Travels and Visits

One of the first issues that we thought about while applying for JET was how to get us all to Japan. Dustin will be leaving on July 31st to Tokyo for a few days of orientation and then will be traveling to wherever we are living to get settled into our house/apartment, meet his Contracting Organisation, and start working. Ideally, Dustin and I would fly there together and have our collective eyes and arms to make sure that kids and luggage all arrived in one piece, but that is not actually what we will be doing. It would be pretty expensive for us to join him in Tokyo for those first few days since Dustin's hotel and food is paid for and ours wouldn't be. The thought of spending that extra money just to make travel easier absolutely clashes with my innate almost fanatical need to penny pinch (thanks Dad!). So, the boys and I will be leaving mid-late August to join him.

On the selfless side of things, I feel that it is very important for Dustin to be at the orientation alone and get to know other JETs without feeling the need to be involved with us. This is his job after all, not mine, and I want him to feel connected. I am almost certain that he will enjoy Tokyo so much more if he is able to go out in the evenings to explore and socialize without having us on the back of his mind. Also, having a week or two to settle into his job before he has to listen to the kids whining and tearing around will probably save us a lot of stress and grief. On the selfish side of things though, I want Dustin to get things at our home figured out before we show up, like places for the kids to sleep and a few groceries purchased.

The magically wonderful Karlee

Though traveling to Japan alone with both boys would make me lose a bit of my sanity irreversibly, I was willing to try it. However, Dustin's sister, Karlee, has come to my rescue. She will be coming with the boys and I and stay for the first month or so as a vacation. I have this feeling that one of the kids would get lost (accidentally or purposefully) along the way if Karlee wasn't coming. I am also so glad that she wants to stay for a while too; it will certainly help me keep my sanity in the first couple of weeks. What would I ever do without you Karlee?




On another note, my mom is flying in from Vermont today. She hasn't seen William yet since he has been born and will be staying with us for a few weeks. It must seem fairly depressing coming from the mountainous land of springtime beauty that is Vermont to the windy, flat, expanse of Manitoba in the peak of mud season. I am hoping that Theo is not as disagreeable to my mom as he was last time she was here. He had a hard time accepting that she was in fact his grandma and anytime she talked to him or tried to hug him he pretended he was dousing her with a stream of fire from an imaginary fire hose. I think he has a pretty Fahrenheit 451 view of what firefighters do.

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go...