Here is a little video showing the huge globe that hangs in the Museum of Technology and Innovation in Odaiba, Tokyo.  We spent an entire weekend at the Museum, and we still didn't experience everything.  One highlight for Kai was sitting in front with the other kids during the demonstration of the Honda Asimo robot.

Yeah, that's right, the date on the music is April 3, 1982, when I was in high school.  I've recently been practicing in the mornings after the kids have gone to school and before I'm due at the office, and I've pulled out some of my old music books to tackle.  It feel really good to play, and in some ways I'm a much better musician than I ever was in high school and college.  And yet my technique is rusty -- there's no way I'm going to be able to get back to where I was when I played 4 or 5 hours every day.  That's okay, though, it's still fun to play and frustrating not to be better, just like it was all those years ago.

Birthday Boy

Another birthday and Kai is 10 years old. I am writing during the tail end of his sleepover birthday party, and it's really fun to see these five boys doing interesting things -- one of them is composing music on the computer, two are doing chemistry experiments with a birthday gift, one is building a Lego robot, and off and on they have all been working on a Lego town. Last night they watched movies, ate popcorn, played some games, and generally got along famously. They are about to start their last activity -- a treasure hunt that I managed to write after breakfast -- and then everyone is off to their weekend activities.

Miss Liberty in Tokyo

We are so excited to welcome Liberty back to the family. She arrived just a day ago after spending six months with Rose and her dogs and horses. She is now an official Japanese resident along with the rest of us after going through six months of quarantine, except she gets a permanent visa. And it was as if we had just left her yesterday -- she is her old enthusiastic and wonderful self! Liberty immediately checked out her new house, acquainted herself with our terrace, and has been following me around ever since. We've been on three long walks and have met and made friends with several other dogs in our neighborhood.

Japan is definitely a nation of small dogs, which are very popular here. There are very few dogs as big as Liberty, and she's not all that huge even -- just 63 pounds. As common as dogs are, I have still had a number of people wanting to meet Liberty as we went out walking.

Office view 2

Office view 2
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

I finally got an office to go along with my new job! I was sitting at a borrowed desk squinting at my laptop screen for about four months and I nearly forgot what it was like to have a real office! This photo shows the view from my window looking out over Akasaka to the southwest. The one good thing about not having an office was that I didn't have anything to pack. Now I need some artwork and perhaps some family photos to liven up my very sterile office space.

McBakery Now Here!

Image064.jpg
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

Today Kai and I went to Omotesando to check out KiddyLand, have lunch at Fujimama's, and check out a book exchange fundraiser. But we could not escape the launch of McBakery, mainly because there were what seemed like hundreds of young folks dressed up in neon green, brown, and white costumes with funky sunglasses and hats in the shape of baked goodies. They were everywhere, and here is a shot of a number of them resting along the sidewalk. Wish I had my new camera with me, because this shot with my cell phone just doesn't do them justice!

Venturing off the cute path

P7060169
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

Today Kai and I went to Hankuhinkan Toy Park for a second visit to this toy mecca in Ginza. Boy the place is crazy, and it's not unusual at all to see young couples shopping there with no kids in sight. I took a few photos of toys that caught my eye. You can see all of them here.

Parking the bike at work

Parking the bike at work
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

I shipped my bike to Tokyo, and as with many things I realized it's not exactly suited to my new lifestyle, but I'm managing to make it work. My apartment is less than two miles from work, with some hills in between, and I ride my bike to work 3 times a week or so. I tried to add a kickstand to the bike but the first one is really lame, so I have to find a place to lean it up against something and this is my first choice spot that I can get when I leave early enough.

I tend to leave home early when I'm riding because on the way to work I ride on the sidewalk (against the road traffic) and there are ukumillion pedestrians on the sidewalks later in the morning when everyone is rushing to get to work. But the effort to get across Roppongi Dori, a major street under an expressway, and then back across near work is just too much. So the sidewalk it is. With some practice, riding along with the pedestrians is getting easier.

On the way home, I ride in the street with the traffic, and I've discovered that drivers in Tokyo are much more used to having a chaotic mix of cars buses, scooters, bike messengers, and motorcycles all sharing the road, so things feel safer than in the U.S. But I still wear my helmet, unlike most bicyclists in Tokyo.

Now that summer is upon us, I may have to cut back my bicycling or make sure I bring a change of clothes. The heat and humidity are tough.

