Gary's Blog

Off to Nagano (Part one)

2010-03-07T23:27:00.000-08:00

Marcia and I have a wonderful local bar that we frequent called Laser Rush. It's been run for the last 25 years by a delightful couple: Ryo from Japan and his wife Pauline from Scotland. Every year for the last 8 years they have organized 1, and sometimes 2, ski trips to Nagano. They hire a bus, arrange accommodations and ski rentals and expertly see to every detail to make the trip as carefree as possible for their patrons. They charge just enough money to cover their expenses and therefore the trip is really inexpensive. Like I said, they are wonderful people! They start signing people up in December and as soon as the bus is filled, the list is closed. If you don't sign up early, you miss the bus, literally.

We have been invited to do this trip every year since we have been here and this is the first year that our schedules allowed us to go. The trip was scheduled a little later this year (Feb 7 & 8). The previous years, we were still in the States celebrating the Christmas holidays. We were told to meet at Laser Rush at 5:30 AM Sunday morning. Yikes!

Bleary eyed, we arrived at Laser Rush, greeted by a boisterous, cheerful crowd ready to go skiing. Some of the good cheer being fueled by early morning beers or various other drinks. One person had come directly from partying the night before. Marcia and I consider ourselves hardy folk, but beer at 5:30 in the morning was beyond our limits of "starting early". I guess we are getting old.

We merrily, some more merrier than others, trudged with our bags to the bus.

This is what a bus looks like at 5:30 in the morning.

Beer, other drinks and soda were provided on the bus. Nope. Still not ready. The bus trip was long, over 4 hours, but uneventful. We stopped for breakfast along the way and, of course, made a few unscheduled stops for the beer drinkers. When you gotta go, you gotta go.

For those of us who had not yet started drinking, our spirits were lifted as we got into snow country. Those who had already been lifting spirits, of course, were already quite cheerful. By the way, this is Mt. Fuji in the background.

We arrived at our lodging: two very nice pensiones (guest houses) right next to each other. This is the one we stayed in...

I can't seem to find a picture of the other pensiones, but it was similar to this one and right next door. We had private rooms with a common bathroom. Quite comfortable. We dumped our bags,changed into our ski gear and by 12:30 we were at the ski resort renting skis and by 1:00 we were on the slopes.

The weather was absolutely perfect. Not too cold. Blue skies......

and the skiing conditions were fantastic!

Of course, we had a little base camp where we could get refreshments as needed.

So, we had a wonderful afternoon of skiing. Then back to our lodging for a hot soak in an onsen (hot bath) and we were ready for the evening. Ryo, remember he's the owner of the bar, had a plan for us. Before we could go to dinner we had to learn two Beatles songs that we were going to sing as a surprise for a couple (who was staying in the other pensione) who had recently been engaged. Each group would have dinner at their own pensione and then our group would go over to the engaged couple's pension and wow them with our songs. With Ryo as bandleader.....

and two guitars for accommpaniment we plunged into "And I love Her" and then "She Loves You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)". Maybe it was the beer, but I thought we sounded pretty good. Okay, it probably was the beer. Mmmmmm, alright! It was the beer. Regardless, we had a very fun hour or so of chatting and rehearsing

and then off to dinner to fortify ourselves for our singing debut.

Stay tuned for Part Two: Dinner, our debut, Super Bowl and skiing shenanigans.

Ja mata,

Gary

I'm a Crappy Blogger

2010-01-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

Okay I've been busy. I procrastinate. I'm lazy. I've got a million excuses. The truth is I'm a crappy blogger. I think of things that I would like to blog about and then....Zing 3 months go by and I still haven't blogged. Here's where I should be saying......."Well, it's a new year and this year I will do better!" That's what I should be saying. In reality, I don't see things changing. I'm an old fart who is stuck in his ways. Anyhow, saw this t-shirt in a local department store and it cracked me up. Not sure what it means, but it is a perfect example of "Engrish" (English translated from a different language).

The picture is the head and neck of a guitar with a guy tuning it. The writing is:

"SING TO ME HAVE IN THE DARK

Anything has not remained any longer

To going out

dimension in the new world in the future

From the rooftop in the apartment

the excrement of me in Brooklyn"

What? I got no idea what that means. It may be so filled with angst and meaning that it's just too deep for me. Who knows?

My life is scattered right now and going in many directions. One more excuse for why I haven't blogged. I'm hoping to wrestle it into some kind of order in the near future. I feel like that scene in the movie "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" where Mel Gibson is sent out into the desert tied to a horse facing backwards and wearing a giant papier-mached head.

It took me half an hour to find this photograph! Then I couldn't download it so I had to take a picture of it with my phone and send it to myself and then send it to my blog. This may be why I don't blog more often. But the fact that I was able to do this at all is pretty amazing from a technological standpoint. I digress.

Spent some time in Buffalo over the holidays. It was freakin' cold! But the snow was beautiful

and I got to do a little bit of skiing

and visit Stephen and Chrissy (my son and his girlfriend)

and friends.

Marcia's thinking about trading me in on a taller model.

Had some quality time with the family.

Had a wonderful Christmas and

New Year

So, all-in-all, a great trip.

あけましておめでとうございます！（Happy New Year)

Ja mata,

Gary

Why Not?

2009-10-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

Had a little extra time so thought I'd try my hand at origami. So far, the crane is the only thing that I can do completely from memory. My friend Chigusa taught me this.

I think Marcia is going to get tired of seeing birds all over the house as I practice my new craft, so I have started to string them together.

Does the excitement ever end?

Ja mata,

Gary

Back From Okazaki

2009-10-06T23:57:00.000-07:00

My self-enforced exile from Yokohama has ended. I have finished my 4 weeks of Japanese language study in Okazaki. My lonely solitude of tirelessly studying with no breaks, my near monastic existence has come to an end. I'll share a few photographs chronicling my sacrifices to the Japanese language.

My lonely existence.

This is the main building for students preparing for university study.

This was the building for students working on basic language skills. (Me) I was in this building from 9:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday.

These are my 3 favorite teachers.

Here are a few pics of fellow students and examples of my lonely existence.

This is actually a good friend of mine from Tokyo who happened to be in Nagoya (a city near Okazaki).

The campus pub. Zig Zag

My going away party at a local izakaya. (Japanese pub/bar)

My going away speech to teachers and students.

Okay, if you made it through all of the pictures, you might be saying, "That doesn't look that lonely to me!" Okay, you got me. I may have exaggerated the monastic lifestyle a little bit. I did discover that although my quest to acquire the Japanese language has been difficult (I seem to be language challenged), my ability to meet and make new friends still seems to be intact.

I have not been in a campus environment for a very long time. I found the experience to be exhilarating, exhausting, demanding, and fun. For learning language skills, the time was way too short, but 4 weeks away from my life in Yokohama and Marcia was about my limit. I would, however, go back again if I had the chance.

ja mata,

Gary

Short and Dirty. Sunday Afternoon in Okazaki.

2009-09-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

I'm talking about a short and not very well thought out blog. Not about myself!

I still haven't talked about Marcia's and my trip back to East Aurora in late July and I'm going to keep you waiting a little longer. Like I said, this blog will be short and dirty. As some of you know, after returning to Japan I had planned on taking an intensive 4 week language course in a small town about a six hour drive from Yokohama. Well.............I did it! I'm now living in a one room apartment in the student village and have been thrown into the fray of full time study.

What was I thinking?

First of all, I haven't been in a classroom situation for more years than I can count. Secondly, I've been dropped into an ongoing class, so I have some catching up to do. AND thirdly, (is that even a word?) What the hell do I think I'm doing!!!

I arrived Wednesday and got my apartment, moved in (dumped my stuff on the bed) and headed out to rent a bicycle.

This is a very typical style of bike for Japan. It has three speeds and can carry a lot of stuff in the basket. Plus it looks cool. Right?

With my new means of transportation, I went shopping at the 100 yen store. I bought 1 each of a knife, fork, spoon, plate and glass. The apartment came equipped with 1 frying pan, 1 pot, a tea kettle and a rice cooker. Luckily, being a guy, this is all I need. Less to wash, etc. I then did a little grocery shopping including a couple of beers, which I felt I had earned.

This is where I'll spend most of my time when I'm in my apartment.

The rest of the room is filled with my bed. You might say, "Well, at least he has a television." That's true, of course, all of the channels are in Japanese. I'm already desperate enough to watch Japanese game shows, which is truly pathetic.

Thursday I took a 2 1/2 hour written placement exam and then had an interview. Oh, did I mention, everything here is done in Japanese? Admissions, bike rental, placement test, interview, directions, instructions, do's and don't's, etc. By Thursday night, my head was spinning and I was freaking out about starting class on Friday and wondering at what level I would be placed.

Friday, my first day of class, was pretty intense. Luckily, it's only a half day on Friday or I think that my brain might have exploded. I must have made some really lucky guesses on the test, because I'm in a class that is really going to test my abilities.

Anyhow, I've spent most of the weekend doing homework and trying to get up to speed on material that has already been covered. Writing this blog is my break before I dive back into the books.

Okazaki, which is where I'll call home for a month, has a population of 870,000 but is considered very rural. I have to agree with the rural designation. It's quite a change from Yokohama and Tokyo.

Okay, this might be a slight exaggeration.

Back to the books.

