Japan pics 2

After the wedding, we went with Aunt R's family to the nearby harbor town of Otaru for a day, then drove across Hokkaido to the hot spring resort town of Noboribetsu. Japanese baths, including those at hot springs, are deep and hot, like hot tubs. One washes completely first outside the tub (at a spigot or now, with a hand-held shower, sitting on a little stool), then gets in to the tub for a nice long soak. The baths are usually communal-- at home, the whole family soaks one after another (thus the washing beforehand-- the water stays pretty clean); at resorts, all the guests, separated by gender, enjoy the same tub or few tubs. Sam was a big fan, and at the hot spring resort, he got to really indulge. Omi took him in while I got to relax a bit, and as she dipped his feet into one of the less-hot tubs, he demanded "moa!" again and again until he was standing on the bottom (and in up to his neck), at which point he grinned happily. There were lots of other naked kids running around and enjoying the bath amongst all the women soaking, and Sam got over wanting to nurse every time he saw my boobs. For my part, there is nothing that rids one of self-consciousness quite like seeing 50 other naked women, aged 3 through 93, with a life's worth of scars, stretch-marks, and sagging, all relaxing together in the water. Then we padded back to our rooms in the resort-provided cotton kimonos that everyone wears at resorts. Here's Sam in his:


We also spent some time wandering around the touristy little town in a drizzling rain, buying souvenirs. There was a big statue of an oni (demon/god) of the nearby volcano, which became animated every hour on the hour for a few minutes of flashing eyes, scowling face, and swinging arms. Here's oni-Sam:


Sam also enjoyed Japanese kids' meals, which are served on cute melamine trays and usually have either spaghetti or fried rice, along with some protein and fruit (and almost never vegetables). Sam can take or leave fruit (actually, usually leave-- he will rarely eat it, except in smoothies), generally eats but doesn't exclaim about veggies, likes meat, and loooves noodles and/or rice. Here he is enjoying some spaghetti (and of course, we had forgotten to bring a bib):




(Why yes, that is is a hot dog cut to resemble an octopus-- how did you know?)

We spent two days enjoying the baths and the town and taking short hikes nearby, then Tante G. and Onkel S. flew back to Germany, and we flew back to Tokyo and rejoined Obaachan (nickname for my grandmother) in Chiba. We spent a few more days at her house, doing a bit of shopping and relaxing and watching soccer, and a lot of playing with Sam’s soccer ‘baw’ outside in her garden. Then we flew back to Omi and Opa’s house in Minnesota. I packed the Benadryl in the wrong bag, though, so was very glad when Sam fell asleep 6 hours into the (12-hour) flight.

After an afternoon and a night in MN, it was time to see Daddy again and to move into our new home in Massachusetts! J. had met the movers at our new apartment while Sam and I were flying back to the States, and was going to spend the day unpacking while we traveled from MN via Philly to MA. But Philly was having such bad weather that all flights in and out of the city were grounded for half of the day. So we spent 4 hours in the plane on the tarmac in MN, and then another 2 in the airport late at night in Philly, with a bit more luggage than I could comfortably handle, after very little sleep, and with Sam jet-lagged, cranky, and needing to run around. We finally got into Boston at 2AM and were both very happy to see J. again after two weeks away! Sam burst into tears when his Daddy (Dah! Dah!) left to go get the car after meeting us at baggage claim. We were all exhausted, and Sam and I were pretty jetlagged (and also hungry) and going home to a new place in this state was less than appealing. Fortunately, J. had set up our beds, the new apartment is beautiful, and after a bite to eat and a hot shower we gratefully went to sleep.

The next day we began exploring our neighborhood, which is lovely, full of great kid parks and with some nice restaurants within easy walking distance. It’s also a short walk and even shorter bikeride to our offices.

Some pics of the new place and neighborhood soon to come, along with Sam’s burgeoning word list, in case anyone is interested what he’s saying these days.