Home

OK. Don’t judge me. While in Japan, we only went to McDonald’s once. At the airport. On the way home. But I loved this Tsukimi shake! In Japan, in the autumn months, the moon is especially bright, so people gather to celebrate the harvest and take part in “Tsukimi,” or moon viewing events. All the special McDonald’s Tsukimi burgers have an egg on them, or “the moon in the form of a fried egg.” My milkshake did not have an egg, but it had “the toasty sweet taste of autumn in a cup.” And I loved this image on the cup of the rabbits watching the full moon. Why don’t the McDonald’s here in the US do cool things like this?

Maybe one of the best parts of traveling is that moment when you finally find yourself back at your front door again: key in hand, stepping over the threshold. Home.

It’s a gift that you only get after going away, just one of many that travel delivers. And no doubt, traveling is a gift, one that I don’t take for granted, since being able to move around the world with a US passport is a luxury that many do not have.

My son and I are just back from ten days in Tokyo (including a day trip on an express train to see Mt. Fuji). I wouldn’t trade those days for anything. And yet? I was so glad to get home again yesterday. Home with my garden where I went out this evening and picked a zucchini and cherry tomatoes, eggplant and squash. Home with a shower and toilet that I didn’t need to use Google translate for. Home with crickets chirping out the window and windows I can open. Home.

We flew out of Tokyo Friday around 4:00 pm Tokyo time, were in the air for nearly ten hours, and got into San Jose around 10:00 am Friday, which was technically six hours before we left. My brain still has trouble comprehending that it is possible to travel back in time, that it’s not just science fiction. Note to self: On the way out to Tokyo, we left around noon California time and arrived in Tokyo the next day, quite frazzled. If you are not aware of this, and do not think to do your Wordle before collapsing after the long journey, you will wreck your Wordle streak. Sad!

So it is good to be home now, but our body clocks are still wonky, and probably will be for a few days. My beloved son didn’t wake up until 1:00 pm this afternoon. I was wide awake at midnight. Finally got to sleep, and definitely could have slept longer, but sweet Biscuit decided it was past time for me to be up. So I threw clothes in the washer (there is always laundry), made green tea with tea bags from Japan, baked chicken in the oven before it got too hot out since the temperature was set to get to nearly 90 today, unpacked my suitcase, and decided where some of my souvenirs would live, including a tiny, smiling Buddha statue. And as I puttered around the house, happy to be here, I thought about the things that I want to hold onto, that I want to remember, from our trip:

The way that the 7-11 stores sell ramen and rice bowls, soups and salads, and the kind clerks offer to heat up your soup and dinner plates if you’d like, and always make sure to include utensils, including chopsticks, and occasionally forks for people who look like me.

Also? The fact that Tokyo is, without a doubt, home to the cleanest public bathrooms that I have ever seen. Which sets it apart from most places I have traveled to, including the US. I was lucky enough to have lunch with a dear friend from college who lives in Tokyo now. I asked, “Are folks from Japan horrified the first time they step into a gas station bathroom in the US?”

“Yes,” she said.

Yes, they are.

So if you are feeling a little unsure of your digestive issues, which is something that can happen when you are traveling and eating unfamiliar foods or possibly eating primarily noodles and rice and not many vegetables, have no fear about finding clean, public restrooms in Tokyo. They are everywhere! Every toilet I encountered, even the ones at train stations and the malls, had bidets. Luxury! Most of them also had little dispensers of toilet seat cleaning solution on the wall by the toilet, so you could disinfect the seat if you wanted. None of this paper toilet seat coverage stuff, the kind we have here, that usually falls into the toilet before you even have a chance to sit down. They also had little chairs attached to the side of the stalls, which would hold a baby or toddler. Made me remember those days long ago when I would desperately try to hold one of my babies and go to the bathroom in a public place at the same time. It wasn’t easy. Oh! And all of the bathroom door stalls go all the way to the floor. So you never see feet sticking out. Talk about privacy.

It seems like they’ve thought of so many things, simple things, to make life nicer.

(I realize that it is interesting that about half of this post is about bathrooms. Honestly, the bathrooms were not a major part of our trip and were not the high point. But the fact that they were so different and clean and lovely? Noteworthy!)

The public transportation system in Tokyo is also marvelous. There was no need for us to rent a car (especially since they drive on the left side of the road there, and that would be a little confusing for me). And Google maps makes it easy to get around. Just put in where you are, where you want to go, and multiple options pop up. We loaded our Suica transportation cards when we first arrived with 2000 yen each (about $14), and that lasted for days. The underground train stations are full of restaurants and even shopping malls. We could have eaten for days at the options at the station that was closest to our hotel.

Also, (so you don’t think we were only eating and visiting public restrooms the entire time we were there):

A visit to a school where they teach Cha-Do, which is Japanese for “Way of Tea,” and the ceremonial way the hostess served us matcha tea and traditional sweets. A ride up a tram for a view of Mt. Fuji, just as the clouds near the peak were clearing.  A morning at the shrine for the 37 foot tall, bronze Buddha of Kamakura statue, a national treasure that was constructed in the 13^th century.

Mostly? What I want to remember: time with my son. We were not always our best. Both of us had anxious moments and cranky moments, times when our shadows showed. But that is another gift of travel! It helps your shadow come out. And once that shadow is in the light? The dark dissipates. This trip brought us closer. Also? Something about this trip, traipsing around the Tokyo subway system, deciding where to eat every night, made us a little punchy at times, so we laughed. A lot. More than we had in a long time.

So tonight, Saturday, I am at the kitchen table again, remembering, writing, and listening to the music that is drifting in from the hotel up the street. There’s a live band; must have been a wedding there today, which is something that doesn’t happen often. They’ll stop soon, since this isn’t the kind of town where music can go much past 9:00 pm.  It’s good to be home. And also? I think as soon as I get my body clock readjusted to California time? I will probably start dreaming about travel again.