Hope

I finally am updating this blog since the disaster.  My family is doing fine.  But I have to admit it was like a roller coaster ride emotionally.  I finally feel settled down though.
My daughter and I were going to visit my parents on 19th.  We had to cancel the trip.
I can't describe how much it hurt me to read about the people who are effected by the earthquake and Tsunami, how much I am worried about my parents even though they are in Yokohama, and how much I'm concerned about the future of the country that I grow up in.  I was so depressed for last 2 weeks.  I am still worried.  My worries won't go away until the nuclear reactors are taken cake of.  But my parents are spending everyday as usual even though there is some inconvenience.  I hope we can get together soon.

I took my daughter to Asheville, NC since our plan to visit Japan during the spring break was not happening.  It's almost her birthday so it was like a early birthday celebration.  I too needed to get away for a while.  From the house renovation chaos.  From the potty training for a puppy we adopted that was driving me nuts in the current conditions.  From the frustrating 3 months long attempt to get my new defected dish washer exchanged.   From the news that makes me so worried and scared.
We had a nice mother and daughter time.  The weather was nice and warm.  The flowers were blooming.  I   finally felt seine for first time in 2 weeks.

Since where we live in East Tennessee, it is not easy to get good French, we went to a nice French restaurant.  We ate at a authentic Thai restaurant which doesn't exist around our town.  Unfortunately, Sushi was just passable, not that good.  I guess I can't ask too much.  We are in Appalachia to begin with.  The fresh seafood is not a mountain thing.  But we enjoyed eating North Carolina BBQ.  We also had modernized southern food which really suited my taste.

We went to Western North Carolina Farmers Market.  It's open all year around.  We bought jars of jams and pickles.  We also got ham, bacon and 2 lb. block of Amish butter.  We decided to snack on what we got.  My daughter washed a tomato and bit it.  I found Croissants from a corner which was run by a French men.  He told me that he was a french guy and the French makes everything tasty with thick French accent.  It made me smile.  How I wished I had a nice cup of Cafe au lait with it.   We opened the jar of pickled eggs.

It's so pink....It is kind of pretty if you don't think it's food....  But I ate it anyway.

My daughter likes sour food so she enjoyed it.  I think it's too sour.  But having a bite of sweet tomato balanced the flavor.

 We saw lots of flowers blooming.  I was so happy to see Cherry Blossoms.  Such a delicate pink unlike the pickled eggs.  Nothing too extravagant about it, but it simply is so pretty.

 Is there a Japanese person who don't like this flower?  It's the sign of spring.  People get together under the Cherry trees to have parties in spring.  

 Since the school year starts in April in Japan, the sight of Cherry Blossoms brought me back the feelings of hope and expectation for new start.  I needed it.

I hope they will bloom soon in Japan, and bring hopes to everybody there, too.