We just spent an amazing 4 weeks in the Amazon Basin where our girls were born,
but now the time has come for us to get back home to Japan.
Our journey takes us through winter in Brazil’s largest city, through the hot desert of the middle east
and finally to Japan where where one surprise leaves us stranded on the road
and another leaves us with a questionable future.
Make sure to watch to the end on this episode of Life in Japan.
[Life in Japan Theme Song]
Mid August 2022
We’ve flown internationally to Japan several times, so we know the routine.
But this time our journey will take 5 days and end with a bang.
Isn't that cool how we just get so close to it?
Here we go!
We could tell by the way things got started that it would be quite a journey indeed.
Look at that!
It's not on fire, it's just cool.
But things didn’t look good, and it turned out that it wasn’t.
So what's going on?
Are we not going to be able to go back to Japan?!
Yea! But no. But yea!
There was a technical problem that showed up after we were all clear to go
So we have to go back to the gate and await further instructions.
Oh my.
Wait, so we need to get off the plane? I don't know.
Almost an hour and a half later...
We're finally going...
We're finally going!
We're on the runway, it's been about an hour and half
One hour and a half late!
Late! Delays, ahh!
And we have a flight to catch.
And we still have a flight to catch, and we need to eat lunch
We haven't eaten yet.
Yea, that probably won't happen.
Uhhhh.
Aww, I'm still so starving.
The little point between the Amazon River and the *Tapajos River
We went up and down that a couple times too.
On our last episode, we documented our whole summer in Brazil,
and on that trip we went up this part of the Amazon River a couple of times by boat.
It was an adventure like no other, one that we’ll remember fondly.
Now, we’re enjoying our last views of the Amazon from high above.
Over two hours later, we were descending to Brasilia and only had 30 minutes to get to our next flight.
Things would be tight.
What's going on Sarah?
Joshua and Daniel all of a sudden got out (slept).
Joshua lays on Daniel, and Daniel lays on the wall.
They are out out out.
We hurried on over to our next gate only to find it was already boarding,
but near it was something that would save our lunch.
Anna, what's going on here?
Getting McDonalds?
We're getting McDonalds! Do you think we have enough time?
I just prayed so yes!
This is what you call a mega-fast bite to eat!
Oh! Get it in, get it done!
Here comes the Sene crew.
Since São Paulo is far south of the equator, they are experiencing winter right now,
which after a month of the heat of the Amazon doesn’t sound too bad.
Sarah, the sunsets going through, did you see?
Right now it's so bright in here.
Hey guys, what's up?
What's up, the sky is up.
The sky is up?! Is that what's up?
We’re going to stay at Ruth’s sister’s house with their family before catching our international flights back to Japan.
We are already preparing ourselves mentally for the long trip back.
São Paulo
Look at these little buddies here.
This is one of the trickier landings there are right in the middle of the city.
São Paulo’s Congonhas airport needs to limit the size of the airplanes that comes in because of the short length of the runaway and small gates.
A pilot needs to do his best when flying in and out of here,
so passengers are always relieved once the plane is safely down on the ground and up to the gate.
We got our bags and found a couple of Uber car rides to the Sene’s house where we would rest up before our big trip.
Where are we?
At uncle Bruno's house.
At uncle Bruno's and Aunt Beth's? Wow!
They have a dog at their house!
They have a dog, oh, let's go see!
Isn't she so cute?!
Oh my goodness, is that Zoe!?
Calm down, Zoe, calm down!
We get to stay a couple of days with Beth and Bruno here,
And then we're going to head back to Japan
But before we do, we get to enjoy a little time with family here.
This is amazing!
Careful, don't kick Zoe in the process!
Oh dinner! Oh look at this, it looks so good!
With our little bit of time in the cold of São Paulo’s winter, the cousins enjoyed some time together indoors.
Somebody said the floor is hot.
We took a stroll through the neighborhood and looked for things to do that would help keep us warm.
What is everyone doing here? They're all working out.
That's right, work out before we get on the plane.
Then Bruno prepared to send us off in good Brazilian fashion.
Our tradition before leaving Japan is to have some sushi.
Well in Brazil, Bruno is sending us off the right way... with churrasco (Brazilian BBQ)
Ahh! Come on!
Dear Jesus, thank you so much for this day, thank you for this food, thank you that we're all still alive and not frozen.
Help us all to stay healthy, wealthy and wise
And bless our trip to Japan. In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen! Bless this food to our use too!
Whew, chilly breeze!
Welcome to... what was it called again?
Life in Japan?
No, uh this.
