Just some thoughts as this trip is winding down...

Thoughts from Jill:

Some people ask how I get along with my mother-in-law since there is a language barrier -- I do not speak Japanese and she doesn't speak English. But it's that language barrier that makes our relationship amicable. We go out of each other's way to communicate and make each other comfortable. I wasn't always this comfortable. I remember I was so nervous during my first trip to Japan in December 2005. I would constantly analyze if I was holding the chopsticks right or if I was slurping the soup loud enough. I thought she would be judging my every move.

Since then, my mother-in-law has visited my Kentucky home three times (all within the last year and a half since Kekoa was born.) During each visit, she communicated in her broken English and I spoke in my broken Japanese. During those moments I realized we had something that transcends language barriers -- love and care toward Yuya and Kekoa. I realized that Yuya's mom is part of who he is. She had the foresight to know that Yuya was better off to study and live in the United States and let him go when he was 15 years old. Yuya has lived away from his parents since that time, visiting only during the holidays or school breaks. That decision and her faith was such a pivotal moment to who Yuya is today.

Kekoa knows ba-ba (nickname for obaachan, grandmother in Japanese). He was comfortable with her since the first day of the trip and calls her by name. When ba-ba first came to Kentucky in August 2007 to take care of Kekoa when I started work, I told Yuya I was worried to be alone with her. I thought, how are we going to communicate?!? The first day she came, Yuya was at work and ba-ba and I were taking care of 4-month-old Kekoa. Then I pulled out the camera and started taking pictures of Kekoa in all the new outfits ba-ba brought from Japan. Yuya told me later she loved it and loved how I made a scrapbook of all those photos.

We only have one more day here in Japan and I am trying to soak in everything about this place. But I am bringing back home a greater determination to learn the Japanese language. I want to be an example to Kekoa because I want Kekoa to have a command of the Japanese language. I want him to love and respect his Japanese heritage and his grandparents just as much as I do.