Morning safety meeting

Morning safety meeting
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

I've been passing these guys every morning and am always impressed at how organized and clean construction sites are in Tokyo. The level of professionalism is incredible. Just before the safety meeting, these workers do calisthenics and stretching exercises.

Gaspard et Lisa

Gaspard et Lisa
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

I seem to have fallen prey to cute theme stuff. Meet Gaspard et Lisa, two adorable french pups in love. I restrained myself to these purse organizing pouches and lunch bag. I could have gotten five times as much stuff.

Shinkansen Tour to Kyoto and Hiroshima

We took a mini-vacation last weekend, with Kai planning from start to finish a bullet train (shinkansen) tour that included one night in Kyoto and one night in Hiroshima.  Lots of photos here,  including some pages from my travel journal that capture the highlights.

Apartment complexes inside the industrial zone

Apartment complexes inside the industrial zone
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

This photo was taken at a huge industrial zone in Noida, outside New Delhi. Many companies build apartments for their workers, and they were mostly very nice like this complex.

Sugar cane fields

Sugar cane fields
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

This is the part of India, near Kolhapur, that reminded me of Oahu's sugar growing region. That is, until you pass a truck or encounter a village.

Monsoon season starts

Monsoon season starts
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

Here is a photo of the plains just east and south of Pune, India.

India in Three Days

Hi everyone! I'm back from a truly epic one-week business trip that involved planes, trains, and automobiles galore. I started out Monday morning scrambling to catch the airport express train, which means first getting to Tokyo Station from my house. Luckily I got on the correct train and made to the flight on time. I flew about 4 hours to Hong Kong where I had business meetings on Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday. The train from the Hong Kong airport to downtown is truly a beautiful experience, and quite a contrast to my scramble in Tokyo. In Hong Kong, the train takes you right downtown and our office is just next door.  I had dinner one night with a good friend at an amazing Vietnamese restaurant, and the next night with a small group of colleagues at a very good Italian restaurant.

Then I was off to New Delhi, which is...maybe another 4.5 hours from Hong Kong. The New Delhi international airport is a complete wreck, and it's a scary first impression to get of a country. I was told, however, that all the airports have been privatized and there are renovations occurring. I met my colleague outside the baggage claim and we headed over to our office. And I continued to be in shock for the next two days over how different India is from anywhere else I've ever been. 

We had to drive south of Pune, and drive and drive, passing fields and seeing the monsoons roll in.  The landscape itself was reminiscent of Oahu's central valley. Every so often we would pass a village. At one point we pulled over at the bus station in Sangli to ask directions, but that is as close as I can get to figuring out where we actually ended up to do our factory review. 

Once that was over, we headed to the air strip in Kolhapur to catch the only flight out each day. I was dying to take pictures there, but the various officials were very stern about no photos allowed. Quite frankly, I never imagined I'd ever experience such a place. The strip is the middle of a bunch of fields, and you pull up to a building where there are various people loitering about. There is just one door into the place, where my paperwork was checked several times by various people in uniform. Then there was a desultory baggage screening, many tags and stamps, and we were finally able to check in. I was happy that I had the travel agent correct my name on the ticket, since they had initially used my nickname instead of the name on my passport. Then we went through the security checkpoint, I used the women's room (squat toilet with a bucket of water for washing), and waited for the airplane to arrive. At that point, my colleague pointed out that the plane could fit a maximum of 40 passengers, yet there were at least two hundred people at the air strip doing various things. I had to once again go have my bag checked against my ticket, and finally we walked down the strip and got into the turbo prop. Unfortunately, the monsoon started in the region that very day, and our one-hour flight to Mumbai turned into a 2.5-hour flight while we waited for the weather to clear sufficiently for landing. And yes, it was quite bumpy! The worst part, for this American, was the overwhelming smell of overheated men on the plane. Other than the flight attendant, I was the only woman on the plane. 

The next afternoon I headed to the New Delhi domestic airport to fly to Pune on Jet Lite, a small airline that has been acquired recently by Jet Airways. I met a different colleague at the airport curb and proceeded to wind my way through a morass of people and construction to get inside. I was assured the airline is just fine despite the level of chaos and disorganization at the terminal. At Pune, surprise! the airport was also under construction. My colleague explained that there's been so much explosive growth in India over the last five years that none of the infrastructure can keep up. Somehow, the fact that the weather was only 90 degrees instead of over 100 like Delhi made this airport much more bearable. We headed off to look at factories, and the next morning embarked on a four-hour road trip to a rural industrial park in the middle of nowhere.

