The Inquisition

Twice or three times a week, we cross the US - Canadian border. This involves interacting with immigration inspectors who quiz us on a variety of topics. Failure to answer may result in being asked to vacate your car and join them in a little room for, well, I'm not quite sure but I know it wouldn't be pleasant. Some of the guards are more inquisitive than others. So far, this is a sampling of the questions we have had to answer:

what is your citizenship? (this they ask as they are holding our US passports)
where do you live?
where are you going?
how long have you been in Canada (US)?
how long will you be there?
whose car is this?
why do you have your father's car?
does he know you are driving it?
(to Ariana) are these your real parents? (yes, I wanted to reach out of the car and strangle the inspector, who was a young, bright eyed blonde woman, but I didn't want to risk being arrested)
are you carrying anything in the car?
any guns, fireworks or liquor?
where were you born?
where are you staying?
what are your intentions here in Canada?

I can't say the US guards are any worse than the Canadian ones, it's more a question of personalities. Some are very laid back and the others are more militaristic. Either way, I'm always relieved when I make it to the other side.

Summer Vacation

With a very temperamental internet connection, I have decided to take the month off, returning to write when we are in our new house. Have a wonderful July all............

Canada oh Canada

A most confident boatwoman out for a ride with her bubba...........


It really is beautiful up here.

Tess and I take a walk every morning, most days before the others are up. It is so peaceful. We are the only ones on the beach and all we hear is the gentle surf and 'early bird' birds. Except today, there was a large white dog on someones porch who was barking his "good morning". Of course, Tess had to return the greeting.

We are on Lake Erie, in a small colony of about 23 houses. Most have been in families for generations, so most people know each other. The ones that have been recently sold are spoken about with the qualifying "you know, the old (fill in the name here) house". During each walk, I study the houses, the gardens, every detail filed away for when we finally get to our house in CT. There is much to be done and I'm getting ideas. What color to paint the house so as to make the most of our woodsy locale, which flowers to plant in the garden. You see, while not on the beach, we are in the woods, which is where the "not beach side" side of the houses are here.

In fact, the house we are in is not on the beach, but one house away and on every side are trees. As I look out the window, a bunny hops by, amusing both Ariana and Tess.


Ariana flashing for the camera. It is really tough to get a husband, child and dog to look at the camera at the same time......
the view from the beach.....
this is the most crowded it has been - a weekend of course. During the week it is mostly empty.

"mommy, is this our car?"

It surprises me that Ariana isn't more confused than she is. In the past 3 weeks, she has been in three different beds, three different cars, two different countries. First in NY, then in Canada, now in Florida and soon back to Canada for most of the summer until we close on our house.

Our house.

Yes, we found one in CT that we really like. The contract is being worked out now and we hope to close at the end of July. Never in a million years did I think I would be living in a rather rural part of the state. At the start of our search I was adamant about wanting to be able to walk into town and not be dependent on a car. We looked at houses in "walking" communities and all I could think of was how crowded everything seemed. I didn't like the idea of looking straight into my neighbor's house or hearing their conversations.

I wanted space.

I have it.

Every window in our house looks out onto green. There are houses within sight, but far enough away that looking into their windows, or have them look into ours, is impossible. Past the house below us is a beautiful lake where we can keep a boat. It is peaceful. Which is exactly what I want right now.

Living in "the country" will require me to get over my fear of bugs. I am getting good practice up in Canada. When we first arrived, I had to summon baba san to dispose of even the smallest thing. When Ariana cried "there's a bug", I instructed her to put the word "baba" before any such sentence. Now, I am swatting them away with hardly a thought. I barely flinched when I saw a wasp at the pool yesterday, although I did suggest to Ariana that she get in the pool "NOW".

It's progress.

And now, some random pictures .......Ariana with baba san at the Museum of Natural History - Ariana is now officially obsessed with dinosaurs.....




Ariana with her friend Mia............


.....and watching an IPod with her friend Jack.....

On Leaving.............and Returning

It's 3am and here I sit in a hotel in Westchester, waiting to return to a normal sleep cycle. The process will be slowed down by a child who has the unique talent of waking up just as I am about to fall asleep - desiring food, drink, cartoons or just a playmate until she tires again.

I am happy I have flown my last 13 hour flight for a long time. I was in heaven in the Stop n' Shop, being able to read all the labels - a quick trip for some staples ended up being close to an hour as I gazed at all of the products that have been introduced since I left. Being literate is a wonderful thing. We are busy house hunting - the decisions are endless. We can't wait to see our old friends - it has been way too long.

But there is sadness too. Prior to leaving Japan, we had to say goodbye to our friends there. While we intend to keep in touch, the reality is we will lose touch with some - and probably not the ones we wouldn't mind losing touch with. Rather, the ones that were meaningful in some way. I left the women who listened during the last few months of our wait for Ariana; waited impatiently for our return from China; commiserated over the misadventures of potty training; sympathizes over the effects of "one too many" at Karaoke. The friendship were made quickly - and deeply, and I will not see them for a long time. And that is sad.

On the other hand, I am learning to love the east coast all over again, warts and all. I witnessed my first verbal fight on the street today - a male pedestrian and a female driver going at it for all to hear. I will have to get used to the dirty and rumpled dollar bills while fondly remembering the perfectly clean and crisp yen notes in Japan. Where does all of the crumpled money go in Japan? Everyone here is much, much nicer than I remember - perhaps because we are spending most of our time outside NYC.