It's a "pine corn?"
A "Pine cone."
A Pine Cone, ok.
Welcome to the biggest pinecone I ever saw.
That is ginormous, isn't it?
It's as big as my hand.
That's amazing.
Here.
But doesn't this make you feel like you're in Japan?
Look at the little obstacle course.
Look at you.
I'm doing it the hard way.
Gotta have good balance.
Quite the tree there. A lot of people fit into it at once.
Soon we’ll be back in the heat of the Japanese summer, so we’re enjoying these last moments in the cold.
It's the winter here, so fire feels awesome.
And guess what goes great in the winter time? Chicken Noodle Soup.
It's the best soup ever.
Chicken Noodle Soup is pretty much the best soup ever.
It is glorious!
It's the last moments before we leave, the kids are playing some video games
And we're about to get into our cars, go to the airport
And then grab two super long flights back to Japan.
This is it.
We're going to go now?
Yep, so give everybody hugs. Bye guys.
What a fun time we had with all of you.
Oh my goodness.
Can I have a big hug? Oh, I love you so much.
We said our goodbyes and then headed to Guarulhos, São Paulo’s bigger, international airport.
Our flight would leave at 3 in the morning, and everyone was tired and ready to sleep.
Everyone was emotionally and physically spent, so we ended up sleeping most of the first flight, only waking up again once we were over Africa.
Coming into Doha.
There's are long long trip from São Paulo to Doha, just about completed now.
We're going to land.
The airport is right on the coast.
Good landing please
So girls, we left at— what time was it?
2 AM
It was like 2 in the morning
And arrived at 11 PM
And flew for 15 hours.
And the desert at night is 36 C
With a lot of walking and a little layover, we were on the next plane and ready to go.
Well Dude, here goes our last takeoff.
How's it look there? Good?
Look at this: flying over Dubai.
Look, you can see the tallest building in the world, the Burn Khalifa.
It kind of looks like a Christmas tree. Do you see it down there Becca?
Who knew we were going to see that tonight? That is cool.
The last leg of the journey turned out to feel the shortest, because everyone was so tired they slept most of the way.
Only once we were near Japan did we wake up again.
Everyone was really looking forward to getting home,
but to do that we would have to clear the entry process, go through customs, get to our car and drive home.
Our bodies were so confused at what time it was,
because the nights on the plane were so short, and soon it would become night in Japan as well.
We just landed it in Japan Dude! Oh, finally!
How did that all go there?
Fine. Smooth. Sarah slept the entire flight.
Wow Sarah, good job honey!
I think Joshua slept most of the flight too.
A few hours later, we were on the road,
heading back home on a trip that was to be much longer than anticipated.
We're are heading home finally.
There was two epic long flights
But the way back was really cool.
As we flew over the Himalaya mountains
[strange noise]
What happened Nate?
I don't know.
Flat tire.
Is it? Maybe we have a flat tire.
I was literally talking on camera and we had a funny sound happen in the car
We thought we had a flat tire, so I pulled over
It wasn't a flat tire, we open the hood
And I could see a belt going around and it was frayed.
And then the belt broke and some of the warning lights came on
So we are stuck on the side of the road here in Chiba, it's hot...
We had to call and get a wrecker (tow truck) but it was hard to hear and remember our Japanese
So they're supposed to be coming, they're going to tow us to a safe place
Where then we have the wonderful Ben Block coming to pick us up with all of our stuff and take us home.
Wow, what an end to this trip.
Huh guys? Not expected.
OK, the wrecker has made it.
The police are behind us and the wrecker is in front of us.
It feels like there's 10,000 police.
Well, we're up on it, and he said just wait here, right?
Well, we stay in the car to get towed, and that's my first experience with that.
Yea, me too.
Here we go guys, the cops behind us...
[Singing] The cops behind us...
This is not how I saw today ending, but you know...
Praise the Lord for roadside assistance. This is like one of the best things ever.
Alright, our knight in shining armor here!
Came with his van to pick us up an hour from home.
Got him out of bed. That's right.
Oh man, that's what you call a solid.
Alright, let's load up?
Ben saved us in a big way,
but getting home we had a discovery that was an even bigger shock yet…
Look at this! Here we are...
Fuji san is just over there
Just over there, Mt Fuji.
Ah, we are back home finally!
Can I tell the bad news?
What's the bad news?
They cut all of the... No! I'm telling it!
I went into the back yard, and all the trees were [knocked over] on the ground.
Even our pretty rose tree.
Bam, on the ground.
That means we're going to MOVE!