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In May Sarah's mom came for a two-week visit, which proved to be quite an adventure from the get-go. She arrived in Nagoya, exhausted from a 27 hour journey (with three flights and two long layovers), to find that Sarah was late picking her up (unfortunately Sarah can't understand all the instructions her Japanese car navigation system gives her---she made a wrong turn that increased her drive to the airport by 45 minutes). Despite her fatigue, Grandma Sue didn't lose her cool; she simply stopped a friendly looking woman with a cell phone and, through gestures and pleading looks, convinced her to lend her the phone so she could call Sarah and get things straightened out. Throughout her stay in Japan, Grandma Sue did her best to communicate with the new people she met and even made a few friends. Go, grandma, go!
| Snuggling with Edie before church |
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Probably Grandma's favorite activity during her stay was doting on her grandchildren. She won Tommy's affection immediately by retrieving a new engine (Toby) from her suitcase, and she made sure Edie made her daily quota for kisses. Toting Edie around also helped Grandma Sue make new friends because, as she put it, "Everybody speaks baby."
Dragging the two rugrats around Tokyo, Nagoya, Nara, and Kyoto requires a significant amount of energy, and Grandma did her share of pushing their stroller. We really wore her out getting her used to the Japanese pedestrian lifestyle! (Of course, she also spent plenty of time resting her feet during the almost daily---sometimes twice daily (okay sometimes three times daily)---Scrabble games with Sarah).
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| Who says the Japanese are quiet conformists?! |
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| Too bad Grandma couldn't catch this guy fast enough to get his phone number! |
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