The Real Thing - Papa and Rosie's Visit - Spring 2014

Guest Bloggers: Rosie and Papa

Skype is great, but it doesn’t make up for THE REAL THING!!!

We arrived at the airport in Tokyo on April 28, made our way by train from the airport and were met by Ryan and Stephanie at Shibuya station,  near the home of the Narimatsujayne clan.  When we arrived, Ethan had just returned from soccer practice and Kevin was cooking supper.  It was wonderful to be with all four of them once again!!  And, to our good fortune, our visit overlapped slightly with an acquaintance from the past, Iris Gibbons, who had been Steph’s gym teacher in 6^th grade (and her very special adult friend during the one year we lived in the Atlanta area).

The boys had several days off from school for Golden Week (a Japanese holiday honoring several things including Children's Day, Constitution Day, and Greenery Day).  As Stephanie has mentioned before it is difficult to understand the logic of the Japanese holidays—one day off, one day at school and then another day off. 

At any rate, the six of us made a trip to Hiroshima that became a special memory for all of us.  Getting six people to the train station on time takes a lot of thinking ahead—thank goodness Stephanie and Kevin knew what they were doing and we just followed.

Our shinkansen to Hiroshima...

We rode on the bullet train to Hiroshima where we stayed in The World Friendship Center, founded in the 1950’s by an American woman whose mission was to build bridges between the  survivors of the atomic bomb and Americans.  It is now directed by a volunteer couple from the US on a 2-year assignment from the Church of the Brethren.  In addition to our lodging and breakfast we had the opportunity to meet a survivor of the bombing. Hearing an 83-year-old describe her experience as a child, whose life was upended by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and see the pictures she had drawn from her memory of that tragic event, was extraordinarily meaningful.  We also had a guided tour of the Memorial Peace Park, arranged by the Center.

Kohno-san - she and the boys have since become pen pals and she sent us a
copy of her book about her A-bomb experience

Making origami cranes at the Peace Park

Ryan at the Children's Monument

Peace Park at night

We then rode a ferry to nearby Miyajima Island, where we visited the famous Itsukushima Shrine (often known as the floating red gates).   We then stayed overnight in a cabin at a beachside park and did some exploring.  The island is heavily populated by very friendly deer, who are known to munch on people’s clothing.  We kept our distance!

Of course, fish cake on a stick shaped like a maple leaf - why not?

At low tide

At the summit of our Miyajima Island hike...

Searching for creatures on the beach...

Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki

Back in Tokyo:  Since the boys were in school and Kevin and Stephanie were working, we headed out on our own--armed with maps of trains, map of Tokyo, apps galore (but just because the apps were on the phone didn’t necessarily mean we knew what to do with them), more maps and a "kid phone" that could only call Kevin and Stephanie.  We were certainly proud of our success in navigating our way around—and in figuring out when we were “a little lost” and making the necessary corrections.  We even made a two day trip to Kyoto—but more about that later.

Another highlight was being able to participate in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.  Stephanie’s friend, Mucchan, who trained for ten years to be able to conduct tea ceremonies, presented the ceremony for Stephanie, Ethan (he was home sick), and us at Stephanie and Kevin’s home. Another friend, Mayuko, helped with the explanations in English.  It is a beautiful ritual, the meaning of which is derived in part from Buddhist spirituality, and we felt honored to be invited to experience it.

The "American lunch" of Brunswick stew and corn bread,
as a small thank you for the Japanese tea ceremony

About midway through our visit, we thought our hosts might need a break from their Occidental guests.  Thus we set off on our own to the ancient city of Kyoto.  The city is filled with Buddhist temples, and we had the privilege of lodging in a temple complex.  Our stay included an introduction to Zen meditation, taught by one of the temple priests.  The meditation session was followed by a guided tour of the temple, and a brief tea ceremony.  We explored parts of the city as well, and made a side trip to a nearby rural village.  A delightful trip, but we were glad to get back to our Tokyo family.

Stephanie had learned of a hotel in Tokyo, which is open only to people with a US military or government ID, so we used our Navy retiree ID’s to host the rest of the family for two delightful excursions.  The New Sanno Hotel turned out to be one of those best-kept secrets you hear about.  We would describe it as a 4-star hotel at 1-star prices.  Obviously we didn’t need a hotel room, but the facility also had excellent restaurants, a Navy Exchange and a beautiful swimming pool.  Our first trip there was on a school day for the boys, so Stephanie, Kevin and the two of us “tested it out” and found the breakfast buffet to be outstanding.  There were some bargains to be had at the Navy Exchange as well.  We then took the boys there on a Saturday (unfortunately Kevin was out-of-town) and let them get our money’s worth, and then some, at the breakfast buffet.  They ate cereal like there was no tomorrow, and consumed amazing quantities of the other menu items as well.  We then let them loose at the pool, and they stayed in the water close to 5 hours!   By then it was dinnertime, so once again we enjoyed the culinary pleasures of the New Sanno Hotel

restaurant.

We happened to be in Tokyo for Mother’s Day, which began with an elaborate breakfast in bed for the two moms in the house.  The meal was enthusiastically and deliciously prepared by Ethan and Ryan, with a bit of assistance from Kevin (the one-eyed-egg chef).  The celebration continued with some beautiful Mother’s Day art work by our talented little boys.

Soccer is a major enterprise for Ethan and Ryan, and, to a lesser degree, for their parents (who play in an adult league).  We enjoyed watching the boys’ late-afternoon practices at their school, and were expecting to see Ethan’s team play a game on Mother’s Day.  Then we learned that Ethan’s game would not take place, but there would be a practice at the game field.  That practice turned out to be a very entertaining event, as it morphed into a game played by teams made up of kids and parents, followed by a game played by the kids vs. the parents.  Kevin and Stephanie were among the top “hot dogs” of the parent set, and we grandparents had great fun watching all of the on-field excitement.  And it was a real thrill getting to see Ethan scoring goals—one of which was assisted by his dad!

A major event of our trip was being there when Ryan learned to ride his bike without training wheels! It was utterly amazing how quickly his skills developed once he got the hang of it.  He kept the roads hot around their neighborhood cruising around after “the day that changed his life,” as he put it.  We were really happy to be witnesses to Ryan’s great success.

Another real plus for us was getting to meet Lizzy, Ryan’s spotted leopard gecko.  We had met her via Skype, and were impressed with her good looks even then, but in person, she’s a real charmer.  She loves to crawl around  exploring, when she has play time out of her little house, and it’s fun to have her crawl up your arm.  Mealtime is a treat to watch, as Lizzy sneaks up on her prey (crickets) and then grabs one in her mouth, swallowing it instantly.  She’s Ryan’s pet, but she has the whole family wrapped around her cute little fat tail.  (Note:  A gecko stores fat in the tail—the equivalent of our hips?) 

New experiences, new people, new foods, new stories . . . Headed home we realize how fortunate we have been to enjoy another wonderful stay with the Tokyo band of our family.  They are truly living an adventure.