Ja mata,

Gary

More t-shirt English

2009-08-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

In the past I've talked about some of the interesting English translations that one sees on signs and notices and especially t-shirts and clothing. Yesterday, at one of our local stores I was able to get a picture without being too intrusive.

Ja mata,

Gary

Back in Japan

2009-08-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

We've been back in Japan for about a week after a long (3 1/2 week) visit to the States. I'll get back to our trip in my next post, but first, I just renewed my driver's license today. It took about 6 hours from the time I left my house until I returned. The whole process is done in Japanese with many long lines. Very difficult and stressful for a struggling Japanese speaker. The fear of standing in a line for half an hour and finding out it was the wrong line was tantamount in my mind. I also had to sit through a 2 hour lecture (in Japanese) about driving safety. The seats were the old-fashioned two person wooden desk and seat combination more suited for third graders than American adults. Not comfortable! One Japanese girl made herself comfortable enough to fall asleep and was promptly admonished by the instructor. I was the only non-Japanese person in the room, so getting help from other foreigners who might be more conversant in Japanese was out of the question. There was one Japanese woman who spoke a little English and between her English and my Japanese, she was able to give me some helpful guidance. All in all, an exhausting experience.

I did stop for a quick beer and lunch on the way home so I guess the actual renewal process only took about 5 1/2 hours. The beer was definitely necessary and a small reward for my success! The funny thing is that the process went very smoothly and I'm delighted that it didn't take even more time. I guess I'm learning to adapt to Japanese bureaucracy.

Ja mata,

Gary

Haiku

2009-07-13T23:04:00.000-07:00

As the beginning of the hot and humid summer season arrives, this haiku came into my head.

the rainfalls,

simmering pavement heats,

mushi, mushi atsui,

I sweat

(mushi atsui is Japanese for humid and hot)

Ja mata,

Gary （ギャリー）

Yeah.. So I haven't blogged in a while

2009-07-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

I went to my blog today and saw that my blog picture said Merry Christmas. Wow! Where does the time go?

In short:

A trip to the States.

A trip to Australia.

A visit from my son.

A trip to Nagasaki.

Large amount of volunteer work in Tokyo.

Japanese study, no, I am not fluent yet.

Examining the meaning of life.

So, highlights....

Our visit to the States was wonderful as usual. Christmas celebrations, visits with friends, lots of snow, large amount of carpentry on the house, doctors' visits (No, not because of the carpentry!).

We briefly came back to Japan and then were off to Australia for vacation and a little bit of work time for Marcia. Australia was very hot, but totally awesome.

We visited Gillian a friend of mine from Tokyo, who now lives in Sydney. (picture below)

Stayed in Melbourne and visited friends formerly from Yokohama.

BREAK TIME

Then spent some time in Brisbane driving and exploring the coast.

Stephen visited in May and we explored Tokyo and Yokohama, and traveled to Nagasaki where we stayed for three days and saw many things including Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum (Very moving).

This black obelisk marks the exact point above which the atomic bomb exploded.

Explored Toykyo and Yokohama incuding experiencing Sumo, and Sankeien Gardens.

Since then, I guess I've just been distracted........... or lazy!

Ja mata,

Gary

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

Off to the USA for a family visit and to celebrate the holidays. Did a little celebrating here before we left. Thanks to Nakanosan's outstanding Christmas party.

Nakanosan leading party games.

Partiers!

Elvis makes surprise guest appearance.

Chistmas carols and good feelings.

Marcia brightened our own house with her decorations.

Thanks to Nakanosan from the Aussie Bar for a great Christmas party and to Marcia for her home Christmas decorating.

Happy Holidays to all and to all a goodnight!

Ja mata,

Gary

After the Turkey

2008-12-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

We did indeed go to our local pub for Thanksgiving dinner. We actually blended Japanese and American cultures by downing a bottle of sake before we left for the pub.

I think the scorpion on the label might have been some kind of warning, but what do we know?

Anyhow, fortified and definitely in a Thanksgiving mood we descended on Laser Rush (our pub). The dinner was everything that we could have hoped for. David, a Kentucky boy, and Kimberly kept with the Thanksgiving theme and switched to Wild Turkey. Marcia and I stayed with the sake.

Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli, and even cranberry sauce. Looks like Thanksgiving to me!

The topper on the evening was homemade pumpkin pie. Definitely homemade and absolutely delicious!

We had an absolutely great celebration. However, the evening did have a touch of poignancy to it. In addition to celebrating Thanksgiving, Marcia and I were bidding farewell to David and Kimberly. They will soon be moving to Australia. They were our friends and neighbors and helped us settle in when we first moved here.

We will miss them greatly.

Ja mata,

Gary

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T22:37:00.000-08:00

Not much of a Thanksgiving celebration here in Japan (none), but Marcia and I and our neighbors, Kimberly and David, are going to our local pub that serves turkey and mashed potatoes. Works for me!

May we all be thankful and count our blessings.

Gary

What's Cooking?

2008-08-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Since one of my roles in Japan is still CC&BW (chief cook and bottle washer), I thought that I should document that I am actually performing these duties. With Marcia working full-time, the responsibility of providing a varied and interesting menu of home-cooked meals has fallen squarely into my lap. After all, you can't eat out every night. Cooking has definitely been a challenge and has certainly stretched my culinary skills. I'm not overly imaginative when it comes to cooking so my first task was to find some inspiration. I started by taking cues from my environment.

In Japan, presentation is very important in many aspects of daily life. In stores, any purchase, no matter how trivial, is wrapped, bagged and presented to the customer as if it were the Hope diamond. The exchange of business cards is done with great respect and ceremony. The presentation of food in Japan is also done with great flair.

Our neighborhood grocery store has a takeout section of prepared foods that is awesome. The food is prepared during the day and is put out in the afternoon ready to be taken home for an evening meal. The food is delicious, but the point I want to make is: even this takeout food has a nice presentation.

Union Market Takeout Meal
(Pork cutlets, egg, potato salad, rice, pink tofu creation)

Of course, restaurants are all about presentation. This simple dish of chicken and vegetables from a local restaurant is a work of art.

So......., since I knew I would never get into the intricacies of Japanese cuisine, I thought I'd better keep the cooking within my limited ability and work on my presentation. The thinking being: if it looks good, it probably doesn't taste too bad.

My first foray involved no cooking, so I knew I was on safe ground.

Avocado, tomato, and potato salad

I do know how to cook meat so this one was pretty easy.

Spinach wrapped in flank steak, tomatoes, and potato salad

Okay, now I'm rolling. I own a rice cooker. I've found good places to buy sashimi and sushi. And I know some basic condiments to serve.

Sauteed asparagus, tuna sashimi on shredded daikan, pot
stickers, and rice. Soy sauce, spicy oil, and wasabi condiments.

I must say that Marcia has been very supportive and has eaten some of my experiments that have been far from successful. The first time I attempted a fried rice concoction, it came out like a very thick wallpaper paste. Marcia dutifully ate it and said it wasn't that bad. I think she was being polite. I threw my serving out!

Ja mata,

Gary

Stream of Consciousness

2008-07-31T18:53:00.000-07:00

Wow I guess I really haven't blogged in a while. I just spent an hour trying to log on to my blog dashboard. But I'm now up and running so here goes. First of all, I just found a partial blog that I never finished from June.

It began:

Last month, my neighbor (David Hodge) and I were very lucky to celebrate Memorial Day in a very traditional American way.......We went to a baseball game and drank lots of beer. It was an absolutely beautiful day in Yokohama, warm and sunny.

Not a bad lead in. So, first things first, I'll finish my baseball blog.

It really was a perfect day for watching baseball.

It was also a perfect day for drinking beer.

David had recently purchased a new camera so most of the pictures for this post are from him. (More about this later.)

After settling in with our first beer, our hometown Baystars were quickly behind 0 to 4 by the end of the first inning.

After another visit from the beer girl, David's photographic interests began to shift. (see below)

We weren't seeing double the beer girls were starting to multiply! I guess they knew who the good customers were.

Good weather. Good baseball. Beer girls everywhere. It doesn't get much better than this!

I should mention that the Baystars were making a comeback and were actually leading the game at this point.

We focus on the game for a minute.

Celebrating the Baystars making a comeback!
One of the few pictures that I took with my camera. A self portrait. I'm holding the the camera at arm's length. The green thing in David's mouth is not a caterpillar. It's called an edamame. They are green soybeans in the pod. Cooked and dipped in salt, they go great with beer.

Maybe we should have switched to coffee at this point? Nah!

coffee girl

Anyhow, we had a great time and the Baystars won the game 9 to 5. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Okay.... Now I'm only 2 months behind in my blog.

I don't know what happened to the month of June. It just sort of disappeared. I'm sure we did stuff, but it seems to be a blur. Oh well........

Most of July was spent on a home visit to the USA. Marcia and I spent a lot of our time going to doctors, dentists, and optometrists. In other words, giving our bodies their 6 month tune-ups. In addition, Marcia had to spend some of her time working at Moog and I worked on the house and did maintenance on the snowblower, our car (including 4 new tires! Ouch!!) and the weed wacker. I also built stairs on a deck that Steve and I built last summer.

I did finish these stairs, but must have been too tired to take any more pictures.

We did manage to visit a few friends, enjoy our son's company, and have a music session with my band buddies. I also had a great golf afternoon and evening with Stephen and his roommate Jeff. One thing that we did plenty of, was eat. We are definitely caught up on American food for a while.

