I have been in Japan for over six months now and life here is good too and for me.  My daughter, Marci, and son-in-law, Akira have been great to live with and we really do all seem to enjoy one another day by day.  Now that I have been here a while, my surroundings are of course, more familiar to me.  This is not to say that I am able to comprehend everything, especially when people are talking to one another or to me.  But generally, it does not matter much, somehow communication takes place.  I find out where I am, decide what I need, get going and things get done.

It has been two months since I sat down and wrote a post to you.  I got sidetracked when the girls came to see us. Then, I seemed to find reason upon reason, not to get back to writing.  Some of you were wondering if  I would even bother to write another post at all.  I guess I needed time to just live and learn some more, reflect, and then just “be”.

Back a moment to when Michelle and Mikaela came for a visit.  Michelle has been to Japan many enjoyable times. She was looking forward to certain tastes of food, and familiar places she learned to love over the years.  It was a “first trip” for Mikaela.  We all enjoyed watching her wonder in all things different, new, and certain things the same as back home.  We had some colorful conversations amongst ourselves.

She took a ton of pictures, tried tasting new foods, sang her heart out, ran almost every day in and around the neighborhood, the district, and down to the river even up and down eleven flights of stairs as our Condo unit is on the eleventh floor of the building.  She kept in superior shape, the only one of us I might add.  But then to be fair, we are not long-distance runners.

I enjoyed the visits, the getting ready to go somewhere together, sharing of stories, the laughter, the silliness.  It was Cherry blossom time, a beautiful time of the year.  Of course, we did the “Karaoke” thing but we also visited the historic Emperor’s Tomb, the girls toured a famous shrine with a professional tour guide, we visited Mt. Takao, we ate sushi and did a little shopping. Akira was such a great host and was so patient with all the women suddenly in his home where he became so outnumbered.

Marci kept us all moving forward teaching us new, fun, and interesting facts, the “teacher” in our family.  We all had special moments together, Michelle and I were the teary ones, as usual, laughing and crying at the same time – great joy in that. The girls celebrated my birthday by throwing a little dinner party for me at a lovely lakeside restaurant in Kichijoji. More laughter, tears, good food, wonderful friends – a memorable evening.

A little time was needed to become adjusted back to three people instead of five in the Condo.  Marci after teaching English classes for many years and both she and Akira working their business in the city of Musashino moved the IEB (International Education Blueprint) office to Nishi-Hachioji and made ready to begin a new chapter for their company.  Marci has just a few private students now, she spends most of her time with EducationUSA, (www.educationusa.info), a U.S. Department of State-supported network of advising centers around the world and of course,  Akira at Meiji University, teaching, advising, etc.

During my two-month blog hiatus, I spent a lot of time watching, learning, and loving Sumo wrestling, visiting new friends, attending a few community meetings, watching movies I look forward to sharing my adventures with you in future posts. I am back.