More t-shirt English

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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