Travelog for: Nori

Here is a photo of one of Petra's decorated windows. She told me, that if you ever want a copy of the motives, you should let her know and she will try to send them to you via email or in a letter.

It's getting colder and colder outside. You can't believe, how cold it can be even in Germany. It seems, that even Petra's family forgot about this.

For the first time in my life, I danced and played in the snow until Petra came outside and saw us playing without warm clothes. Wow, you can't imagine, how angry she was with us. But then we explained to her, that we aren't that sensitive and that we will catch no cold outside. Ok, she thought, that maybe we are right and she said, that maybe toys can't catch a cold like children do.

Today we went to church to be part of the Starsinger-service, where the starsingers were sent out to walk from house to house. Sorry, this time Petra didn't take a photo with us, but maybe you will see some with us tomorrow. The kids are dressed as the three kings, star carrier and bag carriers.

Wow, it is really really cold here right now. Do you see the snow on the window?




It's so wonderful to see the snow on the streets and roofs, don't you think so too?





We are on tour with the starsingers today. Ralf and Petra took care for two groups to bring some warm tea and bread rolls. You maybe can imagine, how happy the kids were, when we came to bring them tea.

At first we stopped at a farm outside of Bruchsal.





Fabian wrote the sign: 20+C+M+B+09




We also brought them to some other places.



Here we are with some of the sweets, that we helped the starsingers to collect. These are Ralf's and Petra's sweets - some are with alcohol.



The three children brought three bags of sweets. You can believe, that there are still some left next year same time

Hi Mom! I finally arrived in Japan!!!
I'm so excited but I'm so exhausted:P
I will have some nap now. I will update with pictures later!

I already took a picture with Sakura, kiskis' 5th cat. She's still tiny.
She gave me a little welcome kiss. (Or was she trying to eat me?)

Hi Mom! Sorry for not updating sooner. kiskis's husband spilled some water on her PC and I've lost some pictures I've taken so far. He says he's sorry.

Well, it's getting warmer here. The other day, the first south wind of the spring blew really hard.

And it's now the season of 花粉症(kafun-sho), pollinosis. So many people in Japan have hay fever caused by ceder pollen. So there are so many people wearing masks. kiskis is also allergic to cedar pollen but she doesn't wear one because her allergy is too strong that masks would never work for her.

Those cedars are looking brown because of pollen.

There are so many cedars in Japan because they grow really fast. I really hope I don't become allergic to those pollen while I'm here:P


This is the picture I took while I went for a walk. The picture looks dark but it was really a nice view. I will try to take some better picture sometime.

See you!

Hi Mom!
Today, kiskis took me to the airport where she works at. And we found Hina Ningyo dolls.
3rd March is Hina Matsuri, the Girl's Festival.
People display those dolls for girls in their house. Those dolls are thought to be showing us the old style wedding. The bride is wearing 12 layers of Kimono!
It is said that you have to put back those dolls right after the festivals if you want your daughters to get married. kiskis told me that her parents used to put the dolls back as soon as they could:P
Anyway, it was interesting to see those dolls. I think Kimonos are fascinating.

Hi Mom! It's been really cold and rainy here. I hope it gets warmer and sunny soon. How is it there in my home land?

Today, kiskis and her husband took me to Hard Rock Cafe  Narita.


They come here almost once a month. kiskis's husband like this place because it kinda reminds him of his country, USA.

We ordered Kheema Curry and Chicken Sandwich.


Apparently, Kheema Curry is the original dish for HRCs in Japan. It was tasty but I was a bit disappointed that there were no sushi Hope they make some original sushi someday!

Hi! How are you? It's still cold and rainy here.

Yesterday, kiskis was feeling extremely lazy and she decided to get a bento at Seven Eleven nearby.



She picked a bento with 稲荷寿司(Inari Zushi). Inari Zushi is a pouch of fried bean curd stuffed with vinegared rice. Inari means 倉稲魂神(Ukanomitamanokami), the God of harvest. The God is also called 御食津神(Miketsukami). And it was also written like 三狐神(Miketsukami, 三;three, 狐;fox, 神;god). And because of this, Inari shrines usually have stone statues of foxes, it is said.

Anyway, I enjoyed Inari Zushi. Have you ever tried them?

Hi Mom.

About a week ago, we went to Starbacks and we had Honey Orange Frappecino, the special drink for early spring. That was tasty!


And we also had Sakura macaron.

Sakura means cherry blossoms. And in the spring, we can see so many Sakura themed sweets and they are so good.


And at the shopping center that the Starbucks was at, we met Lego Thomas! That was so cool!!!


Sorry I didn't update this a week ago. I thought I had updated but clearly, I hadn't.... I will update about something else later!

Hi Mom! How are you? Are you planning to do anything on April fool?

Well, it has been really cold here even though it's supposed to be spring. But on the other day, when it was warmer, we went for a walk.


We saw daffodils. They are pretty.


And we saw Ume, Japanese plum, blooming. They are not as gorgeous as famous Sakura but they are so cute.
People have Hanami, a drinking party under the cherry blossoms. But in the old days, Hanami was held under the Ume blossoms.


Sakura is supposed to bloom beautifully next weekend around here and I can't wait!!

Meanwhile, I'm keeping myself warm with my beloved wife, Momo.

Hehe. Just kidding. It's April fool, you know!
She is kiskis's first cat. She's gorgeous, isn't she?

Hi Mom! It's been sunny and warm here. Spring has finally come and I'm so happy.

On last Sunday, we went to Sakura festival that was held in the park nearby.



It was small local festival. kiskis' husband teaches English at one of the 3 elementary school in the town and we saw some of his students.

Sakura is the national flower of Japan. We even saw the news show telling us when to expect Sakura to fully bloom. It was expected that Sakura would fully bloom last weekend in Tokyo. But here in Chiba, Sakura weren't as fully bloomed as it was expected. They were still beautiful, though.

Those are 染井吉野, Someiyoshino.




八重桜, YaeZakura.


We see so many kinds of flowers in spring. And here goes some of them....




kiskis also took me to the temple near from the park. 仁王尊, Nioh-son Temple, which was built in 781.


This tower is the cultural assets of Chiba prefecture.


The smoke is supposed to heal the part of your body where you wave the smoke to, or make the part of your body better.


And we saw some Sakura there, too.


I'm enjoying this warm weather!!

Dear Mommy,
Whew! I finally arrived. I'm safely in Okinawa.  I arrived and the house was all empty, so I tried to find a safe hiding spot and crawled into what I thought was an airplane... but then I realized it was just a toy one, but that I was stuck. Whoops. The others came and helped me out.

After that we relaxed around Jayme's home a bit. We tried playing dress up, but the hats were a little too big.

We did get to meet lots of toys that belonged to Jayme's sons.

Then we went to the children's section of the library to get some books to take home.

So of course we had to come home and read a bit.

Jayme says she hopes we'll do something fun this weekend. I hope so too! I can't wait to get out and explore.
Nori

Dear Mommy,
This weekend we went to the zoo here in Okinawa. Its very small and doesn't have many animals, but the kids like it. First we walked down along the pond to feed the carp there. Here you can see the sign for the zoo and the pond.

Then we went to see animals! It was lots of fun.





After that we headed home to rest for a bit, Jayme's classes start Monday. Yech! Hope we still have time for something fun!
Nori