Catching Up With 2022

Last Christmas, we were devastated by the COVID spike of the new variant just a couple weeks before our holiday trip to Denmark. A year went by, and we made it happen this year. Luckily the snow came in a few days before our landing. We were welcomed by the frosty winter wonderland, which, in fact, doesn't happen that often in wet and cold Denmark. Our little Californian boy, Koa in his thick full body suite, was overwhelmed by the piercing cold air. We were at the tree farm the right next day to find our Christmas tree. Snow was thinning but still beautifully frosty over the trees. A horse carriage was transporting children, some in a cute nisse hat. We did some Christmas shopping buying some nisse dolls, which we don't have for the next years and sparkling hindbær and elderflower ciders to go with festive meals. Lastly, we took a little break from the coldness and had aebleskiver (Danish pancake balls) with some hot chocolate in the barn. We drove home with the biggest fresh tree we ever got in our lives.

Koa has been given a Christmas calendar gift every single day since December 1st. When the Christmas tree was up and all the gifts were laid out at the bottom, he also thought those were all his. He ended up getting toys that filled two big cardboard boxes in addition to our suitcases to bring home with. By the end of the trip, we were pretty much fed up with Christmas but this was what we really needed. No regrets this year, we happily transitioned to 2023 back home in LA.

From Fall To Winter 2022

I also want to look back and document some highlights in 2022. Since I started my job in the late summer, the time has flown so fast and chaotically that I got some catch up writing to do for the events that happened from fall to winter. It was indeed a packed year. One of the other memorable trips was visiting Japan in September.

In 2003, now we can call it "a classic movie" about Tokyo, 'Lost in Translation' came out and every visitor of this city wanted to do "the Suntory time" at some point during their stay. We have been away from Japan too long that it came back on us. We literally stayed at Park Hyatt for one of the nights and Nicolai had a chance to play Bob in a kimono robe sitting on a king size bed against the backdrop of the infinite cityscape of Tokyo. Koa had no idea but was excited running around in a big hotel room pulling everything and made the parents nervous as usual.

This was Koa's first trip to Japan. He was really lost in this mega city. The city was big but food was small. Starting off the day with miniaturized yogurt and breakfast sausages, he embarked on a new adventure. It was a typhoon season so we had many overcast days. Under the big cloud with a little sprinkle of rain, we wandered around the city. We stepped into random shops and did some "tabearuki" (walk and eat) here and there.

Koa met his cousins for the first time. Two girls have grown so much during the pandemic. We arranged to meet in yukata (summer kimono) at Hotel Gajoen, which is famous for its flamboyant Japanese-Chinese style architecture. Koa in a tiny yukata giggled many times while interacting with his cousins. It was cute to see the three kids, roughly three years apart from each other, getting along and having good time.

Before we knew the typhoon was coming, we expected hot and humid weather in Tokyo, so we planned one week in Karuizawa and arranged an Onsen trip to Kusatsu with the grandparents. Unfortunately I can't remember much from Karuizawa since I got a bad cold during the trip. Kusatsu was, on the other hand, made some impressions. I have seen this place in movies and TV shows. This little onsen village was steamy and a little smelly (due to the sulfur) but had some coziness. We stayed at Naraya, a Ryokan hidden on a narrow street a minute away from the busy central area called Yubatake (Hot water field.)

Leaving the sleeping baby and tired grandparents behind at the ryokan, Nicolai and I had a little bit of alone time walking around Yubatake. Kusatsu had this old town worn out feel but at night, the steam caught the blue and purple lights and created some mystifying atmosphere. We walked up the stone paved stairs leading up to the shrine at the top of the steep miniature hill. We prayed, bowed to the shrine, and turned around to look over the village in the purple hue. It was chilly but cozy. When we came back, the baby was awake and the food was ready to impress us.

Last Heat in Palm Springs

Back to LA, we switched gears for our next event. The Danish grandparents came to visit us in October. We went to a pumpkin patch in the first week and headed east to Palm Springs to feel the last heat of the year.

The house we rented was wonderful. We had a little swimming pool to cool down during the day and a jacuzzi to relax in the evenings. Koa and Uni were happy running around in the spacious backyard filled with soft fake lawns.

One of the days in Palm Springs, we visited Indiana Canyon for an adventure. Giant fan palms were impressive and made us look very small. It was a little oasis worth visiting.

Legoland and Thanksgiving

After we were back from Palm Springs, the air has gotten a lot chillier. We missed the dessert heat right away but at the same time, this was a sign that the holiday season was coming.

A week before Thanksgiving, we took a trip to Legoland in San Diego. Koa had a blast in the Duplo world and took some toddler friendly rides. The submarine ride was especially impressive even for the grownups. Overexcited parents bought too many boxes of Lego on the way out. Especially for Nicolai, seeing Koa in Legoland brought back some good old memories.

We concluded the fall season with the Thanksgiving dinner and did some Black Friday shopping online. We prepared our minds for Christmas in Denmark.

Greetings in Japanese

あけましておめでとうございます。あっという間に2023年に突入してしまいましたが、英文の方では2022年の後半を少し振り返らせてもらいました。

去年は本当にこれでもかというほど色々と詰め込んだ年となりました。パンデミックからのリバウンドというものでしょうか。何も出来なかった3年間を取り戻すかのようにたくさん旅をしました。最後はデンマークのクリスマスで締めくくり、満足感と達成感でいっぱいです。

2023年は少しスローダウンして、仕事はもちろん、怠けていたエクササイズの方も励みたいと思っています。今年の目標は健康面を大事にすることと、コロナも落ち着いたようだしLAでのソーシャルネットワークを広げることでしょうか。頑張りたいと思います。