Whole Again!

As some of you may or may not know my brother and I are from Hawaii. It’s been about a year since we saw our dad and about eight months since we last saw our mom. She visited us during Thanksgiving when we moved to Hokkaido, helped us settle, it was nice to spend a holiday with her.

Our father on the other hand hasn’t visited Hokkaido before so this trip for him is a big one!

Being away from our family for so long is something really strange for us. Normally before moving to Japan, we’d see everyone, every day during dinner. We’d catch up on the day, go over schedules and just enjoy family time together. It’s one of the things I really miss about Hawaii.

So needless to say its been really nice to have our parents here to almost complete the feeling. Our sister has yet to visit with her family so once that happens, we will TRULY be whole again.

This trip to Hokkaido, is our moms third trip to Japan, first being when we were in Saitama. She is quickly becoming a “professional” Japan visitor. Learning the ropes on ordering food, konbini ordering, navigating around the towns and subways. She really excels in travel.

Most recently her friends have asked her if they could visit Hokkaido with her. Specially during the Yuki Matsuri, as for many of them it’s a “Dream vacation”. So she has started planning their February adventure.

It will be the first time our mom experiences Yuki Matsuri and the snow here in Hokkaido so she is preparing as much as she can so that she is ready.

Our aunties visiting with her have been warned that it will be COLD!

I love the fact that many of them have started looking to our mom as a guide. It makes the many hours and miles of exploring well worth it for her.

Last night we walked around Sapporo looking at Hotels that would best suite them for the visit. And then trying to memorize the route from the hotel to the nearest station and of course Odori.

In any case i’m so happy that they have many future plans for visit. The feeling of “wholeness” can continue to give us that moral boost that we need sometimes.

One of the major plans we have this trip is a road trip from Hokkaido to Saitama. My brother, our mom and I are headed to Saitama to visit friends, check our old home and see the country side. Our dad volunteered to stay home and watch the puppies (thank you dad!).

The road trip is going to take approximately 23 hours, we are excited to see the places we drove past on the move here and see if anything changed. We’re also very excited to see our friends , it’s also almost been a year since we last saw them.

All in all it feels really nice to be back together again. So while they’re here I will take the time to sit , talk, enjoy the company and of course make as much memories as I possibly can.

So until the next one!