Our return trip to Japan was less than perfect. Our flight from Buffalo to Chicago was uneventful, but then our luck changed. We left Chicago and flew for more than an hour and then it was announced that we were returning to Chicago because we had no running water. This included water that was necessary for flushing the toilets! We returned to Chicago and waited 4 hours until we were able to leave again.

Once again in the air, I thought to myself, "What else could go wrong?" Bad thing to think! Within five minutes I had broken off a sizable piece of one of my teeth. The good news was that it didn't hurt.

Since we've been back in Japan, we had visitors from the US (Frank and Cecily) and had a wonderful time showing them some of the local sights.

Although, we bought a new camera in the States, Marcia and I seem to have gotten somewhat lax about taking pictures. I will definitely do better in the future.

More blogs to come. Hopefully in a more timely fashion.

Ja Mata,

Gary

Marcia and Gary Make the Big Time

2008-04-11T04:01:00.000-07:00

You may know that I have made a few commercials since living in Japan, but Marcia's and my fame lies in another direction. This story starts last year. Marcia and I frequent a cafe/bar called the Aussie Bar. They serve ostrich, crocodile, kangaroo, great salads, and various other items. They even offer Buffalo wings! (More on this later.) Although this place definitely has an Australian feel, it has been owned and managed for 20 years by a wonderful Japanese woman.

Having lived in East Aurora for many years and studied the fine art of the chicken wing at the Bar Bill University, we of course, consider ourselves experts on Buffalo wings. (For those of you not living in East Aurora, the Bar Bill is a local tavern that serves outstanding chicken wings.) So we decided to do some field research and try the wings at the Aussie Bar. As Bar Bill graduates, our discerning palates determined that these were not wings as we have come to know them. Although they were delicious, they just didn't have that Buffalo wing zing. On our next trip back to Buffalo, we decided to pick up a bottle of Anchor Bar wing sauce to give as a present to our friend, the owner of the Aussie Bar.

She was delighted with our present and that evening while Marcia and I were having dinner and beers at the Aussie Bar, we discussed with the owner, the invention of and the mystique of Buffalo wings including celery, carrots, and of course, bleu cheese dressing for dipping. A few weeks later on our next foray to the Aussie Bar, the owner invited us to a special tasting of her new Buffalo wings. We were flattered and of course said yes.

We showed up at 5:00 PM the following Sunday as arranged and quickly realized that this was a special tasting for just Marcia and me. We were presented with beer and four different recipe interpretations of Buffalo wings. We were solemnly asked to give our opinion of the various recipes. This was serious business! Finally a chance to use all of our Bar Bill wing education. With the chef and owner leaning over our shoulders we began. Using the beer to clear our palates, we held forth on some serious deliberations of the merits of each type of wing.

Wow! This one's a little too hot! This one is too saucy and doesn't have quite the right flavor. This is pretty close. If you made it a little spicier it would be good. She took our advice seriously and when we were finished, she made another plate of wings and asked us to pose for a picture. We went on our merry way having enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon, not to mention free beer and wings.

The next time we went to the Aussie Bar, we were greeted by the owner who told us that she had made new menus and would like to show us one. Well, to our great surprise, inside the menu on the same page with calamari, octopus and tomato herbal marinade, garlic prawns, radish sandwich with pickled ume and herb was a Buffalo Wing entry. There was a picture of Buffalo wings complete with carrots, celery, and bleu cheese. To our complete surprise next to this was a picture of Marcia and me holding a plate of wings! The picture even included an introduction.

The caption under the picture read, "Marcia-san & Gary-san"
マルシヤさんとぎゃり－夫妻 (Marushiya-san & Gyari-san fusai)
Marcia & Gary husband and wife

This was followed by a brief bio/introduction.

"Mr. & Mrs. Kimmel-Hurt, came from Buffalo City, N.Y. & love Anchor Bar's original buffalo-wings. We have made real tasting of Anchor's Buffalo-Wings as per their advising. Please try tastes of the birthplace's Buffalo-Wings."

We were delighted with our new-found celebrity. Marcia is much cooler than I am and takes her fame in stride. I, on the other hand, want to go around to every table and point out my picture. What's the point of being famous if no one knows about it? I don't do this, but it is tempting. Once, in a while the owner will introduce us to someone and show them our picture. So I guess I'll have to live with that.

The owner tells us that the wings have become very popular.

With the help of Buffalo wings, I think that Marcia and I have helped to bring the world a little closer together. World diplomacy one wing at a time.

Why not?

2008-03-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

Was getting tired of my layout on my blog. Think I'll start rotating a few different views in and out.

Ja Mata,

Gary

Fly Me to the Moon (on ANA)

2008-03-11T04:36:00.000-07:00

Well, another commercial that I'm in has hit the airwaves. It's also playing on some of the subway lines in Tokyo. I play a guy sitting at a bar listening to a band. What a stretch! Ha Ha. To watch, go to the link below

http://www.ana.co.jp/anafan/cm/movie/movie40_1_60s.html

Ja mata,

Gary

It's out! Me and Orlando

2008-03-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I just got back to Japan after having a wonderful trip to Thailand with Marcia and Stephen to find out that the commercial that I was in with Orlando Bloom and Chiaki Kuriyama (of Kill Bill fame) is now out. So, more proof of my fledgling modeling/acting career. In this commercial I'm actually recognizable. Look for the bald guy in the dark suit. (Side view and full frontal closeup). This commercial took 5 days to shoot.

Sightings of Gary in the video: :20 - :30, 1:30, 2:31. I think there are more but I can only watch the video so many times!

To watch, use the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmLCu-zQjsI

Ja Mata,

Gary

Random Thoughts II

2008-02-25T21:45:00.000-08:00

My neighbors, David and Kimberly, just returned from Vietnam and sent me their picture of the traffic there. Thought I'd pass it along.

Also, I've talked about translated sayings on T-shirts and jackets before, but this sign on a building was just too good to pass up. My translation of this sign is "smokers, please use designated smoking area outside". But, who knows?

Ja mata,

Gary

Random Thoughts

2008-02-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

In June of last year, I was in Vietnam; Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) to be precise. Saw some really interesting things and never got around to mentioning them in my blog. Well, I'm not going to mention them now except to make a brief comment about the city and especially on the motorcycle/scooter traffic. The city is very beautiful with old and new architecture existing side by side.

However, Vietnam is rapidly growing and signs of construction are everywhere. Streets and sidewalks are torn up and debris is everywhere.

The motorcycle/scooter traffic is totally unbelievable! I tried to describe it to some people, but it is truly indescribable. The complete street is filled with scooters from curb to curb for as far as you can see. The scooters are so close together that there's barely enough room for the rider to put his foot down. Sometimes three or four people are on one bike.
At first, crossing the street with that many motorcycles is completely frightening, but once you learn the system and swallow your fear, the process goes quite smoothly. The traffic constantly flows and except for major intersections, stoplights seem to be only for decoration. After observing a few experienced street crossers, I learned the trick. Once you step off from the curb do not try to avoid the bikes just keep a steady pace and keep walking. The bike riders see you and figure out whether to go in front of you or behind. No one slows down, they just weave around. The first time stepping off the curb and testing my theory was pretty exhilarating, but it worked! I was never able to get a good photograph of the motorcycle/scooters, but luckily Marcia was in Vietnam a few weeks ago and took this great picture. This is one of the few times that the bikes were actually stopped. Must have been a very major intersection.

That's all for now.

Ja mata,

Gary

FYI

2008-02-15T08:26:00.000-08:00

On the side of my blog there's a list of recently read books. If you're curious about any of the titles or want to share your thoughts about any you have read, please email me. Also, if you have suggestions for good books, I'm listening.

G

I'm Back

2008-02-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since my last blog. No excuses. I've been busy. Where should I start? Five days after my last blog, Marcia and I went home for Christmas.

Had a wonderful time with our son, Stephen and visited many friends. I'm still recovering from all of the eating and drinking.

Christmas Eve dinner with friends. Notice the silver crown party hats.

The band.
Our band was able to get together in our basement for two great music sessions. I miss playing music with my band mates! A fun time was had by all.
We didn't get any individual pictures of two of our band members so I'll mention them here. The good looking tall guy in the back of the picture is our lead singer, Larry. The good looking woman in the foreground is our backup vocalist and keyboard player, Marcia.
Our drummer, Al.
Our lead guitar and marraca player, Don.

Me. Our bass player, Mark.

You may have noticed a subtle shift in the lighting. Well, this is the lighting that we use when we play. It sets a better mood. The other lighting (bright!) was for the photographs.

After two wonderful weeks in East Aurora, we went to Singapore where the temperature was almost 60 degrees warmer than East Aurora. Quite a shock to the body. Singapore is only about 40 miles from the equator and is VERY tropical.

East Aurora, NY (Our back yard)

Singapore (Our hotel)

View from our hotel window.
Marcia actually had most of the weekend off so we were able to do some sightseeing together. We did quite a bit of walking. Saw some beautiful botanical gardens and took a cable car trip to Sentosa Island. The cable car was really cool. Very high in the air. The cable car ride was quite the experience. To say that Marcia is uncomfortable with heights is an understatement. Six feet off the ground and Marcia begins to sweat. Well, this cable car at times was more than 300 feet off the ground!

This is Marcia putting on her brave face.
Actually, she did fine and enjoyed the ride. There was one point on the ride back when the cars stopped and we hung suspended over the water for a few minutes and Marcia became quieter and quieter. I started to make a few "We could be stuck here for hours jokes" but the look that she gave me convinced me that a little silence might be in order. We started moving again and Marcia regained her "inner peace".

