Yokohama with Family

For the last couple of days, we spent some time with my sister-in-law and her family in Yokohama.

I've got to admit, I wasn't sure if I would actually have enough energy to keep up with her 3 young kids. This fear proved to be quite unfounded. Yes, I was completely bushed by the end of the day but I had a great time playing with the children.

The great thing about small children is that they really don't have much of a concept of differences in culture and language. It just doesn't fully register with them that I can barely speak and understand basic Japanese. They just don't care! The kids were just happy that I would play with them and they would talk and talk to me in Japanese. They haven't been fully socialized into Japanese society yet via the school system. As such, the children were quite open and expressive with me. Sadly (in my opinion) this expressiveness will eventually be socialized out of them as they begin to learn the social norms and etiquette of Japan (don't get me wrong - there is a lot to be admired with respect to Japanese norms but it is nice to see the kids simply be kids). But, for now they were my best friends in Yokohama!  

We spent a lot of time playing on their Wii - primarily bowling and other simple games. I'm not really all that interested in these types of video games but it was a lot of fun to play with the kids. I was absolutely amazed at their skill levels! The Wii Fit game was quite extraordinary. I'd heard about this at work but I really wasn't sure how good it might be. The system measured my BMI and it turns out that I'm quite normal. Many of the exercises represented quite good work outs - Jen, I'm going to need much more work in your yoga classes once I get back to Regina. I'm definitely in bad shape!

This time spent in Yokohama with my nieces and nephew has definitely been one of the highlights of our trip so far. The kids are so well behaved and also have so much personality. For some reason I've developed a bit of a special connection with my niece Yumeno - I think that it's because she is the middle child and finds it hard to get all of the attention that she wants. In that sense, her and I are simpatico - me as an outsider to the country and the culture and her as the middle child. It's great to be loved!!!