Tokyo at last...

Things here have been pretty hectic with the start of school, my trip to the U.S. to be with my cousin Jenn and her family and then the Jewish holidays.  Here's a quick pic of the kids in Ginza, one of our favorite areas to visit.  Great shopping - great food!  They block off the streets on Saturday afternoons to make shopping more convenient - the kids thought that was great fun. 

While we were there we noticed that a new clothing shop out of England, DHC, was opening.  I am not kidding you here: the queue to get into the store - yes just to get IN - was out the door and around the corner - a two hour wait.  A two-hour wait to get into the shop.  But if you got in,  you could say that you visited it on its first day open.  That cache only lasts the weekend, you know.   Only in Tokyo yet again...

Enjoy!

After a loooooong summer....

On the way to taking the kids to school we pass a large construction site every morning. In Tokyo, they always surround construction sites with large, white, temporary walls. The panels sort of resemble pocket doors and there is always a large opening in the wall through which staff and trucks can enter the site. The opening section always has its own real pocket-door, closable section to it. Often, one of the panels of the white wall is clear glass, allowing passers-by to see into the site and what's happening with the progression of the building.

The site we pass each day is just humongous - we cannot fathom what is being built. But we do know that the glass panel, as of Wednesday morning, the third morning of school, contained a window-box full of flowers. The windowbox was inside the glass and placed low so as not to interfere with a view of the site itself. The flowers are a jaunty mix of autumn asters and mums.

Only in Japan would there be flowers at the construction site. What a sense of renewal. It seems apropos.

Thank you to everyone who helped us make our summer spectacular, whether in person, by email or by telephone, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The photo here is from the start of the summer - the morning of our neice Alyssa's bat mitzvah. It was wonderful and joyous and the perfect start to a very long and merry summer of fun and visits.

More on that later; now I need to concentrate on being back in Tokyo - on being HOME.

Department Store Heaven

I forgot about the department stores here in Japan! The other day I had to go to buy a watch for Sydney for her birthday and I wanted a specific Swatch watch. The best place to get a Swatch is at the Mitsukoshi Department store in an area of Tokyo called Ebisu. I took the train to Ebisu on Wednesday morning after having coffee with my friends Amanda and Michelle. Nothing of consequence opens in Tokyo before 11am, so morning coffee was essential before doing errands.

I arrived in Ebisu about 10 minutes before 11 and sat on a bench in the sunshine. (We have had the worst spring weather-wise! It has been very rainy and quite chilly. I relished those few minutes of brightness with my face lifted to the sky, eyes closed.) At about a minute before 11am I stood up and walked closer to the door of the department store. There were a few people milling about with me, studying the window displays which were elegantly done with the latest styles of clothes, shoes, and handbags. At precisely the appointed time, a man from the inside walked toward the glass door and with a flourish of the keys, unlocked the doors. He stepped outside and, holding the door, shouted, “irrashaemaseh!” This translates to “welcome, please come in and spend money!” The people filed in the door and along the main walkway of the store, there were salespeople positioned every few feet, all of them bowing and saying “irrashaemaseh” as the people passed. After about five minutes of this greeting, the employees went about their business.

In Japan, every customer deserves a proper greeting and welcome into the shopping experience. It is part of the national ethos to revere the customer.
Downstairs in the Swatch area, the salesperson hovered quietly while I surveyed the merchandise. When I was ready, he showed me several selections, letting me turn them over and over in my hand while I decided. I finally chose a multicolor watch with a second-hand to make it easy for Sydney to learn to tell time. He rang up my purchase quickly, asking if I wanted a gift box. He was a bit confused with I said that I would wrap it myself – I wanted to show it to Marc before wrapping – but he complied and put the purchase in a lovely shopping back which he taped shut securely before handing over to me.

It was such a quiet and civilized experience. If all shopping was done this way then the world would be a much happier place.

It's summer!

After an impossibly cold winter and rainy spring, it's all of a sudden showing signs of summer in Tokyo. It's hard to believe that in three weeks we will be back in the States for ten long weeks (email me for the schedule; it's too hard to explain!)

