Day 8--Japan and Home

Saturday, Nov. 28th we woke up and packed our bags and prepared to leave Japan and all the adventures behind. We have mixed emotions about leaving...sad to leave family we miss so much when we're away and happy to return to family we've missed while we've been away.


Luckily, we got to have one more Japanese experience before we left. Ethan Shion Shumway was starring as the Tin Woodsman in the Kindergarten Play, The Wizard of Oz so we walked over to his school and watched the performance. Even without understanding the language it was an amazing show because all of those little six-year-olds spoke out their lines and acted their parts so well. It was cute! They had darling costumes and were so excited to perform for their parents and grandparents. I give the show five stars!

Cowardly Lion, Tin Woodsman, Scarecrow and Flying Monkeys

Wicked Witch of the West

Our star and his parents following the show.

After the play, Mark caught a taxi and took us to the train station to catch a Bullet Train to Narita, one of Tokyo's airports. Mark walked us through the immense maze of the station and waited with us for our train.

We found our way through the airport and checked our bags, went through security and had a few minutes to spare. The noodle shop we chose for lunch took a long time to prepare our food and Kevin and Bryan had to gulp and slurp hot noodles in hurry for us to make our flight, so with scalded tongues we got on board and made another incredible journey across the sea. This flight was actually five hours shorter than our flight to Inchon not only because of less space to cover but also because we had tailwinds instead of headwinds.

Bry and Kev slurping noodles before leaving Japan.

We got through customs at Seattle/Tacoma airport and had a couple of hours to doze while we waited for the last leg of our journey home. The last flight was uneventful too and Rob was waiting for us at the airport. We were so happy to see him and to hear that all was well at home while we were away.

Cami was at home and was thrilled with the gifts we brought home, especially the beautiful hat her Aunt Nana purchased for her at a swank Tokyo shop.

Cami in her fashionable hat Nana purchased for her.

I spent the rest of the evening doing laundry, paying bills, sending the indexing reports to all the Bishops, Stake Presidency and ward newsletter editors. Then I crashed and slept until noon on Sunday. It is nice to be back and now I'll try to get back into a routine, but I'm definitely a different person, traveling changes a person and gives us a different view of the world. I feel so blessed to have been able to make this journey.