Japanese Yochien Field Trip

On Friday we went to Kodomo-land in Hachinohe. Kodomo means children, and it was a little amusement park, petting zoo, and botanical garden. It was a beautiful day, and a lot of fun, but exhasuting! I was a little stressed since it was still only our first week at the school, and all of the instructions that I had received had obviously been in Japanese, then translated. Well, I had to prepare lunches and snacks for all the boys (Noah was also able to participate), and pack other stuff for the day. When the kids had started, the teacher made sure that I knew not to send in junk food for lunchtime and snacks, so I had assumed that I need to pack a healthy snack for them for the field trip, too. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Since it was a special day, I was *supposed* to bring junk food today, and the Sensei wouldn't even accept my rice ball for Alex for a snack on the bus. She made a big "X" with her arms to tell me that it was wrong (since I still don't speak Japanese)! Meanwhile, as I'm figuring this out, they are taking Alex and putting him on another bus, Ian and I are going on a different one, and Noah is running around like a crazy man. Plus, I was still trying to figure out if I had the right things for the day. But, everything worked out in the end, and it was a beautiful day. The boys had fun, and all of them fell asleep on the bus ride home.

I've also included a picture of Alex in his formal uniform, that he wears on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Ian does not have to wear it yet--he only wears the sportswear uniform every day.

He made it!

Just a quick note that Chris made it over to his final destination (finally!) safely. I haven't spoken to him in almost a week, but he did send me an email to let me know.

Christian's "war" pics

Poor Chris, after being stuck in Singapore for 3-4 days, he then got stuck in Diego Garcia, a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, operated by the U.S. military. Here he is at the beach with two other guys from the squadron.
After renting a boat, they were able to go out and fish, and the Club cooked it up for them for dinner!

The view from Diego Garcia. The funny thing: these pictures were sent to me from one of the spouses, whose husband sent them to her (thanks Hillary!). Note I didn't even hear from Chris the entire time he was in Diego Garcia...feeling guilty, perhaps? Seriously though, I am glad they were able to have a little fun and relaxation before getting to their final destination, since the entire squadron had been working their tails off up to the deployment. But can't he look a *little* miserable, just to make me feel better? I haven't heard from him in a few days, so right now I have no idea where he is...stay tuned!

Everything must be labeled!

I forgot to mention, everything the boys have must be labeled with their name at school...every article of clothing, bag, crayon, toothbrush, sock and shoe, and of course, it must be in Japanese! I've gotten pretty good at writing the boys' names now. When I dropped them off, and Ian was taking off his regular shoes, the teacher made a little gasp when she saw that they were not labeled; I had simply forgotten. Mind you, the boys have a specific cubby to put their shoes, and I knew Ian would recognize his own shoes, but it was definitely a gaijin (foreigner) moment! I assured her that they would be labeled tomorrow!

On another note--I did hear from Chris. He did make it closer to his final destination, but is not yet there. Hopefully within the next few days. He did have a nice little vacation in the middle of the Indian Ocean for a few days...renting sailboats, fishing, and relaxing.

First Day of School at the Catholic Yochien

Here are the boys in their sports uniforms. They were so excited to go to school that they kept asking me every 15 minutes if it was time to go!
Ian at the school entrance. He is taking off his outside shoes and putting on his inside slip on shoes.
Alex and his Sensei, Mika.
The boys had a great first day, but they were only there for three hours. Tomorrow Alex will stay the entire day, and Ian will stay a half day. They really liked it!