Stormy Times in the Sunshine State

(A view of the Tampa skyline.)

In late February/early March, I took a trip to Florida with my wife and my mother-in-law to visit my parents, who have lived in the state for about three years. Before the trip, I was worried about how things would go. I heard stories about in-laws not getting along with each other, so I was hoping things would go well in Florida. I never expected that I would have to deal with a different kind of battle.

(Me and my mother at a Tampa Bay park.)

The trip started out well.　Even though there were obvious language barriers, my parents and my wife's mother were very nice to each other. My mother-in-law really loved my parents' house in the Tampa Bay area. One thing my mother likes to do is decorate the house, and my mother-in-law was amazed by it, saying to me, "Why did you ever come to Japan?" (It seems to me that during my time here in Japan, none of the houses I've seen have been decorated - no pictures in frames on the wall, no paintings, no sculptures. etc.) My mother-in-law, my wife and I spent time in the large backyard, something that doesn't really exist in the Osaka area. We spent a lot of time in Tampa just relaxing and taking it slow, which suited my mother-in-law just fine.

(Entrance to Walt Disney World, Orlando.)

Things changed, though, once we drove up I-4 to Walt Disney World. One thing you have to know about my wife is that when we travel, she keeps busy, trying to do as much as possible in the time we have. That was the case at Walt Disney World, where she was almost running from attraction to attraction. That didn't go well with my mother-in-law, who wanted to take it slow and easy. It came to the point where we would separate for hours at a time, and it eventually came to the point where my mother-in-law decided to just stay in the hotel while my wife and I enjoyed the parks.

Tension developed between my wife and her mother, and I was caught in between, serving as a "messenger" between the two during the times they wouldn't talk to each other. It was bad.

Well... at least Pooh and I had a good time together. Still... I must say that it was good to get back to Japan and leave Orlando behind.