View from the cable car.

Singapore is a very large shipping port.

We finally arrive at Sentosa Island.

This is a Merlion. They are everywhere and have some special significance. I just Googled this so I thought I would throw it in. "Designed by Mr Fraser Brunner, a curator of the Van Kleef Aquarium, the lion head represents the lion spotted by Prince Sang Nila Utama when he re-discovered Singapura in 11 AD, as recorded in the "Malay Annals". The fish tail of the Merlion symbolises the ancient city of Temasek (meaning “sea” in Javanese) by which Singapore was known before the Prince named it “Singapura” (meaning “lion” (singa) “city” (pura) in Sanskrit), and represents Singapore’s humble beginnings as a fishing village." I was going to pretend that I knew this, but I knew no one would believe me.

Sentosa Island had a great aquarium. With many really nice displays. Marcia took this close up photo (no flash, don't want to hurt the fish) of some jelly fish.

There was also a long, circular glass tunnel surrounded by water. When walking through it, I felt like I was walking under the ocean.

Manta or sting rays.

This is as close to a shark as I ever want to get!

Marcia was recently back in Singapore and took these next shots from a restaurant in a very tall building (70th floor).

Since I've been back in Japan I've had two more modeling Jobs (commercials) and have returned to my volunteer work in Tokyo. I've had to miss some of my Japanese lessons because of my schedule, but I study whenever I can. Learning Japanese has been a struggle and a challenge. It's been very enjoyable but, at times, quite frustrating. I keep getting distracted by other things to do in Japan so my progress is slow. It's definitely not easy teaching new tricks to an old dog like me.

We're getting ready to celebrate the Lunar New Year here (early February). There will be many celebrations, especially in Chinatown, and we hope to take in a few of them.

I hope that this whirlwind tour helps to catch everybody up on our ongoing saga of living abroad.

Ja mata,

Gary

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-10T15:28:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

Santas unwind after a hard day! (That's me in the middle.)

Santa gets lucky. (Also me in the middle.)
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

These photos are from a Japan MTV music video I was in: "Hurry Xmas" by L' Arc-en-Ciel (a very popular Japanese band). Someday I'll write about my fledgling modeling/acting career.

My New Year's resolution is to find more time to keep my blog updated!

Gary, Where have you been?

2007-10-31T02:21:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some intensive training for some volunteer work that I will be doing in Tokyo which is taking a lot of time. For those of you who are in the USA, ask me and I'll tell you what I'm doing. For people in Japan, it has to remain confidential. And I'm still trying to learn Japanese, which is a constant reminder of how difficult it is to learn a language at my advanced age. Anyhow, I've been really busy commuting to Tokyo and studying Japanese. So this blog will be short on my usual patter.

A few weeks ago, our neighbors from upstairs, the Hodges, called and said, "You have to come do karaoke with us and David's sister and her husband." Well, it was pretty late and we were already in our evening lounging clothes (Me in T shirt, underwear and socks. Marcia in elegant color coordinated pajamas.), but we decided to get dressed and give it a shot. Marcia has experienced karaoke in Japan but, I have not. Karaoke is very different in Japan from what I have experienced in the USA. In the USA, everyone is in a great big room and the person performing, sings to a large group. In Japan, you rent a private room for your group. So you don't sing to strangers, only the people in your group. So... you rent a room with a television screen and 2 microphones and a song book. I forgot to mention, included in the rental of the room is an unlimited supply of drinks. There's a phone in the room and when you need more drinks, you call and order. Great system! Well, we had a great time and here's what it looked like.

Kimberly and brother-in-law, David.

Kimberly and David, also known as "the Hodges".

Gary and David get romantic?

David and his wife, Shannon. (The other David's sister.)

And now for a couple of embarrassing pictures.................

Kimberly gets down!

Gary falls asleep?

Anyhow, a fun time was had by all!!!!!

Next blog coming soon......Japan celebrates Halloween.

Ja mata,

Gary

I'm Back

2007-09-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I blogged, so let's see if I can do a high speed catch up. I was back in the States for most of the month of August and had absolutely no time for blogging. While in East Aurora,Marcia and I visited friends, worked on the house, celebrated my birthday and got to play a gig with the band. Marcia returned to Japan and I flew to California, via Reno, to visit family. I returned to an empty house in Japan as Marcia had already left for a week long meeting in Nagoya. Quite a change from a busy schedule of visiting as many friends as possible in the States, to an empty house in Japan. But within a few days, I was back on track and into my Japanese life. I signed up for a conversational Japanese class that meets three times a week and is very enjoyable. I went on a couple of auditions for my struggling modeling career and have started training for some volunteer work that I will be doing in Tokyo. (The volunteer work is English oriented.) So with that as a backdrop, I'll add some photos to give a slightly more complete picture of the month of August.
One side note: I want to say hi to Ken and Ken and thank them for faithfully reading my blog.

Warning! These pictures will be in no particular order. Just a stream of consciousness of a whirlwind trip.

This is Maggie, our last remaining pet in East Aurora. Stephen says that since the other pets have passed on, she has blossomed and likes not having to share her house. She has become very vocal and enjoys spending time with Stephen and Jeff (Steve's roommate). She was happy to see us and seems to be thriving.

Marcia visited her great aunt and cousin in Niagara Falls.

Marcia's great aunt, Aunty Bea, is amazing! Ninety-seven years old and going strong. Lives at home by herself and leads a very active life.

Marcia's cousin, Duaine, is Aunty Bea's daughter. What a wonderful person. Duaine lives in nearby Lewiston, NY and shares many adventures with her mother.

One of my projects when I was home was to build benches for our deck.

What can I say? It's my idea of a "fun" vacation.

The deck benches in progress and our hard working son coming home from work.

The finished benches.

Wining and dining with our good friends, the Kujawskis.

Our band was able to get together and play a gig while we were home. From left: Marcia,Don,Mark,Larry and me.

Neighbor, friend, and fellow band member, Larry.

Drummer Al. Al may sit in the back behind his drums, but he certainly makes his presence known.

After leaving East Aurora, I flew to the other side of the country to visit my mother and sister in Cedarville, California. What! You've never heard of Cedarville? Don't feel bad, most people haven't. Cedarville is in the very notheastern corner of California. It's a small town in the high plains desert almost on the border of Nevada. The small population includes ranchers, cowboys, and all sorts of interesting people including my mother, sister, brother-in-law, and niece(and her family). Obviously, you can't fly direct to Cedarville, so I flew into Reno, Nevada. Reno is about a 3 hour drive away from Cedarville. My brother, Jim, lives near Reno so he met me at the airport and we enjoyed the nightlife there before driving to Cedarville the next day.

Reno at 5:00 AM in the morning.

Visiting with my family.
In front: my lovely mother, Clare.
From the left: My (fraternal) twin brother, Jim, me, and my brother-in-law Michael

Four generations of my family. My niece, Carmen, her son, Dayton, my sister, Virginia, and my mother, Clare. By the way, today is Dayton's first birthday. Happy birthday!

I have a wonderful family and I was very glad that I was able to visit some of them while I was in the States. My one regret was not being able to visit with my other sister, Joy, while I was there.

All in all, the trip was quite a success with many things accomplished. Now that I'm back in Japan, I'll try to keep everybody a little better informed of our adventures.

Ja mata,

Gary

A Sad Goodbye

2007-08-02T22:34:00.000-07:00

Last Monday was a sad day for me. I had to say goodbye to my favorite teacher at Bayside Academy (the school where I study Japanese). She told me last Friday that she is leaving Bayside Academy and Monday would be our last class.
Hayashi-sensei had a teaching style that was a perfect combination for me. She pushed me and kept me from being lazy and she made class fun at the same time. She also taught me many things about Japanese culture. I truly enjoyed our time together and will miss her.

林先生、どうもありがとうございました！
じゃ、また。。。

ガーリ

Stephen Visits

2007-08-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a blog that's long overdue.

Last May our son, Stephen, came to visit. He stayed for about a week and a half. Marcia took time off from work and she and I (with some help from our friend Chigusa) became tour guides. Stephen got to see Yokohama, Kamakura, Tokyo, and Kyoto. We took day trips to Tokyo and Kamakura and spent two days and three nights in Kyoto. Marcia and I had never been to Kyoto and enjoyed the trip immensely. We also went to a home game of our local baseball team, the Yokohama Baystars. Having Steve come visit was a complete delight. It's one thing to tell someone about where and how you live but, it's so much better to be able to show them. Stephen wanted to document his trip for his friends so most of the pictures you are about to see were taken by him.

VIEWS FROM YOKOHAMA:

Stephen discovers the stairway to our house.

View from our balcony.

Our train stop. A rare empty moment.

Notice how clean this subway is.

Our local park.

Yokohama bay.

Chinatown.

Around town.

A local video arcade.

STEVE VISITS KAMAKURA:

Steve performs purification rite before entering temples.

Steve and Daibutsu (The great buddha).

Hachiman-gu Shrine.

Hase-dera Temple.

QUICK VISIT TO TOKYO:

Dinner with friends at a very nice (upscale) restaurant in Tokyo.

Fujinori and Stephen.

Chigusa (Fujinori's wife).

The meal. Delicious!

Most importantly, the sake.

Steve digs in.

Marcia after some sake.

KYOTO.

Kyoto is famous for its many shrines and temples. We had a wonderful time here.

Chigusa came with us and was a wonderful traveling companion.

Kinkakuji temple.
The four adventurers.

Various temples and shrines including a Shogan's castle.

Steve makes new friends.

A not so fancy restaurant in Kyoto.
The preceding picture isn't that good of a picture, however, there is a story here. Notice the menu on the table. Looks like an ordinary nice menu right? Well, this restaurant is like a fast food restaurant, so the items in the menu are somewhat limited. In fact, when you open the menu, this is what you see....

A picture of the one item that they offer and the price. That's the whole menu. Marcia still took a long time deciding what to have.

GOING TO A LOCAL BASEBALL GAME.

Luckily, the local baseball team, the Yokohama Baystars, were in town so Stephen was able to experience Japanese baseball.

Baseball was pretty much the same. Cheerleaders...

fans.....

young and.....
old......

souvenir venders....

and, of course, beer venders.
Although the Baystars lost, it was a beautiful day and we had a great time.

We share a last dinner before Stephen returns to the States.

Well, there you go. A whirlwind tour of Steve's first visit to Japan. He said he had a wonderful time and wants to come visit us again. We, of course, were delighted to have him visit and can't wait for him to return.

Ja mata,

Gary

Clothing Statements II

2007-07-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

In February (2/21/2007) I did a blog about clothing statements and how some sayings on clothing when translated into English seemed to lose their meanings. Yesterday I came across an English saying on a T-shirt : "Born to be Alive". Either this is really obvious or really deep. Or maybe it's just me, but I have no idea what this means. Just thought I'd pass it along.
Gary

Hooray!!!

2007-07-17T05:11:00.000-07:00

Well, Friday the 13th was Marcia's lucky day. She is now the proud owner of a Japanese driver's license.

I hate tests!

2007-07-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it. Yesterday Marcia and I took the road test for our Japanese driver's license. The last time I took a driving test I was sixteen years old! I think I was more nervous this time. Of course, everything was spoken in Japanese and the whole day was spent being told to go from one building to another to register here, pay there, wait over there, follow this group there, wait here, listen for your number to be called, etc. It's very disorienting when you have no, or little idea, what's going on, but you have to understand or you won't know where to go. We were very lucky and met some other people who were taking the test who spoke Japanese. They could see how bewildered we were and befriended us.

You may have noticed earlier that I said spent the whole day. We left our house at 7:00 AM and did not return until 3:30 PM. This was our second long day in the process of getting a Japanese license. Last week we spent most of a day applying to take the driving test, having our eyes tested and taking a written test. (The written test is the only thing in English that we will see for the rest of this procedure.) Anyhow, yesterday we took two trains to get to Futamatagawa and then walked fifteen minutes in the rain to the testing facility. Earlier we were told that we would go to a vending machine in building #2 and buy a registration coupon and then exactly at 8:30, go to window #2 and turn in our registration form. This window is only open from 8:30 until 8:45 for this procedure. After turning in our forms we went to building #1 to the examination waiting room. We were told to wait for the examiners to arrive.

Waiting for the examiners to arrive.
I'm very lucky that it's always easy to find Marcia in a crowd in Japan. See if you can find her in the picture below.

When the examiners arrived, they broke us into groups. This is where things started getting confusing for us. There was a lot of announcing over the loud speaker about what group to get into. Well, we didn't have a clue. Luckily, our new-found friends jumped to our rescue. They told us we were in their group and told us where to go. We were in the "foreigner" group. We were taking a test that is designed for foreigners or Japanese who are getting a license transferred from another country. This test is actually easier than the test for people applying for a new Japanese driver's license. The assumption is that if you already have a driver's license from another country you must have some idea how to drive a car. The Japanese people who we met were in this group because they had lived in the USA and while there got a license. So transferring their American license would allow them to take the easier road test.

The examiner led us to a map of the course and gave us a long detailed explanation of what he expected us to do while taking the test. Since this was explained to us in Japanese, most of it was incomprehensible. We were then told to wait until it was our group's turn to go downstairs to the test course. Because we were the foreigner group, we would be the last group to take the test. Over an hour later our group was finally lead downstairs to the course.

The test is conducted on a closed course, not on city streets like in the US. It's like being on a miniature golf course -- nothing is full scale, including the width of the streets and the length of the blocks. Many cars are on the course at the same time including trucks, buses and even a backhoe! Not all vehicles are following the same route, so we drivers had to be very aware of oncoming traffic, cross traffic, etc.

This course reminded me of the towns that my son Stephen used to build with his Leggos. As with most areas of vegetation in Japan, it's extremely well manicured.

This could be a set from the movie "The Truman Show", don't you think?

You start the course with one hundred points and must finish the course with at least seventy points. Points are deducted for everything from proper attitude, proper driving posture, rules of the road and driving skill, including maneuvering a car in tight spaces.
One example of proper procedure. To make a left turn:

1) check rear view mirror, 2) check left mirror, 3) turn on blinker 4) check rear view mirror, 5) check left mirror, 6) look over left shoulder to check blind spot for (imaginary) motorcycles passing on the left, 7) move close enough to left curb to block these imaginary motorcycles from passing on the left, and ......... finally turn left.

This must be done exactly in this order or you lose points. You can burn through points very quickly! Each examiner takes two applicants with him to take the test. One applicant rides in the back seat while the other one takes the test. Once the test is finished the two applicants switch positions and the second test is given. I was assigned to the back seat so I was able to observe my partner (a nice woman who was taking the test for the SIXTH time) take her test. She was about half way through the course when the examiner told her to stop and return to the beginning of the course. This meant that she had failed--again. She had not done anything dramatically wrong but I guess she had been losing points steadily from the beginning. Not real encouraging for me as I slid behind the wheel. I've been driving for many years and I could not believe how nervous I was. I finished the whole course so I figured that was at least a hopeful sign. The examiner explained to me what I had done right and what I had done wrong. Since my Japanese is very limited I only understood a little of what he was saying. Then I went back to counter #2 Building #2 to find out if I had passed or not. More waiting.....

I found out that I had passed and needed to pay a license processing fee and then get my photograph taken and then wait to pick up my license. I had to wait another hour before it was time to get my photograph taken, because everything shuts down for lunchtime. Then ...... another half hour wait to pick up my license. Five and a half hours after arriving at the licensing facility, I was the proud owner of a Japanese driver's license. The bad news part of the day is Marcia has to take the test again -- scheduled for Friday the 13th. Perhaps turning "tight right" onto the wrong side of the road rather than "wide right" onto the correct side of the road as her very first move cost her lots of points! (She is still trying to get used to driving on the "other" side of the road.) She was allowed to continue for awhile, but ran out of points so had to return to the start. The other woman in Marcia's car failed even sooner, as did many other people there. People just don't get upset about this as they expect to fail at least 5-6 times.

One last comment. This was a great group experience. The Japanese speaking people, both Japanese and foreigners, who helped Marcia and me were so friendly and helpful. We were all concerned for each other and congratulated those who passed and commiserated with those who didn't. They certainly made the day go by more quickly and were an invaluable help. We decided we should document our success with a group photo. There were many more people who helped us, but unfortunately they did not pass. So they had already gone when this photo was taken.

Ja mata,
Gary

Sorry!!!

2007-06-20T05:05:00.000-07:00

Okay. I know I haven't blogged in a while. Here's the story. I've been so busy gathering blog material that I haven't had time to blog. So tonight will just be a teaser until I get my photos and act together. First, my son Stephen came to visit for 10 days which Marcia and I thoroughly enjoyed. We explored Kamakura, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Kyoto. (Lots of photographs that I haven't sorted yet.) Then I had a job. Oh, did I forget to mention that I've signed on to a modeling agency and they've actually been trying to find me jobs? I've been on a few auditions and after Stephen left I got a small part in a music video for a very popular Japanese band. Then.... Marcia's company, Moog, sent me to three different hotels in two countries (Vietnam and Thailand) to check them out for an upcoming convention next year. Also, besides studying Japanese, I've been studying to apply for a Japanese driver's license. So, I think things will slow down next week and I can devote some time to my blog. Sorry I've been so out of touch.

Here are some teasers for upcoming blogs:

Stephen, Marcia, and I take in a Yokohama Baystars baseball game.

Marcia, Stephen, and our friend Chigusa in Kyoto.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Phuket, Thailand.

So don't give up on me. I should be back on track by next week.

The last train

2007-05-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

This may be a very strange blog. It's 1:00 Am in the morning and I'm just getting home. I was visiting with a friend in Tokyo and caught the last train home to Yokohama. The last train home is a very strange phenomenon here. Nobody, at least very few, people drink and drive. Therefore, the last train home means many people on the train are drunk. It's a congenial atmosphere, although some people are way over the top, stagger pass out drunk. Let me explain the good part about this ride. Most train rides during the day are "everybody keep to yourself and leave me alone". On the last train, those people who are relatively sober, connect and are quite friendly. It's a pleasant situation and makes an outsider like me feel more connected. I always end up interacting with people and have a very nice time. Subway train rides here sometimes get very crowded so anything that makes the time go by more pleasantly is certainly a bonus in my book.
Oyasuminasai (goodnight).

Dog Festa II

2007-05-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

This buckaroo is even wearing shoes!