We finally arrived at the Mumbai domestic airport, which has been beautifully renovated. I finally got to see what Indian airport privatization is capable of! Because of the delays, I only had enough time for lunch and about 30 minutes of souvenir shopping at a hotel before we had to go catch the next flight. Sadly, the Mumbai international airport is, dare I assume you can guess?, under renovation. I was flying the All Nippon Airways business jet home, and as we were driving along the terminal looking for the listing for ANA, I noticed an enormous number of people gathered at the terminal entrances. Unfortunately, we missed the listing so I said goodbye to my colleague and walked back, threading my way through the crowds and the monsoon mud and grime to get back to my terminal. Once inside, I was able to check in very easily using the contracted ground staff, although I did have to remind the young check in agent to put the baggage tag on my bag. Going through security was once again a hopeless jumble of bags, security guys, women frisking me behind a curtain while my carryon and laptop festered in a pile on the floor, oh, about 30 feet away and out of my sight. 

Finally, at long last, I found myself in the business class lounge, where I took refuge in the bathroom and took stock of 14 hours of Indian travel. It was not pretty! Luckily, I thought to pull out a change of clothes from my suitcase so I washed up as best I could and changed for the flight. The ANA flight from Mumbai to Tokyo is an all business class jet, with just 36 passengers on the flight and 4 or 5 flight attendants. Heaven! The moment I stepped on board, a sense of Japanese calm and order took over and I enjoyed a relaxing 9.5-hour flight back to Tokyo. Before I knew it we were landing at Narita airport at 9:00 this morning, and I was home just two hours later after taking the Friendly Airport Limousine Bus back into the city. 

What Does it Take to Feel at Home?

Kai settles in to the kitchen
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

I was thinking about this yesterday as we were schlepping our many suitcases (and all the extra new stuff that somehow got added to our temporary apartment) from our old apartment to our new apartment. The kids immediately felt at home here, even though we don't have any of our own furniture. Of course, getting some food into the refrigerator and cooking a meal was a key step -- we had pasta with three different kinds of sauce for dinner last night. But just knowing that we'll be here for at least two years and each person having a little space of their own seems to be the big thing. One thing that makes a huge difference to me is the washer and dryer in the kitchen -- they are both imported from the U.S. and it's heavenly to have a dryer that works! No more draping clothes all over everything and then waiting a few days for them to dry.

Kai has managed to figure out all the gadgets and gizmos in this new place. It's packed full of brand-new household electronics, including climate control system (one for the bedrooms and one for the living spaces), intercom system with video (for the front door and the building's front door), a bell system in the dining area that I think is for calling the maid from the kitchen, an emergency fire button, and a really fancy home security system. I'll have to be vigilant about locking all sliding glass doors when we're not home -- there are five different sets going out to the terrace! And of course we have a fancy Japanese toilet in our guest bathroom.

View From Our Roof Terrace

View from our roof terrace
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

At last we're in our own apartment, although we don't have any furniture yet.

The high rise in the distance is the famous Roppongi Hills development, including a world-class art museum on the 54th floor that we plan to go visit soon. Not only do we have lots of greenery on our terrace, but there's another roof garden on the neighboring apartment building. We're in the neighborhood of Nishi-Azabu very close to the Nishi-Azabu crossing with Roppongi Dori (my life revolves around Roppongi Dori, a very large street).

The movers came to our house in Quincy to pack us up on March 11th, and the shipment itself has been in Yokohama (the nearby port) since April 5th. But apparently the shipping company the in the U.S., called GDK Movers by the way, did not pay their bills to the ocean shipper so the container is being held hostage. It seems GDK Movers has gone dark and stopped responding to our agent over here. I really hope someone does something soon because I want my stuff! I put in some calls to various people on Friday in an effort to move things along, so we shall see.

Subway Etiquette

I have been smiling about this poster for some time. At first, I thought it was just a reminder not to be a slob. But then I noticed that the young man is looking at the ladies in the magazine and his pants look rather large, and I remembered reading about complaints that guys in the subway looking at porn magazines and video. Yuck!

Arts and Crafts

All of us love making things, and I was little worried that a big, sophisticated city like Tokyo wouldn't be the best place to be crafty.  Yesterday fears were put to rest after Caroline and I struck out around 5 p.m. to explore Tokyu Hands.  To get there we took the subway to the Shibuya Station and struck out across Shibuya Crossing.  This place can be extremely intimidating for two gals from the forests of Northern California, but amazingly thousands of people navigate across this major intersection during each traffic light cycle with no jostling or shouting.

