Advertisement
Published: September 25th 2008
Edit Blog Post
In this case, I'm talking about the departures door and the arrivals door.
Today is both a sad day and a happy day. It's a day I have been both dreading and anticipating, because it means saying goodbye to someone dear to me, and saying hello to another loved one.
Part One.
Danilo and I had a fantastic 3 weeks both exploring, and lazing around in, Japan. But today it came to an end. In the beginning it was a bit rough, but then my 'Miss Independent' wall came down and I was me again, thus we were able to reconnect and have fun in each other's company, denying the ever looming deadline to our enjoyment. However, it arrived, and we woke up at 4.30 am to do a sorely needed clean of the apartment, (mum is coming, so she can't know I live in a hovel - i mean, a slightly messy apartment), and catch the 6.04 train.
We stopped at a combini to pick up some sandwich pockets, which are always a bit of a lucky dip. You see strawberries on the cover, you think 'oh, this must be full of strawberry jam', bite
into it and discover it is in fact severely sweet whipped cream with a drop of strawberry jam SOMEWHERE in there, and your mission is to eat your way through the fluffy sweetness to find it. Luckily I wasn't as hungry as Danilo, so I got to see his reaction to breakfast and have a nice little chuckle at his expense. You can't buy love like this ladies and gentlemen. We had an equally disappointing breakfast once we arrived at the airport, a quick shop, and all too soon it was time to say goodbye. In contrast to our awkward greeting 3 weeks ago, this was your stereotypical weeping woman and stoic stud (i needed an 's' word!), with waves beyond the departure gate, and then the slow realisation that you've lost something precious to you once again.
I have 3 hours to wait until I see my dear mama, and so I have been wandering aimlessly, trying not to spend all of my money on overpriced trinkets, and making an effort to catch up on the blogging I have left undone for so long. I had thought I would wallow in misery, self pity and despair, but I
am being annoyingly rational, thinking ahead to christmas when I plan to go home, and remembering the good times. Oh, that I could wail my way around this building and make a scene, but I am far too sensible for that - Dammit! Well, time to get typing on a previous blog, and I'll write Part two - Mum's arrival, once I have an arrival to write about...
Part Two
Well, what an arrival it was.
There I was, waiting, and wandering around the airport for hours, thinking I was going to have a very genki (excited) mum walk through the doors...
The time finally came, and I dutifully waited at the arrivals gate, along with other gaijin and nihonjin waiting for their loved ones. I had already sent an e-mail to dad, and to merv, regarding mum's flight. I wanted them to know it had arrived safely.
I stood with the others, and found I could actually see through the arrivals gate to customs, and I espied a tall blonde haired man that looked like my dad. I did a double take, but the doors had already slid shut again. When they
opened up once more, I took another peek, and even took a photo - I couldn't believe my eyes you see. What was my dad, the one i knew to be at home in Oz, doing at the airport in Japan? Finally I came to trust my eyes (or my camera) and a huge grin spread across my face...followed by a frown.
For, as excited as I was about having BOTH parents here... I had ruined mum's surprise...which is just NOT done. I thought 'Do I pretend I haven't seen anything, do I fake surprise? Or do I tell her that I saw him. After all, it's not MY fault I happened to be standing where I can see them. I didn't do it on purpose' (not that that would matter - I ruined her surprise). It turned out that this time it was ok. She did her usual 'I'll go first - you follow me' routine....but I had caught them out, and didn't waste time telling them so. We had a good laugh and lots of HUGS! (I miss hugs!), and then we set about getting the right train tickets and the right trains to get to my
place.
It's not as easy to get to the airport here as it is back home. At home, someone can give you a lift, , or you can get a taxi, train or shuttle bus and it takes 30-40 minutes. Here, even though I drove to the first station with Danilo in the morning, It took about 3 hours to get back to my car, and can be a 3-5 train journey, depending which way you go and how lucky you are with connections. We got the HARUKA express to Kyoto, and then the local trains to my place, stopping at a bakery along the way to fill our empty bellies. We made it to my apartment, and discovered that my dad is a tad too tall for my house. The ceilings are ok, but the doorframes are a bit of a challenge. More than once i heard a soft 'thud' and a muffled oath in the night-time.
One week with Mum and Dad in Japan........what joys will that bring?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.149s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 8; qc: 54; dbt: 0.0745s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.2mb