Life in America

Synopsis:
So, we went back to the United States. We saw our parents, our brother Micah and sister Rachel, Aunt Robin and Peter and Illana (maybe spelled wrong…sorry), and (Great) Grandpa George and (Great) Grandma Ruth and (Great) Grandma Sophie and Aunt Gayle and Cousin Copper and Jeremy. We met new friends as well (more on that later). We had a great time. I miss everyone now and part of me wishes I had stayed there.

The long story:
There were a lot of people there…best friends and family…whom we did not get a chance to see. To all of you – and in particular Josh and Ingrid and Tony and Eric and Heidi and Richie and Uncle Mike and Aunt Marsha and Aunt Debra and Aaron and others… I am sorry. I hope that as you read this you will understand and forgive me…the trip was not that easy for us.

First of all, we traveled from Suzhou to Shanghai (2 hours), waited at the airport (2 hours), went to Tokyo (3.5 hours), transferred planes (2 hours), then to the Los Angeles (I think 10 hours), then immigration (bastards didn’t give priority to family w/Children…1 hour), then drive to San Diego (2.5 hours). Total travel time: 21 hours. Akiva slept maybe 3 hours in that time. Kenaz a little more.

We got to San Diego and we were exhausted, then we had to deal with jet-lag in ourselves and the kids for 4-5 days. I know I’m complaining. But after that traveling, we didn’t want to go anywhere (i.e. New York, SF Bay Area etc).

To tell you the truth, a lot of my memories are blurry. I can’t put things in chronological order. But here are some of the highlights.

San Diego. Temperature when we were there: about 60 – 70 F. Suzhou. Temperature when we left: around 40 F.

We went to the beach. A couple of times. Flew a kite. Played in the sand. Enjoyed the sun.

We went to Balboa Park and played soccer.

Kenaz was mellow during the times when he was not demanding...

Akiva got on the wrong side of The Law...

More to come. Love you all.

The second half of our trip – Yokohama, Japan

We flew to Tokyo from L.A. for 8 hours. Jesse was able to come with us until a Japanese custom before switching to a connect flight to Shanghai. There were a lot of paparazzi once we stepped out from our air plane. I asked one of them whom they are waiting for. They said it could trigger some panic so they cannot tell. (later I fond out Michel Jackson was arriving at the same time. Actually Jesse saw him).

My mom was waiting for us at the airport. We took another two and half hours train ride to my parents’ house. Akiva kept telling me “no more chu-chu train”.

Akiva and Kenaz had jet lag for a week like they had it in the US. They woke up 3 a.m. at the first day. The second day was 4, and the third day was 5. Their jet lag was gradually merged into 7:30 am which is their regular wake up time.Akiva was crazy about his cousins, Shi-chan 7 years old and Naho-chan 4 years old. They live a cross street from my parents house. My mom takes care of them. Shi-chan and Naho-chan were very happy to see Akiva for three days. Then they got tired of him being a toddler boy. He hugged them, pushed them and chased them hard. These girls wanted to sit and play with dolls.Akiva and Kenaz went to a Naho-chan’s preschool. The first day Akiva was there by his self. He was not happy. The hungry monster Akiva didn’t eat their snacks and lunch. The second day I dropped off Akiva and Kenaz together. Akiva still didn’t eat anything. A preschool teacher told me Kenaz cried for 10 minutes then he was happy the rest of time. Akiva did not leave Kenaz in any second. The teacher said Akiva protected Kenaz all the time as if everyone else was their enemy.

While they are at the preschool, I went to a hair saloon to trim my hair and a spa/sauna to relax. I was totally refreshed.

We didn’t go to a famous sea world in San Diego, but we went to a Yokohama sea world to see white dolphins. We fed sardines to pelicans and rode a merry go round.We celebrated my grandpa’s 92 years old birthday. His mind is very sharp, but his mobility is limited. Last year my 89 years old grandma visited us in Suzhou. In her mind she went to a Japan town in Manchu where she lived more than 50 years ago.My dad took Akiva out to a play ground every day to kick a ball. His neighbors said finally he has a boy to play with (he is father of two daughters and he has been grand pa of two grand daughters). My father sometimes forgets Akiva is only two years old. He was so competitive. He often got bored because Akiva used his hands on ball. And he found older boys to play more seriously. Going to a constriction site was another routine. We watched excavators and dump tracks until sun down.