Living in MI- Easter 2011

The past few weeks have been a bit crazy here in the Garrison Household. I will tell you first off, I have a renewed appreciation for all your single parents out there- it is hard, and often, not a ton of fun! :)

We took Scott to the airport almost two weeks ago. We drove over to his hometown, and spent some time with both his parents and his sister Sara and her fiancée Chance. It was a good visit for all, and good for the girls to get to spend some time with the Garrison side of their family. On Thursday, we took Scott to the airport- we were all very sad, but knew that the decision had been made and there was no going back. I had just pulled into his Mom's driveway (about 25 min from the airport), and looked down to see his PHONE sitting there in the console. I tried to rush back, but there was no way I was going to make it, so I went directly to the Post Office and shipped it back to Japan. Not a great way for Scott to start out his return back to Japan alone.

We spent one more week at the Residence Inn, with the girls starting school at Haverhill that week as well. The start of school went MUCH better than I had expected- Maya slipped right back in with her friends from before (a few of them are in her class, so that made it a LOT easier for her to adjust). Hanna, poor thing, started her 4th school in two years but she did incredible. First off, Hanna just turned 5 this January, so she is not technically old enough for Kindergarten. However, her international school in Japan is equivalent to Kindergarten in the States, and she went all day, every day, whereas Portage only has 1/2 day every day. I contacted the principal and he was fine with her going into Vicki Hessen's Kindergarten class. The first day I dropped her off and she clung to me so hard, and with a bit of fear in her face, she walked to her chair and sat down. She did not cry, pitch a fit or have any major issues...and that day when I picked her up she declared it as "the best day EVER". I was so thrilled and relieved that both had a great first week in school.

We got into our Apartment, Saddle Creek Apartments, on Good Friday (the 22nd of April). It is much better than the hotel, and allows us a TON more room and space. The girls are sharing a room, but have their own beds. We also have received an unbelievable amount of support from our friends- they have basically provided us with all the things the "fully furnished" apartment didn't include- extra towels and bedding, kitchen towels, pots, pans, cutting boards, cake pans....and the most important thing- TOYS. I want everyone who has reached out and helped us to know how much I appreciate your help, and how grateful we all are to have you as friends- it makes coming back in this situation so much easier and less stressful. Thank you all.

It has been raining like crazy, and I am very ready to be done with it and get on to something nicer. I still haven't taken the time to go get more clothes, so I am still alternating between two pair of pants and a few shirts! So, please, if you see me and I look like a rag doll...excuse it! The girls are as well, getting tired of wearing the same clothes over and over...but, what can you do? At least we have a reason, right?

I was able to rejoin my tennis team at the Portage YMCA, and I will tell you, it has been fantastic. I miss playing and the friendships like crazy, so that part has been one silver lining in this situation. I was also able to get Maya set up to make her First Reconciliation and First Communion at St. Catherine's. St. Catherine's has been completely understanding and wonderful, and we are really looking forward watching her go through the process. Unfortunately, Scott will not be able to be here for her First Communion, but he is bringing the video camera home when he comes back on Friday for a week, so that I can tape it for him. On that note, it is Golden Week in Japan starting Friday. Golden week is a week long holiday- basically the Japanese gov't forcing people to take some vacation (Japanese struggle with taking vacation)- so Scott did not have to work. We are looking forward to seeing him and being together as a family!

I just booked tickets to return to Japan on June 5th. The girls desperately want to return to finish the school years with their classes in Japan, and I want to go back to say goodbye to the many friends that are no longer coming back next year- it will be a sad week, but I will feel much better getting to see them in person and not do it through email. We will then stay there until our original tickets to come home on June 18th. I think that will be so good for us to be "normal" and be a family again in Japan- I think it will make it alot easier to return in the fall and get going again. Finally, I found out that most likely, my good friend Kim and her family are now going to be returning to Japan in the fall (originally, they had said they were not coming back)- I am SO excited. That piece of news was a really good one!

