The Trip

Okay, we’re on our way. It’s 3:15 PM on 1/31/12. We are at the Seattle airport waiting for our flight to LA. We’ve said our “see you later”s, given our hugs. The kids are doing great - only 3 hours in of course. Jaxon has a miserable cold - here’s to hoping that doesn’t suck on the plane...more from LA.

10:05 PM We’re in LA. Can I just say - worst airport ever. Maybe the other terminals are better, but the international terminal is rotten. We got through security and all that fine, quick actually, only to find that virtually all the restaurants are outside security. Really? How much sense does that make? We are already tired and hungry...thank goodness for the one little deli place that is here. We are sad at our lack of sustenance, only to find that this airport, or at least this terminal, does not have wifi. WHAT?!?! Everyplace has wifi - McDonalds has wifi! Apparently, everyplace aside from the TB International Terminal, LA. Next stop, Tokyo.

6:52 AM - Tokyo time. We are in Tokyo! It is 17 hours ahead here. We all slept on the plane - a 12 hour flight. Sleep might not be the exact word for it - dozed, tossed and turned, woke up, went back to sleep...basically we’re zombies. It isn’t as bad as last time - but it still hurts. At one point Jaxon was sleeping with his feet on top of Lily’s back while she laid over the food tray. So wish I had a camera then!

All the customs and security lines have been a breeze! Until...the last one. We made it through all the security check points in each airport twice (after having to change terminals) then, as we were heading to our final gate, from Tokyo to Takamastu, we got snagged by security. As it turns out, 9 year olds are not supposed to bring handcuffs into the country. Can you imagine our embarrassment when the guards were all concerned, then they pull out Lily’s cuffs? Sheesh...one more flight!

Feb. 3, 2012 - It is the afternoon after we arrived. Since being picked up at the airport we have been constantly on the move. I won’t bore you with all the details at this moment, but we have to make a million stops to get all kinds of stuff started or finished. The basic point is that we were so tired last night that by the time we got to our apartment we did the minimum we could do to just go to bed. Sorry everyone, writing to you was not on my must do list!

Our new apartment is a massive improvement over our last one. We have lost some size - our new home is 600 square feet. (Of course I had to google that, everything here, and in the rest of the world, is in square meters.) In our spacious abode we have 3 rooms that will serve as bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen, along with a bathroom/laundry room. I will post pictures once we unpack a little. The great thing about this place is that it is clean! Our last place in Japan was pretty awful. Also, we are walking distance to a lot of pretty cool things, like the ocean, a movie theater, giant arcade, grocery, etc. We’re on the 5th floor. As soon as I actually know what my address is, I’ll post it. : )

I have lots more to share, later!