Forgive the belated nature of this post, but I’m still riding a wave of elation from my two-week R&R trip to Japan even though I’ve already been back to Iraq for almost a week now. I realize I didn’t post any updates during the trip, either, but I was having way too much fun.

The combined 13-plus hours of travel time were long but uneventful. Flying from Qatar to Hong Kong, I chatted with a studious British gentleman whose accent had kind of slowed to a crawl. Nice chap. I arrived in Hong Kong and quickly hopped onto my connecting flight to Narita Airport in Tokyo, more anxious than ever for my long-awaited reunion with Noriko and Rachel. Sure enough, I exited the terminal and saw them both waiting there for me, the two most beautiful sights I had seen in 10 months.

I quickly hugged and kissed my wife and then bent down say hello to my daughter. I managed to coax a cautious hug and an almost-whispered “Hello, Dada” from my understandably shy 4-year-old, who immediately hid behind Noriko’s leg after this exchange. I picked up my luggage and we hopped onto a shuttle bus that took us to our hotel near the airport.

On the bus, Rachel sat in the window seat on the opposite side of the aisle and stared at the passing cars, occasionally glancing at me and flashing a quick smile before turning away again. I pulled a small turquoise teddy bear with a TALLIL AB, IRAQ T-shirt from my carry-on bag and handed it to her. The way she lit up and beamed a toothy smile before grabbing the bear is something I’ll never forget. By the time we reached the hotel, practically every shred of Rachel’s shyness toward me was gone. I was truly amazed at how fast she was able to kick-start her memory of who this strange tall guy actually was.

The next morning, we took an express train to the station nearest her parents’ house in the countryside town of Tsukui. Dinner that night was a tray of gourmet sushi of which I happily ate more than my fill. Gluttony – tasty, delicious gluttony – was the overriding theme Noriko’s mother adopted when preparing the meals throughout my two-week stay. Just when I had eaten enough miso soup, kimchi, rice and nattō to test even the heartiest eater’s appetite, out she would come from the kitchen with a tray of sliced vegetables, fruit and yogurt.

The centerpiece of my entire trip was the first Tuesday when the three of us took a two-day, two night trip to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea, which was an absolute blast. Rachel had never been to either and she knew we were going, but it wasn’t until we were headed to the park on the Disneyland Express train – where the familiar mouse-shaped silhouette was everywhere – that she really began to get excited. Once in the gates, we couldn’t run to each ride fast enough. Big surprise: Despite Rachel being fairly young for fast-paced theme park roller coasters, she couldn’t get enough of them. She was able to hang with big boys like Space Mountain and Tower of Terror, jumping with giddy excitement afterward and shouting, “Again! Again!”

It should be noted that everything Rachel actually said was in perfectly fluent Japanese, as I expected. It wasn’t as tough to converse with her as I thought it was going to be. I actually surprised myself, displaying more of a knack for the language than I ever remembered having – and I picked up even more as the days passed.

The remainder of my time was more or less spent simply relaxing and catching up with my family, with the occasional shopping-and-looking-around day thrown in for good measure. I picked up a few import CDs and some gear for my Nintendo DS (which has now become a bona fide investment, but that’s a post for another time).

I purposely scheduled my trip to be there for my birthday, Noriko’s birthday and Mother’s Day. Noriko’s fell on the first day of our Disneyland trip and mine was the following week. Her parents treated us all to lunch at a very posh traditional Japanese restaurant (individual courses, relaxed atmosphere, that sort of thing). From our individual dining room, we had a gorgeous view of lush, green fauna, a cascading waterfall and a koi pond.

Leaving was tough; I really didn’t want to go back to Iraq. Noriko’s parents, as always, were the most gracious hosts I could have hoped for. And I can’t explain in words how wonderful it was to be reunited with my family, however brief the visit may have seemed. I’m back and I already miss them dearly again, but we only have a few remaining weeks until our unit returns to the U.S., so it’s not all bad.

I can’t wait.

Posted by · May 30, 2007 7:31 PM · Comments (0)