Keeping You Posted ...: The 山口s go to Universal Studios ...

The Yamaguchi Family (山口 in kanji):

かずよ - Kazuyo - Mom

さとし - Satoshi - Dad

さだ - Sada - 15 year old son

たけ - Take - 13 year old son

かよこ - Kayoko - 10 year old daughter

さやか - Sayaka - 8 year old daughter

たら - Tara (yea, me) - 26 year old daughter

The 山口 family has been like an adoptive family to me since I have been in Japan. They're as amazing as they come and I am so incredibly lucky to have them. Satoshi (dad) is the principal of one of my schools and Kazuyo (mom) is the principal of my other school. I give English lessons to Kayoko and Sayaka (the daughters) and, although I don't spend a lot of time with them, I hear about Sada and Take (the boys) often. I want to pack them all in my suitcases and bring them back to America with me. The thought of them not being a part of my everyday is heartbreaking. Which is why I don't think about it. :)

So this year as my scary age birthday rolled around, Kazuyo got me tickets to USJ (Universal Studios Japan). I was so excited I almost (almost) started jumping up and down in the office at school. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! Then, to top it off, and not only did she buy the tickets, but she also volunteered to drive (or have dad drive) and make a whole family trip out of it. This time I really did jump up and down ... just like a little kid. DOUBLE TRIPLE HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

We left early on a Sunday morning (like 7:00am early) and headed to Osaka, but not before stopping to pick up a little McDonald's breakfast. Everyone was too excited to sleep on the two hour drive, so we watched some tv (so many Japanese cars have tvs built into the dash) to pass the time which evidently worked because we were there before we knew it. And I think partly because Satoshi drives like a maniac! :)

The 5 kiddos ... Me, Kayo, Saya, Take & Sada:

It was Christmas time ... so of course everything was decked out:

Including Santa Elmo ...
(Kayo & myself)

Walking around inside USJ was a little strange. Everything was designed up and constructed to be very American. It looked like America alright. There was an old style 50's diner, replicated townhouses, very American style shops and, to top it off, there were American mailboxes. That one really threw me off.

I was so excited about going on the rides ... even though they scare the crap out of me. Ask me sister ... as we're strapped onto the Superman at Six Flags, I'm convinced I'm going to have a heart attack. Or ask Bob boy about the time we were at Busch Gardens in Tampa and I had tears in my eyes while we were in line for Sheikra. Or talk to Amanda about the time we went on that roller coaster that was built on the top of some mountain and I screamed the entire time. I'm like a masochist ... it's so painful, but so much fun. So bring it on.

We went on Jaws first...

And then Jurassic Park ...

The line for the Hollywood Dream Coaster was 150 minutes long ...

We didn't wait, so I guess I'll just have to go back again. :)

But we did do Back to the Future ...

which reminded me of that terrible Body Wars ride we went on at Disney World that made everyone want to puke ... this was kind of the same. A simulator style that made me really dizzy & made Kazuyo scream so loud Kayo had to plug her ears. :)

And then there was Spiderman ...

Spiderman was amazing. It was in 3D so we had real nerdy glasses on and Spiderman was jumping all over the place and there was fire and we were scaling buildings with our web slinger whatever and dodging danger ... super cool. So everyone was stoked when we got off the ride and they said that there had been some sort of small glitch during our Spidey adventure (no one had noticed though) and they were going to take all of us to the front of the line and let us go one more time. Sweet.

We had to wait about 10 minutes while the maintenance team came in and did some sort of check up, but that beat the 95 minutes we waited in line the first time around. Next thing we know were strapped in again and ready for round two. Everything starts out great and just when we get to the part with the burning fire (right where we're suppose to climb up the side of the building) our car stops moving and starts kind of shaking a little bit and the lights start flickering on and off and we hear some sort of alarm going off ... I couldn't remember if I had heard that alarm the first go round, but the more I thought about it the more I was positive that wasn't part of the attraction. We sat there in silence for about 30 seconds while flames and alarms are going off and Spiderman's stuck on repeat saying "Let's go, let's go." Yea, lead the way out here.

Finally we got going again and slowly, but surely, made it off of Spiderman. The technical difficulty definitely cramped Spiderman's style and there wasn't the same kind of excitement when we got off the ride the second time. None of us were the least bit interested when they offered to take us to the front of the line again for round three.

After all that jazz, we had to get something to eat. Satoshi bought the most American thing they had ... corn dogs, which they actually call 'American dogs' in Japan, and coke.

Just me & Kayo:

and Sada & Take:

and all these people:

I was really looking forward to seeing a mini version of the musical Wicked at USJ. I've been wanting to see the real deal forever and I was really bummed when my family went to Chicago to see if over Thanksgiving. Granted it was only a 30 minute condensed version, but it was so good.

AND ... we weren't supposed to take pictures or videos inside and, since I follow all of the rules all the time, I didn't. But I did find someone else's video on youtube. It's kind of cool because it's like half English and half Japanese. Check, check, check, check it out ... WICKED!!

To finish up the day we did a little shopping, went on E.T., and watched fireworks (which I absolutely love). Somewhere in all the fun the sun had gone down and the whole park was lit up with so many Christmas lights it was hard not to feel 'in the spirit'.