 |
| Random fact of the week: Vivien eats her pizza upside down. |
I took my first trip to Tokyo last weekend! Sadly, it was followed by my phone giving up the ghost and deleting all the pictures from the trip in the process, so no photo documentation. Prepare yourself for a long run-on sentence recap: I rode the Shinkansen up Thursday night with 2 girls from the branch, we stayed the night at the temple annex, woke up early the next morning and checked out Tsukiji fish market where we saw the head of an enormous tuna on a platter, met the rest of our youth back at the temple, wandered around Akihabara, the electronics district, in a state of bewilderment (it's like anime central--I don't get it), went back to the temple and did baptisms for 350 names the Misawa ward had brought, took the subway to the Tokyo 2nd Ward building for dinner and a dance, then traveled to Yokota Airbase for the night. In the morning we got up and went to a seminary activity at the Yokota Ward building, ate lunch at Chili's (a real luxury here!), then took the subway back to the Shinkansen station in Tokyo and headed home. The highlight of the trip for me was when I prayed before we left the dance that if we got lost on our way to Yokota, we'd be able to find people who could help us get where we needed to go. Half of us were able to get rides with people from the other wards, but 4 of us ended up having to take the subway. We were traveling late at night and had 5 transfers to get where we needed to be, but we had very little room for mistakes because the lines close from about midnight to 5am so if we missed any, it was going to be trouble. Of course, the very first thing we do is get on the right train going the wrong direction. But, the minute we switched trains, we ran into a group of very friendly Japanese people going home from work who were headed the same way and guided us through each of the transfers. Our car people got to base and discovered it was an hour walk to get to our actual hotel, but they ran into the stake young women's president who graciously lent us their second vehicle. It is incredible the way the Lord answers prayers!
This week was Vivien's first week at Japanese Yochien. Here she is on her first day of school, making a very silly excited face.
 |
| We need to get some sun this summer . . . |
I thought she did remarkably well getting on the bus, since the door opened on a child in great distress who was doing everything in his power to escape. She seemed calm and collected.
But when I picked her up at the end of the day, she was hoarse and reported, "I cried and cried and said Mommy and Daddy." I can only imagine how fun the first week of school must be for the Tomago (Egg) class teacher. By Thursday she didn't cry getting on or off the bus, though, so there is hope.
We had a picnic in the amphitheater by the library that day to celebrate her fortitude and bravery. Rafe practiced walking on inclined surfaces while we praised Vivien for her scholarly ways.
Apparently the victory celebration felt like an end-of-year feast, because she woke up on Friday and said, "I do not like the Yochien. I do not want to go. I want to stay home." So, we went to the park instead.
 |
| Gorgeous spring flowers at the park. |
There is this amazing park about 20 minutes from base up on a hill called Hachigamine (Bumblebee) Park. There is a long roller slide you can go down 3 times for $5. A tram takes you from the bottom of the hill to the top. A tram you operate yourself. Because Japanese people are responsible.
Traci took Rafe down and Vivien and I rode together. You get going pretty fast by the end! Here's Charlie on her way down with a peek at the view.
There are also a lot of animals at the park.
There were a couple baby bunnies. We wanted to squeeze them. Good thing the gates were closed.
 |
| Rafe has not left the house without this spoon for the last 6 days. |
The park also has DINOSAURS!
Vivi was distrustful of them. "Vivien does not climb in the belly of the dinosaur."
Charlie showed her it wasn't so bad to be eaten, so we were able to coax her a little way up into the dinosaur's mouth. She still kept her distance from the teeth, clever girl.
Two of the dinosaurs actually roar, but you have to be standing right under them for them to do it, and it is loud! And frightening.
We found a dinosaur without threatening thumb spikes to climb on instead.
On Saturday we went to Rafe's friend Adrian's 1st birthday party. It was quite an event. Adrian's dad Gio is amazingly friendly, so there were all kinds of people there. I got to chat for awhile with some ladies I see often at Kodomokan. Their names are Yoshie and Mitsuyo and they both have sons within 2 months of Rafe (who they call Lafe). They help me stay motivated to practice my Japanese! On Friday night I realized I didn't have a present for Adrian, so I looked through my scrap yarn and made these beauties. Two-finger puppets!
Today we dyed Easter eggs while we watched conference (we have conference a week after here, since Utah's Saturday morning is our very early Sunday morning). Traci and kids came over and watched conference with us, and she showed us an idea she'd seen on Pinterest to help little kids dye eggs. You stick them in a whisk! Vivien had a grand time. And I can tell how much she likes pickles, because I caught her licking the freshly dyed eggs to taste the vinegar. Gross.
I broke out my kistkas from last year and spent a good two hours missing Betsy intensely.
Traci tried her hand at making pysanky too. She is so wonderfully artistic! It's like a Van Gogh egg.
So cool. Happy Spring! Happy Easter! Happy Conference!
