Goodbye, For Now...

It doesn't seem that long ago that I was telling Josh I was sad to be leaving Seattle. Now here we are prepping to leave Ikebukuro, and I find myself telling him I am sad again.

Our life in Japan is very different than what we left behind in Seattle. Our home in Woodinville is surrounded by pine trees on nearly an acre. You can hear the creek run, and the owl calling at night.

In Japan we live on the 32nd floor in an absurdly quiet metropolitan.

In Woodinville, when the sun goes down, it is dark. You need a flash light just to walk out to the street. Here city lights bring a new beauty to our surroundings.

In Woodinville I drive every where. Until I quit working in November of 2010 I drove 52 miles a day just in commuting. In Japan we walk every where. And, if we aren't walking we are on the trains. Josh spends one and half hours commuting one direction 5 days a week in Japan. In Woodinville his 6 mile drive can take 45 minutes. In his commute time in Japan Josh has managed to read the first three books of the Game of Thrones series. Mass transit rocks.

I am totally going to miss the look of awe on Liam's face as the trains go blazing past us. I'll miss him calling out "Bu-bye choo choo!" and waving so excitedly - only moments later to ask "Where'd it go?"

I'll miss the random street performers. We have some great street acts in Seattle - but it is still new and exciting to me to see the performers here rock a big standing/dancing crowd as they sing in English. Especially since I rarely hear English on any give day.

I'll miss the lanterns. These ones just went up in Ikebukuro. The big festival here will happen after we leave.

I'll miss the feeling of safety I have in this city of 13 million people. I can go out by myself to take random pictures, and have an inebriated young Japanese man get dared to jump in my picture, watch homeless men sleep on the side walk, and not once feel fear. I love that.

I'll also very much miss the view from our living room. Constantly changing as the sun changes position, always beautiful.

There is so much more I will miss, more than I can photograph or put into words.

But, at home - "home, home, Cappy home" as Liam calls it - we have a big goofy, slobbery dog awaiting us. A new son who will arrive only weeks after our return. Dear friends who have been taking care of our house and dog, praying for us, and helping us from afar. And the added bonus of a five day work week for Josh, as opposed to the seven day work week he has had to put in here this trip.

I can hardly believe this Friday we will wake up in our Ikebukuro apartment, say goodbye to it, and go to sleep that night in our house in the states.

I'll miss you Ikebukuro.