Keitai Photos

Tomorrow morning I have to turn in my dear keitai that I have grown rather fond of. As a tribute to my aging gadget (it is showing definite signs of wear), I have made a selection of some of my favourite keitai photos... many of which have been the welcome screen when I open my phone.

Here's the first photo ever of Anna:
Anna on her new potty:

My keitei was particularly handy for catching moments that don't last for very long. Here are some great moments between Lukas and Anna:

This is a photo I took of Bettina when she landed at Narita so that I could send it on the spot to her Mom to let her know Bettina had landed safely.

When Bettina was here she was amused by how frequently the Japanese use the camera on their keitai (cellphone). I used mine a lot more during our first year here when I would sent Stefan a photo to show him what Lukas and I were up to that day. I once even sent him a photo of his dinner to try to get him to hurry home.

Sigh... I will miss my keitai. Here's hoping my Handy (German for cellphone) will be just as cool.

Annex Katsutaro

This is the ryokan we are staying at from now until early Sunday morning. It's a "modern ryokan", which means the rooms are traditional Japanese style (tatami, futons) but in a modern concrete block building with hotel style bathrooms. The kids like the place, but Lukas was upset tonight because there is no onsen (hotspring). Stefan has promised to take him to a nearby public bath tomorrow night so that he won't be too disappointed. I guess every time we've stayed in rooms like this, there has been a "hot bath" as Lukas calls it.

Stefan is finishing up the packing at the apartment because the movers come first thing in the morning. Then we have a couple of days to clean up the place so in the hope that we will get our deposit back.

Understanding the Move

We've been trying to make the move as easy as possible for the kids. Using my limited artistic ability, I drew this picture to help the kids understand why everything is going into boxes and where they will end up. He doesn't understand the "new house" concept, but believes that everything is going to Oma and Opa's house in Germany -- a place that he knows. We're not sure how much Anna understands but she's such a clever little thing, so I'm sure it's much more than we give her credit for. It seems really surreal that this will be our last night sleeping in the apartment. The only appliance we have left is the fridge, which will be picked up tomorrow night. Most of the boxes are packed, except for a few odds and ends. We're not terribly stressed about it because the movers are expecting to pack some things. We decided to pack the kids chairs last because they are so used to using them.... it was traumatic enough to see the TV leave the house today!

My plan for the evening is to sort out some more papers and to pack the children's carry-on bags for the trip to the ryokan tomorrow afternoon. The kids are really into Pokemon all of a sudden. They saw the TV show when we were in Gifu and recognised it at a 7-11 near us. Fortunately, the figurines are small enough to pack. They asked me to take these photos of their "Scary Monsters." The top ones belong to Lukas and the ones on the bottom are Anna's.

Frog and Bear

As many of you know, Frog and Bear are Lukas and Anna's favourite stuffed animals. Lukas's frog has been lost multiple times (twice in Gatwick airport alone!) but fortunately we were able to find replacements. Bear has been more closely guarded. The first time he left the house for any prolonged length of time was our trip to Hokkaido last summer... which is when he turned from white to grey. A friend of ours told us that dry cleaners in Japan will clean stuffed animals, but it would take a week. As Anna likes to sleep with Bear (and an assortment of dog friends and her blankie), we have decided to live with his grunginess.

Our new blog, starting next week sometime, has been named in honour of Frog and Bear. Tagebuch von Frosch und Baer follow our adventures as we move to Germany, Stefan starts a new job, we search for a new place to live, and I brush up my long-neglected German skills. Our landline no longer works (a nice lady from Indonesia picked it up today) and most of our large furniture (apart from our table & chairs, which we will keep) was picked up on the weekend. Sally Ann comes for the appliances tomorrow and we will be moving into a ryokan on Wednesday. Flight leaves bright & early Sunday morning. We have mixed emotions about our move -- we are glad to be moving closer to family and friends, but we will miss our friends in Japan (not to mention Japanese food) a great deal. We reassure ourselves with the knowledge that this is not good-bye to Japan forever, just for now.

The Lady in Pink

Anna and I went shopping this weekend to get a few last minute things. Anna picked up a pair of pink sunglasses with flowers on them to match her puppy-purse. We were also looking for some shorts for her. When I pointed out a cute shirt with a blue floral pattern on it, Anna said: "That's for Lukas, Anna pink!" The little lady knows exactly what she likes!

Belated Birthday Blog

I thought I'd take a break from packing to share a few photos from my birthday with you. It was a beautifully sunny day and the kids and I spent the morning at the playground. Here is Anna eating an-filled mochi, a favourite snack she & I will miss.

Sigh... Lukas throwing sand, as usual.

Anna falls asleep on our way home from an Indian curry lunch.

Blowing out the candles on the cake Anna picked out for me.

Japanese Alps

We had a great time visiting with friends in the Japanese Alps during Golden Week. With all the madness of packing and preparing for our move, I don't have time for telling you all about it, but here are a few photos that sum it up a bit. Here's a photo of Anna at our outdoor breakfast on our final morning:

Visit to an open air museum featuring Gifu prefecture's traditional thatched roof houses.

Anna, copying Kabeya-san, picked up a fish head and started munching on it. She was really into it... possibly because she knew we were all amused.

We spent a day shopping and sight-seeing in the lovely town of Takayama.

A visit to a lovely cliff and waterfall.

Anna examines a salamander that Kabeya-san fished out of the river.

Lukas, in a typical pose: throwing rocks into water.

FYI: We may not have a phone from the 19th or so (I'm giving it away to someone) but we will still have an internet connection. On the 22nd, we are moving into a local ryokan with the kids... we will also have an internet connection there. We fly to Germany via Amsterdam on the morning of the 27thh.

Birthday Season

The Birthday Bonanza has begun with Stefan's birthday on Saturday. We have lots of great pictures from the day, but as we are off to Gifu in a few minutes, I'll have to whet your taste with just one photo for now. We'll be back in Tokyo by my birthday. Hope you all have a great Golden Week (even if you are not in Japan) and wishing my Mom a smooth move to her new house.