Well, it's finally here... the countdown to my seventh trip to Sapporo (and Japan) has officially started. It's exciting, but also I have to say it's been very hard work. Today I had the painful task of seeing off my wife and son at Adelaide Airport as they began their long journey back to Sapporo... The flight from Sydney to Tokyo is only about 9-9.5 hours (it's a night flight), but from Adelaide to Sapporo it's about an 18-19 hour trip all up.
My son was very excited to be going off to "Japan"! I'm not sure he knew exactly where Japan is. When we got to Adelaide Airport, he was disappointed not to see Ojiichan and Obaachan (Japanese Grandfather and Grandmother) - I knew then that he was both looking forward to it, and also completely and lovably naive as to how far he was going to go (this is his 3rd trip...we knew all to well how far that was).
Still... I would have liked him to be a little sadder that Daddy wasn't going with him (the last I saw, he was virtually skipping towards the air-bridge). But - I hate seeing him unhappy, so I guess I was happy to see him full of joy as we parted for what will seem like a very long time.
The countdown has started. I'll be heading off to rendezvous with them in Sapporo in about 6 weeks.. I was hoping to have finished by "rog"... (retro blog)... by then - but that's looking like mission impossible at the moment. Only up to 2006!
The last few weeks of planning for L-kun's 3rd birthday (end of May), video editing, and then preparing for this trip has been a challenge. So I've been diverting blog time to family time (and rightly so).
Now the house is quiet (too quiet) and I've a horrible wait until I get an email or call from Japan to let me know that everything is alright. Even though we've all travelled so much, I hate that in-between time when someone leaves and then they miraculously arrive at the other end. I'm sure at 3 yo, L-kun doesn't really know how long 6 weeks is going to be. Unlike me, he doesn't know just how slow time can go when you're counting down.
Safe journey my dear! The last time you went ahead of me, we had an unexpected surprise during the trip... hmm... L-kun would enjoy having a sister... no... I shouldn't even think those thoughts.
Normal programming will resume shortly!
Hehehe, that's totally a parent thing. I'm sure he misses you amidst all the excitement.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty impressed that you're writing all these entries from years back. It's quite a feat!
Actually - to me it's really pretty easy to write about these trips... I mean, to me it's like they happened yesterday, and I could write about it till the cows come home. Ok... that might not make for an interesting blog tho...hehehe
ReplyDeleteAnyhow - just heard from my wife and they arrived in Sapporo ok... but still waiting to speak to her. Always difficult on the first day... I want to hear all about the trip, but she just wants to curl up somewhere and go to sleep!
ReplyDeleteStill - feeling very happy and relieved now.