Challenge Accepted

It is 2:06 am on my last night in Japan. In the morning I will go to the ward office and deregister, cancel my cell phone, have one last bowl of ramen, say too many goodbyes and board a plane bound for Dallas, Texas. Emily will follow in a week-and-a-half.

I should be sleeping, but I can't. As odd as it sounds, I want to soak up every minute I have left here. I know in my heart I will return to Japan in some capacity, whether it be as a visitor or to live again I do not know, but I firmly believe the "Japan chapter" in my book of life is not fully written yet.

The HS principal at the school here sends out a weekly blog entry on Sunday evenings. Last night she sent what will not only be the last one for the year, but her last one at CA. She too, is about to embark on an exciting, new adventure. In this entry she talked about challenges and there was one line that stood out to me: The truth is, I think challenges are good for us: good for our brains, but also good for our development as people.

To be honest, I am not one who enjoys change. I like the status quo. I know this is hard to believe considering Matt and I have moved five times with his company since graduating college 15 years ago. Japan is the longest place we have lived at just over 4.5 years. Each move was hard. Each move had its challenges. Each move was full of ups and downs. I can look back though and see how each move has developed and shaped not only the two of us, but our children as well. Each and every one of us are who we are today because of challenges we have faced in life, no matter what the challenge may be.

The principal closed out her entry with the following: I’ll leave you with this: never stop challenging yourself.  You’ll never know how much you can achieve until you push yourself to do things you never thought possible.

As Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother would say –– "Challenge Accepted." I am ready to look forward to what lies ahead for our family. I am anxiously excited about the adventures we are about to go on. I am ready to face each challenge head on, and hopefully have fun along the way.

While Mom Is Away...

Dad saves the day!

I have spent the past month back in Japan with Emily. No, she didn't miss her mommy so much that I had to rush over here to tuck her in at night. In fact, I am pretty sure she would have been okay if I didn't come back (to her defense, sharing a room for 4 weeks with your mom probably isn't all that grand). It was always planned that I would come back for the end of the school year to help her get ready for prom and then close out the school year. So while I have been over here having a wonderful time missing my family immensely, Matt has been holding down the new fort back in Texas.

I have to say I was very nervous leaving for a month. I have never been away from my kids that long, ever. Matt is always the one traveling for weeks at a time, so the idea of him being home with Chris and Sami alone for a month was downright scary. The beginning was a bit rocky with Sami (AKA Drama Queen) sending me texts of her picture so  I could always remember what she looked like, and telling me how daddy didn't understand her problems and she was sooooooo (her words) alone with just boys. I guess she decided staying with boys wasn't so bad as I rarely hear from her unless I am Skyping to Matt or Chris. She tells me she is just sooooooooo (her words) busy and can't talk.

Matt hasn't just done an okay job while I have been gone -- he has nailed it. Baseball games, movies, bike rides, baking cakes, making dinner, celebrating both the kids birthdays, going to the pool, playing sports, going to football practice, seeing movies and even taking Sami on a shopping spree.

I admit, Matt drives me crazy most days. He can be extremely stubborn, works too much, has no idea where the laundry hamper is located, forgets almost everything I tell him and drives my car when rain or hail is expected. But after the past month, between all that he has done and allowing me the opportunity to come here and be with Emily without worrying about what was going on back home, I love him more today than the day I fell in love with him almost 20 years ago.

'Twas the Night Before Texas

'Twas the night before Texas,

And all through the hotel,

Not a creature was stirring,

Not even a... forget it. Nothing rhymes with hotel.

It has been 4.5 years since we moved to Japan.  I remember nervously putting our "babies" on a plane and heading to Japan, not having any idea what may lie ahead. 

Tomorrow evening Matt and I will put our youngest two children on a plane and embark back to the United States on a new adventure to Dallas, Texas. Our oldest daughter will follow at the end of June.

I have to admit, I am in serious denial about this move. In some ways it is surreal. Maybe it is because I have so many people tell me how difficult repatriating is supposed to be and I don't want to deal with it.  Maybe it is because I am leaving my first-born child behind for three months, when we have never been apart for more than a week. Or maybe it is because I have fallen so much in love with Japan, the culture, and the friendships I have built, that the idea of leaving is hard to think about. But the reality is, in less than 24 hours I will be in the air over the Pacific Ocean, hopefully sleeping with the help of a few bottles glasses of wine. 

Our goal when coming to Japan was to embrace the culture and gain as much as we could from this experience. I think we have not only achieved, but surpassed that goal. We climbed Mt Fuji with our older two kids and 16 other Caterpillar ISEs. We have been skiing, camping, white water rafting and road tripping throughout Japan. We have learned to embrace onsens and eat raw fish. We have experienced some of the world’s most beautiful beaches, ziplined through jungles, ridden on elephants, visited seaweed farms, hiked thorough Vietnam, crawled through the same tunnels as soldiers in the Vietnam War, snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef and saw cows walking down the streets of some of the poorest areas of Asia.  My family has been blessed over and over during our time here. 