Easter
Easter here was really nice. The girls and I attended church- it was the first Easter mass I have been to without Scott in 13 years, and was actually more difficult to go to than I thought it would be. Our friends and neighbors, Mike, Amy and Emma Filary invited us over to have dinner and an egg hunt with their family and we had a wonderful time. The food was delicious, the company fantsstic and the weather even managed to turn itself around- a warmer, partly sunny day! We ended up staying in our neighborhood until 7:30pm, with the girls playing with Emma, as well as the Sobell girls and the Van Winkle kiddos. We ended the night by coming home and Skyping with Maya's 2nd grade class at ASIJ- it was so nice. The kids were as excited to see Maya as she was to see them. It did however, make her very sad, and she struggled to go to school the next day (had a really hard time at drop off). We will be skyping with her class again this weekend and I think it won't be as difficult to go back, now that she will have 2 weeks under her belt.

Girls on Easter Morning

With the Ahola Girls painting Easter Eggs

With Emma on Easter Sunday

Decided....the girls and I will be staying in MI until August

We started off this week, week of April 10th, by deciding as a family to go back to Tokyo to finish out the school year. It was the decision we all wanted to make,and hoped to make. On Monday, the 11th, Tokyo experienced what would be the second 7.0 aftershock in a matter of 5 days (one also hit on Thursday, the 7th). They then got hit by a high 6+ aftershock, and what we are told was about 14 aftershocks in 4 hours. Multiple friends said it was a pretty rough day, and that it seemed like it didn't stop shaking. We woke up Tuesday to an email from ASIJ's headmaster, discussing the fact that one of the larger quakes hit right after the bus got to school, and that the kids had to get under their desks and go through the earthquake drill. That morning, we just decided that it was just not a comfortable place for us to be, and we made the difficult decision to have the girls and I stay here in Michigan, and Scott head back to Tokyo alone.

I can't tell you how hard this decision was for us, and how often I have shed tears over it. Our want was to go back to Japan and get back to "normal"- with the girls going to school, Scott working and just us being together as a family. We have made so many good friends in Tokyo, and just have had an unbelievable experience (until the 11th). We have many friends who have gone back to finish out the year (and I feel like we are letting them all down), and probably as many who have decided to either stay away until next school year, or move back immediately and not come back to Japan at all. I just found out that there are four families from our building now leaving in June, only one of which was prior to the quake. One of my best friends is also not returning, Maya's three best friends from school are not returning, Hanna's preschool class has only 7 kids out of 23 back...it has just been heartbreaking and makes me completely sick when I think about it. Every time I get down, I kick myself - I should be grateful- I have my family, my possessions and we are all safe, while many lives were lost that day, and over 150,000 people are without a place to live- either because it has been destroyed by the Tsunami, or because they have been evacuated because of the Nuclear issues. That being said, I feel completely depressed over it. This was not what we signed up for- not any of us. I wonder how safe Tokyo will be in the next year while we are back. I wonder what it will be like next year- just like starting over again, with most of the friends (minus a few) that I did make now not returning. Hanna has been in 4 schools in two years, with a 5th one being added in August, as she goes off to ASIJ with Maya. My girls will take a 45 min bus ride. They say these large aftershocks are going to happen for along time- will I feel any different in August about putting my kids on a school bus and saying goodbye to them, than I do now? I can't imagine Tokyo being the fun loving, easy, exciting city that it has been for us, and for everyone who lives there. People are afraid, foreigners are scarce, and I am not sure that will change by August (though I am hoping it does)....

Scott is now gone for 4.5 months- back to Tokyo, alone. We struggled- all of us, spending 2 months apart last summer. This will be more than double that amount of time. It will be hard on all of us. Right now, we have no idea when we will see him again, which makes it even tougher. I will be worried about him constantly, the girls will miss their dad something awful, and though Scott likes alone time once in awhile, this is going to be so hard on him. We have packed enough stuff (basically clothes) to last only a little time- just what I could pack and take with us alone when we returned to the States (Scott did not come back with us). I have two pair of pants! :) On the up side, I guess I can go out and do some shopping!

The girls and I are in a hotel right now (our 5th one since March 15th- we have only spent five nights total in our beds in Tokyo since March 11). We will be moving into a 2 bedroom apartment but it doesn't become available until next Friday (Good Friday). The girls start school at Maya's old school, Haverhill, this coming Monday. We have no plans for Easter- my family is too far away, and both of Scott's parents will in Florida. Scott will not be with us, as he will still be in Tokyo. I had to go buy Easter baskets today, so we have something to celebrate with. Luckily, both girls are excited right now to be here- it has been good for them to reconnect with some of their friends, and get to see their family on both sides. Two months extra in the States is not the end of the world...right?

