New Life in the Big Apple

Below was written about two weeks after we moved to New York. Due to unforseen circumstances (i.e. the harsh reality of looking for a decent apartment in New York), I haven't had the time or been in the mood to really update this website. I promise to be better from now on:



Woa, it's been about two weeks since we moved to New York, and I think I am finally over my jet-lag. The funny thing was, Azuki experienced jet-lag too, and all of us (me, Matt, and the dog) would both get up in the middle of the night, all confused as to where we were. Azuki would think it's time to play, and we would groan at how much jet-lag sucked.

I have to say, our pup was a total trooper. After her examination at the Narita airport, we sat with her in the lobby, and then I took her out for a few last walks for her to relieve herself. She peed and pooped, and then after that, we basically checked in and stuck her in a cage, where she was taken by the airline personnel to somewhere, which I had no idea where. After Matt and I boarded the plane, I politely but very insistently asked the flight attendents to check to see if our dog was indeed boarded on the same flight (so she is not sent off to, for example, Korea, or China, where they eat creatures like her).

When we arrived she came out about 20 minutes later, all excited to see us! Actually, altogether she was probably locked away without food or water for over 16 hours. She seemed a little stressed, as her tongue was hanging out the side of her mouth, but very quickly settled down in the cab and was back to her old self, traveling between mine and Matt's laps, looking out the window to check out what was going on outside.

Our new apartment is definitely a lot smaller than expected, and Azuki seemed to be very confused at the new arrangement. Why is it so cold outside? Why are there carpets everywhere? No balcony?? She seemed to ask. So she decided to use the livingroom carpet as one big potty pad. For about a week or so she peed and pooped on the carpet, and not on her pad. I'm happy to say thta she only does that occasionally now when she misses. Walking outside was also a complete ordeal, as it took at least about 10 minutes to get ready to go out everytime. I'll update on that in more details later.

So this is our new life in New York! I'll write more as we settle into our new hood...

Last Posting in Tokyo

On Tuesday, Matt, Azuki, and I will be starting a new life in the big apple. I have been looking forward to this move for a long time now, but now that our time is coming to a close, there is some sadness as well.

There are many things that I will miss about our life in Tokyo. For one, the foooooood. We love the food here, whether it is Japanese, Korean, Italian, or French food. Second, I will miss the cherry blossom seasons every year, because it is probably one of the most beautiful things in nature that I have ever witnessed, and even after three years every time still feels like the first time. I will miss the saftey and cleaniness of the streets, and the general smoothness in which this very crowded city runs itself. Not ever having to watch my back in this city or even be on guard, is something that I will miss for sure. And although I complain about it sometimes, I miss the exclusiveness of my relationship with my husband here in Japan. Without any external drama from friends or family, we live in a cacoon in which our life mainly consists of work, Azuki, and each other. This exclusiveness, although at times could be lonely (you know, when Matt traveled 6 times to Hong Kong and two to new York in that 6 months frame last year), has also created a strong foundation for our relationship. We have become, truly, each other's best friends, the go-to-person for anything and everything, a team, and partners in life.

Last but not least, I will also miss the dog culture here as everyone seems to like dogs and Azuki has made many, many friends.

In fact, everyone around here seems to be sadder about Azuki leaving than us. This does make a lot of sense, since she is much more social than we are and has a lot more friends. Someone suggested a sayonara party for our dog, but not for us. And yesterday, we found a note and a present left outside our door, and the note says:

To Azuki,

Thank you for the fun times that we had together. I will miss you. Please run around a lot at the parks in New York, and take care of your health!

from, Chocolate (the white terrier upstairs)

This sentiment has been echoed by many, many who have come to love Azuki. Azuki in turns had an amazing one year life here in Tokyo, with her sole mission being getting the most pleasure out of life. I believe she has succeeded so far.

So, I would like to end this last Tokyo post with thanks to Azuki's friends out there, both humans and dogs. If she could talk, she would say:

"Thank you for being so nice to me even though I am really hyper. Thanks for playing with me (dogs) and for aways telling me that I am cute (humans). I love everyone and will miss everyone! Please come visit me in New York!"

Here is a picture of Azuki doing a formal Japanese bow. iro iro o cewa ni narimashta. Domo arigato gozaimasu!