Japan, again

In other news, the Japan trip....

Overall it went well, albeit short--4 days. I arrived in Tokyo Friday and after a 1-hr train ride from the airport on the Keisei line, I met my parents at the Nippori train station for the 45-minute ride back to my grandma's house. (she now lives at the care facility nearby, so her house is our home in Tokyo now).

The funeral on Saturday went as well as expected. It's quite strange to attend a funeral spoken entirely in Japanese and run by a monk rather than a pastor/priest/etc. But at least I wasn't the only one who couldn't totally understand what was being said, my dad was there too. But the monk did say one thing that I felt was particularly true in our case, that a funeral, while sad, is a time for the family to gather and remember but also to remind each other how we can help each other in life and not just in death. (rough translation) For the Oshima family, this is particularly pertinent because my grandmother and my uncle hadn't been on speaking terms for years until after my aunt died last Fall (they now are, mostly because she's forgotten what they were fighting about). Similarly my aunt and my uncle hadn't spoken in many many years and in fact didn't reconcile before her death. So it was really sad for me to see my uncle wipe his eyes at the service and be reminded of how deep his regret must be.

But I'm really glad I went. Not only did I get to see my uncle, who I hadn't seen since I was about 6 at his wedding, and my cousin (his daughter) who I hadn't seen since she visited us last in the States about 16 years ago, I got to see my grandma again in her new care facility and see how happy and well she is doing there. Dementia is a crazy thing, she's totally healthy otherwise, but she just thinks she's still running the show. A few weeks ago she was helping the staff prepare meals for the other residents and after a couple days of doing this she told my mom "I am wondering when I am going to get paid?" hee hee! Then, she told my mom recently that she really likes this place and can't believe it's only 100Y a day (about $1 USD), although she doesn't know why she hasn't seen a bill yet. ha!

It's really funny... I just try not to think about the good memories she can't recall anymore because she still remembers me, my mom and my dad. For now. She's thrilled to become a great-grandmother, the first in her family. And I'm excited at the prospect of taking our son to meet his Japanese great-grandmother sometime next year.

My mom was so funny during the trip too. During my short stay, we took one day to do some touring we hadn't done before. We visited Ueno Park (a Central Park-like place in the middle of Tokyo), went to the Tokyo National Museum and went to Ame-yoko, which is an outdoor market that has everything from food, knock-off designer bags and shoes, groceries, pharmacy to old PX stuff from way back when. (It actually started as a place to get American goods during the war). My mom kept saying, "i cant wait to bring the grandson here... and here...and here..." (fill in with Tokyo Disneyland, Ueno Zoo to see the famous panda exhibit, etc). It was really cute actually.

After a day of touring we met up with BT and her husband, who had arrived in Tokyo just the night before. It was really cool to see them in Tokyo actually. We met at the top of the Park Hyatt in the bar featured in the film Lost in Translation. Although the views were *killer* the drinks were l-a-m-e and expensive and took FOREVER to get. There had to be maybe 5 other patrons in the bar when I ordered my drink. However our waiter failed to bring my drink or even WATER to the table until BT and E ordered their second round. And when my virgin-drink got there it was about 98% ice chips and 2% liquid. For 1300Y (13 bucks). Sorry, but I'm not willing to pay for that tourist attraction again. Puh-leeze.

Thankfully we were able to locate where the *cheaper* food is in the Park Tower (down in the basement, like it is in most tall buildings in Tokyo). We were so lucky to have my mom there because all of the signs in English indicated that the only food in the Park Tower was above the 41st floor (the bar we were in was on the 52nd). My mom found a building attendant and asked them where the food was (we read in my book there is tons of food here but couldnt find it) and they directed us to the one elevator that goes down. All the rest go from Floor 2 (entry) straight up to Floor 41 (where check-in is for the Park Hyatt). BT cleverly pointed out that if you only spoke English, you'd be spending roughly 3xs the price of dinner because there's no way to know the cheaper food is downstairs! In retrospect, our round of drinks on the 52nd Floor were more expensive than our dinner for 5 down in the basement. Huh.

Anyways, dinner was lovely and yummy--fresh, handmade Udon and beef over rice served with hot tea and a lovely mucas-fest by yours truly. I felt bad for BT/E and my folks for having to put up with a sick person at their dinner table. I'm sure i wasn't pleasant company and I kept having to leave the table to blow my nose. ICK. Although BT made me feel a little better by noting that out of everyone, that kind of grossness would really bother me the most, so it's a good thing it was me who was sick. Touche!

Alas, I was supposed to leave on Tuesday, but after a restless night with no sleep, despite the Japanese decongestant I took and about 5 mini-boxes of kleenex, I woke up feeling worse and decided to call it. My mom called the airlines and changed my listing to leave that night and we packed it up and headed out for a visit with my grandma. Thank goodness her care facility is close to her old house. It was a short walk and bus ride away, so I was able to drag my sick ass down there for a nice visit with her.

I can't believe I spent roughly a long weekend in Tokyo. It's such a funny contradiction to BT/E's trip. They have been planning this for 18 months and looking forward to it for weeks. I planned my trip about a week before. Granted, I don't have to book hotels, worry about getting around with the language barrier or even think about how to get where I'm going from the airport. I've done it now twice in 6 months and we'll likely go again next year with our son. It occurred to me on the train home from dinner with BT & E that my experience in Japan will never be what theirs is. I'll never stay in a hotel in Tokyo. I'll never eat 3 meals out a day there. I'll never really be a tourist in Tokyo. Maybe in Kyoto (kinda, because last time my mom made all our reservations over the phone for us the night before and figured out our train schedule). It's kinda cool actually. It feels like going to Japan is not a big deal anymore, it's not a o-mi-god, we-have-to-plan-forever-in-advance thing anymore. We just get a buddy pass on United from a friend, hop on a plane and bam 11 hours later we're there.

Anyways, you're officially caught up! I'll be posting recent baby and belly pics soon, so stay tuned!