Words!

I composed a list of words/phrases that I know!  I'm sure there are some that I'm missing but this is a big chunk of what I've learned these last 3 months!!

acorn	donguri
leaf	happa
I'm hungry	onaka ga suiteimas
snack	oyatsu
green	midori
red	aka
blue	ao
yellow	kei
orange	mika
white	shiro
purple	murasaki
nice to meet you	hajimemashite
good morning	ohayou gozaimasu
good afternoon	kon'nichiwa
good night	ohyasumi nasai
good evening	konbanwa
tea	ocha
black tea	Kocha
thank you	arigato gozaimasu
spoon	supun
snot	hanamizu
kiss	kisu
apple	appuru
poop	unchi
pee	oshiko
outside	soto
duck	camo
where are we going	doko ni iku no
I don’t understand	wakarimasen
please	kdasai
yes	hai
no	ie
plane	shkoki
train	densa
train station	densa no eki
bike	jitensha
I have a cold	Watashi wa kaze desu
I am scared	Watashi wa kowai desu
cute	Kawaii
water	mizu

Second to last day

I almost wish this was my last day here in Tokyo because it was such a great day that it would have been nice to end with such a bang.  Although I can't quite put my finger on what made today especially great but it was!  We started off this morning like most others with Kelly working and Seth and I watching Marley in turns.  He was in a good mood the whole morning.  Then after Kelly returned and we ate we headed out on the trains to the Meji Shrine.  The shrine was located in a a large forested area with gorgeous trees and paths.  The shrine is in honor of Emperor Meji and we read that they imported hundreds of different trees from around Japan in his honor.  The idea of this being located in the midst of the busy cities around it added to its beauty.  The shrine was beautiful, we saw several wedding ceremonies taking place.  They were dressed in traditional Japanese attire.  Marley was in a decent mood here but had trouble listening to us so we walked through quickly.

These are large barrels of saké

From here we walked to the next populated city which was cram packed with people and stores.  It reminded me of the touristy streets of NYC where there are more than 20 shops within a 50 foot span.  There was glitz, glam, and shiny lights and noises coming from every direction.  This area is known for the overly dramatic costume-like culture of Japan.  There were fuzzy characters on every store window and people standing on chairs shouting things to entice people as they walked by.  It was beyond overwhelming.  We saw at least 6 different crepe stands so by the 5th one we decided we had to have one!  Seth got a banana, chocolate, and whipped cream while I got a strawberry, chocolate, and whipped cream one.  They were delicious! Marley's face was covered after just one bite!  We also tried a gyro from King Kabobs.  It was good, not great, but filled us up.  

From this maze of chaos we walked to probably the most opposite type of area possible.  We went to the pristine area of Harajuku.  Now this contained mainly one streets as far as the eye could see of fancy stores.  When we first turned the corner and looked down the street you couldn't see any sidewalk, it was filled with people everywhere!  There was Dior, Louis Vuitton, Dolce and Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, Swarovski, Chanel, Coach, and the list continues...

We walked around for a while, visited a toy store which ended up being a let down because there was nothing for Marley to touch.  At this point it was around 230 and we decided we wanted to stay until dark to see the Christmas lights.  So we thought food would be a good time filler.  We went into a pizza joint called Shakeys.  They said it is a chain Seth had been to on the East Coast years ago.  It was a buffet and since Kelly can't have dairy we weren't sure how it was going to work.  So they both walked up to see what options there were.  Squid ink, corn, and mayonnaise were the 3 main ingredients in all of the pizza options.  We quickly decided we didn't want pizza that bad!  We ended up leaving and walking, we had seen a Godiva store a little behind us and thought we could get hot chocolate and keep walking the streets.  While we were crossing the street to head back to the Godiva shop Kelly spotted a popcorn shop.  

