No, there was no problem with the rental company or with the or airline or with getting through security.
My wife is coming down with a cold.
And that made Kai stress out.
As you may recall, my wife got sick over our Spring Break vacation and then Kai got sick. With my wife starting to feel sick now, Kai was certain that he would be next.
At the airport, Kai went on and on about how bad things happen in Okinawa. And how he is so stressed out. And how he has so much anxiety in Japan because he cannot understand the language. And how he feels like he wants to see doctor because he can’t handle all the stress.
I tried to talk to him calmly to have him calm down. I told him that Mom and I were there for him so he didn’t need to worry about not understanding Japanese. That he was fine and that he might not get sick. That the stress was self-created and it would only increase his chance of getting sick so he just needed to take deep breaths and calm down.
Of course, none of that made a difference.
Kai continued to be be upset, at one point laying down on the floor in the airport.
Kai obviously has a severe issue with anxiety. It is part of his disability. I want to help him, and it is so frustrating when nothing I say or do helps him, and sometimes just elevates his emotions more.
I tend to be a very logical person, and like to deal with others in a rational manner. But there seems to be no talking sense to someone in this state of anxiety.
At some point in all of this, it dawned on me that in our haste to pack up and get to the airport this morning, we again forgot to give Kai his medication. The most important of these is supposed to address his anxiety.
We had put Kai’s medicines in our luggage that was already checked in. My wife went to speak with the ANA airline personnel to see if they could still retrieve our bags for us. It took awhile, but they were able to retrieve our luggage and we gave Kai his medication.
We also gave him some over-the-counter medicines my wife bought the day before for her cold. More than anything, the psychological effect of taking a cold medicine seemed to make the biggest difference in getting Kai to calm down.
As time passed and Kai calmed down, he talked about how he gets very upset when he is anxious. He said that he likes going on vacation with us but he gets very upset when he is worried about the bad things that might happen.
So, we have some things to work on until our next vacation.
We got bento for lunch. My wife and I got maki rolls made with spam and eggs.
I also got some rice crackers made with squid and taco seasoning as well as mango juice.
Everything was good!
The flight itself was smooth. Kai, calmed down now, enjoyed his iPad.
When we landed in Tokyo it was hot - 98 degrees with a "feels like" temp of 114!
I'd say the heat calls for ice cream! We had one last Blue Seal that is very popular in Okinawa. My wife and Kai got tapioca drinks while I had a frozen mango drink.
We caught the bus from the airport and it was 5:45 by the time we got to my in-law's place. It had taken all day to travel back home.
We stayed in for dinner, ordering pizza from Domino's. We got one made with yakiniku beef as well as a more traditional meat lovers with pepperoni.
We capped off the evening watching the Aomori Matsuri (summer festival) on television.
This festival features vey colorful floats constructed of painted washi paper over a wire frame and take an entire year to design and construct.
The floats often depict gods, historical or mythical figures from both Japanese and Chinese culture, kabuki actors, and characters from popular TV dramas.
The floats are pushed along the street by human power, weaving back and forth, and spinning around for the crowd.
We probably will not make it out to a matsuri on this trip, so we got a taste of one this way.
I felt uncomfortable just hearing about the heat and humidity in Tokyo.
ReplyDeleteTraveling can be very stressful. Poor Kai, I sometimes get irritable when I am hot and tired. I used to find that after fairly heavy exercise, I could tolerate most anything all day. Even in hotels, I used to do several hundred body weight squats. This would drain me of excess energy, and I would feel mellow for many hours.
Were I to live in Tokyo, I think I would only go out at night. The daytime is just too hot and muggy for me.
It has been hot and humid in Tokyo during the summer on our previous visits, but is the worst ever this year. It tempers our desire to go out and do as much outdoors as we would like to do.
DeleteTraveling is stressful for Kai as it takes him out of his routine and comfort zone. He gets anxious very easily and it seems like every little thing can upset him at times. On this occasion, I don't think the heat directly factored in as we were in the air conditioned airport. Though he may have been more irritable from being tired and already on edge.