I do know and feel very strongly that we will be OK, and that we will be able to get through this (maybe not with our sanity intact, but we will get through it!) I am looking forward to being together again as a family, and hoping and praying that Tokyo is a safe place to go and be come August. I also pray that Scott stays safe, and nothing terrible happens over there. I know this blog has been a bit of a downer. It has been a long month, and is what we are going through right now- emotions and all.

Phuket, Thailand

Scott and the Girls in the Pool


Dueling Bubbles!


On March 15th, we headed to Phuket, Thailand for a planned Spring break with Missy and Greg. We were supposed to arrive late on the night of the 17th, but left a few days early due to the constant shaking in Tokyo. We had rented a 2 bedroom, beautiful villa at the Marriot Mai Khao Beach Club, and it was a great place to stay. The facilities were great- really great pool (quite but fun), a small slide in a separate pool, a very nicely equipped gym, ping pong, chess, a very fun kid's club, good restaurants and a short walk to the beach. We had a great vacation, and it was even nicer with a few extra days added in. Maya's good friend Tara Grace, and her family were also staying at our hotel, so Maya had someone to play with on a daily basis. Tara Grace's older sister Chloe would hang out with Hanna, and Scott and I had the opportunity to really relax and have a great vacation. Because of the earthquake situation, Scott ended up working nearly every morning of our 11 days there, but because I had Greg, Missy and the Gagnon family to hang out with, it didn't seem like he worked as much as he did. The girls made some great projects in the kids club, and daily spent between 1-3 hours there having fun. There were also a lot of other ASIJ families staying at this resort, so we had an opportunity to gage where everyone else was in relation to returning to Tokyo. We swam, and Hanna even taught herself to swim during this trip! She just decided that she didn't want to wear a floatie, and took it off and started swimming around the pool. Then, she started to go under water! This from a girl who cried when water got in her eyes in the shower! I was so proud of her! The first time she went under water with goggles on, she came up and said "Mom, I can see people's feet! This is awesome!" and she never stopped. Scott and I were so proud of her and so happy she decided to embrace swimming, and get rid of the floatie!!







While in Phuket, we went on an Elephant tour, Siam Safari's. We had the chance to see them do some training of the elephants (one actually painted a picture!), then ride them through the jungle, and finally, we got to feed them at the end. The girls had a GREAT time, and Hanna immediately asked if we could "do it again!".


Hanna and I on Patong (Thai for Pumpkin)


Scott and Maya on Tuk-Tik


Garrison Family with our elephant

We also went on a Phi Phi Islands Tour with Simba Sea Tours. Each Tour was maximum 15 people (we had 6 of them), and we had the chance to snorkel, see some unbelievable fish, swim, cannonball off the boat, eat a wonderful lunch on a secluded, gorgeous island, and get sunburned (I thought I grabbed the 50 but it was only 15! Thank goodness the girls had their rashguard shirts on - the sun is so much more intense there than anywhere else we have ever been!)Hanna didn't like to snorkel, but she swam right with us, and spent some time feeding the fish bananas and hanging out with the crew on the boat. It was probably the most fun tour we have ever done, anywhere we have ever been. Had a fantastic time!











This trip was such a fun time. Spending time with Greg and Missy was something we haven't ever had the chance to do, and it was really nice to get to spend quality time together. It also came at a great time, as we were so stressed out due to the earthquake and all the decisions that came with that situation. It was nice to turn it off for a bit and just relax.


M and her Tara Grace jumping the waves


H adjusting her Snorkel Gear

Missy and Greg's Visit

Greg and Maya on a bridge at Shinjuku Goen Gardens

Greg, Scott's brother, and his wife Missy, visited us for 10 days in Japan(prior to and including the day of the earthquake). We had an unbelievably great visit and toured all over the greater Tokyo area. They arrived on Thursday, the 3rd of March. Friday, Maya had off for teacher inservice, so the four of us headed to Shinjuku Goen Gardens- a beautiful park, with great landscaping, plus a view of the skyscrapers in the background. It was a fantastic, sunny day, and the first time Maya and I had been there as well. Missy had sent me a list prior to coming over of things/places they would like to see and do, and luckily, there were quite a few that I hadn't done before. After the gardens, I took them to a rotating Sushi restaurant in Shinjuku, for lunch, and from there, we headed to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building for a free view of the city.