Tokyu Hands lived up to its review in my little guidebook of Tokyo.  We wandered around the many levels and nooks and crannies and found everything we could ever need for arts and crafts projects.  We'll also be coming back next weekend after we've moved into our long-term apartment to get things like waste baskets, more hangars, lamps, a wall clock, etc.

On another note, I think I've figured out how to get the photos off my camera phone so I can go back and share some of our other experiences so far in Tokyo.  Things have been hectic this week, but I know we'll be much calmer when we're in our spacious apartment surrounded by familiar stuff.

In the meantime, here's a link to more photos of the arts and crafts expedition.

Friends Near and Far

Wow, I can't believe how lucky I am to have friends already coming by for visits. First we had a friend from work who was visiting Tokyo come for dinner with me and the kids, and then today my friend from Maui came and spent the day hanging out. Then this evening I made a new friends with a fellow living in the building who has been living here for the past two years with his girlfriend, both of them from the U.S. They are from Oakland, California, and we spent some time talking through where exactly Quincy is located. I lost him after I said you had to go north from Lake Tahoe. It seems that the vast area that is northeast California is a lost region to most Californians.

BJo came over to meet the kids, see our apartment, and give us advice on our curtain selections for the new apartment. Then she and I struck out on our own to see the sakura and the Yasukuni shrine, envisioning a stroll through serene gardens. We were surprised to encounter huge crowds and a full-on street festival. All the while, we were chatting nonstop. We enjoyed some good food - yakutori, beer, and later ice cream. I enjoyed seeing many families camped out on large blue tarps, picnicking and enjoying the beautiful weather. There were also performances, including temple girls in kimonos singing patriotic songs. We even dipped into a museum on the grounds of the shrine. The Shinto shrine is dedicated to Japan's soldiers who have been killed in wars, and visits from prime ministers have drawn international protests over the appearance that these politicians are validating Japan's role in World War II. There are several war criminals interred at the shrine.

Earthquake City

I just realized that I've felt three earthquakes in the seven days since we arrived here.  The most recent one was just an hour or so ago, and our 14th floor apartment swayed for at least 10 seconds.  The glasses and plates in the kitchen cupboard rattled and we all grabbed our chairs. Coming from California, the idea of earthquakes is not foreign to us, but Tokyo seems to be a whole new level of earthquake activity.  Just think, in 1923 there was the Great Kanto earthquake that killed 140,000 people in this region.  And the 1995 earthquake in Kyoto killed 6,400 people.

There are some very strict earthquake engineering standards for buildings in Japan, which is reassuring.  But then there's the case of the architect who falsified earthquake protection reports for something like 20 high rise residential buildings in various Japanese cities.  Certainly, living in an old wooden house in this city would not be advisable.

When I considered all the earthquake factors and our lifestyle, I decided that we could live in an older building as long as it has been inspected and retrofitted as necessary.  But I was insistent that we not live higher than the fifth floor -- we ended up with an apartment on the fourth floor for our permanent apartment.  Yeah, I'll miss the city views we get from our temporary digs, but overall I'd like to be closer to the ground.

School, Banks, and Paperwork

Wow! Today the girls start school at the American School in Japan. We spent Monday there at an orientation, and I think they will enjoy it. It's such a difference from their charter school and the local public school in Quincy. They will get on the school bus at the American Embassy a few blocks away and ride for nearly an hour to Chofu City on the outskirts of Tokyo. The school is nestled into a Tokyo suburb and has all the things you would expect - football field, auditorium, and a different building each for the elementary school, middle, school, and high school. It's a bustling place, with over 1500 students. So many of the students there come from families that move frequently that they are all welcoming and accepting of my new kids. I hope Caroline and Ceci find some kindred souls there.

Meanwhile, I still haven't finished the application and interview process for Kai at the Montessori school, which is only a 15-minute walk from our new apartment. We will try to get that done this week so that he can start school next week.

Speaking of our new apartment, Ceci and I went to see it yesterday to make the final decision, and we love it! Right now there is some renovation being done, so we won't be able to move in until the end of April. But it's perfect for our family, with lots of greenery around the building and a beautiful roof garden just for us that wraps around our apartment, with doors into all the main rooms. I can't wait to show everyone photos once we've moved in.