And English - all the time.

Never Give a Four Year Old a Finger Bowl

During an absolutely delicious and mostly well behaved dinner in the dining room of the grand Fujiya Hotel in Hakone, finger bowls appeared at the table and Ariana thought she would save time by taking two of them without spilling a drop. I think we have a type A multi-tasker on our hands.

As our time in Japan is coming to an end, we decided to finally take a trip to Hakone. Only about an hour and a half from Tokyo, it was one of those places that we kept thinking "we'll go one of these days", but only now had the motivation to go. Despite the raining weather, it was a beautiful trip. After checking in at the hotel, our first stop was the open air museum.

A collection of sculpture placed in a gorgeous park, even the rain couldn't dampen our enjoyment of it all.



And, in typical Japanese style, there was a full supply of umbrellas to borrow if you were lacking one.

With Ariana taking one of her several naps during the day, Baba san did the pushing as we visited a Toy Museum and yes, Ariana woke up just in time to see an amazing collection of old toys.

To see all of Hakone, one must take a train, a tram, a gondola and a boat - Ariana almost missed out on most of the gondola ride, but woke up in time to wave at the others passing in the opposite direction.

And our room - what can we say about the Fujiya Hotel - it was fantastic. Very rustic in an elegant way. They have several different wings with different style rooms - it opened in the late 1800's and has hosted people from all over the world. It is a definite must see if you ever get there.

This was our room, with a great view of the train that passes by. On a single track, it moves slowly enough for you to see the sites - though not into our room as it stops running before dark. I would say I can't wait to go back, but I know that won't be happening for a very long time. In any event, it was a memorable trip.

The Egg

The challenge: eating raw egg
The place: home of Mikoto, Hanako and Eri.
The Dish: sukiyaki, made the "western" style; not western as in American, but western as in western Japan, which is where he is from. As in most dishes, each region has it's own way of preparation. This is one of several "hotpot" Japanese dishes made on a heated surface right on the table. Sukiyaki involves thin slices of meat, tofu, vegetables and noodles in a mixture of brown sugar, sake and soy sauce . In between plucking pieces from the pan and putting them in your mouth, a brief dunk in a raw egg is suggested.


Mission: Accomplished, with some trepidation and thoughts of salmonella coursing through our veins. The thought of eating raw egg was slightly nauseating but, we finally decided, after seeing Eri, age 9, dipping away, that it couldn't be that bad. And it wasn't. It was really tasty and softening the rich taste of the sugar, sake and soy sauce.

Ariana of course did not participate, taking one look at the meal and stating "I don't like it" preferring to play with Eri's toys.

So Jaded.......

An earthquake hit this morning as I was having my coffee. As I watched the lampshades sway and the cord bolting the television to the ceiling strain again the movement, I wondered if I should get up. I didn't and it passed.

It was only a 1 on the scale here in Tokyo, but apparently quite strong where in originated up north.

This is one thing I won't miss about Tokyo when I leave, which is exactly 29 days from today.

Yikes!!!!

Economics, 4 year old style

We were in a park last week which has a view of baba-san's office building. Ariana pointed at it and says 'there's baba". We then went on the discuss what baba does in the building. Ariana chimed in with her opinion "Baba goes to the money shop".

Yesterday in the mail, we received a flier for Acachan Hompo, a popular children's store here in Tokyo. There were lots of pictures on the large page and Ariana started pointing at things saying "I need this". "This" included Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh chopsticks, Anpanman pajamas and band aids and Lightning McQueen pajamas. I replied that perhaps she needed to make some money to go buy these things and she replied "we need to get it from Baba's magic box (actually my change box that baba-san routinely scrounges through). I told her to ask Baba and she went to him and said "baba, can you share?".

You see, sharing is a big thing in school and at home. I think she has learned the lesson well, particularly when someone has something she wants. She needs a little more studying when it's the other way around.

This morning, she again stated a list of things she wanted and I said we have no money. She quickly replied, "we have to share baba's money".

Baba san and I had a brief conversation about 1) what the proper age to start an allowance is, and 2) can we give Ariana little jobs to do and if so, what? Since she is interested in money now, we figured this was a good time. Any thoughts???

Enlightened Sumo

On Friday, Ariana's school had their annual picnic in one of the many parks in Tokyo. It was the perfect day, with the cherry blossoms in full blown pink with petals falling like snow. Each class had their spot under the trees and the kids played as the moms watched. Our class, learning about Sumo wrestling, set up a ring and the kids took turns. Ariana held back at first and finally decided to take the plunge. She lost her first round but came back to win the second:




After her big win, she played again and this time, lost the match. She was not happy and started to cry "I won, I won" she cried. "Honey, you won the last time, not this time". The little boys in the class heard this and set up several other matches with one of them standing behind Ariana and helping her "push" the other player out of the ring. They were all announcing "Ariana won" over and over.

It was the sweetest thing - all these little boys taking turns "losing" so she could win. She was happy and I was very proud of the kids in her class - they have learned well the spirit of kindness and generosity.

They made one very little girl feel very big.