More Happy Pictures...

Fall In Tokyo

The leaves change color, the vending machines now hold hot drinks as well as cold and the toilet seats are warm - these are all signs that fall has come to Japan. Potato digging is another. In pre-schools all over, little children followed (or in some cases led) by their teachers and parents make their way to one of the small farms to commune with nature.

Ariana and I went last week. While many children were actively digging and pulling at the vines, Ariana was waiting until the farmer came along and dug out the potatoes that were left in the ground. Then she would gracefully pick them up and put them in our bag.

The farm was small, probably about 2 acres, and as you can see from the picture, smack in the middle of a neighborhood. In addition to sweet potatoes, they also grew other vegetables and had a few pomegranate trees.





This is a Daikon radish, a very popular vegetable here. It can be sliced or grated into a salad or sauteed. It grows straight down into the ground and as you can see, with the leafy top was almost as big as Ariana.

Ariana was quite interested in the bug she found (eew!!) - picking it up and waving it around for all to see (eeeeeeeeww!!!!!!!!!!!). Luckily this one did not make it into the bag of potatoes.

As you can probably tell, I am not a big fan of bugs - not a good quality to have living here. It is easy to forget that Japan is one big island, but it is and it has the variety of bugs and insects to prove it. Like I said before, eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!

What a Week

The excitement still has not faded here in Japan after the election on Wednesday. I watched the returns with fellow democrats at a restaurant in Roppongi. Two friends, neither US citizens, met me there to participate in the celebration. They were thrilled to be able to see American democracy in action and asked question after question about the process (luckily, I was able to answer all of them). The interest in this election was truly worldwide - and I am being congratulated by people from every part of it.

I am back to being proud to be American, instead of apologetic. We did it. We chose hope over fear; integrity over deceit; respect over contempt. Yes, we did.

Yes.

WE.

DID!!!!!!!!

And the Winner Is......................

Finally, Halloween is Over

We celebrated in school on Friday - all the kids in their costumes were ridiculously adorable. Given Ariana's slight cold, we did not go out that night, preferring to stay inside and eat the treats she got.

On Saturday, we had some friends over (both little and big) and they brought some of their take from the previous night. They were kind enough to share with Ariana, which made her very happy.

And yes, she does have a new haircut......definitely more manageable and less likely to attract spaghetti sauce, since she is not into hair accessories of any kind.

So now that Halloween is over, the Christmas decorations and displays are already up - even here!! While not a national holiday, the gift giving and visual aspects of the day are very popular here in Tokyo. Thankfully I have not yet heard any Christmas music - I do hope they hold off for a little while.....

We Pause This Blog For a Short Political Announcement

Halloween Part 2 - My Little Superfreak

Yesterday was the Halloween parade in Harajuku, where children of all ages (and some dogs too) dress up and have a fine old time in the streets of Tokyo. We started at brunch, where Ariana serenaded us with what, I don't remember. I do know it was loud....

We then made our way to the parade and got there just as it started. Kids of all ages and in all sorts of costumes paraded down the street.


Ariana even met a "Kiki" - for those who are not familiar with "Kiki's Delivery Service", it is a wonderful movie about a little girl witch (Kiki) and her black cat (Jiji). The girl below with the red bow in her hair was Kiki and Ariana was so excited to see her.

Afterwards, we hung out in Yogogi Park for awhile

and then made it to the Baby Does Disco event, where the parents got to dance to 80's disco music and the kids got to laugh. Ariana was quite timid, preferring to play with the big balloons scattered around the room.

...that is until they started playing "YMCA". As she watched baba san and I dance, she started following us as we made the letters with our arms (yes, she thought it was funny). But once she heard "Superfreak" , she turned into a dancing machine...

Halloween Part 1

Presenting.....................Jiji the cat, from the movie "Kiki's Delivery Service". Continuing with the animal theme of last year, Ariana wanted to be Jiji this year, so again I pulled out the face paint markers and went to work. She was pleased with the resemblance and yesterday we had the first excursion out, to the Halloween birthday party of one of her classmates.

It turned out to be both an inspired and original choice, as all of her classmates were dressed as princesses, several in the exact same Disney dresses. As you can see, Ariana was quite pleased with herself.

The Best Birthday Present

She's Turning into Jed, Part Deux

me: how was school today Ariana

her: fine

me: what did you do?

her: (long pause)...........nothinggggggggggggg........................................