There are some things I never thought I would experience, like the 2011 earthquake and getting stitches in a rural Vietnam clinic by someone who was probably the village vet.  I went on two disaster relief trips to Tohoku shortly after the earthquake and the experiences I had during my time up North will be ones that stay with me forever. I am already thinking about ways to get involved in missions and service trips in parts of South America. 

I will take away many lessons from my 4.5 years here. The Japanese language is hard. I will never be fluent, or even close.  Japanese beer is way stronger than US beer. Everything here is a process, and if you think it should take an hour you better double that. Forget clothing style, anything goes, especially Little Bo Beep wear. Most people do not speak English, yet they will go out of their way to help you. Taking the train everywhere is way easier than driving, Japanese people can find a reason to smile in the midst of the worst tragedy. And people leaving is a hard reality of expat life and unfortunately it is now our time go. 

Most importantly, I have learned that when you pack up your three children and move to the other side of the world where you know no one, cannot speak the language and drive on the opposite side of the road, the people around you become your family. And boy are we going to miss our amazing family here in Kobe. 

In Japanese, the word for goodbye is sayonara. I do not believe in goodbyes, so as we board the plane tomorrow, heading to what I hope to be another amazing adventure, I will bid this beautiful country and all my friends ja mata, or as we say in English "see you later". Because anything else, I hope, is false. 

Remembering Japan -- Two Years Later

Today my heart is heavy. I have been laying in bed for almost 2 hours (it is the middle of the night here in Japan) and I can't stop thinking about the people up North and the anniversary of the March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake.  I am sure many of you have seen pictures of the rebuilding that has happened over the past two years. Wrecked cars and debris have been taken away. Roads have been cleared. The airport has long ago reopened. Buildings have been repaired and some have even been rebuilt. The Fukushima nuclear plant has been contained. Amazing work has happened.

What lays on my heart at 3:21 am, is their hearts. Even two years later, aftershocks occur. Some of them large. Who comforts them each time the ground shakes beneath their feet? Do they close their eyes at night and relive the horror of watching the water come and take away everything they have ever known?  People lost friends. People lost family members. Some people lost both. Have they found peace? What about the children who ran screaming as they were rushed to get to higher ground?

I was blessed to have been able to go to the Tohoku region two different times to help in the relief efforts. The first time was three weeks after the earthquake and the second was 2.5 months after the earthquake. I went on these trips hoping that I would be able to do something, however small, for these people suffering such a tragedy. What happened, was I walked away with more than what I probably ever gave back.

So today, March 11, take a few moments in your busy day to think and pray for the people in Japan who are still haunted by what happened at 2:46 pm on that day. And then take a few more moments to hug your children, call someone you may not have talked to in a while, tell someone you love them, cuddle with your pet on the couch. In a heartbeat, it could all be gone.

Dear Mom: Change of Address

Dear Mom:

It has been almost 7 months since we spoke last. I hope you are enjoying your "vacation" and are having fun being reunited with all of your family and friends that you haven't seen in a long time. I know I promised you I would start blogging again on a regular basis, but life got crazy shortly after my last post. So let me take a few minutes to catch you up on "The Jacobs' Family Adventures".

As you know this was to be our last year here in Japan and we have been anxiously waiting to find out what and where was next. At the end of November Matt found out about a job opportunity in the Mining Division. After a few weeks of interviews, waiting and alot of praying Matt was offered the job. Put down your golf club and your old fashioned just for a minute, because I would hate for you to spill or break your club from shock. Ready? We are moving to Dallas, Texas at the end of this month. I know you and I talked at length this summer about Dallas and I firmly believe "There Is No Coincidence in Life, Only a Purpose". And as hard as it will be to leave Japan, there is no doubt in my mind that this move is exactly the path that God wants us to be on.

The kids are anxious, yet excited. This has been the longest place they have ever lived. They have grown up here. We came with a kindergartner, 4th grader and 7th grader. The kids will be in 5th, 9th and 12th in the fall. Sami and Chris will start school for the last 9 weeks in Texas and we are leaving Emily in Japan to finish out the end of the school year. Don't worry, we have her staying with a good family that will make sure she is okay. I will be coming back to Japan in May for prom (there is NO WAY I am missing that) and will stay until final exams. I will let my friend put Emily on the plane to come to the states. Yes, I know I will owe her big for that one.

