This is how it is done here....

There are many wonderful things about living in Japan, and then there are some things that seem like they should be SO simple, yet, they are not. It is maddening how long it takes to accomplish basic things here at times. Last year I attended the Rakuten Open with my friend Kim. It is a Professional Men's tennis tournament- Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick as well as many other incredibly talented people were playing and it was a great time. It took me a long time to get the tickets, as the only way to pre-purchase tickets was to do it through a Japanese website. I was on the phone with the Tokyo American Club for more than a half a day, just trying to get this form filled out correctly and make sure I actually did order tickets! This year, thinking I would have to do the same thing, I went to the Rakuten site to try to get a start. There I found a new link to Order tickets in English!! Oh how happy I was....until I tried to actually order the tickets! I had to fill in a form, stating what day and what seats I wanted. They would then email me back letting me know if they were available, and then they would assign me a reservation number and I could go to the 7-11 and get them (Convenience stores here are unbelievable! We pay all of our bills at them, order concert tickets and apparently, also sporting event tickets). The site actually states that if I live in Japan, I have to get them at the 7-11. I am hoping I have tickets when I get there, but I am too exhausted trying to have any more of these fun communications!

So, this is how my email conversation went:

Rakuten:

Dear Leigh Garrison,

The ss seat (row 11-14) the sixth is sold out.

It is in case of the SS seat(row 8-10).

How do you do?

Please answer.

Me:

Does this mean it is available in SS row 8-10? If not a seat in S will work as well- as close to the court, preferably mid- court if possible?

Rakuten:

Dear Leigh Garrison

SS seat (8-10) can be bought.

SS seat（11-14） is sold out.

How do you do?

Please answer.

Me:
Are the SS seats courtside (not on an end)? If so, I would like to purchase 4 together. If they are on an end, I would like 4 S seats that are courtside together. Thank you!!

Rakuten:

Dear Leigh Garrison

Please look at the hall chart.
http://rakutenopen.rakuten.co.jp/ticket.html

The SS seat is a thin green place.

Can you see?

The tenth the eighth row-row of the place can be bought.

If it is OK, the ticket is reserved instead of you. (4 tickets)

Thank you

(As you can see, I have at this point, given up on trying to find out where the seat numbers actually are in the stadium!)

Me:
That looks good- SS rows 8-10, 4 tickets. How do I get the tickets?

Thanks for your help!

Rakuten:

Dear Leigh Garrison

Your reservation was completed.

Please come to the ticket sales contact to take the ticket from October 2nd to October 9th.

Please say the reservation number in the Same-day purchase counter.

We will pass your ticket.
Moreover, please pay the ticket price then and there.

※reservation number　1109-1028

Your seat number is here.
D-8-5
D-8-6
D-8-7
D-8-8

Me:
I can pick them up at the Stadium and not at the 7-11?

Rakuten:
Dear Leigh Garrison

Receiving the ticket in the convenience store requires a handling charge.

Commission of issuing tickets/one piece　　210ｙｅｎ
System commission/one reservation　315ｙｅｎ
Commission paid/one reservation　　210ｙｅｎ


If it is OK, it changes one's reservation.

※The change and the cancellation of the reservation cannot be accepted in the future.

Me:
I would like to pick them up and not have a handling charge. Am I able to just pick them up at Ariake Stadium and pay for them the day of the event (Oct 6)?

Rakuten:

The ticket is received in the convenience store.
↓
It requires a handling charge.
Hereafter, I take the reservation again instead of you.


②
Present reservation status
↓
The ticket is received in the ticket counter on the stadium on that day.


①　ｏｒ　②　？？？？

Which is hope?

Me:
I assume I just give them my name and reservation number that day and I am all set? Can you please verify that picking them up at Ariake Stadium's ticket booth is ok? Where is the ticket booth?

Thank you very much. I apologize for the confusion!

Rakuten:

Dear Leigh Garrison

Your reservation was completed.

If the reservation number and the name are said, it is safe.

Please come to the ticket sales contact.

Please relieve.

Your ticket does the reservation completion.

Thank you,
Rakuten Japan Open 2011 Ticket Center

Arm Wrestling, Anyone?

Scott had a work retirement party on Friday, and it turned into an arm wrestling event. I think once the fellas at his work got some liquid courage, they thought maybe, just maybe, they could beat the big man....they were wrong- even LEFT handed!!

This Guy was trying SO hard!!

This one thought he would have an advantage if they wrestled Left Handed! Scott still won!

This one thought he would have an advantage if they did it left handed...Scott still won!

Night out with friends!

We had the chance to go to a fabulous Indian restaurant, Gunghroo, in Omote-sando!

With the Graham's and George's

First day of school, ASIJ 2011

Both girls started school this week. Maya is entering 3rd grade and has Mr. Rolls- her first male teacher! She thinks he is really funny and is really happy to be in his class. She had a great first week. Her favorite parts of the week were swimming, meeting and making new friends and just being back at ASIJ.

Hanna started Kindergarten this week at ASIJ. She has Mrs. Huber, who has a bunny, fish and other insects in her classroom. Hanna was SO happy, as this is the classroom she wanted to be in. Her only ASIJ friend in her class is Tessa Deki, and she is thrilled that Tessa is in her class. Hanna had a bit of a rough first week, as she came home Tuesday sick from school- running a fever and throwing up all night. She was not able to go to school the rest of the week...so essentially, Hanna's first week of school is this coming week.

Friendship Day at the American Embassy

On Saturday, August 27th, we attended Friendship Day at the Mitsui Compound at the American Embassy. Maya's friend Hana's mom invited us to join them, and it turned out to be a wonderful Saturday. Typically, it is ridiculously humid and hot in Tokyo at this time. However, for about a week, we had clouds, and though humid, we weren't beaten down by blazing sun..this continued Saturday, so it was quite an enjoyable day. Friendship day is a celebration of friendship between the U.S. and all foreigners. Over 4000 tickets were sold and it was very busy. They had food booths set up with all different types of food (including regular American style hot dogs and hamburgers, which the girls loved), kids games, clowns, tattoos, music and other performances and a parade. The best part for Scott and I was that the price of a ticket included all free drinks, even beer (which they had Miller and Budweiser, and you can't find either of those here very often!). The best part for the girls was getting to see a lot of their ASIJ friends, but more importantly, the fish they won!

These fish lasted 1 night and were no longer alive in the morning. We had to give them a proper toilet bowl fish burial. The girls were NOT happy...Scott and I were NOT sad! :)

Girls near Main Street U.S.A.

Scott and the girls by the American Flag

Scott's Birthday

Birthday Dinner at the Korean BBQ

Scott's birthday was August 24th, and we were just at the end of our jet lag. We met at the Korean BBQ for dinner, had brownie cake for desert and opened gifts. Hanna didn't even make it until dinner was served!

Summer 2011

We ended up staying in the apartment that we were renting for the remainder of the summer. Though much better than our "Residence Inn" summer last year, it was still not the same. The girls did make friends with two girls in the apartment above us, and it turned out to be really a nice option for when we were at home or at the pool. We tried to schedule a lot of playdates, and I over scheduled Maya. Last summer, I did not put the girls in very much, and we found we were just "hanging" around, hoping for people to invite us to do things with them. This summer, I took it into my own hands, and put Maya and Hanna in two camps together and Maya in an Art camp as well. Along with that, she was able to complete a one week Religious Education class, that counts for her entire 3rd grade....which means- NO MORE 7:30am wakeups on Sundays in Tokyo!! Yahoo!! We can now go to 10am mass in Roppongi OR the small Catholic church in Yoyogi Uehara (in which there is an Italian priest, of whom you can understand about 1/3 of what he says!)...but it is another option, now that we don't have to do to Sunday school. The first two weeks after returning, both girls attended a Tennis camp with some of their school and neighbor friends. They had a lot of fun, and learned a little bit about tennis as well. :) The last week in July, they attended Sherman Lake outdoor camp- swimming, running, playing games, singing songs, doing archery, climbing rock walls...they had an absolute blast! I ate out an ungodly amount of times this summer- we were never near or around our apartment when dinner came, and I am looking forward to getting back to cooking and eating healthy- my body needs it!

