Keeping Up With Sophie: February 2011

2/20/11

Exploration

Now say it like Spongebob:

Yes, that's the best video I could find. Seriously. Exploration.

Jim, Sophie and I decided to explore the area where we live (Shinjuku) a few weeks ago by checking out the little park next to where we live. We saw lots of things. There was a beautiful shrine (where some newlyweds were taking pictures!!!)

There was also a little playground with a slide, swings, pigeons, and a cute doxie. These all just happen to be on Sophie's Big Happy Fun Time Checklist. We also met a little 3-yr-old Japanese girl who is taking English classes and spoke with us a bit, and took a picture to fulfill her homework assignment.

And to my enjoyment, a few cherry blossoms decided to pop up a bit early. They smell delicious. I cannot even wait until they are everywhere!

Later, Sophie decided to explore how pretty and colorful her crayons would be on our brand new window sills. Don't worry, I sprung for the good, washable crayons. Exploration.

Last week, a few of the KOOZA spouses decided to take a night off and explore the town. We took the train to Harajuku and had drinks at TGIFridays and then dinner at an authentic Mexican restaurant that the Quiros family knew about. We walked and went down about 1000 stairs, and found it was almost like we were actually in Mexico. The menus were in Spanish and English (I had the chicken tacos and an amazing margarita), and there was a 3-person mariachi band there that was really, really good! It was hard to believe we were still in Tokyo! I had a great time!

2/15/11

Life in a Venn Diagram

For those of you who don't know what a Venn Diagram is, it's basically two overlapping circles, where one can compare and contrast two things, where the overlapping part is what the two things have in common. This has been my life the last month. For realz.

I haven't posted, in all honesty, because I'm just too overwhelmed. I have a lot to say, just nowhere to begin. This country is beautiful and has its own nuances and way of things. For instance, people actually wait for the cross walk to turn green before going. I love that. And there are bikes not locked up. They know that if it doesn't belong to you, don't touch it. I love how efficient they are. Trains are always on time. And each station has a cute musical tone that plays. The steering wheel is on the right side because they drive on the left side of the road. Taxis open and close the door for you, and tips are considered rude. The workers here, in my experience, go over and beyond what they have to, just to do a good job. You don't hand the cashier your money or credit card, you put it on a tray. Every day at 4:30 exactly, a musical tone plays in Shinjuku. Every Sunday, people dress up in 50s/Elvis outfits and stand in a circle and dance at Yoyogi Park. People are MAD for their dogs and dress them up in cute outfits. Even the construction cones are cute.

Here are some posters of the show, and a picture of the marquee on the Fuji Dome. And why yes, that IS snow. And no I don't have my winter coat, thanks for asking. *cue sad trombone*

Speaking of Fuji, we can see Mt. Fuji from our AMAZING apartment. The sunsets have been nothing short of breathtaking. In the apartment, there are so many buttons I haven't even attempted to touch, for fear of something happening. And not knowing how to make it stop. We can fill up the bathtub by pushing a button in the kitchen. There is a heated toilet seat, for Pete's sake! We are so spoiled. For realz.

As far as Sophie, she is adjusting quite well. She is getting a lot of attention from the Japanese ladies, young and old. Pretty much every time we go out, there's someone saying something to her or patting her head. She's a beauty, that's for sure!

And she's even learning the language. Ish.

2/12/11

Sayonara Michigan, Konichiwa Tokyo!

Hello all! Long time no talk, I know! We made the move to Japan and we're finally getting settled, figuring out all the stuff that needs figuring out. I promise I will talk about that later.

Before traveling, we got to spend two glorious weeks with our families in Michigan, got to see our brothers and sisters, and the kids got to spend time with each other, as well as with the grand parents. It was lovely seeing Sophie play and interact with her cousins, notably with Ivy and Eve (since they are closest to her in age of all her cousins), especially now that she's old enough to be able to do that. Last time we saw them, she just turned one, and was crawling. Now she can play and learn. It truly was amazing seeing all the kids play with Sophie. Here is Ivy showing Sophie how to hula hoop.

Her absolute favorite cousin was Hannah, I think. She read to her, she let her wear/steal her bracelets, and they genuinely liked each other. Sophie still talks about her! She truly was amazing with her, and it was lovely seeing them together. Plus it was nice being able to hang with the adults, knowing Sophie was safe and having fun. Sophie even got to check out the snow for the first time. Like her mother, she was not really a fan of the cold. She refused to wear her gloves and we had to use plastic bags on her shoes since we didn't have boots.

Another highlight was Jim's brother Jon coming up from Tennessee (to visit, but also to take our Prius) and going to the D to see the Red Wings live. My parents were kind enough to take Sophie overnight so we could actually enjoy the game. Our seats were pretty good and they won in overtime. Here are a few I snapped from the warmup skate and during the game:

The Perfect Human: