Month: July 2022

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And I’m a little sad today.

Today was fun, really it was.  We got up today, and Emiko and Aika and Mika wanted to have a lazy day – plus they already saw what we wanted to.  So Ai, Liz, and I took the train to Tokyo and went to the Sky Tree!  It was warm but beautiful, absolutely clear.  We went up to the top and got loads of pictures of Tokyo, Fujisan, and all sorts of stuff.  Tokyo really is a pretty city.  There are lots of bridges, and buildings, and mountains, and water…  and people.  So many people.  But we got our fill of the view up there, and then we just wandered around the city.  Ai knew a few interesting places.  Because we couldn’t go to cat island, she took us to a cat cafe!  It was so cool!  You could drink coffee and pet a cat!  And they had cat treats you could buy so the cats got something out of the deal too!  It was funny, some of the cats were just making the rounds looking for treats!

Japan has a different relationship with their pets than we do.  We treat animals like members of the family, like people.  Japanese love their pets, don’t get me wrong, but they’re first and foremost animals, and they’re treated as such.  They don’t really think anything of using them or taking advantage of them.  But the thing about animals is, they really don’t care all that much, as long as you keep the treats coming, so it all works out.

So after wandering around a bit, and eating lunch, we went back to Saitama, and Liz wanted to stock up on some more Japanese treats, so we make a quick trip to the konbini.

But tonight I’m feeling sad.

Tomorrow is Lily Day.  And I’m thousands of miles away from everyone who wants to celebrate it with me.

I remember last year, when they announced Lily Day.  Beth was still angry with me (and I understand why), and they didn’t understand why I got a day.  But they took me out for chocolate pancakes, and I got to decide how we were going to spend the day, and… and it was wonderful.  That was the day I first realized that they actually loved me.  Not just took me in, not just gave me a home, but really, truly loved me.  And…  and it meant something to me.  It meant a lot to me.  And now… now I’m in Japan and they’re there and… and no Lily Day.

Like I said, it wasn’t about what I could do, or what they could give me… it was a day they gave me because they loved me and they wanted me around and… and…

I’m going to cry.

They wanted me and Emiko didn’t want me, and…  and….

Oh God.

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

So today we slept in a little bit – and then we checked out of the hotel and explored Osaka a little.  It’s such a big city!  Like Tokyo!  I mean, Austin has a mean downtown, but it’s just a few very tall buildings clustered together and then just sprawl.  But Osaka just has trains and buildings and all sorts of stuff all smushed together into a glorious mess!

But my favorite place is the Umeda Sky Tower!  It’s a 40 story tall building with open air escalators at the top!  And you can see all of Osaka!  It’s amazing!  Emiko pointed out a building that has a road running through it!  How does that work!!!  Their cities are so dense they run roads through buildings!!! And while we were walking down the street, we ran into an obaachan who gave us some ame-chan!  Especially Hiroshi!  I’d heard of the grandmas from Osaka who give candy, but I met one!  She was nice!!!  We had a nice lunch, then went to Shin-Osaka station to hop on the shinkansen, and… well, we’re back in Saitama now!

And we’re all soooo tired!!!  After we got back, I just got in my bed roll and took a nap!!!  I mean, the train was nice and everything, but we did a lot of stuff over the last few days!  Tomorrow we’ve got nothing special planned.  The weather’s supposed to be nicer tomorrow, so maybe we’ll go to the Sky Tree and get some nice pictures of fujisan!

I asked Emiko what we’re doing next week, but she didn’t say anything.  She just said it’s a surprise.  Aww!  But I’m sure I’ll like it.  She hasn’t steered me wrong yet.  Japan has been so much fun!  And I’ve been getting to know ojiisan and obaasan and ojisan and obasan (aunt and uncle – vowel length matters) and Ai and Hiroshi…  and Emiko and Aika and Mika too!  And they’re really nice!  Very different from Dave and Sabby and Beth and David… but nice all the same!  But ojisan and obasan went back home – I think they needed a nap too.  Ai’s staying over though and she and Liz and I are having all sorts of fun.  I’m teaching her how to brush hair!  I mean, she kind of knew how, but not as a recreational activity!  She loves it!  And she has such thick, black hair too!!!  Put a white shirt on her and she could be a ghost!  Hahaha!!!  Japanese people aren’t huge on physical contact, but she zones out and turns into jelly just like everyone else!

And she’s teaching me how to put my hair in twintails!!!  I’m so cute now!!!  But I think I’ll keep my ordinary hairstyle for the most part.

We’re teaching Ai ‘truth or dare”, and… well.. I think we’ll need to put a sock in that.  She’s kind of… easily embarrassed.  And the language barrier isn’t helping.

She wants to know all about Texas.  She asked us if everyone wears cowboy hats and rides horses!  I laughed and said no, but we do eat a lot of BBQ.  She wants to try some!

Anyway, It’s a nice lazy Saturday, and after all the stuff we’ve done, it’s perfect!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

OSAKA RULES!!!

So this morning we checked out of the hotel in Hiroshima and took a trip to Osaka!  It’s between Hiroshima and Tokyo!

AND IT HAS A WATERPARK!!!

Well…  Kind of.  It’s nothing like the American waterparks.  And it’s more of an amusement park than a waterpark.  But still!!!  It’s got pools!!!

And it’s on top of a mountain!  That’s why they call it Ikoma Sanjo!  Mount Ikoma amusement park! and you can see all down into Osaka!!!  We took the train to Ikoma station, then we took a cable car right to the top of the mountain, and there was the park!!!

It was…  an alright park.  I mean, I think its location is the best thing about it.  But it does have video arcades and pools and places to eat…  it was fun!!!  And the funny thing is, because it’s on top of a mountain, it shares space with television and radio towers!  Japan sure knows how to use space efficiently!  We wanted to see the view when the sun went down, but it closed at 5 today.  So we took the cable car back to Ikoma and the train back to Osaka, where we stayed the night.  Osaka is a pretty city though!  And we’re staying at a pretty nice hotel!!!  The rooms are a bit crowded because there are so many of us, but they’ve picked some nice places to stay, so I can’t complain!  Being packed in like sardines is the Japanese way!

Tomorrow we’re going to explore Osaka a bit, and then take the shinkansen back to Tokyo.

After we get back to Saitama, I don’t know what we’re going to do.  Emiko’s been pretty tight lipped about plans for the second week.  But even if we don’t do anything else, this has been so much fun!  I love it here!

…  but I do miss home too.  I love Japan, and it’s part of my heritage, and I love Emiko and obaasan and ojiisan… and everyone else…  but I’ll be glad to get back home too.

Monday is Lily Day, and I won’t be home for it.  That does make me a little sad.  Okay, a lot sad.  It’s not because they give me things or take me places or…  it’s because they love me, and that’s a day they tell me that.  But I guess there’s after I get home…  and always next year.

Speaking of waterparks, Sabby told me that today one of the waterparks back in Austin dumped 15,000 lbs of ice in their pools!!!  HAH!! I wish I could have seen that!  And they had snow machines too!!!  But I can see Texas waterparks anytime.

Well, remember what I said about being packed in like sardines?  Everyone wants to go to bed, and I’m tired too.  So bai bai!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

BUNNIES!!!

So after we got up today, we took the train to the ferry to ookunoshima.  It was so pretty!!!  It’s a little cloudy and rainy today in Hiroshima, but the water and mountains and stuff are still really pretty!! It’s flat in Tokyo (mostly), but very mountainous in west Japan!

So we took the ferry to ookunoshima, and there were bunnies!  Thousands of bunnies!  You couldn’t walk more than a few feet without seeing a bunny!!!  And because we purchased some bags of bunny food, they were all over us!  At one point, Liz had a hundred bunnies climbing all over her looking for a handout!  It was cute!!!

But it’s not a perfect island.  Also on that island is a poison gas museum.  Why does everything have to be… tainted, somehow?  A perfect island with hundreds or thousands of warm fuzzy bunnies, and a poison gas museum.  Sigh.

But we took a walk around the island.  There’s a cafe and restaurant there, and we had lunch.  It was delicious!  There’s also a hotel, but we weren’t going to stick around that long.  After a nice walk and lots of bunny feeding and petting, we hopped back on the ferry and went back to Hiroshima.  It’s such a pretty area!  I think I said that!

Tomorrow we’ll take the shinkansen to Osaka!  It’ll be fun!  But tonight we’re just going to take it easy, eat dinner, maybe go out to the bay and sightsee.  I love all the bunnies!  I hope I see them all again and give them lots of yummy lettuce!!!

… believe it or not, carrots really aren’t good for bunnies.

Also believe it or not, Emiko hadn’t been to Hiroshima!  At least not that she can remember! So she’s a tourist just like the rest of us!!!  She loved the bunnies too!!!  I’ve never seen Emiko like a little girl, but she was when she was being overrun by bunnies!

