“Okay, mama, I bought Lyena a ticket to come visit me for two weeks in October”, that was what I told my mom sometimes this past summer. “Bad news is that she has to fly with Russian Aeroflot….so brace yourselves”. (all right, all right, no more Russian jokes from me).
We, especially the kids, were so excited to have my sister come and stay with us. They could hardly contain themselves at the Misawa airport. My sister, Lyena, is a brave young woman. We were a little worried about her travelling alone knowing that she had an eight hour layover in Moscow and then had to transfer on her own from Narita to Haneda airport in Tokyo and wait several more hours for her plane. Everything went fantastically (except getting into a fight with one crazy Russian lady, but that’s another story).
Last time I saw my sister was when I was still pregnant with Mark—two years ago. She has changed quite a bit…..yeah, she is not a baby any more.
Robert and I had planned quite an intensive sightseeing program for the first couple days that Lyena was in Misawa, mostly because Robert had two days off. Of course, everything was very exciting and interesting to her. And I am glad she acclaimed a very positive opinion about Japanese people and their country.
We went to Fish Market in Hachinohe
Kabushima Island in Hachinohe
Miss Veedol Beach
Our favorite noodle shop for kids
Then the next day we drove to Aomori’s famous Big Buddha, ate a truly American lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at thebeach park in central Aomori area, and drove through Oirase Gorge on the way back.
It seems to have become a tradition that my sister’s visits always coincide with celebrating of Halloween. So AGAIN she was carving pumpkins with us for Family Home Evening, helping Katya to make a “pretty pumpkin”.
She also went to eat lunch with both Katya and Alex at their school—quite a special occasion for my kids. And right before Halloween, she came to Katya’s class to help out with their Halloween festivities.
Lyena as a flamenco dancer.
Komaki Onsen-feeding the fish. 
Probably the highlight of her stay in Misawa was her opportunity to spend a day as a normal American teenager—thanks to our great friends, she got to go to high school! She begged me to let her go twice…of course I did. AND I even let her go hang out with her friends for most of Saturday on lake Ogawarako’s shore, even though it was her last day here in Misawa with our family. Oh, teenagers….
After spending nine days in Misawa, Lyena said goodbye to Robert and kids and hopped on a train to Tokyo. Of course, I got to go with her-hehehe. But that is my next post’s material.
Good night for now.
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