Uchi= home. It carries the conceptual idea of home, family, etc.
"Morning. Daddy? Work? I'm hungry (I sign this as well. Every morning I do both so Mama really knows I need food). Suitcase. Wa-wa, please." "Let's go find Daddy," Mama tiredly replies. It's 5:00am. We usually wake up at 7am. Today, I don't want to go back to sleep like usual. I wiggle off the bed and whimper. "Go get the water on the little table. I'll meet you out there in a minute." I go get the water. Daddy! I hear Daddy getting ready. He is up early too. I run to give Daddy Bear a leg hug. I run back to Mama. "Mama, mama, mommy, mama, moooommmmmyyyy, MOMMY!" "Yes, dear, I'm getting up." I'm pretty sure it's been longer than a minute. While I'm waiting for them, I help them unpack a little. "I helping."
We go eat at our new table. "Cashews. Raisins. Kami's cup. Lid? No lid?" I find my sunglasses and Mama Roo finds me a dress to wear. I climb up to my new booster seat by myself. I'm a good climber. "Tegle, tegle." I want Mama to tickle me.
Mama looks around at the dishwasher, washer, and dryer. They all look the same to me. Apparently, they are very different. Mama gets out a book. She says it will help.
It helps a little. She manages to put some laundry in while I eat. I watch her push the buttons. "Oh dear," she keeps saying.
Soon Daddy goes to work. I give kisses and goodbye hug. Mama has to go get her key card because Daddy needs his. The key card keeps the lights on. If a card is not in this slot, then nothing in the apartment will turn on.
Daddy Bear had to figure this out when we arrived last night at 9pm Japan time. 9pm is 5am back home. Daddy had been awake for 23 hours. This makes it hard for him to problem solve.
Mama Roo said we should give everyone a tour in pictures. She says this is different than many American houses. I think it's the same. Door, table, couch, TV, bed, toilet. Same.
The first picture is looking in from the front door. The second is looking down the hall if you're sitting on the big table.
This is the dining/living room. Mama says it's actually large for Japanese standards. I always nod my head in agreement. Mama Roo is smart. Also, she knows where the food is.
This is the bedroom, bathroom, and closets. The closets are all huge. I like to climb into them. When it's quiet and Mama wonders what I'm doing, it's where she finds me. That or the bath tub. I got in trouble for that already today.
The suitcases are put away now, but earlier I helped Mama unpack. We had four big suitcases and that's it! "I helping. Pants, shirts, books. I helping. Here. Here you go. More. Ready? More."
From the outside, this is our complex. There are many American families and a few Japanese families. The houses in the neighborhood are all Japanese. "Kinchi, kinchi." I try to repeat after Mama to say hi.
There is a school next to us and there are always kids all over. I don't actually know what hours they are in the building. It seems like never. "Kids, kids. Bikes! Park. Walk. Pig you, pig you." Mama says I say playground funny. There are three different playgrounds that we have found within a three minute walk or less. Mama is sure there are more, but we haven't been here long enough to find them.
This is our view. It looks the same as any other city. We actually live in a city more like Spokane. If this was Spokane, it's comparable to the south hill. Lots of neighborhoods with smaller grocery stores and shops here and there. There is a downtown area, but it's not crazy busy like Toyko. It's not even as busy as Seattle, or it hasn't been when we are walking. We walk 15 minutes or so to the train.The train takes 7 minutes to get downtown. The train drops us off 10 minutes from the military base main gate. The gate to the base is right downtown. There are buses, but we haven't tried those yet. Mama says she needs to walk. "Bus, BIG BUS, little bus, train, wee wee wee. I out. I walking." I talk the whole way until I see people. I keep quiet then. I want to watch everything they are doing.
Out our other windows we can see the sunset and Mt. Fuji. Mt. Fuji might look tiny, but Mama says it's bigger than the slide at the playground. My eyes get big like saucers. I can't imagine anything bigger than that slide.
We walk two orange sidewalks to get to and from our apartment. Mama let's me walk them myself if I follow directions. "I walking. Home. Snacks? Wa-wa?" I am tired from our adventures today.
"Lulu, should we go home and take a nap?"
"Yeah," I sigh.
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