I’m having a wonderful time!  So is Liz!  Liz doesn’t usually gush, but she’s gushing!!!  I think Hiroshi has a bit of a crush on her, but…  no.  He’s David’s age.  But I don’t blame him!  I’d fall for her too if I were a boy!

I talked to Sabby this morning – it was night back in Austin.  Everyone’s doing well.  They miss me, and I miss them.  I love Japan… but I love my family too.  Maybe someday they’ll go to Japan with me!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And this is a special post!!!  It’s early morning and we’re about to go to the bunny island!  But I have to post!  It’s my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!  YAAAYYYYY!!!!!

One year ago I started this diary, and so much has happened!  I never thought I’d be in Japan!  I never thought I’d be adopted!  I never thought a lot of things, but here I am!  And I’m so happy!!!!!

I want to do something special to commemorate the occasion, but I’ve been seriously drawing a blank.  I don’t know what to do.  But I’ll do something!  I will!  I promise!!!

YAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!  And I do!  I really do!  I love everyone!  I love Dave, and Sabby, and Beth, and David, and Liz, and her parents, and Jack and Grace and his parents, and Crystal and her parents, and the pastor, and Diana and Maria, and Emiko and Bill and Aika and Mika, and Ai and Hiroshi and my aunt and uncle and ojiisan and obaasan, and the owner, and Allison and her parents and all of the other people who show up in my story!  Even the frustrating person in Washington who keeps throwing monkey wrenches into my life!!!  I love you ALL!!!!  And who knows what next year will bring!  Maybe I’ll go somewhere else!  Maybe not!  I don’t know!  But you’ll be there with me and we’ll find out together!!!!

I’m going to do something fun!!!  Really I am!!!

OMG I love you as much as chocolate!!!  ❤🤎❤🤎❤🤎❣

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

Today we took the shinkansen down to Hiroshima!!!

It was so cool!!!

We left in the morning and took the local to the eifukuchou station, and then hopped on the shinkansen – and it’s FAST.  200 mph.  It took us only four hours to get to Hiroshima, and it was comfortable too!  We got a bento box on the train for lunch, and arrived there at around 2 or so.  Then we went to get a hotel room (we’re staying the night).  It’s a nice hotel!!!  It’s not quite like the one we stayed at in Houston, but it’s nice!  It has a view overlooking the bay!

But after we settled in, we…  had a not very nice thing to do. We went and visited the atomic bomb site.  I hear there’s one in Nagasaki too, but we’re not going to visit there this time.

It’s very sad.  So many people died.  And with all the stuff going on in the world right now, it really feels…  timely.

When we left there, we didn’t really feel a lot like doing anything else for that evening.  It’s kind of like I’d imagine Dachau to feel…  sad and sobering.  We can sure be mean to each other sometimes.  And it’s really easy to fling bombs at people when you don’t have to look them in the eyes, isn’t it?

So we just went to a nice sushi place, ate some dinner, went to the private onsen at the hotel for a little while, and went to bed.

Maybe tomorrow will be more fun.  We’re going to visit rabbit island!  And feed the bunnies!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

It’s cool, humid, and rainy in Saitama and Tokyo today!  Sabby tells me it’s still like 103 degrees back in Austin!!!  It’s nice here!!!

Anyway, today we all went to Tokyo!  Well, not all of us.  Ai, Liz, me, Hiroshi, Aika, and Mika!!!  The adults stayed back to do their own thing.  I think they wanted us out of the house for a while – I mean, yeah, five girls and a boy is a lot.  Hiroshi seems a bit uncomfortable around all the girls, but he wanted to go with us!!!

We were going to go to Tokyo Tower and the Sky Tree, but it’s cloudy today, so we decided to just go shopping.  First we went to Akihabara.  Liz went nuts!!!  Absolutely nuts!!!  She went to the manga store and the anime store and the gadget store and got some gacha and she just went crazy!  At one point she just grabbed my hand and yoinked me into a store!  But it was fun!  I picked up some kawaii stuff too!!!  And then for lunch we went to a maid cafe!  They said “irasshaimase goshujinsama!” and everything!!!  I thought Hiroshi’s eyes were going to bug out!  But all the girls were really sweet and they doted on him.  They kinda doted on Liz too, which was hilarious.  Me, I just wanted to eat my ramen.

At the end all the girls gave Hiroshi a kiss on the cheek!  I thought he was going to explode from redness!  But it was cute!  Liz even got a kiss on the cheek!!!

Liz is straight but she turned beet red too!!!

I didn’t really want the kiss on the cheek, so I just bowed.  They bowed back, and gave my cheek kiss to Hiroshi.  Poor kid!!