I should mention that Seth is a popcorn fanatic (Marley too).  But not just any popcorn.  I have heard the same story numerous times while on this trip.  He loves Garrett's popcorn, a Chicago legend.  So when we saw this shop we decided it looked good.  There was quite a long line (maybe 50 or so) but they handed us a menu and it looked amazing.  They had cheddar, salted caramel, maple bacon, raspberry white chocolate, amaretto, and others.  We decided the line was worth it.  So waiting, and waiting, I continued to look at the menu.  They had pictures of the packages it came in and on it I read "Handcrafted in Seattle, WA"   hahaha what are the chances!!!  I looked up the store and it originated in Seattle.  There are three shops in the Seattle area and then three shops in Saudi Arabia, and one in Japan haha  Well this was probably the slowest moving line in the history of lines.  After about 30 minutes, and only moving a few steps, Kelly Marley and I decided we would walk ahead and get the hot chocolate and meet back up with Seth.  Well Godiva was a bust because they only had frozen drinks so we ended up at Starbucks.  We stood in line, got our drinks, and sat on the rooftop looking at the city when Seth was finally next in line.  He stood in line for over 90 minutes! After the first 45 minutes he kept wanting to leave but you've already committed and it would be a waste to leave so he kept telling himself he was close haha

We left from KuKuRuZa (the popcorn shop), we were feeling defeated by the time wasted in line but happy with the day for the most part.  We were probably 100 yards from the train station when Kelly almost fell over laughing.  Seth and I look at her and then at what she was looking at.  In front of us was Garrett's popcorn shop.  With only a third of the the line that KuKuRuZa had.  I thought Seth was going to fall over! He muttered several phrases under his breathe and threw his hands up in the air haha   This was the cherry on top of a good day!

What I'm Looking Forward To

I am down to my last 2 days in Japan! Its unreal how fast this last week has gone and how excited I am to come home.  I have been thinking about what I am looking forward to about going home and what I will miss.

Looking Forward To:
   - Seeing my family of course
   - Having a room of my own again (no more living/sleeping in the living room)
   - A bed bigger than a hole in the wall,one where my feet are constantly hitting the wall
   - A load of laundry not taking 7 hours
   - A load of laundry that isn't wet and wrinkly
   - Dairy!
   - Relaxing and not constantly having a child around jumping on me
   - Being able to talk to people!
   - Being able to read the signs and understand the announcements made!

Things I'll Miss:
   - Marley
   - The simplicity of life when you can't communicate with people and don't understand anything around you
   - Not tipping at restaurants
   - The weather! Sunny and 60 degrees the first week of December
   - Surprisingly, the bicycle!
   - Having anything you could want a walk or train ride away
   - Udon and fresh sushi
   - Strangely, having a three year old chase me around the room after he has farted yelling "smell my bum!"

Rough last week

It has been extra hard this week because Marley is out of sorts (either with the idea of me leaving or getting sick or both).  He refuses to do anything at school except cry and then when he is home he isn't in the best of moods.  He is constantly telling us he is "not interested" in doing whatever it is that we've asked him to do.  Thankfully only two more days of school and then the weekend because I don't know if I could handle too much of these 3 hour cry sessions with me.  The teachers tried to help today by distracting him with new games but that only helped for a few minutes at a time.

They have begun to decorate the campus and the rest of the town though, it is starting to sparkle.  Christmas is coming!!

Time is ticking down

We are getting to my last week here in Tokyo! I can't believe ts almost over! We are having a hard time telling Marley, he doesn't quite understand the idea that I will leave and not come back...

We took him on Friday to get a flu shot.  We traveled over an hour and a half (1 bus, 2 trains, and a 15 minute walk) to get to an English speaking clinic.  It was over 3 hours round trip for a 10 minute appointment!  Marley wasn't happy to be there, as he told us about 100 times on the way, but the doctor was excellent and was done within seconds and Marley barely knew what happened.  However, since this is his first flu shot ever they suggest he gets two doses.  So I'm sure the next time Marley will not go as willingly.  Unfortunately, one of the side effects was a fever or vomiting for the next 12-24 hours.  He seemed fine the rest of Friday and all day Saturday so they thought he had made it through without any complications.  That was until about midnight last night when the vomiting began.  And lasted til late morning.  Poor guy didn't get any sleep, which means neither did Kelly, and felt terrible.  When he finally came out to see me this morning we rested on my bed and Seth was cleaning up the room.  He looked at Seth with the cutest confused look and said "Daddy did you vomit last night?" haha His stomach wasn't feeling the best but he seems to be on the up and up tonight.  Fingers crossed tomorrow goes better! He kept saying in a sad voice "Please let me feel better Tracey" : (

On a brighter note, we bought some grapefruit juice and Gin at the grocery store today.  My last week just got better!