I also managed to open a local bank account and registeras a foreign resident. All this was accomplished with major assistance from our moving coordinator, Yumi, who is not only efficient and knowledgeable but is really fun and just a great person to hang out with. Her company, TGA, is hired by my employer to settle in all our expats and they do a fantastic job.

Oops, I see it's time to get the kids up out of bed and ready for school!

Unpacked at Last

My two-day saga of searching for a large number of clothes hangers finally ended today, and I managed to unpack all our clothes and get them stored in the closets and all the suitcases stashed away out of sight. One thing I have learned is that it's hard to find a specific location in Tokyo because I can't read Google maps and I can't always find a good list of a specific chain of stores to see which is most convenient to me.

Today we walked to the Midtown Tokyo development, which includes high rise offices and apartments as well as a shopping mall and outdoor park/entertainment area. The walk was very nice, along narrow hilly streets near the U.S. Embassy residences. We went to the Muji store, where I wiped out their inventory of hangers and we picked up a baking dish and a measuring cup. We walked through the Dean and DeLuca store, which was very stripped down and expensive compared to what one would expect if you've been to the store in Manhattan, but we picked up some nice olive oil, parmesan reggiano, and crusty bread along with a salt and pepper shaker. Then we went to a regular grocery store and managed to find everything we need to make our special Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookie recipe. And I learned that rice is really expensive here! I can't believe how the cheapest 2-pound bag of rice can cost 1200 yen, about 12 bucks U.S.

After we finished our shopping, I realized I didn't know how to tell a taxi driver where we live, so we lugged our shopping bags back to our temporary apartment, about a mile away. I love all the walking, but the kids weren't enthusiastic about the return trip.

Getting Situated

Today was our second full day in Tokyo, and already it's starting to feel more familiar. Oh, but what a huge change from our million acres of national forest! We started with brunch at the ANA/Intercontinental Hotel, a large and very expensive buffet, so we loaded up on both American and Japanese breakfast. Kai and I also ventured out to the market and picked up some goodies to stock our kitchen. We had a great time wandering the aisles and decoding the labels. While we were there I noticed an American woman being shown around by a Japanese woman, who I think must have been giving the American an orientation of some kind. I guess I've already passed that part of the program. That reminds me, though, that I need to get cracking on my Japanese language instruction. I am remembering more and more Japanese but I really need some structured learning so that I can start to converse rather than just understanding bits and pieces here and there. All of us ventured out this afternoon on the subway to Omotesando and enjoyed the crush at KiddyLand, and on the way home we had to try out some of the vending machines on the street. All lots of fun but quite tiring.

Here at Last

Wow! What a journey.  We left California yesterday at 7:30 a.m. after Uncle Richard stopped by to drive us to the airport.  After he got a glimpse of our pile of luggage he understood why we needed to take the big truck to the airport -- 9 suitcases!  We took Alaska Airlines to Seattle on a small turboprop, and then transferred onto our ride to Tokyo Narita -- an Airbus A330, a very nice airplane.  We all watched lots of movies but didn't get much sleep since we were in the coach section.  I finally got to see August Rush, which was at our local Quincy theater just a few weeks ago but I was too busy to see it.  After traveling over 5000 miles, we finally landed at Narita airport and had no problems at all getting through immigration and customs and getting our visas stamped for three years.  We also declared all our household belongings that are being shipped from California.

The worst part of the whole trip was the interminable bus trip from Narita to downtown Tokyo.  Those last 10 miles (oops, I need to start thinking in kilometers) were in very heavy traffic, and the whole thing took 2 hours.  The bus took us to the ANA Intercontinental Hotel, and from there we piled our luggage and ourselves into two taxis and finally found the temporary apartment.  The tour of the apartment by the desk manager was a blur, and we watched a bit of Anthony Bourdain's show in Tahiti before we tumbled into bed at 9 p.m.  That was 6 a.m. California time, a full 24 hours since we got up to leave yesterday.

Oh what a different world this is, even seen at night from our fourteenth floor apartment -- lights everywhere!  When my brain is a little less fried I'll get photos to post.

It really hit us that we're leaving

We'll be missing the pitcher plants at the Butterfly Botanical area this summer, one of my very favorite places in Quincy. It's one of the few alpine bogs left in the Sierra Nevada and a true treasure.

Today is the first time that it all seems real, as we have our last conversations with friends and family. Kai had his last flying lesson and we had to say goodbye to our flight instructor. We made arrangements to drop off the dog with Nanny Rose and I couldn't believe I wouldn't be talking to her every week or so to catch up on life, discuss the kids, or figure out logistics for an upcoming trip. The coffee shop guy said goodbye, Jane from the Arts Commission said goodbye, my mechanic said goodbye.

