Our 2nd Day in Tokyo

Posting by Robert Goldbaum:
Today we went to the outdoor pool to swim. The water was cold. There were drains that had whirlpools and we found some strange leaves and little red berries which we put in the whirlpools. The berries spun around in the whirlpools like ballroom dancers! We collected a lot of them and put them all in, but it didn't work--they didn't all spin around. So we took them all out and just used two.

After that we went to the tennis court. We practiced hitting it back and forth. Mom and I were playing tennis together with Ruby and Noah. At the end, Mom and I played a game by ourselves and Noah was the ball boy. When we were thoroughly pooped we went back to the hotel to have lunch.

Lunch was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! There were lots of different kinds of food and best of all there was a chocolate fountain! You got to dip fruit or marshmallows into the chocolate fountain. There were four tiers to the fountain and when you put a piece of fruit at the top, it made these cool arched openings into the chocoate fountain. I had a chocolate covered orange marshmallow.

My First Sights in Japan

Posting by Ruby Goldbaum:

Here in Japan there are so many different and interesting farmlands. Some grow many different vegetables, and grains like turnips, beans, cabbage, leeks, and rice. As we drove to the hotel we saw many different bushes and trees of unusual shapes and sizes in people's gardens. My mom told me they are sculpted and groomed that way because they don't have a lot of room for the bigger trees like the kinds we have in our gardens in America. We also saw lots and lots of bamboo trees along the road. Some of the bamboo shoots were really dark green and some of them were brown or light green. One quick fact about bamboo is that it can live up to 100 or more years (Noah told us that!)

The hotel includes sports that you can play. There is a swimming pool, a tennis court and a golf course. There is also a playground. We are going to go swimming and play tennis today! If we have time we'll check out the playground!

Downstairs in the Hotel-Day 2

Post by Noah Goldbaum:

We just got back from breakfast and they have a lot of Japanese food for breakfast; things that we in America would NEVER think of eating first thing in the morning. Things like miso soup, fish, fish cakes, salad, pickles, and soda. I was SO hungry because I didn't like the airline food, so I ate ham, miso soup, waffles, apple juice, cold cereal, rolls, ice tea and fish cakes! A little bit of Japanese food and a little more of Western food. I am finally satisfied.

There is a gift shop near the buffet and there are all kinds of Japanese things. They have Japanese samurai display figures, ninja display figures, and princess figures. A samurai was a Japanese warrior that protected his village a long time ago. A ninja was a secret skilled soldier that wears black so he can hide in the night. A Japanese princess wore white make-up and a beautiful, elaborate kimono. They also have headbands in the giftshop that have Japanese characters on them. They also had Pokemon figures (of course).

Day 1- Arrival in Tokyo, Japan

We made it to Japan! What a long trip!

We flew out of Boston Tuesday morning at 10:30am. We had to fly to Chicago for a connecting flight to Tokyo, Japan. We left Chicago around 1pm and arrived in Tokyo ~14 hours later! Japan is 13 hours ahead of Boston, so the time that we arrived was 3:30 pm Japanese time (but for our Boston timeclocks it was 2:30 in the morning!) We watched a couple movies, read, listened to music, ate, walked around and played a few games. We tried to sleep on the plane, but were only able to get in 3 or 4 hours of off and on sleep. We were tired but excited when we arrived in Tokyo.

Here is a photo of the kids at the airport, waiting to board our plane to Chicago. This is a photo of the boys sleeping. In business class the seats recline fully so that you (try) to sleep better.

The food seems to be the most challenging thing for the children. Everything has a "Japanese" twist to it; that is everything has an asian seasoning to it, or has been prepared in a slightly different way and there are lots of vegetables. I love the vegetables, but the children are more particular about what vegetables they will eat and the are used to things prepared a certain way. This experience will hopefully make them more open-minded about trying new things and even expand their gustatory repertoire!

This is a photo of Obaachan (grandmother, in Japanese), Konishi-san, and the kids waiting for the hotel shuttle bus. On the right is Ruby and Konishi-san.

Our family friend Mrs. Konishi (or Konishi-san as they say in Japan) met us at the airport. Our family and the Konishi's have been friends for a long time. Konishi-san has grandchildren who are 3, 7 and 9, so we have a great time playing with them. We will stay near them in a couple weeks after we travel south to visit our children's great grandmother and great aunt.

We are now at a hotel outside of Tokyo and will stay here two nights and then we will be off on the shinkansen (the bullet train) to Hakone (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html). We'll post more tomorrow! Hope you are all enjoying the first days of summer...wherever you are!

Sumiko (Mrs. Goldbaum), Ruby, Robert and Noah

3 More Days

Three more full days until we are on a plane to Tokyo. We are just about packed. We are going to be traveling on the bullet train mid month so we need to be able to carry our own luggage. That means not too much stuff! One small suitcase and one backpack for each of us. It's a challenge to live minimally, but also refreshing to not have to worry about a lot of possessions. We, as people, need to focus more on the journey, the adventures, not the material baggage that we think we need! There's only one thing that I wish Icould bring that I can't...my bike! :(

So everyone now has had their haircut and teeth cleaned. The kids had fun at our dentists, Dr. Norman Becker (the granddad), Dr. David Becker (the son), and Dr. ? Becker (the grandson). Three generations of dentists in the family! You don't see that too much any more. They all do magic too. They were making things disappear and appear bigger, card tricks, etc. They hardly knew they were getting their teeth cleaned! We had lots of laughs--exactly the kind of atmosphere you want at the dentist's office!! We love the Beckers!

Haircuts? Check.

So today was the day that Robert and Noah got their haircuts so they can look good in Japan! We will be representing America when we are there, so we must look good, behave well and be smart, curious and respectful. (We will also practice our Japanese language skills!)

We have been without a car since about 9 days ago (Audi with 199,228 miles on it started leaking antifreeze and oil from the freeze plugs and was told it is not worth fixing), so we rode our bikes down to Supercuts in Bedford. Here are some shots of the boys under the scissors.

Then we rode to CVS to get some toilletries and a prescription. We are almost ready!

Tomorrow: Teeth cleaning at the dentist!

Count Down to Japan

It's almost here! One more week and the children, my mother and I will be off to Japan for a month! My mother will travel south to Kyushu where her mother and sister are. We will connect up with her later in the month. The children and I will rent a small apartment outside of Tokyo and near some friends. We will have to do our own grocery shopping, traveling, washing etc. I am looking forward to being immersed in the culture, and not just tourists.

We have lots to do this week...haircuts, obtaining travelers checks, packing, etc. We hope you will check back over the next few weeks to share all the experiences and adventures we have in Japan! In the meantime, we hope you have a wonderful summer too!