A Friend comes to Tokyo!

Our friend Aaron, one of Scott's closest friends from grade school, came to visit us for 8 days in November. We had a wonderful visit, and did a few things that we haven't done before (and a few that we have!). We did a lot of eating out, visiting shrines, viewing views and walking around the city. I think Aaron was amazed at how different it was here, and a bit overwhelmed as well. He was up for dong whatever we wanted and seeing as much as he could while he was in town. I was impressed by the fact that he biked all around with me- Tokyo is a HUGE biking city, but definitely dangerous to bike in as well. The streets are windy and narrow, crossing over many a train track, lots of hills, and a lot to watch out for. He did great and it was so much better than hoping on the train every time we wanted to go anywhere. He also loves to shop! He says he doesn't, but he ended up finding a lot of things to buy and take home with him. We introduced him to Fuku Yakatori, Kaiten-Zushi (converyor belt sushi), Andy's (Izakaya), gyoza's and real Ramen!

Meiji Shrine

Sky Deck- Mori Tower

Asakusa- Sensoji Temple

We also had the opportunity to go to see G. Love and the Special Sauce at the Liquid Room in Ebisu while he was here. It was my first time seeing G. Love and I have to say, he wasn't as good as I was hoping he would be. Great music, not so great lyrics....I think the Japanese/British band playing a ton of AC/DC at What the Dickens bar in Ebisu after was just as good (and I don't like AC/DC!). It was a fun night though, and great to do something completely normal with him here in Tokyo.

ASIJ Tohoku Hallween Party- October 29, 2011

On Saturday, October 29th, I had the opportunity to join some ASIJ Teachers and High school Students in putting on a large scale Halloween Party for the kids in Ishinomaki City. Ishinomaki city is about a 7 hour drive north from Tokyo, so we left at 3am, and didn't return until about 11pm that night.

The city was among the most seriously affected by the earthquake and tsunami. A tsunami about 10 meters high traveled 600 meters inland and destroyed about 80% of the houses in the coastal areas, with about 46% of the city inundated by the tsunami.Ishinomaki city was the first city that allowed the ASIJ community to help after March 11th- delivering over 400 desks, school supplies, food, care packages, clothing, etc, and ASIJ has kept continuing its help over the past 7 months. The roads we drove on were covered by the tsunami, but most of the cleanup, at least in the areas we were in, has been done. The Tohoku Halloween party was a way that the ASIJ community could help bring a little bit of happiness to these kids and families that have experienced so very much since March 11th. I was so grateful to get the opportunity to help- it really was a phenomenal experience for me. I had the chance to play photographer all day, which was quite a treat. Many of the people that attended (over 600) lost everything- photos, possessions, valuables, family members. I was given a Polaroid camera and took photos of families, kids, grandparents- everyone and anyone that I could. They were so happy to have pictures to take home with them, which made my day completely worth it!!

The Bag Decorating Table. All the kids in the Elementary, middle and some a few from the  high school decorated one side of the trick or treat bags, and the kids who came got to decorate the other.

This past Friday ASIJ celebrated Halloween with a Parade, All-school carnival and class parties. Both of my girls were beautiful Bumblebees. It was a wonderful day!

Girls at the ASIJ Halloween Carnival

Birthday Breakfast at Viron!

Leigh, Jenny, Emi, Kim, Denise and Katie!

My friend Kim surprised me by organizing a birthday breakfast with some of my closest friends here at a French restaurant called Viron in Shibuya! What a great way to start off the morning! I will miss my friends dearly when we move back! :(

DisneySea Tokyo

ASIJ had a four day weekend surrounding a Japanese Holiday, so I took the girls, along with my friend Katie Vaughn and her two daughters, Lauren and Amanda, down to DisneySea. We had not been there and were really interested in going before we move back in 2012. DisneySea is a one of a kind park with a lot of the popular Disney World park attractions put together in this one park. They had Tower of Terror, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Indiana Jones, Gondola Rides in Venice, a roller coaster similar to the Barn Stormer....

I did not tell the girls where we were going before we met up with Katie and her girls at the Hatchobori station- just that they needed to wear walking shoes and be well rested. They were really excited when they found out, and they were absolutely excellent all day long. DisneySea was very crowded (I am talking 20 minute lines to get drinks and ice cream), which was a bit frustrating. We got to go on 8 rides total, and see one show, but the girls didn't mind at all. We waited for 2 hours for the Indiana Jones ride and at least 40 minutes for every other ride. The girls were very popular once again with the teenage Japanese girls- Kawaii, Kawaii (cute) they kept saying. One group kept trying to talk to me, and ask me about Maya's hair (they wanted to know if she had a permanent!)- very kawaii!!

Beginning of the day with my girls!

Girls looking mad because of the 2 hour Indiana Jones line

Girls at night in front of the world

Hanna, Amanda, Maya and Lauren with Goofy

With the guitar playing skeletons

This group of Japanese girls LOVED the 4 kiddos. 

Blue Man Group in Roppongi for my Birthday!

We bought Blue Man Group tickets for my birthday on October 9th. The theater is in Roppongi, so we trained down and went to lunch then to the 1pm show. Scott and I had seen the Blue Man group in NYC about 10 years ago, so we knew we would like it, but the girls had no idea what they were. The girls LOVED the show, with Maya asking if she could go again for her birthday! I will say, the show is much more technologically advanced than when we saw it the first time, and it was also different than the first time as well. It turned out to be a fantastic way to spend the afternoon!

In front of the sign- the girls were very nervous and excited!

With our Blue Man!

Scott and the Girls

Scott and Maya with their blue friends!

World Gymnastics Championships Tokyo 2011

On Saturday, October 8th, I brought Maya and her friend Ainsley to the World Gymnastics Championships at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. The top 8 teams qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. The gymnast that recently won the U.S. Gymnastics Championship, Jordyn Wieber, is 16 and  from DeWitt, Michigan, which is about 100 miles away from Kalamazoo. We had the chance to watch the U.S. team, which won the qualifying round by over 3 pts (ahead of the nearest country, Russia), and Jordyn came in 2nd overall. The entire team was fantastic!

Maya with Ainsley George 

Team USA

Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium