Looking Back: Out of Asia

Ok, this post is a bit after the fact, but in October we went to Portland, Oregon, USA (USA! USA!). Mother had a conference there, Ara went following her food source, and father went to carry spears and watch World Series of Poker on ESPN. Luckily, Portland is located on the same coast as much of Ara's extended family, so the conditions were right for some first meetings. We flew for 5 hours to Tokyo, and then another 9 to Portland. Yes, you can fly from Tokyo to Portland. As a veteran of air travel, Ara had no trouble with a slightly longer flight. Her only condition was that she be held by someone standing up the entire time. Luckily there was a good spot in the back where other parents were doing the same thing. One set of parents dead set against enjoying life had 3 kids under 5. The flight attendants alternated between being friendly and reminding us that the fasten seat belt sign was on (it never actually goes off) and that we were responsible if anything went wrong. Seven (!) people from Ara's grand-generation came from BC and California to see the little monster in action. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were replaced with clothing, blankets, and little shoes. Farmar and Brian met us at the airport and whisked us off to their Hotel where Heather waited. For an hour or so Ara entertained the room with her cooing and smiles. It was very festive. Grandfather arrived a few hours later to see Ara sleep. When she woke a few hours later the whole scene was repeated. That night we feasted on seafood at a nice spacious American restaurant. Ara was very good and only had to be taken outside screaming once. We all took a turn holding her so the others could eat. Maybe she fell asleep at some point. A day or two later, Mother was in the swing of the conference and Gordon, Mark, and Donna arrived. More first meetings, more laughing, and more photos. Ara never really got the hang of sleeping during the night, so we didn't force it. We just stayed up all night long in our hotel room, keeping her entertained and watching HBO. When she got fussy, we headed down to the enormous lobby and walked up and down the halls. During these lobby sessions, Elisa pioneered the side shuffle toward the mirror which made Ara laugh really hard for the first time. It was the perfect joke as it combined two of Ara's favourite humour (too much canadian spelling?) elements: depth perception and movement. In order to get any sleep at all, we got into a good routine where dad bundled Ara up and stuffed a bag full of provisions and marched her over to the extended family hotel for playtime and a nap. After a few hours of sleep and an hour of World Series of Poker, dad would join the party while mom went to work the conference. After a few days, the service was enhanced and farmar collected her from our hotel. Of course she slept like a baby (hah!) once she got there making it look easy. At the end of the week, mother had finished doing her thing and farmar took us to the airport. Another exhausting 15 hours of flying later we were home! All in all, the whole thing was immensely successful and a good time was had by all. Portland ended up being as good a meeing place as any. People there were very friendly and intelligent, and the air was clean and crisp. I didn't get much of a sense of the place, but I think I can summarize it by saying that there is a high hipster per capita ratio, one gigantic bookstore, and a collection of bridges that they may or may not take pride in. Also they have very coordinated traffic signals. J-walking is nearly impossible. I wouldn't even try it if I were you. Nope, don't do it. Not recommended... Where will Ara go next?