Well, Dog Festa was everything that I had hoped for. We went down to Motomachi Street shortly after the festival began and the street was really cool. Crowded with people, dogs and good feelings. Plus, the weather was perfect, 70 degrees and sunny.

Marcia makes friends.

Proud dog owners put out a really good vibe. They're very happy to show off their pets and are very friendly. I made sure to politely ask (in my limited Japanese) if I could take pictures of their pets and was always greeted with an enthusiastic yes. I took an overwhelming amount of pictures, at least 150, which makes writing this blog very difficult. I don't think that I need to say much. The pictures really do speak for themselves. Except, it's impossible to describe what a festive event this was. Thousands of people packed into the street and nothing but good feelings and smiles.
I've broken my pictures down into three categories: first, of course, dogs; then people and their dogs; and finally dog events. It took me hours to decide which pictures to keep and which to leave out. I know this is a lot of pictures, but I just couldn't leave any more out.

DOGS:

The purple color on the rear of the dog is her hair.

Notice the pink epaulets on the dog's shoulders.This woman worked really hard to get both her dogs to pose for me so I had to show this second picture.

Notice the backpack.

PEOPLE AND THEIR DOGS:

As you can tell all different types of people brought their dogs.

Dog slings are very popular. Very few dogs actually have to walk. They are carried, usually draped over an arm, or ride in strollers, or ride in a sling like the dog above. It's also very common to see dogs riding in shopping carts in stores.

EVENTS:

Waiting for the beauty contest to begin.

A special place for photo opportunities.

This was a table full of dogs made entirely from flowers.

The next four pictures are of an obstacle course, which was very popular.

Children obviously had a great time with the dogs.

This was a talent show stage. Dogs danced, sang, and did other things that I'm not sure how to describe.

These people are registering their dogs for the beauty contest.

These dogs were getting ready for the beauty pageant. Every event had its own stage and there were lines for everything.

So that was Dog Festa. What a great event. I recently lost my dog that I had for over 13 years. She was a wonderful dog and it was very theraputic to be around so many dogs and their owners. Although, the most my black labraudor ever dressed up was an occassional handkerchief around her neck.

Dog Festa

2007-04-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

With Ohanami 2 weeks behind us it's time for another event. It has been a year since we made our exploratory visit to Japan to decide whether or not to live here. On that exploratory visit last April, we witnessed some kind of celebration of dogs which I briefly described in my first blog. Well, I now know what that celebration is and it's happening this weekend. It is called..........

I definitely plan to go with my camera and hope to add to my photo collection of well-dressed dogs.

The local dog store had quite a display out in preparation for this Saturday. This is a two floor store dedicated to animal fashion and seems to be doing a booming business.

Outfits range in the 30 to 60 dollar range and up. Strollers can go as much as 300 to 400 hundred dollars.

And my favorite........

A ventilated sling to keep your dog comfortable while being carried around. Anyhow, I'll be there Saturday and will have more to share next week.
Ja Mata,
Gary

x

Ohanami II

2007-04-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

Just a final followup on a wonderful holiday celebration. The cherry blossoms are starting to fall and the celebration from last weekend is winding down, but I have a few pictures that I wanted to share. When I first talked about Ohanami, the celebration of sakura (cherry blossoms), I described people picnicking under cherry trees. So, let me show you.

This was taken Sunday (4/01) afternoon from our balcony.

Quite the busy day for our quiet park.

Obviously people were taking lots of pictures......

And even artists were enjoying and trying to capture the beautiful views.

A final parting shot of a beautiful scene made even more so by its fleeting nature.

The cherry blossoms come and go so quickly and are so beautiful. It is easy to understand why people take time to appreciate that beauty. I remember autumn and the turning of the leaves in East Aurora (New York) and how transitory and beautiful the fall colors were. The important thing is to try to take a little time from our lives to appreciate the beautiful things that nature has to offer.
Ja mata

Bangkok

2007-03-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to sharing my experiences of a trip we took to Bangkok in early February. I should mention that a couple of months before our visit, Thailand had experienced a bloodless coup. This sounds much worse than it was and we experienced no threat or inconvenience as a result. However, when we first landed in Thailand and were taken to our hotel, it was a little un-nerving to be stopped by guards at the entrance to our hotel and have the car checked for hidden explosives.

The guards carried mirrors on long handles to check underneath every vehicle. Some vehicles also had their trunk and engine compartments examined.

Anyhow, thanks to Marcia's work, we stayed at a very nice hotel/spa/compound on the Chao Phraya River.
At least six different restaurants, beautiful outdoor pool and grounds, convenience stores, and other shops were all available within the hotel and grounds.
Lobby entertainment...

I could have spent the whole week there and never left the grounds. However, that definitely would not have been representative of Bangkok. Our hotel was on the other side of the river from downtown Bangkok and the hotel provided a shuttle boat that departed every fifteen minutes from our dock.
The boat ride took about fifteen minutes and was very enjoyable. The river is definitely one of the main avenues of transportation. There are water taxis, water buses, private boats and, of course, the commercial shipping type of vessels.

It makes for a very busy river. On land, I used an overhead rail system and a couple of times a three wheeled motorcycle taxi called a tuk tuk.

The slowest way to get around the city (besides walking) is any type of transportation that involves using the streets. Traffic is very congested which also makes for some pretty heavy pollution at ground level. You'll notice in the pictures that have a distant background that it appears quite hazy. That's the air quality not my camera.
It's always fascinating going to different countries. Since I'm living in Japan, I can't help but make comparisons to my "home" country.

Fact: Japan is cleaner than any country I've visited.
Fact: Japan is one of the most expensive countries in the world.

Bangkok is not a very clean city. Both street trash and air quality leave a lot to be desired. That being said, I had a great time exploring and relaxing in this country. For one thing, Thailand is very inexpensive. An hour long traditional Thai massage cost me 300 baht. About 10 dollars U.S. I haven't had a lot of massages in my life, but I found out that a traditional Thai massage is very different from what I consider a typical American massage. In America, I've never had the masseuse climb up on the table and twist and pull my body in directions that I didn't think were possible. The positions that I was literally "thrown" into defy description. It's an experience similar to my days on the college wrestling team! I was tossed around like a rag doll by a woman who was at the most five feet tall. Obviously she was quite strong and knew how to use leverage to her advantage. However, I must say that at the end of the experience my body felt very stretched out and relaxed.

She's stronger than she looks.

People are very cheerful and appear to be quite helpful to foreigners. Notice I said "appear". In Japan if you're standing on a street corner looking at a map, someone invariably will come up to you and ask if you need help, then give you directions and be on their way. In Bangkok very friendly people will come up to you, ask you where you are going, and proceed to "help" you. Here's where things get a little different from Japan. The friendly, cheerful, helpful stranger will tell you that where you are going is closed for the lunch hour, day, or whatever and then suggest some other sight that you might want to see. They will call a tuk tuk for you and make sure you get on your way to their suggested special viewing sight. This is all subtlely choreographed and you are gently misdirected eventually to, in my case, a "special" wholesale jewelry store that is open to the public for "today" only. Here's the interesting part. I didn't buy any jewelry but, I was with a friend whose husband works with Marcia and she did do some buying. She had her purchases appraised later and they were worth much more than the price she paid. So even though we were misdirected and felt manipulated,we really didn't get ripped off. Also in the course of being misdirected, we were given a great tour of a temple of Rama IV by a man who eventually suggested the jewelry outlet.

Sakda Yindee our unintentional "guide"....

Rama IV...

I think that there is a desperate scramble for tourist money. I think that the philosophy is: "if tourists are going to spend money, it's much better if they spend it in establishments that are owned by my relatives or friends". As you leave well known tourist attractions, people yell out directions (i.e. misdirections) to the next attraction. Since I obviously looked like a tourist I learned to ask official guides at tourist booths or policemen for help. I also learned to very secretively look at my map when on the street and to always act like I knew where I was going.

Bangkok had many interesting tourist sights: the Reclining Buddha, the Grand Palace, and countless temples, not to mention a gazillion shops to explore.

Reclining Buddha at the Wat Pho Temple...

46 meters ( 151 feet) long and 15 meters (49 feet) high....

The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the feet also show the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha.

Inside the grounds of the Grand Palace....

A symbolic guard....

Wat Arun, Temple of the Dawn...

Wat Arun....

Besides wandering through the city, I also got to spend some time with Marcia. We did some evening shopping and exploring and on our last day in Bangkok, we took a private boat tour on a long boat.

Exploring....

Getting fortified for more shopping.....
Sitting with Marcia is Chigusa Kawanami. A co-worker of Marcia's and an excellent travel companion.

The long boat tour...

Parts of Bangkok are very similar to Venice in that canals are everywhere, like city streets. The longboat tour took us out of the city into the more residential rural areas. The locals use the river canals for everything: transportation, recreation, bathing, garbage disposal, and whatever. The housing on the river ranged from very poor shanties to walled luxury homes.

This brief blog certainly can't give a complete picture of Bangkok, but I hope I have at least given a glimpse of a very interesting city.

Ja Mata,
Gary

Our First American Visitor

2007-03-30T11:30:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention a visitor/traveling companion we had on our trip to Bangkok. Cecily, a coworker of Marcia's, was able to spend a few days in Japan and we got to play travel guide. Very recently pregnant at the time, Cecily endured trains, subways, lots of walking and an introduction to Japanese food. Having lived here for six months prior to Cecily's visit we may have taken for granted how much walking and public transportation we take in the course of our travels. Needless to say, she was a real trooper.

