“I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese”

Everyone around me is a total stranger
Everyone avoids me like a cyclone Ranger
Everyone…

That’s why I’m turning Japanese
I think I’m turning Japanese
I really think so

“Turning Japanese”
New Clear Days
The Vapors

Day 8: Some place you have been, Part 1

I am going to apologize in advance, because a number of my regular readers have already heard about this adventure. But I do have some new folks who have joined in recently (hello and welcome!) so I’m not going to feel overly guilty about it.

I didn’t do a whole lot of traveling in my younger years, other than arm chair. My mom did take me on two vacations- we went to South Dakota when I was in third grade. We visited the standard toursity spots-Mount Rushmore, the Corn Palace, the Badlands, Rapid City, Deadwood, etc.

Me at Badlands - trying not to freak out at the drop off.

In front of our cabin at Cedar Pass Lodge

Riding a giant tortoise at Reptile Gardens. Pretty sure they don't allow kids to do that anymore.

The summer between 8^th grade and high school we went on a bus tour toFlorida, which included stops in Nashville, Chattanooga, Cape Canaveral, and Orlando. Iowa Coaches Tours represent, yo!

A picture of a Torii at Epcot. Who knew some 25 odd years later, I'd be seeing real ones?

My first actual plane ride was when I went to DC for my internship, which was just one of many firsts. First time away from home, first time in a real city, first time getting mugged, first time wandering the halls of power in the Nation’s Capitol; so many adventures for the little corn-fed Iowa girl!

My husband has helped me more than make up for my lack of travels during my youth. Between visits to grad schools and traveling for his work, I’ve been more places than I could ever have imagined. Okay, that’s not true, because (in the words of Han Solo) I can imagine quite a lot. Maybe truer to say more than I imagined I would actually be able to travel. Not to say I don’t have a major case of wanderlust; it’s just that finances and time generally prevent indulging in it as often as I’d like.

This past year was a major travel year, the topping of which was a trip to Tokyo, Japan. One of the shows that Jason worked on was scheduled to go on tour of a number of Asian venues, but it was abbreviated to about a month long stay in Tokyo. He was there for three weeks and we joined him for the final week of the show.

Before I delve in, I need to explain a little here. Mainly around the fact that in addition to being a once-in-a-lifetime trip this was, for our daughter, a dream vacation. You know how everyone has that one place where they always want to go? I know you know. Everyone has one. For me, it’s Australia. For my Grandma, it was Ireland. My mom’s was Bermuda. I have a friend who has dreamed of visiting Paris. Andrea’s obsession with Japan began when she was in first grade. She even had a Japanese themed birthday party when she turned 9.

Andrea's cake was the Japanese flag. Made with the cake pan from her EasyBake Oven. I'm a friggin' genius!

I'm sure the girls would have preferred Chuck E. Cheese, but they seemed to enjoy it.

This opportunity was beyond perfect. But it gets better! Not only were we going to be going to Japan, we were going to be in Japanthe week of her birthday. And not just any birthday, but her 13^th birthday. Which also happens to be her Golden Birthday. This is going to be a pretty hard birthday to top.

Needless to say, we are so screwed for her Sweet Sixteen. But I digress.

This was the first time I had traveled to a foreign country. Okay, again technically not correct. We did go to Canada for a conference once, but that was pre-9/11, so it’s not like I even needed a passport. And I personally think it’s hard to get super excited about visiting a culture that is so close to your own. No offense, Canadians, but my stint in Texas felt more like a foreign country than my trip to Toronto.

I have to admit I was nervous. I usually deal pretty well with change and can adapt to circumstances, but I had no clue of what I was going into. I was going to a country where English is not the first language. Would I be able to understand or convey my questions? Knowing my propensity for getting lost, how was I going to manage getting myself and my daughter around a city that was completely unknown to me, without the option of a GPS? Since Jason was working, most of our trip was going to involve Andrea and I being on our own for sightseeing. And the damn TomTom that I got for my birthday did not have Tokyo as a map option. Bastards. The time change- how would I deal with jet lag, having never experienced it before? And on top of everything, how was I going to help my daughter, who has Asperger’s, deal with all of the changes in routine and place and comfort zone? Yes, she was super excited about this trip, but even with things that she looks forward to, we need to be aware of the possibility of overstimulation, the anxiety that changes in schedule bring, and the lack of control over her environment. The potential for major meltdowns was always in the back of my mind, and trying to plan for how to deal with it was a significant consideration.

Knowing what I know now, I could not have even imagined what all we would have to deal with it, and what a complete and totally awesome superstar my child would be in managing everything that was thrown at us. It really was a dream vacation, which was surprising since it had the potential to be a nightmare. On day three of our trip, the inconceivable happened- we were in Tokyo for the earthquake of March 11, 2011. The one that measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, and caused devastating tsunamis up and down the northern coast. The one that caused a major meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. The one that shifted the Earth’s axis by 4-10 inches and moved Japan 8 feet closer toCalifornia. We were incredibly unscathed, despite everything. Yes, there were some inconveniences and we had to make a number of changes in plans but overall we were very, very lucky.

It's actually not as bad as it looks.

I’ll take a couple more entries to delve into further detail, because everything about the trip was so amazing. And despite the anxiety we felt at the time, we all want to go back at some point. Andrea is already making plans to go there for an exchange program in high school, and wants to move there permanently after college.

So hold on to your butts. This is going be an adventure!