

Please save some for me!

She loves to sing this song around the house. It's also one of our favorites to hear. So although we were pretty shocked when she showed us this drawing, we had a good idea what it was about.

In voice and on paper, Mimi's beginning to share her own story. Sumie and I are looking forward to hearing the next chapter.

Hot Springs, Cold Nights, and a Warm Heart

It's been a while!  Sorry for the break, but our last few days in Japan were so packed with friends and family that it was all we could do to finish packing in time to catch our flight home, which is where we are now.

Picking up where I left off, though, Sumie, Mimi, and I had braved insanely narrow and snowy streets, in a Toyota Vitz no less, to reach our onsen, or Japanese hot springs.  This would be our base of operations between visits to Sumie's grandmother (Obachan), who would turn 103 years old during our visit.  The journey to the onsen had been a harrowing one, but the end result was worth it.  Here's the view from our room.

 Mimi approved.  She wanted to put on her new galoshes (which she insisted on wearing everywhere) and explore outside.

I had other ideas.  Upon stepping into my room I found my left knee was in agony.  Strange, that, given the car was an automatic.  Luckily, the hot springs worked the tension right out.  Of course, before going down to soak, I had to don my yukata.  One must try to be native, even if one looks ridiculously out of place!

Each morning and evening we'd meet Sumie's aunt and uncle, as well as two of their friends staying at the onsen, for breakfast or dinner.  Here's Sumie, Mimi, and Reiko-obasan. 

The food, traditional Japanese fare, was fantastic.  And Mimi really began to embrace the cuisine of her second homeland.  Here's what's left of a grilled fish she had.  Fish heads, fish heads, yum!

 Mimi even used the fish skewer to get the most out of every bite.  She doesn't always have the best appetite, but she can be quite the industrious little girl when she finds something tasty. 

Despite the pleasures of soaking and eating, that was not why we'd braved the snow and come so far north.  We were in Yamagata to visit Sumie's grandmother and to introduce her to Mimi.  Obachan was staying in a wonderful rest home about 20 kilometers or so from the onsen.  Thanks to the rental car, we were able to visit with Obachan three times during our two night stay.  Here's Sumie and Mimi outside Obachan's place.  You can see that Mimi's still infatuated with her boots. 

Obachan sleeps most of the day now, and her memory isn't what it used to be, but she still looks wonderful and her spirit, that dynamic personality which has brought her through 103 years, still shines through.  At first, Obachan simply enjoyed a few strokes of her hair from Sumie. 

But before too long she turned to meet her great granddaughter...

....opened her eyes, and smiled.  It was such a wonderful moment.  Three women spanning four generations of family.  All together.  All smiling.  Mimi was so taken with the moment that she even came out with a new word: Obachan!

There were many highlights during our Japan trip, but our time with Obachan, despite being brief, was assuredly the most memorable.  Neither Obachan nor Mimi will remember these meetings, I'm sure, but that's really beside the point.  Someday, when Mimi sees these pictures, she'll ask us, "Who's that?" And that's when we'll get to share our adventures in Yamagata and, most importantly, the life of the very special woman who was the reason for our visit.

At Home Far From Home

It wasn't hell.

Both Sumie and I had been looking forward to our trip to Japan, but dreading the ten hour flight.  Mimi, as readers of this blog might remember, is not the best flyer and we were concerned that ten hours in a metal with hundreds of complete strangers would send our normally cute little girl into tantrums of airline rage...for ten straight hours.

What a trooper Mimi was, despite our (low) expectations.  Part of it had to do with our seats.  We lucked out with the first row of economy (no business class for us), which had extra space between the seats and the wall that separates the lower classes from the rich, powerful, and high mileaged (this last one is my former self).  Mimi decided that rather than sit with us, she'd camp out on the floor with her toys.  She only slept an hour the entire flight (we snowed her with Benadryl), but she played quietly and endeared herself to all the flight attendants.  She was even giggling when we landed.

Upon landing we boarded the Narita Express, bound for Shinagawa.  This was Mimi's first real train journey.  She loved it!

We turned in early that first night: 8pm.  This was abnormal for me and Sumie, who, in the past, would split up upon arriving in Tokyo and go out to party, separately, with our friends.  We'd both arrive home sometime around midnight.  Let's just say that kids change things.  And, I'm happy to say, usually for the better.

Without having stayed up with friends the night before, we were able to wake up in time for NHK calisthenics.  This is an early-morning exercise program (Rajio Taiso) on NHK (Japan's PBS or, more closely, BBC) and it is watched by mainly by the older generation.  This may explain why of the three women setting the pace on screen, the one who takes center stage is in a chair.  Mimi didn't mind, though.  She wanted to take part.

She was even able to get her Mama in the groove.

After her workout, it was time for some refreshments.  Now that we're in Japan, Mimi insists upon Lemon Water.  It's her drink of choice.  Somehow I doubt we'll be getting an endorsement anytime soon.

While in Tokyo we're staying at Sumie's family's home.  It's empty right now, but as the home where she grew up along with her brothers and sister, it holds a lot of memories and still feels wonderful.  It also has some great views.  It's not everyday you get to see a bullet train coming by.  Unless you live in Tokyo!

It's been wonderful being back in Tokyo.  3 years have passed since Sumie and I last explored this city together, but it still feels like a home away from home.  I'm not sure why that its - having grown up in Paradise, California it sure as hell shouldn't - but Tokyo, much like NYC, just feels right.  There's always a small sense of "Ah, it's nice to be back" whenever we return.  For me, it's like a second hometown.

We've been in Japan three nights now and we've already had so many adventures that I've fallen behind.  Can't wait to share them all with you!