Coming Back Early
Our original plan was to return to Philadelphia on June 26, but Maria and I have decided that I should come back early with the boys. So I’ll be flying back with Kai and Eidan on May 28. The main reason is that Maria will be away for most of June on business trips (she’s being sent to the Philippines and Vietnam to evaluate a couple of JBIC projects), and it’ll be easier for me to handle the boys on my own in Philadelphia than Tokyo. Kai will re-join his old class for a few weeks, and he’ll graduate from kindergarten…again! (He graduated from kindergarten in Tokyo in March). Eidan is also old enough now to start in the daycare program at the same school. So I’ll still be working part-time in June, but I’ll be able to go into the office for part of the day.
Also, after having a wonderful time in kindergarten here, Kai is having a miserable time in 1st grade. Kindergarten was mostly playtime and arts and crafts, so it didn’t matter much that he couldn’t speak Japanese. Also, there were a couple boys in his class who spoke Japanese and English, and they helped him out. But now he sits at a desk all day and doesn’t understand most of what’s going on, and none of his classmates speak English. He was supposed to get Japanese lessons, but the school has yet to find a teacher, so nothing has come of that so far (there are some other foreign kids in the class, but they don’t speak English, so they’ve been trying to find a teacher who speaks 3 or 4 languages). If we were going to stay for a year or more, then it would be worth it for him to tough it out, as he’s at the right age where he can learn through immersion. But we’re not here long enough for him to really benefit from the experience. He’s eagerly looking forward to re-joining his old class and seeing his old friends.
What I’m fearing is the 14 hour flight to Chicago, plus the 2 hour flight to Philly, with Eidan, AKA Baby Godzilla. I keep getting flashes in my head of a panicked John Lithgow from the Twilight Zone movie: “There’s a man on the wing of this plane!” But it’ll be Eidan out there, maniacally and gleefully tearing the engines apart with his bare hands. Wish me luck.
