Abbey's Japanese Adventure!: AnnaMarie, Tyler, and Katie

Well, the day I have been waiting for for so long finally came... and went. AnnaMarie, Tyler, and Katie came to visit! It was so good to see them! I can't believe how big Katie has gotten. Last time I had seen her she was just learning how to walk on her own, only managing to take a few steps before falling over. Now she walks, runs, dances, and talks like crazy. My host family, especially my host mom, thought she was adorable. My host family's dog also liked her... but I don't think that one went both ways.

It was really nice to be able to talk to family members in person again, especially AnnaMarie. I can't believe it had been over 7 months. At the airport the first thing Kaite did when she saw me was say "Abbey" and then she just let me hold her. She was pretty out of it at the time. It was, after all, about 2 in the morning their time.

Showing off my Japanese skills was also pretty fun. AnnaMarie's Japanese is still better than mine though, even though she hasn't had a chance to use it since college. It was really fun being able to use Japanese together, and we will definitely have to come back to Japan together someday.

My host family was amazing for letting them stay at the house here. It made it so much easier (and cheaper!) than finding a hotel and trying to meet up every morning without cell phones. I think my host mom had a blast cooking for the extra people, as we were never hungry and we usually skipped a meal when we were out on our own.

In preparation for AnnaMarie, Tyler, and Katie coming, I discovered something about Yokohama: There are not very many touristy things to do here. Unless you want to do shopping, which they are going to do when they get to China. Good thing Yokhoama is so close to Tokyo.

They flew in on Thursday afternoon (the 9th) and we got back from the airport by 6:30. Then we had dinner with my host mom at home and they all got to bed early. I stayed up a little and had Japanese lessons with my host mom.

Our first day (Friday) was the only day that was actually well planned (sorry guys!). We went down to Kamakura and then to Enoshima. My host mom went to Kamakura with us and we also met her friend who works at the tourist information center down there. They took us to the bamboo temple (at my request), the big famous temple that I can't remember the name of, and the Daibutsu (Big Buddha). My favorite was the bamboo temple. The cherry blossom petals were all falling off the trees and it was so beautiful. And Katie had a blast trying to eat all the rocks and picking up the little petals. Enoshima was nice too, and there were lots of stairs for Katie to climb.

Saturday was supposed to be our Yokohama day. Because AnnaMarie's computer wasn't working and I didn't have a very good plan anyway, we decided to change plans. In the morning we had a picnic at the park with my host mom, who made an awesome obento breakfast for us all. Then we went to Shibuya to find the Apple Store. From there we found the Children's Palace, where Katie had a good time once she woke up. For dinner that night we went to my first host family's house. I hadn't seen the Nakanos since I had come to the Umezaki's house so it was nice to see them again. Although Toru did ask his dad "why?" when we all got in the elevator to go up to their apartment... hmm...

Sunday morning we said goodbye to my host family and thanked them and went on our way. We stopped at Shinagawa station (on the way to Tokyo) to put the suitcases in lockers and then went to tour the city. We really should have dropped our bags off later so we wouldn't have had to double back, but it all worked out. We went to Asakusa, where there were tons of people because of some ceremony going on. We did end up finding a little temple (?) that was out of the way where Katie had a blast chasing some pigeons. After that we went to find the Emperor's Palace, where we walked around some of the gardens. Katie wanted to stop at every single bush and pebble she noticed so it was slow going.

From there we went back to Shinagawa, and then up through Tokyo again on the way to Narita. We found our Hotel and got settled in. Monday morning we took the train to the airport (the next station) and we said goodbye. I miss them already. Especially little Katie. She is such a fun, energetic girl! Everyone that saw her smiled or said how "kawaii" she is. But I will be home before I know it and they will be living in Minneapolis so we can visit a lot! Thanks for coming guys! I love you!!

Picking them up at the airport on Thursday.