Browsing and shopping on the streets of Kamakura.

Cecily, Gary and The Great Buddha (Buddha's the green one)

Cecily performs purification ceremony before entering a temple.

We enjoyed Cecily's visit and hope that this will encourage some of our other friends to join the adventure.
Ja mata

Ohanami

2007-03-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and so are sakura (cherry blossoms). The blossoming of the cherry trees is another of the many celebrations in Japan. At the height of the season people find cherry trees to sit under and celebrate. These picnic/party/celebrations occur everywhere. Last night in the path leading to the park that I live next to, there was a celebration of about thirty people. This path has a beautiful canopy of cherry trees. The people laughed, sang, ate and drank sake until at least midnight when I fell asleep. This celebration is called ohanami. What a wonderful thing to celebrate. I love this place! Cherry blossoms are very fragile so they only last a few days. But what a great few days. These pictures were taken from the small balcony off my living room and the stairyway leading to my apartment.

The pathway where the party took place.

Sakura in their glory:

Ja mata

Clothing Statements

2007-02-21T00:15:00.000-08:00

I've been enjoying the sayings I've been reading on people's clothing. T-shirts, jackets, etc. The sayings are printed in English but, sometimes the translations are a little hazy. The meaning is sort of there but not quite right. I think this phenomenon is very similar to the American guy who gets a tattoo using Japanese characters because they look cool and has no idea what the characters mean. It's not easy to take a photo of a person's clothing so I've had to enjoy these sayings by myself. However, today I was able to get a shot of a fairly good example of what I'm talking about.

Guiltiness?

Who'd a thought it?

2007-02-11T16:43:00.000-08:00

I grew up in the fifties and sixties on a twenty acre piece of land in a very rural area of northern California. My father, a city slicker who moved to the country to marry my mother, was a mechanic. My mother was an artist/special education aid. Our town had a population of five hundred people and we lived two miles outside of town at the end of a long dirt road.
In contrast, three days ago I was in Bangkok, thanks to the travel that my wife's work involves, trading email addresses with a wonderful couple from England. I am enjoying opportunities to explore people, countries and culture that I would never have dreamed of one year ago. More on bangkok later after I review my pictures.

Been a While

2007-01-26T15:39:00.000-08:00

Well, two weeks have slipped by and no blog. So much for a blog-a-day. But in my defense, I've entered a new phase in my Japanese studies. Since I am now able to slowly read Kana (Hiragana and Katakana), I decided to bite the bullet and quit using Romaji (Roman letters) to help me learn Japanese. Let me briefly explain. I started learning Japanese by reading Japanese words written using the English alphabet (Romaji), e.g. the Japanese word for book would be "hon" in Romanji. So most of my Japanese study book was actually written in the English alphabet. (example 1)

Example 1

Recently, I started writing my exercises using Kana. (example 2)

Example 2

I then realized that reading Romaji would not help me learn to read Kana more proficiently. So I switched from the Romanized version of my book to the Kana version. (example 3) Since I don't read very quickly yet, this has increased my study time dramatically to do the same amount of work.

Example 3

So just as I was beginning to feel comfortable with my lessons, I found a way to make them harder and more time consuming! Although difficult, it's pretty exciting to actually be doing my lessons completely in Japanese. As a side note, you may have noticed that my Japanese writing is much better than my English writing. Weird. So, long reason as to why I haven't blogged in a while. Anyhow, on with the blog.

We were in Tokyo yesterday and I have to share this picture. In the past I've talked about the level to which Japanese people will dress up their dogs and here's another example. This man was very proud of his dog and was quite happy to let me take their picture.

This was a little lamb coat (notice the little cotton ball tail) worn over her separate ruffled dress!

And, of course, the ears! What you can't see in this photo, is she was also wearing a beaded necklace.

Tokyo never fails to amaze me. Every district has its own distinctive style. With each visit I am more surprised and impressed with the variety of architecture. The following five pictures were taken in Ebisu Garden Place, a plaza consisting of shops, restaurants, and business offices near the Ebisu train station. The third picture features Marcia looking very model-like.

Last week I had my first official Mt. Fuji sighting. The winter months in Japan are the clearest and, therefore, the best for long range viewing. Marcia's office is on the 14th floor of a building in downtown Yokohama so I was able to get this shot.

Now before you say, "Wow! What a great view. Marcia's living large! What a great office.", she can't see Mt. Fuji at all from her specific office. This shot was a taken from the men's bathroom. The two best views of Mt. Fuji are from the men's and women's bathrooms.

Well, I should probably go study some Japanese.
Ja mata.

Wow!

2007-01-25T18:52:00.000-08:00

Quite the rush today. Someone asked me for directions. The cool part was I knew the answer. Once in a while I have to step back and look at the whole picture. I am slowly gaining knowledge and experience in this new place where I live.

Back To It

2007-01-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Marcia went back to work and I started the new year with the idea to get out more and let the whole Japanese environment teach me instead of staying in the house so much. With that in mind I took the car for a drive to find a local athletic club that we may join. I've been driving the car about once a week but, I always had Marcia for a navigator. I figured it was time to go it alone. The car, a Toyota Corolla, is equipped with GPS, but all of the buttons, directions and vocals are in Japanese. So I'm driving on the left side of the road, trying to figure out the GPS and listening to a woman's voice give me directions in Japanese. Not to mention that everyone walks in the streets on the less traveled roads because there are no sidewalks. My neighbor, David, says driving these streets is pretty much like walking except you're sitting down. The club I was looking for is in a residential area on a hill with narrow winding streets. I found out that the GPS does not like narrow winding streets in residential areas once you make a few wrong turns and stops telling you to turn left or right which are the only two phrases that I recognize on the GPS so far. She, the GPS voice, does continue to talk to me but she's probably just telling me what an idiot I am for passing the same intersection for the third time. I drove through some streets that were so narrow I thought my mirrors were going to scrape the buildings on both sides of the car. When a car is coming the other way, both vehicles immediately look for wide areas to pull into to let the other car pass. Anyway, my ten minute drive took an embarrassingly long time. The good news is that I did eventually find the club and I learned a lot about the GPS and now know how to recognize when I'm lost. The drive home was less eventful with only a couple of wrong turns. You might ask how this is helping me to learn Japanese. I stopped people in the street (at least six times) while I was driving and asked directions. Sumimasen, YCAC wa doko desu ka. (Excuse me, where is the YCAC?) The directions given to me were in Japanese with a lot of pointing. Every person I stopped was very friendly and quite willing to help. So GPS + friendly locals + my limited Japanese + luck = success. One thing I've learned while living in Japan is that attempting any new task (even ones that seem quite simple in the States) usually turns into an adventure and definitely takes a lot more time than planned.
Ja mata

Home Again

2007-01-07T15:29:00.000-08:00

How strange to say "Home again" and mean back in Japan. Marcia and I had a wonderful visit in East Aurora seeing family and friends. Our visit reaffirmed how important it is to maintain as much contact with every one that we know in the States. We have wonderful friends there and realize the responsibility we have to keep the channels of communication open so that we don't become a faded memory.

The number one person I miss.... My son Stephen. This picture is deceiving in that Stephen is about 5 inches taller than I am and a hulk.

Wonderful neighbors/family/friends - Larry & Deb. Don't know what I'd do without them.

Ditto except for the neighbors part - Ann & Joe.

My very old dog Abby (13 years). What can you say about a man and his dog?

These guys are the best: Don, Al, Larry, Marcia, Mark and me. They are the members of our band, Quick Shot. We were all able to get together on our visit home and have a wonderful band practice/get-together. What a great night!

We arrived back in Japan with temperatures 10 degress lower than temperatures in Buffalo and cold rain. How weird is that? This morning we awoke to bright blue beautiful skies and crisp temperatures.
View from our living room balcony.

Last night we eased back into Japanese culture very gradually with a dinner out at TGI Fridays. I had a southwestern caesar salad and Marcia had a cheese burger. Remember, I did say eased back in gradually. With the Japanese language swirling around me, I realized how little studying I did while I was in the States. However, I think the break was good for me. I realized that it's very easy for me to get obsessed with my studies and to create pressure to achieve goals that are unnecessay and counter productive. Learning is much easier when it's fun and relaxed versus stressed and forced. I guess that's going to be my only new year's resolution.....Don't study to the extent that I forget to explore this wonderful country and.... Stop being so impatient. I guess that's actually two resolutions. I haven't been a student since my graduate days in the eighties when I studied Sociology so I guess I should give myself some slack about this whole learning process. I keep saying that I'm going to blog more often. This time I mean it!

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! (Happy New Year!)

Off to the states

2006-12-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm off to the states for a couple of weeks. I haven't been home in 4 months and am curious as to what my response will be when I set foot on USA soil. Obviously, I'm excited to see family and friends. However, since our son and a roommate now live in our house, we will be staying in our guest room. Essentially, we'll be visitors in our own home. So even though we are "returning home", it feels more like we're going on a visit away from our home. Very confusing. I'm definitely not used to "global" living.
On a side note: I'm still not very blog savvy. My friends say that I need to update the blog more often. Not necessarily long pieces, just updates. So with that in mind, I'll keep this short but try to communicate more often. Next blog will be from the USA.
Ja mata,
Gary

One last thing....
This is something you certainly don't see in East Aurora.