For me the move will be bittersweet. I have fallen in love with Japan and I think this will be the hardest move I have had to make. Wait I mean the second hardest. The first was leaving you of course. But I am excited to see what the next adventure holds. I mean, what can go wrong with cowboys, rodeos, Tex-Mex and FOOTBALL! And yes, unfortunately this means there is a chance Emily could become a Longhorn. You will just have to learn to tolerate them if so. Maybe I can watch Matthew McConaughey bongo on the Texas sidelines up close and personal.

I think the hardest part of this whole move is you not being here to talk things through. I never thought I would miss hearing "I am not telling you what to do but...". I really could use that right now. Dad is way better at not giving his opinion. You two always evened yourselves out.

I will try to be better about blogging in the coming weeks. We will be living the "Suite Life of Zack and Cody" and staying in a hotel for 6 weeks starting this Thursday. We have to buy two cars and move a household across the ocean. Life will be busy, but I am sure it will present some great bloggable moments. After all, it is our family.

I miss you.

Love,
Alexis

Smarter with Age-- I Think Not

Back in November 2009, I stupidly agreed to do the famous Kansai 56K (34.8 miles) hike. To my defense I was caught up in the excitement of completing such a feat while living in Japan. I mean, when else would I get to experience such an amazing adventure?  Apparently three years later.

Yes, you heard it. I am doing that stupid, crazy, no fun, painful, toenail injuring, long, hike again. Somehow my "friends" (I mean really are they your friends if they talk you into something so stupid and make you give into peer pressure?) convinced me that it will be a great, memorable time that we can forever look back on doing together. I will reserve judgement until after Nov. 11, but somehow I am thinking it will not be as fun as promised.

Baseball In Japan –– Go Hanshin Tigers!

Baseball is a very popular sport in Japan. This past June, Matt and I were lucky enough to score  tickets to watch the Hanshin Tigers in action.

It is interesting to see how sporting events differ in Japan compared to the United States. One thing I found interesting at the game was each player had their "own song" that people sang when up to bat. People were constantly cheering and singing, similar to when we attended the Vissel Kobe soccer game.

Another thing different was "7th inning stretch". During the 7th inning there is no crazy chicken, no "take me out to buy peanuts and cracker jacks". Rather, there is a celebration which ends with the release of balloons. Everyone gets to let off these funny-shaped balloons because the Japanese are so friendly they will give the foreigners without a balloon one to let go. Oddly I find releasing thousands of sperm-shaped balloons during a baseball game not so strange after living here for so long.

 The other aspect I find pretty cool about going to a baseball game here is the ability to bring in your own food and drinks. It is similar to going to a NASCAR race in the United States, but without the people watching. However for those who do not stop at the nearby convenient store to grab onigiri or fried potatoes, there is stuff for sale at the concession stand.  Please be warned, there is not a single nacho, stadium hot dog or cotton candy on the menu. Only yummy choices like fish on a stick or soba noodles can be found. No matter what you may choose to eat, one can wash it down with an ice cold beer, served from a backpack keg.

 Sadly it rained for most of the game, but it didn't stop us from having a good time. Go Hanshin Tigers!

Weekend On the Slopes

Anyone who knows me understands just how much I hate snow, cold weather and skiing. Yet, somehow, I still found myself with my family in a car driving 6 hours to go skiing with some of our friends for a weekend.

We went to Hakuba in Northern Japan. It is near Nagano and was the location for the Alpine Skiing and Ski Jumping 1998 Winter Olympic events. We stayed at this cute little pension (similar to a bed & breakfast) called Alpine Wind. The owners were very friendly and helpful and it had an onsen in the back, which was wonderful after being on the slopes all day. At night we gathered near the fireplace to enjoy card games and wine.

I am not sure if I have ever seen so much snow in one place. The week prior to our trip there was a storm that blew through and dropped 2 meters (almost 6.5 feet!) in 24 hours. Apparently there is crazy snowfall here every year.

The first day on the slopes was miserable. It was freezing cold and snowed like crazy. I haven't been on the slopes in 2 years, and even before then my experience is very limited, so the inability to see and the continuously falling snow was not a good combination. Needless to say, I was pretty much on the same baby slope all day. Sami really picked up skiing and was off to the more advanced slopes before lunch. Emily decided to try snowboarding instead of skiing and by the end of the weekend she was doing pretty good. And Chris and Matt... I swear they were born for the slopes. Off they went to the black diamond runs.

 

The second day was much better. It was about 8 degrees warmer, sunny and there was not a flake in the sky. I even managed to do a few intermediate runs. And if you consider slow plowing and rolling down the slopes to be a sign of success, then I am one step closer to being in the next Winter Olympics myself.

While I am still not a fan of snow, cold weather and skiing, views like this made the trip worthwhile.