I guess we should be grateful that the State Department figured out how to speed up their passport process. Better late than never, but Skylar and I finally received our new passports (in the nick of time) for our Japan trip. We leave in five days. We are practicing "positive thinking" and assume we will be packed and ready (once we buy those new suitcases) and will make that long Osaka-bound Northwest flight on Monday out of Logan Airport. This Friday will be his last day at Pine Hill. For a ten year old, he sure is intrepid. If you ask whether he's nervous or excited about his trip, he practically says, "bring it on." He's so ready for an international adventure and looks forward to making new friends at the Kyoto International School, enrolling in a kendo martial arts class (he has fabulous visions of whacking folks over the head with a long wooden sword), and to riding the Shinkansen (bullet train) again.
I am looking forward to eating green tea ice cream cones (from street vendors), having bento lunch boxes and/or summer soba noodles every day, and to playing with "Hello Kitty" sparklers and fireworks before, during, and after the 4th of July. (The American Studies Program at Doshisha always celebrates the Fourth with abundant (and legal) fireworks down on the banks of the Kamo river (which is probably not so legal).
Cultural question of the day: Will the super stylish urban Tokyo/Kyoto girls still be outfitted like high fashion anime characters? Or have current avant-garde trends become more subdued?
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