I tried to get Marcia to put her hand near this spider
to show how big it was. That's as close as she
would get and only for a microsecond. (That's why her hand is blurry.
She jerked it away pretty fast.) Pretty big huh?

Thanksgiving in Japan

2006-11-22T21:15:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving with the downstairs neighbors (also expats). Beer, football (tape delayed), snacks and turkey. Life is good. More on the downstairs neighbors in future blogs.

The Journey Begins

2006-11-21T20:22:00.000-08:00

Well, here goes. Although I consider myself computer literate, I am pretty much blog ignorant. A friend of mine, Frank, who is very literate in more ways than I can count, including computer and blogging, (see his website at ravenweb.net) has set this site up for me. He also posted my first blog which was a newsletter that I sent to friends back in the states. Based on some positive response to the newsletter, I've been encouraged to chronicle my experiences while living in Japan. So without further ado, the journey begins.

I've now officially been in Japan for 3 months. The time seems to be flying by. First to all those people who are more knowledgeable about Japan. I apologize for any simplifications or gross inaccuracies that I may put forth. I'm just sharing my experiences and I certainly don't claim to be an expert on anything Japanese. Anyhow, things have certainly been moving along. I've learned both Hiragana and Katakana and can read and write very slowly. Since Katakana is the system for foreign words, and many of the words come from the English language I can actually figure them out. The other day while shopping with my wife, I sounded out kurisumasu kado. Masu is pronounced mas so the two words were Christmas card. Since I was standing in front of a large display of Christmas cards, the deciphering process was made much easier. It's strange to be so excited about reading and sounding out words as if I was a four or five year old.
But, speaking of Christmas, I was surprised that it is such a big deal here. Decorations have been going up since Halloween, which also seems to be enjoyed here.

I'm continually surprised at the number of celebrations and festivals that occur here. Japan, at least our area, seems to be very event oriented. Almost every weekend some event takes place on Motomachi or Naka street. Motomachi Street is the main drag of our shopping area with many trendy shops and restaurants and Naka Street is the next street over. In late October we had an event on our street called the "La Pesta Mille Miglia 2006", a classic race car event. I guess they drive (race?) these really cool old race cars from Harajuku to Yokohama and the "finish line" is on Motomachi Street. Quite the event. The street was blocked off. A large stage was constructed with ramps at both ends so the cars could drive down the street, up the ramp, onto the stage and then down the other side and continue down Motomachi. A full band was on the stage and played swing and jazz pieces. Also on the stage were local dignitaries and, of course, car manufacturer executives who sponsered the event. There must have been at least 75 cars, if not 100. I took lots of pictures. The cars were old and in immaculate condition. I saw English, German, Italian, and a few American cars. Very few , if any, were from Japan. I think most of the cars were from a Tokyo classic car club. Quite the event. The street was completly mobbed with people. This event was held on Tuesday evening of a normal work week.

In early October (October 9th) Monday was a holiday here so there was some kind of street celebration all weekend in our neighborhood. Each evening, Naka street was closed to traffic. Venders sold food from booths set up on or near the street. The rest of the street was covered with tables and chairs. People were eating and drinking everywhere. Some were eating at the tables. Others just claimed a part of the street and spread out a tablecloth. Musicians played on street corners, and there was even an exotic dancer.

We have had a shopping week called a Charming Sale, where Motomachi street was jam packed with people for a full week including two weekends.

A celebration for dogs, including a dog beauty contest. Dogs are very popular here, especially small dogs. People dress them in very elaborate costumes. My favorite costume, which I was unable to get a picture of, was a small dog dressed in a black leather Harley Davidson outfit. Vest, pants and even leather hat.

The dogs are wearing grey and white sweaters with pink front sleeves.

The strollers in the above pictures are for the dogs.

Obviously some people also get dressed up.

There seems to be no end to the number of events and all are well attended. This was the grand opening of a new department store near Yokohama station.

One last side note. We recently spent a week in Rome (Marcia worked and I toured). Rome is a truly awesome city and the history is overhwelming. That being said, I was truly delighted to return to our home in Yokohama. Within half an hour of being in Rome, we were ripped off by a cab driver and within the first two days, two others of our group had their pockets picked and their money stolen. After living in Japan for three months, I had let my guard down and had forgotten to be paranoid. Two very distinct differences between Rome and Yokohama are the level of crime and the level of service. I have been to Italy before and I love the food and the country and the friends I have there are very warm, loving, caring, helpful people, but my experience with restaurants is very different. I'm often made to feel like an outsider who is intruding on a private party. This is not always the case and I'm only speaking about my personal experiences, but I have made requests to waiters that have been completely ignored. Glass of water, check, these are not outrageous requests. Maybe I'm just getting spoiled living in Japan, but the eagerness to serve that Japanese waiters display is quite refreshing in comparison. One last comment. Yokohama is the cleanest city I have ever lived in. Let's just say Rome isn't.
More later as the adventure unfolds.
Ja mata,
Gary

Sorry

2006-11-16T22:00:00.000-08:00

To anonymous who wrote: "More"

I've almost finished another one. I was interrupted by a trip to Rome and an introduction to Tokyo nightlife. Should post in a day or two. Thanks for your interest.

Living in Japan

2006-10-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

So for all those people that thought we dropped of the face of the earth, we haven't. We just moved to Japan.

Let me explain. Early this year, Marcia was offered a three year contract to work with the Moog operations in the Pacific and be headquartered in Japan (specifically, Yokohama). She expressed interest and we were flown out in early April to Japan for a week to see what it would be like to live in Yokohama. We were pleasantly surprised. We talked it over and decided that living in a foreign country would be interesting. So Marcia accepted the position. I sold my business and we packed our bags. We left Stephen in charge of our house and Abby (old dog), Trofast (old cat) and Maggie (young, weird cat). We arrived in Yokohama on August 11 and the adventure began. For all those people that knew we were moving to Japan I apologize for the above synopsis. However you, also, probably still think that we've dropped of the face of the earth. I apologize and will try to be better with my communications in the future. In our defense, our shipment of furnitiure was delayed and we spent the first three weeks living in a hotel. So we have only been getting settled into our apartment for about three weeks.

Our apartment is modest by American standards and huge by Japanese standards (3 bedrooms and 1 bath). The scaled down lifestyle suits me fine since I am the one mostly responsible for keeping the household. (Having no job at the moment and Marcia being reponsible for human resource operations in seven or eight countries, it was sort of a "no brainer" who was going to keep the home fires burning.) It's very likely that I could teach English here in the future, but at the present time I'm exploring Yokohama and the train and subway systems and studying Japanese. Someone has to find the fun places to explore and, of course, good places to eat so when Marcia's not working she can be entertained. It's a tough job but I'm willing to sacrifice. Ha. Ha. Marcia is very busy at work, but we have been getting out and around and it's been very interesting and fun.

Contrary to popular belief, the food here is quite varied and very good. There are plenty of fish and rice dishes, of course, but also pizza, steak, french fries, etc. There's even a Fridays that we like to visit when the need for traditional American food gets too overwhelming. Obviously, all of the "chains" are here also, ... McDonalds, KFC, Shakeys Pizza, Hard Rock Cafe. For the more adventuresome, there are many dishes that are delicious if one is willing to risk ordering without really knowing what you're getting. A lot of menus don't have any english, but they do have pictures of the dishes. When we're feeling experimental, we'll go to restaurants where very little or no english is spoken and just point to what we want. Believe it or not, these have been some of our best meals. However, there are no guarantees that what you think you see in the picture is what the picture actually is. Marcia thought she saw chopped red tomatos as a topping on a noodle dish when what she got was salmon roe (fish eggs). Not to her liking. The tempura is fantastic. We keep exploring and discovering new places to eat and drink. The variety is amazing. From traditional Japanese and Chinese to expat sports bars. The fruit and produce here is fantastic, but very expensive. The other really expensive item is beer! Six packs from $12 to $15.

The Japanese people are very helpful and courteous and are very appreciative of any attempt we make to speak Japanese. The written Japanese language is different from english in that it is not based on one alphabet but three. I'll try to give a very simplified explanation. One alphabet is used for Japanese words (hiragana), one alphabet for foreign words (katakana) and to make things interesting an alphabet borrowed from the Chinese (kanji) made up of thousands of characters each representing a single thought or concept (with variations, of course). I've taught myself the basics of hiragana and can sound out words, even if I don't know what they mean, and can write very slowly. But, here's where things get complicated. These three different forms of writing are completely intermixed and will all appear within the same sentence. So the best we can really hope for is a very basic "get by" kind of understanding. I've had more time to study than Marcia and am getting some phrases down that I can use, but the main problem is understanding responses from the people I comment to. They speak quickly and throw in a lot of words I don't know. Needless to say, it's a slow process.

I've attached a few pictures to give a sense of where we're living. We're in a relatively quiet part of the city. We live in an eight unit building built up the side of a hill on a dead end street that faces a park. The good news/bad news is that it's quiet but we have over 60 stairs to get to our front door.

Now for a quick tour of our neighborhood ....

This is the view from the bottom of our street. We live on the back side of this building.

Some of the stairs to our house.

Next three shots are walking down our street to the "main drag" of our neighborhood, Motomachi Street.

A more quiet way to get to Motomachi Street and a shortcut to the train station.

The "main drag" of our neighborhood. Motomachi Street.

Last picture is a view of Yokohama Bay from a park a short walk up the hill from our house.

Well, that's a brief update on our latest adventure.

Ja mata (se you later),
Gary