Xanth.is: 07/01/2005

I´m not alone in this world!

Asuka lounging

Asuka
Originally uploaded by Gunnella73.

Minutes after I uploaded this image of Asuka it was posted unto a collective photo site ;-) so fame at last ;-P

Enjoying japanese weather

Enjoying japanese weather
Originally uploaded by Gunnella73.

Elena on Honjo bridge

Elena on Honjo bridge
Originally uploaded by Gunnella73.

Being here instead of there

Being here is so Amazing, and strangely enough it feels as if I havent been away for that long. Ta-kun, my little monkey brother is all grown up, but in his stead Elena has been awarded the honorary title of monkey chan ;-)
Honjo has changed a bit, it seems more full of contrasts, many of the old houses have been torn down to make way for bigger roads and fancier buildings but it still seems run down and forlorn in some ways.
Weve been amazingly busy since arriving here, the wedding (my sisters Asukas) was last weekend, so we all tottered up to Akita city and stayed at a hotel there the night before. Both brothers showed up at the same time, to be instantly taken in by Elenas charms never to be released ;-P vixen at age 6, dear me what will she be like at 13? ..
Being a part of a Japanese wedding was an experience in itself, so grand, so thoroughly calculated with every minute planned. Speeches from their bosses to bore everyone to tears and speaches from the friends to put them in a foolish light ;-) I was coerced into making a speech, an unprepaired one might I add, luckily for me the coordinator panicked over the change in schedule and hence I was under stricht orders to keep it under 2 minutes... suited me fine, got in thanks, a joke at which everyone laughed and congratulations, what else does a speech need ;-) And I did it in Japanese ! note!
Anyways, as things stand were here for two more days, then were off on a two day trip heading towards Tokyo, including a mazuri, a hot spring, Legoland, an historical village and a fairground. One night to be sent at a western style hotel and one night at a Japanese ryokan. Our last day here will then be spent visiting an Icelandic Japnese classmate (click on the link for a photo ;-)and hopefully galavanting around both the Ghibli museum as well as Akihabara ;-)

The Weddin pictures are in !!

Ragnar and Elena greeting Obachan and Ogjisan

The whole set is to be seen here

Eeeeek

DSCN5077
Originally uploaded by Gunnella73.

o.k. heres the proof finally that I am actually here along with the kids, but...wow I, the small one, look like an enourmous monster by comparison

The house where I used to live

DSCN5067
Originally uploaded by Gunnella73.

The kids standing in front of ogjisans and obachans house in Azasunagoshita :-D

At a roundabout sushi restaurant ;-)

DSCN5081
Originally uploaded by Gunnella73.

Playing in ogjisans backyard

DSCN5137
Originally uploaded by Gunnella73.

Finally made it to Akita :-)

DSCN5057
Originally uploaded by Gunnella73.

Still alive ;-P

Am still alive and well, although my eyes feel like they have a bag of sand under each eyelid and I feel like I:m on a ferry in bad sea (i.e. dizzy as hell)

We:ve made it to Japan, first time in seven years!!! everyone go YAY :-D

The trip was hard, espescially on the kids, first by car from Grundafjordur to Reykjavik, then flight to London, one night in a hotel (rather a few hours seeing as we had to be up at 5). Then a flight to Austria, Vienna, followed by gruelling 12 hours on an old rickety plane (thats what you get when you fly cheap) with only two movies shown both up on a screen far far away....., followed by a bus trip to Haneda airport where we waited for 6 hours before boarding the flight up to Akita :-D no wonder all the pictures of the kids are of them sleeping ;-P

It was great meeting the family again, and the strangest thing is that it doesnt seem like ages since I last saw them, one has merely settled into a comfortable relaxedness.... that is before all the wedding preparations begin ;-P

Until later... a few pictures..