This past weekend, the kids put on their school play. It was quite a professional job with one parent who is an artist designing the sets. Another parent is a clothing designer and designed the costumes, while another is a movie director, so we will get a professionally done dvd of the show. The show was the musical "Shaharazade: 1001 Arabian Nights" and the kids did a wonderful job. There was not a missed cue or line in the mix. The elementary kids from grades 1 through 6 worked on it - Sydney was too young this year. Bailey had a small but pivotal role as the shopkeeper. He kind of brought everyone back to reality after the tales and he had the final lines of the play. He was calm and collected and did a wondeful job!

What I love most about Bailey is his diversity. He was just as excited about the soccer tournament last Wednesday and his violin concert next week. He's done so many wonderful things this year and learned so much. His Japanese reading and writing are coming along nicely as is his spoken ability.

But mostly I credit his teacher, Sainoor with giving him one specific gift that I hope lasts a lifetime: the ability to calm himself. Sainoor really has Bailey's number. She can see him out of the corner of her eye and if he is bouncing around, all she has to say is "Bailey take a deep breath." I have watched this happen. Immediately after she says it, he breathes in through his nose and out through his mouth and relaxes his shoulders. He emerges visibly calmer and can focus on the task at hand.

This came home to roost during the play. My friend, a Finnish woman named Riikka, came to find me before the show. She had been in charge of makeup. I had told her the story of the deep breath and it had impressed her. She told me that Bailey was like a jack-in-the-box before the show. She told him to take a deep breath and then he was able to sit down, sit still,and get his makeup applied. I was so pleased for Bailey that he has a tool like that to rely on in times of stress. I will encourage him to keep it up.

A few days ago we found out that Sainoor will be moving to upper elementary class (the Montessori school is organized in three year blocs so that there are mixed-age classrooms - ages 3-6, 6-9, 9-12) and since Bailey is moving up also, she will continue to be his teacher. Though we are sorry that Sydney will not have her as a teacher (Syd is also moving up to a lower elementary class for the fall) we are so pleased that Bailey will continue to have her influence. Sainoor has some challenges - she is the tough teacher at school and some of the kids are afraid of her (as are a few parents!) but she has done wonders for our child, and Bailey respects her and her methods. He works to please her, which pleases Marc and me, too.

It's been a wonderful school year. We have loved our first school year here, and look forward to seeing you Stateside all summer!

Cruise from Hong Kong to Taiwan!

The flight to Hong Kong was merely the tip of the iceberg for a trip that had fun from all angles – kids, adults, rest and sightseeing.

For spring break this year, we decided to take a cruise. I found one that was family-friendly and also good for adults – a Royal Caribbean Cruise. We flew to Hong Kong on Saturday night and spent Sunday morning wandering around Kowloon, the area of Hong Kong across the Harbor from the center of the city. Hong Kong is a pretty typical Asian city except that everyone speaks English. It’s clean, steeped in Chinese tradition, and a slave to modern luxuries. They skyline waves across the atmosphere in a rush of interestingly-shaped buildings.
We were on the ship by about 2pm. Interestingly, they had to keep our passports for customs’ issues and we had to fill out all of the immigration forms for Taiwan ahead of time. Before boarding, we met our friends Kerri and Jeff Dube and their four kids so we could get on together. It was so fun to travel as a group – the kids really enjoyed each other and no one was lonely.

The first thing Bailey was dying to do was try the rock climbing wall, so we did that as the ship weighed anchor. He got to the top over and over again over the next four days. He’s a great athlete. But it was cool to see the skyline of Hong Kong recede from the back of the ship where the wall was located.

The next day and a half was a whirlwind of on-board activities. The kids loved the kids’ club – there was something fun to do for all age groups, so the adults could also enjoy their time. The best part was playing bingo with Kerri – she won the grand prize – and upgrade to the second largest suite on the ship. She is so lucky!