So here it is midnight, I just finished up my conference calls with my new work colleagues, the suitcases are half packed, and I'm thinking sadly of how much I'll miss everyone. One thing I'm certain of, though, is that the rain falling on my roof will be the same rain we'll see in Tokyo, and that we'll have new friends before too long.

Last Weekend Home

After a few moments of being frozen in front of the headlights, I managed to get organized yesterday and complete a large number of items on my to do list. And then I went out with my sister to our local theater to see a movie. Now if I can just finish up one big memo for work that will get people working on tasks for a project we're finishing, I can go off the radar at work for a week and finish everything up, get on the plane, and have the luxury of a four-day weekend to adjust to being in Japan.

Oooh, I just remembered that I need to go to the bank and get a large amount of cash in Yen to take with us to Japan. You need Yen to open an account there, and cash is used a lot more in general. I'll add that to the list.

Sometimes you get overwhelmed

And then you need to drink a beer. At 3 in the afternoon. I have officially reached that point where I honestly don't know how this is going to happen. Everything I try to tie up ends up creating more things on my to do list. The house is a mess. The contractor has a million questions about the home repairs he's doing. I need to go buy paint. And today I organized a going away party for my youngest's class, where I made one batch of mochi from memory, ruined it, looked up the recipe on the internet, went to the store to get more supplies, and made a second batch that turned out great. Thank goodness I catered the sushi! The party went well, and it was a great way for Kai to close out his fourth grade year at this school. He has one more day tomorrow and then freedom for a whole week! Well, maybe more because I haven't gotten it together to figure out how to wire the application fee for his school in Japan without spending a huge amount on the wire fee. Sigh.

Visa Shenanigans

We got home late last night from San Francisco, where we had to go in person to submit our visa applications. This required a five-hour drive from Quincy, except it stretched into six hours since I had to pull into a field just north of Woodland to do a conference call for work. While I talked the kids walked the dog (oh yes, we had to bring Liberty too because our dogsitter was away) and stared philosophically out across the fields, a stiff wind blowing into their faces. We stayed at the cutest little dog-friendly Marina Motel overnight, where I had a very difficult time wedging my four-wheel drive large truck into the petite little garages. Crissy Field, a drive through the Presidio, and dinner at Pompei's Grotto completed the day. The kids immediately decided that when we move back from Asia we should live in San Francisco, and I had a hard time disagreeing.

The next morning we got mobilized and to the Japanese consulate by 9:00 a.m., where we took passport photos and headed upstairs to submit our visa applications. This is where three important tips come in:

1. When you embark on a move like this, get lots and lots of passport photo prints of each family member. You need them for everything -- passports, work permits, visa applications, school applications. I ran out of prints and my printer is now packed up and on its way to Japan so I couldn't print more.
2. Apply for the visa in person, and bring every member of the family with you. Alternatively, bring only the adults but sign all the applications and passports of the kids yourself. The consulate was very picky about making sure that every little detail matched between the passport, the work permit, and the visa application for each member of the family. And of course, I misunderstood some of the questions so there was some back and forth. Luckily, I had called the consulate beforehand and got the strong impression from the woman on the phone that I had better come in person, although she refused to say I had to come in person.
   
3. Bring all the backup documentation. I have two accordion folders with everything related to the move, and I brought them both just in case there was some question or piece of information that conflicted.
   

Oh, and a fourth tip: Don't drive a big truck and expect to find parking in the financial district! I was feeling like a total country hick with my wide truck and high roof racks.


We managed to finish up at the consulate general's office just in time for me to get on another conference call while the children took the dog for a walk along the Embarcadero, where they stared philosophically across the bay with a stiff wind blowing into their faces. They will probably have stories to tell about their mother forcing them to stand on the corner while she irresponsibly chose work over her children. But the day ended nicely with a brunch, shopping, and another long visit to the beach at Crissy Field.

Twelve Days

We've got only twelve more days until we leave this rural California logging town for the intense urban atmosphere of Tokyo. It feels real now that the movers have come and picked up about two thirds of our stuff to ship to Japan. It will take six weeks for everything to get there, and for the next week I'm going to work on getting our house cleaned and set up as a vacation spot for our friends and family. This morning I took my camera on my walk to capture last night's spring snow.