Well, it turns out that it didn’t take three months to get Ken’s U.S. passport as per the Consulate’s instructions. His U.S. passport arrived in about three weeks. I hope we can get Nobuko’s visa with similar speed, and then we’ll be ready to say sayonara Japan!
Technorati Tags: International-Families, Japan
I am writing this post from a business hotel in Kagoshima City. This is funny because yesterday a friend of mine wanted to know if I wanted to see a band that night. I declined because I was feeling a bit under the weather and he responded that I was always ill -even though that is not the case - and said that I should do something spontaneous, that it would be good for me. I’ll admit that I am not the most spontaneous of people, but I see nothing wrong with that even if my friend does. Nobuko, however, expressed her interest to go on a trip before she goes back to work next, and I believe it or not, said let’s go to Kagoshima since I’ve never been there before. How’s that for spontaneous Jon?
We arrived in Kagoshima City Tuesday night and crashed at a relatively cheap business hotel near the station. Today we spent three to for hours at Sakarajima, we decided it was time to leave when both Nobuko’s eyes and mine started to sting and water, and our throats hurt. All from the volcanic gases coming from Sakurajima, and today was a good day! We’ve found another hotel to stay at tonight and tomorrow are planning on seeing a garden and going to a kamikaze museum in Chira. More on our trip later and photographs of Sakurajima.
Since our budget is tight right now Nobuko decided to make a homemade chocolate cake for me for Valentine’s Day, which was excellent. I hope she makes another one sometime soon. I guess when White Day comes I’ll have to reciprocate the favor. —In Japan Valentine’s Day has been split in two. On February 14 women give men chocolate. Men give women chocolate or gifts on March 15, which is known as White Day.—
Well, not really, but we did take Ken to see his maternal grandparents –which in this case means that we shamelessly used Nobuko’s parents by dumping Ken on them while we escaped for three hours of karaoke– on Saturday evening. Nobuko’s step-mom fixed “chanko nabe ((“Chanko nabe is a kind of Japanese soup which is made with whatever ingredients you like.”))” and ordered some gyoza” ((“Gyoza is a kind of fried dumpling filled with meat.”))” from a restaurant in Yame. The nabe was good, but the gyoza was absolutely perfect. I wish we had a gyoza restaurant like that near our apartment. I’ll have to ask Nobuko what that place is called, because I would definitely recommend it to anyone passing through Yame. After we finished eating Nobuko and I headed over to New York, our old karaoke haunt, for some time away from Mr. Crankypants. Karaoke was fun, but uneventful, and after we had sung ourselves hoarse we went back to pick up the little munchkin. When we got there Nobuko’s step-mom popped out of the side door like a jack-in-the-box as soon as Nobuko had put the key in the lock. She had a wild, crazed expression on her face, and we could hear Ken crying and screaming. Evidently he had been crying almost the entire time we were gone, and nothing her step-mom or dad did helped to calm him down. I know I should have felt at least a little bad for them and for Ken, but inside I was roaring with laughter. Everyone, including Nobuko’s folks, constantly tells us what a good boy Ken is. I’m glad that her parents at least know that he’s not always Dr. Smiley now that they’ve met Mr. Crankypants.
Technorati Tags: Fatherhood, Parenting
We’ve been busy since NCB went under. I’ve been by Hello Work, the Japanese version of the Unemployment Office, and have started the process to receive unemployment benefits. Nobuko took Ken to get his Japanese passport. Man, they are unbelievably fast. We can pick it up on Thursday, less than a week after we applied for it. We went by the U.S. Consulate on Monday to apply for his U.S. passport, social security card, and Consular Record of Birth which will serve as his birth certificate in the U.S. When I scheduled the appointment the woman I spoke with told me it would only take about half an hour. We were there for almost three hours. Since they were moving like molasses on a cold January day I decided to have some pages added to my passport as it was almost full. Ken’s passport should arrive within three months. All we have left to do now is finish Nobuko’s visa application. Oh yeah, I need to find a new job.
Technorati Tags: International Families, Japan
We had another aftershock a couple of days ago. It was the first one since Ken was born. Nobuko noticed it first and almost instantly rolled over so she was above Ken in case anything fell. I jumped up and steadied my monitor which was close to Ken and a shelf on the wall. This one was only a 3 point something and didn’t scare me as much as the big one we had last spring, even though Ken was not in the safest place. I guess I’m finally getting used to the earth not always remaining motionless.