Back to Osaka…?

Posted on by Caroline

We’re on the Haruka Train, heading into Osaka for the second time this month. Tomorrow we’ll catch another flight up to Hokkaido for skiing and the Ice Festival. A week ago there was so much snow that the airport and trains shut down. Hopefully it’s still there. We planned this trip months and months ago, hoping that the snow would show up and we could get the time off of school and work.

But now we’re here, and I’m not working any more and the kids are homeschooling, and so we just needed to coordinate with Tim’s work and Amelia’s soccer schedule. Amelia’s team had a game last night that was so much fun to watch – the girls were playing well together, communicating and playing good soccer. They were playing against one of the top teams in the league. They got knocked off balance for a bit by the fast pace. But then they pulled it all together and played some phenomenal soccer. So many heart-stopping moments! They pulled off a tie, which really isn’t bad considering they only had two subs compared to the deep bench of the other team.

We’ve been deep into our new rhythms since we got back from our last trip to Japan. Amelia’s figuring out her online courses and Duke and I are figuring out how to homeschool again – new skills, new responsibilities, new dynamic. But hopefully the same fun and success.

And we’re busy driving from one end of the island to the other for all the extracurricular activities. When we get back, Opa will come for a visit, so we’ll get a chance to show off the island life we love.

This afternoon was about picking up the gear we need for a week of skiing (these kids have the annoying habit of continuing to grow – it feels like a sisyphean task to keep them in clothes that fit – let alone in seasonal clothes…). And it was about exploring the city for the fun of it and eating Kaiten sushi. We also accidentally wandered into a Shinto shrine dedicated to all things love – smack dab in the middle of a bustling Osaka neighborhood. And we got our taiyaki fix… we’ve tried for the last three visits to get to a taiyaki stand and we just haven’t been able to make it work. There’s nothing quite as pleasurable as a hot taiyaki on a cold night. Tomorrow we’ll be up early to get some breakfast and head back to the airport. It’s gonna be cold in Hokkaido… it’s forecast to have a high of 31 degrees tomorrow…

4 thoughts on “Back to Osaka…?”

  1. Making us all hungry with the hot taiyaki on a cold night! 💗 Amelia’s soccer game sounded amazing! Seems like you need the Davis ski swap since those two keep growing so fast.

    1. I definitely miss the Davis ski swap! Shockingly, we haven’t yet found the Guam ski swap! 😉

      And you would have loved that taiyaki – it was so flavorful and crispy and warm… Yum indeed!

  2. Wow, I am so impressed that you have learned to navigate Japan so well! Mike and I are thinking of taking Savannah this summer, possibly in September, but we haven’t done anything yet in that direction so we’ll see. I’ll use these posts as travel guides, as we rarely go anywhere so all of this is useful information!

    1. Oh, you guys should definitely come! Let us know as your plans shape up – it would be fun to see you all while you’re in this part of the world! (But be wary of using these posts as travel guides – our style of travel is definitely haphazard…) 😉

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