Have a seat and some tea and cookies!

Soubs, said it before, say it again, hang in. The boys will eventually grow up (and away from the influence) and make up their own minds.

It might take a medical event (where they need to know your med history - or that of your family) for them to need to ask.

Live the moment with the new arrivals, enjoy!!

Are the boys really into their mum now anyway?

Not really. She's efficient and they are loyal, but there's no warmth. Let me put it this way. They are always really eager to come to Japan, and very low when it's time to go home. I realise in part it's the difference between holidays and the reality of school, but I'd like to believe there's a bit more than that.

JA. It's Fattwins with the new arrivals, not me

OOPS!!! Mea culpa.

Just ignore me - that was a brain fart!

Isn't US and Canada about the same distance for Aussies?

No, it's lot further. Plus there's little time change coming to Japan = no jetlag

Sheesh!!

Take a gander at the globe. 10hours Sydney-Tokyo non-stop. Almost zero time difference.

Dunno the times to Western US, but we are looking at a time difference of +10 (Aus) to -10(US)hours. Enormous jetlag.

Okay - I have flown Perth to Narita, and Perth to LAX (I have not done the NY entry yet, but I do believe that is longer).

USA It took 14 hrs of continuous flight to get to USA AFTER we left Sydney - so add another 6 hours onto that journey easily - when you factor in the plane change, terminal change and customs...more than 20 hours later we are in the continental United States! And we have a massive time shift to adjust to.

Japan From Perth it is not 10 hrs - I think it was 8 hours from memory (direct). That is an overnight flight - so assuming you can sleep on the plane (which I rarely do) you have a very easy trip. And there is NO time difference (unless there is a daylight savings hiccup at some point - but there wasn't in January) between Perth and Tokyo/Niseko.

No competition really. Shorter flight. Deeper snow. Same time zone. And better food.

Having said that - the family are angling for a trip to USA/Canada just for the experience - ya can't knock it until you have tried it huh?

But there are very good reasons why Aussies love Japan, in particular Aussie families with kids that wont sit still on the plane!!

Thanks, Mama.

I was, of course, talking East Coast Oz.

There are advantages to US, though. The language isn't (too much of) a problem. Although I do not think I will ever get used to the concept of "SOB" being acceptable while son-of-a-bitch isn't (they are the same thing, really!).

However, after a few weeks of Pimsleur Japanese lessons, the language is not such a problem - demo, mada josu j'arimasen.

Perth - Tokyo QF09 is 23.00 to 09.55. Minus an hours time difference, that`s 10 hours.

FWIW, Air Asia will start flying services from Gold Coast and Perth via KL to Ibaraki airport, NE of Tokyo. That`s going to be cheaper and much more convenient than Narita for anyone wanting to travel north.

Ibaraki, interesting. They have an international airport there? (more fingerprinting machines to be manifested).

Which places of interest will that be near then?

Tohoku

Ibaraki has a military airport, and they are building a civilian terminal. There won't be the exorbitant landing fees a la Narita, and it will save me about two hours travel.

whereabouts in Ibaraki?
Could this become a hub for cheap flights to and from Asia?

Thanks Soubs - I was sure it was not 10hrs when we flew - but I could have just been giddy at not having to do a 20 hr journey!! LOL You know us West Aussies - it is a long plane flight to get ANYWHERE - even in your own country!

JA - don't be so sure about the language difficulties....when we were in the US I had to interpret for Papabear. He could understand but not make himself understood - SERIOUSLY! He would come back from a takeaway run (he drove - not me the silly buggers drive on the wrong side of the road!!) and throw the haul on the table and say "DON'T ASK!!! We have whatever we have - I could not get my message through to those people!!". It was absolutely bizarre. But being an interpreter (and a bit of a chameleon) I picked up accents and terminology FAST....so it was my job to buy stuff, order food, ask for directions etc etc. I think he did better with Japanese!!!

Wiki

"Hyakuri Airfield (百里飛行場, Hyakuri Hikōjō?) or Hyakuri Air Base is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force air base in the city of Omitama, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2007, construction of facilities for joint use for civil aviation is in progress. Upon completion it will be known as Ibaraki Airport, with service to the cities of Naha, Fukuoka, Osaka, and Sapporo with its opening in 2009. This will slightly help relieve Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) from overload, as it is closer (and potentially cheaper) than Narita and Fukushima Airport for approximately two million people who will be able to bypass Tokyo air traffic."

It's here. It's very convenient if you are coming from the north or from somewhere like Niigata. Close to the JoBan Expressway, which we need to use to get to Narita anyway. It also saves the horrible crawl from Tsukuba to Narita.

I am surprised they will do flight to Australia from that airport. It is quite near to Tsukuba.

Were there not stories from other areas as well? Off hand I seem to rememeber a few coming from Hakuba, and not even involving Aussies. No?

There were stories, yes.

I don't know if the nude race down Echoland was true though...