Vacation plans and life prior to them

How long has it been? Five years? More? It doesn't matter really. We're finally going back to the States on our first overseas family trip. Lilica, at two years old, will become an international traveler...very cool. She already has her American and her Japanese passports ready to go and we've cleared Katsumi's ESTA status for her visitor's entry into my good-ole' US of A. We're just making last minute arrangements with the travel agent and planning out how we'll pack for Lilica, mainly. This is going to be a fantastic visit!!!

In the meantime, I have an observation coming up with a representative of the Kurashiki City Board of Education on Wednesday. My Japanese teacher of English (JTE) and I have made all of the preparations for this lesson with a second year class and tomorrow, we'll go over the "game plan" once more. This observation, in conjunction with reports from my supervisors, other teachers and various parents and community members will affect what kind of bonus I can qualify for this first year. Each year there is another observation and each year there is a chance to increase that bonus amount. Of course, I'm going for the gold and aiming high.

Yet, I now have a moment to recount the past experiences from these last three months. Kurashiki and its urban-ish living has been great for us. I say "urban-ish" because it also has a bit of rural flavor still mixed in. We literally live between wide ranges of rice fields, cut up by streets, canals and many smalls buildings. And, it's still possible to order out for dinner, go shopping at a "real" mall or even a 24-hour grocery nearby. We have been extremely blessed and I hope to continue this stream of positive energy flowing through our lives by working my hardest at my job and contributing as much as I can to my school.

My professional career path has evolved up until this point, but I also need to re-develop my creative energies as well. In the mist of this humid, rainy season, the new Mescalero/Aztec poet-actor will find new venues to perform, too. All in good time...and what a good time the journey is!!!

Our "little model" Lilica

Today is Lilica's 2nd birthday!!! We celebrate the miracle of her entrance into this world together with Momma here in Kurashiki and with my Mom in spirit, heart and mind. Lily will be able to meet her Nana again this August during my birthday time and she'll also get to meet the rest of the family in San Francisco. We're all very exciting and thankful for these celebrations and family reunions.

Days of Summer

The Sun rises now around 5 AM every day and I get up soon after to take a little run around the neighborhood. This happens every other day as I like to sleep later on the mornings in between. Slowly, but surely, I'm building back up my "running legs." I want to get into really good shape before our trip to the States this August.

Lilica's vocabulary, most especially her Japanese vocabulary, is growing by leaps and bounds these days, too. She's making many small sentences in Japanese, though only a few words in English are coming out of her lips. I think she knows more than she's speaking, it's just that she constantly hears and sees Japanese everywhere. I hope to get her to speak more English with me. It's important that she becomes fully bilingual.

My friends back in Seto sound like they're doing well, at least according to my Japanese father, Mr. Nagaoka. I miss them and hope that we'll be able to get down there for a good long visit sometime this year. Lilica's grown so much since we left there. It's been nearly a year ago since we moved away from the place I called home for five years. I want re-introduce Lilica to the beauty of the mountains, the orange trees and the seaside views that make up Melody Line's beautiful Sada Misaki peninsula.

In the mist of this nostalgic moment, I hear the whisper of the "Seto no hana yome" song in the back of my mind, as flashes of ocean waves lapping the shore and swinging circles of windmill blades trigger the memories of my late afternoon runs at sunset. It was a beautiful place and time to live and enjoy life anew as a newlywed and then as a new father. And now our Lilica is soon-to-be two years old. Wow, time sure seeps through the fingers like sand. The winds keep blowing through my mind, changing the thought patterns as I stare out the night window to see the newly planted rice field just below and hear the chorus of frogs sing their melody. Now, too, is a very good life.