The food was great – we had a fantastic waiter at dinner each night who brought us a ton of things to try as well as everything we actually ordered. My kids ate things like steak, salmon, escargot and a lot of fruit salad. For breakfast and lunch we generally hit the buffet – there was every possible food imaginable – from tuna sandwiches to carved roast beef. There was smoked salmon and bagels for breakfast – boy have we missed that!
On Tuesday morning we docked in the port nearest to Taipei and took a 45 minute bus-ride into the city. Once there we went to the top of the world’s tallest building – Taipei 101. The view was mesmerizing. We could see the entire city! We even got to see the wind dormer – the ball that moves so that the building stays stable in the wind. For lunch we ate in a typical Chinese restaurant. It was delicious! The sauces on the shrimp were savory and the dumplings were larger and more loosely put together than dumplings we’re used to. The fillings for the dumplings were more rice-based than protein based, too.

After lunch we went to the Palace Museum, the best place to see all of the treasures of China. When Chiang Kai Sheck fled Mainland China, he took all of the treasures and art with him. This is his collection. We looked through some of the rooms of the ancient art and then took a stroll through the garden and fed the koi. See the photos! The city itself is nothing to write home about. Having lived in Tokyo for so long already, we have trouble with other Asian Cities. Taipei is dirty and disorganized. The people are nice enough, but they are not overly polite and they stare at foreigners. The museum was just outside the center of the city in what seemed like an oasis of green. Even that was incredibly crowded.

The next day, the port of call was Kaolung, Taiwan, the second biggest port city in the country. We went to the jade market and out for lunch – and then back to the ship – it was a very short port call. The jade market was interesting; we got to hold all of the jade, learn about qualities of jade and then bargain for the items we wanted. It was fun. But this city, too, was dirty and disorganized. The center of the city was nicer than the area of the market, but it was still not great. In the streets, women near restaurants crouched low on the pavement with bowls of soapy water to wash the dishes and utensils used inside. It was very old world juxtaposed with new world.

The funniest part of the second day was that we didn’t take the kids with us into the city. They really wanted to stay on the ship and play in the kids’ club, so we let them. They were happy and we were happy. In addition, they wanted to go to the evening party that night so we let them do that too, and the adults were able to have a drink or whatever until it was time to pick up the children. It was a lovely way to end the cruise.

Back in the port of Hong Kong, we disembarked as quickly as possible and then had dim sum lunch with our friends Samantha and Jonathan Kriegel and their two daughters. We know them from the years we lived in Tokyo before and it was just wonderful to see them. Dim sum is basically a meal comprised of Chinese dumplings. We have had it a number of times in the States and in Japan. There is a lot of pork and shrimp and rice noodles involved. You don’t order off the menu but women with carts of hot food come around to each table and the diners can inspect the food before choosing which dishes they want directly off the tray. It was a fun way to eat.

Hong Kong has this great feature called “in-town check-in.” We were able to go to the in-town airport station and check our bags for our afternoon flight, then go to lunch, and then go out to the airport holding only our carry-ons. Our baggage met us in Tokyo! It was remarkably easy. I wish Tokyo did that – or New York City!!

We had a great trip. I would take a cruise again in a second – it was good for all of us. I hope it’s the first of many trips around Asia over the next five years!

Ohanami

Here are a few pictures of the beautiful cherry trees in Shinjuku Gyoen (park). The custom is to sit under the trees as the blossoms come out and eat and drink and well, watch the trees. Very relaxing. Enjoy!

Accomplishments

After a boring month of regular "life" stuff, I have to share my latest accomplishment.  I rode my bicycle through the city to the new Tokyo American Club (TAC).  (In case I forgot to mention, the TAC razed their building to the ground in January and is rebuilding from scratch - they are in temporary quarters in Takanawa for two years. The new spot is not within walking distance like the old one was.)

Anyway, my friend Amanda-Jane convinced me to try riding there.  I cannot believe I did it. I have been quite scared of riding the city streets.  I only had one near-miss with a child, and otherwise did quite fine.  If I can do this, I can do anything!