Then we walked around a bit more…  We couldn’t see an AKB48 concert but Liz wanted to at least see the theater.  It was closed but at least she was able to visit the Don Quijote.  She thought she saw one of the idols but wasn’t sure!!!

After all that, we took the train to Harajuku and watched all the crazily dressed people!!!  And bought some more kawaii stuff!!!  Tokyo has so many big buildings!  It’s amazing!!!

Then we went to Shibuya station, and saw the world famous Shibuya Scramble!!!  So many people going in so many different directions!  It was amazing!!!  And we saw the famous dog statue too!!!  Look up “Shibuya dog statue” on Google if you want to see a photo!!!  We got some ice cream and took the train back home!  We were already carrying so much stuff!!!  I mean Liz really did go nuts, but she was so happy to see all the stuff she’d just heard about!!!

Tomorrow we’re all taking the Shinkansen to Hiroshima for a day or so!  And we’ll visit rabbit island (ookunoshima) too!  Where there are thousands of rabbits!!!  I hear there’s a cat island but we might not be able to see it.  Oh well.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Today is Marine Day!!!

It’s a day where the Japanese people are grateful to the ocean!  I guess I can see that.  It has… lots of fish.  And Japanese like fish.

So this morning all of us hopped on a train to Enoshima!  It’s an island south of Tokyo, and it only took two hours to get there by train.  And it’s BEAUTIFUL!!!  The weather was so nice too!!!

Anyway, we got off the train, and visited the enoshima shrine.  All the Japanese folks worshipped there.  I didn’t, but I was respectful, and did do the cleansing ritual.  It is so peaceful in the Shinto shrines, the kami are very strong there.  And, of course, there’s a coffee shop too!!!  And then we walked around the island for a bit and got some lunch, it was delicious!  After that, we went to an onsen!!!

I was so embarrassed!!!  ojiisan and Hiroshi went to the man side, and the rest of us went to the woman side, and we all completely stripped!  Liz and I were pretty embarrassed, but we got over it.  I mean, I lost my top at the waterpark, this wasn’t too much different, right?  But we got in the springs, and it was so nice!!!  They don’t really care if you’re naked there, it’s so different than the US!!!  I can see how my body type is a little bit like the other Japanese women, though.  I’m a bit taller and a little fuller in some places, but I… have their hips.

After we got our clothes back on, we went to the beach for a bit and paid our respects to the ocean, and got some souvenirs, then took the train back home!  That was so much fun!!!  Japan is such a beautiful country!!!  After we got back, obaasan made dinner, and we talked for a while and went to bed.  Liz is having such a good time!!!  And so am I!!!

Tomorrow we’re going to Tokyo!  And at some point I think we’re planning on taking a couple of days and going to south or west Japan!!!  But we’ll see.  I don’t know what our hosts have planned.

I really like Emiko’s family!!! It took a bit for them to get used to us, but they’re very nice and treat us well!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Konnichiwa!  Lily desu!!!

And I’m soooo lagged!!!

Today we didn’t do a whole lot, we were just catching up on sleep for the most part.  But Emiko’s sister and my cousins came over.  There’s a girl about my age, her name is Ai.  It’s kind of like Aika, but not.  She’s very polite but has a mischievous streak.  And there’s a younger boy, maybe David’s age.  His name is Hiroshi.  He’s much better mannered than David, but who isn’t?  Hah!  But they came over early afternoon.  Introductions were made, and while Emiko and her sister caught up, Ai, Aika, Mika, me and Liz took a walk.  Hiroshi stayed back, I guess five girls is a lot.  Japan is so different!  All of the houses are so smushed together, the streets are narrow, and the sidewalks aren’t very wide.  Emiko’s parents live close to a rail station, which is nice, but we didn’t take the train today.  Ai took us to a konbini!  A convenience store!  I’ve heard a lot about Japanese convenience stores, and this one was neat!  It’s a Lawson’s!!!  They had snacks, and snacks, and… snacks!!! But different snacks!  Onigiri, kit-kats, lots of stuff!!!  Liz went nuts!!!  She got a whole bag of stuff, but then one of us had to translate for her and help her pay.  I think Liz is a little uncomfortable with not knowing the language, but she likes the snacks!!!

Oh, and they have different kinds of chocolate!  I got a bag full of that!!!  I had to ask the cashier to “yukkuri kudasai” but I understood her.  Yay!!!

They had a Purikura too!!!  Liz and I took a photo!!!  I’ll post it sometime!!!