The fourth of July found us driving out to South Haven to spend the day at the beach with our friends- Chris and Joell Van Winkle, Mike and Amy Filary and Jeff and Nicole Sobell and their kiddos. Unfortunately, we pulled up to park and Hanna hops out of the car and proceeds to start vomiting...poor thing. She had told us she didn't feel good, but we thought once we were there, she would feel much better...well, we were WRONG. Not the first time, won't be the last time, right? Poor thing! I ended up taking her back while Scott stayed and played all day in the beautiful sun and water. Maya ended up coming home with our friends, and Scott drove up to Grand Rapids to see Peter Frampton with Aaron Humphrey and Dennis Walker- two good friends from growing up. Scott also went to the two day Electric Forest Festival on July 2 and 3 with Chris and Mark Varney. It was really nice for him to spend some time with his guy friends doing his summer music festival, and I think it made him very happy to get to do both.

We had the chance to visit with a few Tokyo friends and my best friend Marcy and her girls this summer while we were home. My friend Kim has family in St. Joe, which is 45 minutes from Portage. We drove down and spent the day with her and her kids, Marley and Will at the Silver Beach and Silver Beach Splash park. It was great to see them all- they left Tokyo right after the earthquake, and we hadn't gotten to spend time with them since March.

With Marley and Will Graham

With my good friend Kim

Maya's friend Lauren Vaughn, her sister Amanda (who is now at ASIJ in Kindergarten with Hanna) and her mom Katie also have family in Portage, so we had the opportunity to play with them this summer (and I got the chance to get to know Katie better as well!).

My friend Marcy, who lives in Las Vegas with her family, but was born and raised in South Haven, MI came back to Southwest MI as well. We spent the day with the girls (5 of them!) in the pool, eating lunch and then got the girls a sitter so Marcy and I could spend some quality time catching up. It was a great day - makes me realize how much I miss her and wish she and we lived closer to each other!

With the Till Girls

With my longtime friend Marcy!

I also had the chance to spend a lot of quality time with my longtime friend Laurie Lett and her girls while we were up in the U.P. It was so nice to see her for more than 2 hours and get to know her girls better. While we were both up there, our college friend Leah and her family spent a week in the U.P., so we had a chance to spend some time with them as well!

With my friends Laurie Lett and Leah Weisjohn

Scott left on July 8th, and I took the girls and drove up to my mom and dad's in Hancock, Michigan- about a 10 hour drive from Portage. We stopped for a few hours at our friends, Kris and Jason Mau to visit them and their kids, and then finished the drive up (about 4 hours left, so it was a great breaking point!). Jennifer's wedding reception was on July 9th, as was my 20 year high school reunion. We had family in town, and had a really great, if not super busy, weekend. On the 14th, my sister Lori and I flew to West Palm Beach, Florida and spent 4 nights at my Aunt Nancy's condo on Hutchinson Island. We did a lot of not much- swimming, laying in the sun, reading books, working out, shopping in the cute little towns and enjoying a nice dinner with my sister in law Missy's parents, Wally and Joan. It was a great, relaxing girls trip, and hopefully I can do something like that again next summer. :) After our trip, the girls and I spent a few more quality days with my mom and dad, and sister and her family, before heading back to Portage.

Highschool Friends, Caroline and Tracie

With Grandma Murphy and Remy

Lori and I at the Islander Cafe,Hutchinson Island, Florida

Scott came back to Michigan on August 6th (so we only had 4 weeks apart this time), We spent the last two weeks visiting with friends, going to Michigan Adventure and getting ready to return back to Japan. We had a great day with our friends the Filary's at Michigan Adventure- the girls are finally getting to an age where taking them to amusement parks is more fun than frustrating! It was a little frustrating having to ship back and pack up 4.5 months of stuff- it is amazing how fast things accumulate. We ended up shipping back 5 boxes, and let me tell you this- it was NOT cheap.

At Michigan Adventure

With some of our friends in Portage

We flew out to Tokyo on August 20th. We are all still VERY jet lagged, but are really glad to be back home. So far, we haven't felt much shaking, and everything feels pretty normal. The lights here in Tokyo are not on at night for the most part, so the city is very dark. Buildings are using minimal air, so they are very hot and muggy. Luckily, the last few days have been in the 70s so it hasn't been too bad. I don't expect that to last, so it will probably be a very sticky, wet fall.