Two Months Left

A few days ago, I realized that we had just two months left here in Japan. Weird. It doesn't feel long or short, but I do feel daunted by the logistical details related to settling back into our lives in Texas and starting school about a month after we return, not to mention a quick jaunt to Michigan in mid-August for a family reunion. Fall is also shaping up to be really busy. I just want to reeeeeelax!

Anyway, life here: not relaxing, not easy, but always interesting and generally beautiful. So we'll take it.

We're just at the end of the nice weather - the humidity is climbing and the rainy season approaches. Will I regret not bringing my rain boots? Survey says: YES. Since we're expecting the rain, we've really been trying to get out to the parks most weekends.

(This is a super picture-heavy post, but, well, I know my audience [grandparents]).

Natalie and the other girls who get off at her bus stop have also taken to playing at the park right after the afternoon school bus drops them off. 

 

Our daily schedule is a little challenging. Owing to the after school park playdates, there often isn't an after school snack, so the kids get home starving at 4:45pm. We've taken to doing an early dinner and an early bed time. This is really driven by the fact that Japan doesn't do daylight savings. I know people moan about changing the clocks - and, lo, I used to be one of them - but I am a total convert. 
My kids wake when the sun shines. 
Tomorrow the sun is expected to rise at 4:27am. 
It's going to keep getting earlier and earlier for another month. 
I may not make it. 
I think if we had blackout curtains, this might help a little, but not a lot. The kids have also never really adjusted to sharing a room, so they wake each other pretty consistently - it would only take one waking to undo any effort at getting them both to sleep later, so we've pretty much caved to the rhythm of it all. We have also eliminated Jacob's nap in an effort to smooth the sleeping situation - that has improved bedtime, but hasn't really impacted wake-up time. So we definitely keep an early schedule. Also, I am tired All. The. Damn. Time.

Spring is also the season of guests. My mom was here for a bit, and then my brother and sister-in-law came. Our little city certainly doesn't rate in the guidebooks (although I will say that for people who want to hike, Mount Tsukuba is a nice daytrip from Tokyo and is really very scenic). It's nice to show people where we live and share our local things.

With no nap and with our need / desire to get out and do things, we tend to tire in the afternoons.

Mostly, guests or not, we do things as a family. But I recently did a little kid-free touring of Tokyo. The train is so relaxing when you can just sit there by yourself!

Here is the mascot of the local train line. Up for a cuddle?

And this another mascot (but I can't remember what it represents!).

 

Here are a few shots of apartment life. I may have mixed feelings about leaving Japan, but I'm ready for my own washing machine and dryer, my own kitchen (and oven!), and not having to constantly worry about the kids being too loud in the apartment. I guess we haven't been evicted yet, so that's the good news....

Our apartment is, indeed, small, but it also very centrally located. In fact, it is literally in the middle of the city conference center. Most of the time, this is totally fine and we hardly notice the conference center, though we do appreciate their gardens. A few weeks ago, though, it was a totally different scene. Tsukuba hosted the G7 Science Ministers meeting. Who knew, right? Also, I'm still not sure who the US sent. Fitting that I don't know. Anyway, security for this meeting was no joke. We were issued special security passes owing to the location of our apartment and had to show them at every turn. We couldn't even walk on the sidewalk on our side of the street to access our building. The largest number of police and military I have ever seen in Japan camped outside our house for three days. It was shockingly noisy. But at least it was safe to do science? Or science diplomacy? Or something?

 

In other news, I am happy to report that my kids DO eat ice cream in Japan (but no takers for Japanese flavors, alas).

And donuts:

Also, rice! It only took Jacob five months to work up the courage to taste it. Despite appearances, he did not eat the veggie gyoza. But at least he was willing to approach them.

As a parting story, have I ever told you that if Jacob had been a girl, he would have been named Olivia or June? Food for thought.