So we have been here for over a week now, and you might be wondering what in the world we have been doing. Well, not much. We are a pretty mellow bunch of travelers. We are not mega-tourists who like to power through all there is to see . We like to stroll through the neighborhoods, stop at cafes, and basically just hang out. We are pretty easy to please.
However, we do have a bit of a schedule here because of Jason’s teaching and it goes a little something like this:
Jason and I get up around 5:30 and have our tea/coffee and check our email. Jason leaves around 6:30 to head the the studio. I get Rowan up and feed her and then she and I leave the house around 7:30 to head the studio. I practice from 8 – 10 and Rowan plays while I am doing this. Then we all head to a cafe or to get something to eat. We might have tea with other yogis. Then we might walk around one of the many cool neighborhoods around here and just check stuff out. At some point we trek back to the house to shower and rest. Jason practices from 4 -6 and during that time Rowan and I have been doing her school work. Then we all walk to the market to buy food for dinner, come home and cook it and maybe watch a cartoon. We are really into Avatar – The Last Airbender right now.
Today Rowan and I went to a local neighborhood playground for a bit and then walked around our neighborhood in search of toe socks. We didn’t find ones we liked but we did buy some bath balls. They are pretty awesome – you drop them in the water and they get all fizzy like alkaseltzer and then when all the bath fizzy stuff is gone there is a toy inside. Rowan of course loves them.
Rowan basically loves Tokyo. She loves walking around Tokyo – thank goodness! – because we do a LOT of walking. She loves eating here – inari being her favorite. And she loves all the stuff – cute, little stuff.
The only thing that Rowan does not like about being here is her hair. Yes, I said her hair. Rowan has always had an issue with her hair. She has naturally wavy/curly hair and of course she wants perfectly smooth/straight hair. She has become obsessed with how her hair looks when we leave the house each day. The other day she told me her hair doesn’t fit in Tokyo because it is poufy and Japanese women have perfectly straight hair. Oh come on! Do I really have to have these conversations with a six year old? Yes, apparently I do. So, she loves Tokyo but it is also giving her a hair complex.
Other Tokyo musings:
There are no trash cans. It seems like such a small thing, but everything is so overly packages and you end up with a ton of trash but no where to put it. So you carry around all your coffee cups and food packages and banana peels in your bag until you get home.
The trains are super efficient and very quiet. No one ever talks on their phone on the train. There are signs all over that remind you to set it to silent mode when you are on the train as well. No one talks loudly, no music playing – just quiet. It is kind of like being in a library. I feel like I need to constantly shush Rowan for talking so loud.
The heated toilet seats are my new favorite thing. I want one. Really badly.
I want a kitchen bigger than my big toe to work in. It is like cooking in a doll house. Granted it is a high tech doll house, but still it is SMALL.
And I know there is more but it is almost dinner time and I can’t concentrate anymore. All this walking makes me constantly hungry. So off to the market for FOOD.