View of Tokyo from Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building


Saturday, the 5th found us out at Mt. Fuji and the Fuji Safari Park. The park is a drive through Safari park, where Lion's come right up to your car (they have signs everywhere telling you to keep your windows up and lock your doors), elephant's are a yard away, all with the view of Mt. Fuji right behind you. It was the first time we had gone there, and the first time we had gotten so close to Mt. Fuji. The girls got to ride horses, and feed red kangaroos, as well as play with mice and bunnies! That night, Scott, Greg, Missy and I went to a Sukiyaki restaurant in Shinjuku, and then on Abbey Road. The Garrison's are big Beatles fans'. We had a great night listening to live music.


At Fuji Safari park, base of Mt. Fuji

Girls feeding Kanagaroos




Sunday, we took Greg and Missy up to Asakusa, and the Sensoji temple. Sensoji is one of the oldest temples in Japan- it is beautiful and surrounded by a HUGE shopping area- little open shops that sell everything and anything "Japan or Japanese". We tooled around, but because weekends are always so packed, we couldn't spend a ton of time looking around. They had a food fair, with booths of all different little delicacies...Missy ate Squid on a stick...not sure about that one..she eats everything and anything!


Missy will eat ANYTHING!

We then took the Sumida River Tour (boat down the Sumida River) back home. It was a neat way to see the Tokyo skyline and much more enjoyable than taking the train! We also went to see the Harajuku girls and the Rockabilies in Yoyogi Park.


At Sensoji Temple in Asakusa


M and H praying at the Temple

Monday turned out to be a rainy day, so we stuck close to home, and then I took them to a small, popular gyoza restaurant in Omotesando. Greg went back to our apartment, and Missy and I stayed and did some Oriental Bazaar shopping.

Tuesday found us at the Meiji Shrine, and doing a common thing in Tokyo- getting LOST. I again, was very grateful to have my iPhone and be able to map my way to somewhere I knew!

Wednesday, the 9th, Scott took off of work and we went on a tour of the Imperial Palace. It was again, a gorgeous spring day in Tokyo, and was so nice to be outdoors. From the tour, we trained to Roppongi and went to TAC for lunch. While we were on the train, Tokyo was hit (indirectly) with a 7.3 magnitude Earthquake. We did not even feel it underground, but everyone said it shook the hell out of TAC and the surrounding buildings. At the time, right after it hit, they were saying that was "the big one"...seeing as we didn't feel it, we didn't think twice about going up on the sky deck of the Mori Tower- one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo with an unbelievably spectacular view of Tokyo and the Tokyo Bay. Knowing what happened on the 11th, it was just a "fore-shock" to something much more fierce and scary.

Thursday, the 10th, the girls and I (Maya was off of school on Thursday and Friday for Parent teacher conferences, and I just pulled Hanna out of school for the day) took Greg and Missy down to Komakura. Komakua is a small town on the water about an hour train ride from Tokyo. We spent an awesome, sunny day looking at the 2nd largest Buddha (Diabatsu) in Japan and exploring the Hase Dere temple (this temple is one of the most beautiful temples I have ever seen- completely gorgeous, with a view of the water/bay, caves, koi ponds, etc.). We were there all day, and thank god that the earthquake did not hit a day earlier- we would have had no idea how to get home from there.


Diabatsu, Komakura, Japan March 10, 2011


Friday we decided to stay home, do laundry, chill out, and go for a nice lunch with both of the girls (Hanna's school got out at 11:35 for parent teacher conferences as well). I worked out in the morning, and then we went and grabbed Hanna and then on for lunch at ARMS- home of good burgers and GREAT milkshakes. After, Greg took the girls to a park right by the restaurant, and Missy and I went into Shibuya. We had just gotten back, hopped directly on the train to go home, and walked out of the train station when the earthquake happened. I am so thankful that we were all together (30 min earlier and Missy and I would have been in Shibuya and Greg would have been all alone with my kids). The earthquake hit at 2:46pm on March 11, 2011. It lasted over 2:30 minutes, and was unbelievably intense and frightening. It was not a great way for Greg and Missy to end their dream vacation to Japan, but I am so glad it happened on their last day and not their first day, so we could enjoy our time together and they could see what we love about being and living in Tokyo.