Ai told us a little about her life.  She’s fourth year secondary (kind of like a sophomore in our terms) and she attends high school in Saitama.  She asked me about American high school, and I said that I don’t know anything about it, I don’t have any memories of before, and I started school during the pandemic.  But Liz knows more!  Thankfully Ai can speak some English, but there’s definitely going to be some language issues.  That’s alright, we can teach each other.  Ai wants to take me to her house before I leave.  That sounds like fun!

Otherwise we just stayed in and chatted and got to know each other.  Normally we’d play games, but they didn’t have any.  So we just chatted and ate our snacks and it was fun.  Hiroshi seems like a cool kid too, but since Aika and Mika and Hiroshi are cousins, no kid crushes here!!!

Tomorrow we go sightseeing!!!  I’m not sure where we’re going but I’m pretty sure it’ll be somewhere in Tokyo!

Minasan daisuki! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

I’m in Japan!!!

And I’m TIRED!!! OMG AM I TIRED!!!

But I have news!!!

So after I wrote my post… yesterday?  I lost track.  Yesterday I guess…  I got on the plane…  it’s a big plane!!!  Liz and I sat next to each other…  Emiko sat behind us with her kids.  So we got in the air…  and it was ten hours of boring!!!  Just lots of water to see!!!  Water and snow!!!  But I had a book, and they brought us a couple of pretty good meals.  Even though it was light most of the way, I did get a little sleep.

And when I got there, I was soo happy just to get off the plane!!!  It was so strange to hear the announcements in Japanese as well as English though!

But when we went through customs, they wanted to see my passport, and then took me into a little room.  I didn’t know what was going on!  Someone who spoke English (my Japanese isn’t that good) came in and asked me a bunch of questions.  I didn’t know what it was about!  They asked my name and what I was doing… and finally I just asked what was going on, I was getting a little scared.  They told me that they had my fingerprints on record… but under another name!!!

OMG I’ve been to Japan before!  And I don’t remember!

So I told them all about how I was found on the side of the road, and lost my memory, and was adopted by Dave and Sabby.

They told me that checks out, but for an irregular situation like that, they have to ask me a few questions.  I asked them if they could tell me what my previous name was.  They said they didn’t have that information, but maybe if I went to the Japanese immigration offices, they could tell me.

I was floored.  Someone might have a name.

Someone might have a name.

But…  if the Japanese immigration offices know…  why doesn’t the passport agency of my own country?

They gave me back my paperwork, bowed, and wished me a good day.  I bowed back and ran to meet up with everyone.  They were waiting patiently.

“What happened?”, Emiko said.

“They…  I’ve been to Japan before.  They wanted to know why my fingerprints were already registered under a different name.”

Liz squealed and hugged me.  Some Japanese people looked at us funny.  I didn’t care.

“We can figure that out some other time,” I yawned.  “Let’s get to Saitama.  I really, really need a nap.”

Emiko laughed.  So we got on the train and, after a couple of hours, we ended up at my…  my grandparents’ place.

OMG were they happy to see me!  Japanese people don’t usually hug, but obaasan gave me a big big hug, and ojiisan bowed deeply.  They were a little reserved to Emiko, but Aika and Mika got presents!!!  And they were polite to Liz, after all, they didn’t really know her.  But eventually we all sat around the small table and they served us snacks, which was very nice of them.  I even remembered to say “itadakimasu!”

And then I took a much, much needed nap.  They showed me to a bed roll on a tatami.  It was surprisingly comfortable.  But honestly, I didn’t care about comfort, I just needed sleep.  I share the room with the other girls, but I don’t mind.  It’s like a separated girl-pile!

After a couple of hours, we got up, and we had a traditional Japanese dinner.  It was delicious!  Obaasan can COOK!!!  And then we talked for a while.  Their English isn’t great, and neither is my Japanese, but they were interested in my life, and told me a little about Emiko too.  They told some stories!!! Emiko was a wild child!!!  She was so embarrassed, she kept hiding her face behind her hand and turning red!  It was so cute!  But you could tell that they still loved her, even if they seemed a bit ashamed.  They doted so much on Aika and Mika though!

They asked Liz about her parents, and actually they had a lot in common.  Maybe Liz is Chinese and they’re Japanese, but they’re still Asian, so there’s a little commonality there.  They warmed to each other, I guess sometimes it just takes a while.

Anyway, we’ve got a busy couple of weeks.  Tomorrow I’ll meet Emiko’s sister and her kids!  My cousins!  That should be fun!!!  But tonight..  I’m going to catch up on sleep.

Love you all!!! ❤