2/3 There

We are on the ground at Tokyo/Narita.

The flight here was uneventful.

As usual, Wynn was a good little sleeper, once we told that she WOULD be napping. She probably got a good 4 - 5 hours sleep on the flight.

I got about 2 - 3.

Scott got none.

She was charming for the flight attendant and the folks in security and, of course, made friends with the people behind us by playing peek-a-boo. She's such a good little traveler. :-)

Our flight for Hong Kong leaves in a little under two hours, so we're free to roam the familiar halls of Narita: vending machines that sell a drink called "Sweat", toilets that play music when you flush, wasabi-flavored Kit-Kats... Japan is just so stinkin' charming.

Here's hoping we all get some more good sleep on the next leg of our journey.

BTW: The last thing I did this morning before I left our house was lay flat on my back on the living room floor. When Wynn asked me why, I told her I wasn't going to get to be flat again for about twenty hours, so I was enjoying it while I could. Let's just say I can't wait to get to the hotel.

The Face

Obviously, much has happened since our return from Japan.

We've been so busy that I just got around to looking at many of the pictures from the trip.

Here's a new-found favorite; it's Wynn on the bus to Narita, doing her Great Norma Desmond face.

The City That Never Sits Down

Today's big news is that it's after 8 PM, and we're all still awake! Wynn did crash when we were walking to dinner, but we managed to revive her, and now we're hopeful that we can avoid waking up before 4 AM tomorrow.

Our morning expedition was to the Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi Park. It was originally built in 1920, destroyed during World War II, and painstakingly rebuilt in the 1950's. The grounds (about 175 acres) are completely serene, even though the entrance sits next to a busy subway stop and rail station. We strolled up a wide gravel path, stopped at the fountain to purify our hands and mouths, and then went to visit the main temple. It amazed us that in the middle of such a busy city you can find yourself in this oasis. In the park, everyone walked a bit slower, people stopped to admire trees and small streams, and voices were hushed. The other people in the park were, for the most part, not tourists; they were folks on their way to work, walking through the grounds and stopping to offer a prayer. It was a beautiful and tranquil way to start our day - and the first time in Tokyo that we've heard birds calling.

After visiting the shrine, we entered the Harajuku neighborhood, which is famous as being the home of outrageous teenage fashion. It was filled with the familiar combination of people, traffic, and noise which characterizes so much of Tokyo - and it is literally across the street from the temple grounds. Quite a contrast.

The Trees in the Background Are Yoyogi Park

The Clothes Are a Bit Over the Top

Even the Dogs Get Stylish Clothes in Harajuku

We then spent some time strolling down Omotesando-Dori, another street famous for it's shopping, most of which is extremely upscale. My favorite odd combination of stores in a row went: Chanel, Bulgari, Shakey's Pizza, and Kiddie Land. Guess which one we bought stuff in.

Taking Wynn to Kiddie Land was a bit of an adventure. It's five-stories worth of cuteness - and so popular that we ended up waiting with a good-sized crowd to walk in when the store opened. Now, we don't take Wynn to toy stores back home because it's just too much, so here we are in Tokyo, taking her into these dens of sensory overload. To her credit, she was very well-behaved. She did not like being carried on Baba's back, however, and let us know with a whiny, "I can't see! I can't see!" Scott and I took turns holding her hand and guiding her around the store so the other one of us could actually browse a bit. She ended up with a bento box with Winnie the Pooh on it and a game where you practice using chopsticks to pick up little toy ducks.

We hopped on the Metro and headed down to Shibuya, which was craaa-zy crowded, hot, and noisy. We grabbed a quick lunch at an amazing food court in the basement of a department store but were soon faced with one of the biggest challenges we've found in Tokyo - there is no place to sit down. Most restaurants ask if you'd like to dine in or take out, and we see most people doing take-out, but we have no idea where they go to actually eat the food. The food court we visited had no seating at all, so we headed back up to the street to find a spot. The best we could manage was leaning against some rails by a statue of a dog while committing the social gaffe which is eating on the street. After gobbling our lunch, we were all pretty wiped out, so we headed back to the hotel to rest a bit.

They finally got her passport done!

I had to utter the magic words "I'll pay for expedited service" and fork over another $60 plus $14.95 for FedEx overnight shipping, but at long last Wynn's passport is complete and being loaded onto an airplane in Charleston, SC for arrival here tomorrow morning.

I learned during my call with the NPIC yesterday that while they received Wynn's Certificate of Citizenship on Wednesday 6/10 (because I'd shipped it Next Day Air), they didn't actually resume working on her file until Monday 6/15. So that was three days they wasted in the process.

And of course, they snail-mailed the letter telling us they wanted her C of C... printed the letter on Tuesday 6/2, didn't actually mail it until 6/3, and didn't arrive here in Minnesota until Monday 6/8. So that was another five days they wasted (they had phone numbers and an email address on the application.)

I suppose we'll never know if my paying the expedite fee was what got the job done, but for certain we'd have had to cancel or postpone next week's trip if they'd sent her passport by regular postal mail. We do feel that we've gotten a bum deal from the State Department in this matter.

Our experiences two years ago getting our own passports was smooth and lightning-fast (normal processing time and fees.) Having seen how the agency dragged its feet for Wynn over nearly two months, yet moved at warp speed when I pulled out a credit card, makes me ask the question, "is it because she's adopted, or because she was born in China?"

That really hurts to even have to put that in print like this. Ann and I are both proud to be Americans and honest believers in our government's capability to effect positive change. There are many, many good people who work for us; but we also know that rulebooks and procedures are to be followed. We will be following up with a complaint - when we get back - gotta figure out to whom. (We are kind of short a Senator up here. Our state's Supreme Court could use a lesson in timeliness as well.)

Anyway, now that this is wrapping up, we can push full steam ahead with packing.

--Scott

3 weeks from now, we'll be right up there

Good news on the passport - I called the NPIC at 8 am Friday morning (which apparently is the right time to do it; was on hold for only a minute) and they confirmed receiving Wynn's Certificate of Citizenship. Processing has resumed for her passport.

Also good news with the germs; this cold seems to last only a few days. I'm feeling much better compared to mid-week, and Ann seems to have only suffered a glancing blow. Wynn would appear to be getting better too (although some mighty sneezing has taken place this morning.)

We head out on Monday the 29th, and return on the 4th of July.

Coming up this week is Gotcha Day, the 2nd anniversary of our coming together as a family. Hard to believe it has been that long!

--Scott

We're going on vacation - to Tokyo!

We're going to take this show on the road for a week at the beginning of July!  We will be hanging out in Tokyo: exploring a different neighborhood each day, eating gyoza and yakisoba, and looking at as much Hello Kitty as Wynn is up for.

We'd also considered a week in Seattle for this getaway, but Japan was surprisingly only a few hundred dollars more per person - including airfare. Hard to imagine it ever being so inexpensive! (London came in $500 more per person than Tokyo!)

We sent in Wynn's passport application this morning & booked our package this afternoon. These next two months are going to fly by...

If any of our readers have suggestions about fun family activities, "must see" locations, food, or getting around, please click on 'comments' below - we're happy to receive advice. And yes, we'll be blogging the trip!

--Scott