Oops, I did it again

Last Sunday I was talking to a running friend about another running friend's injury. She said he was taking acupuncture. So I asked where, in his legs or his back. At least that's what I thought I asked. Turned out I asked if he was injured in his legs or in his fish.

Sakuna = Fish
Senaka = Back

It's always good for a laugh anyway.

Okay, down to business. This afternoon we fly out to Minneapolis and arrive there this morning. Christmas with the Schmidts this week, fly to Houston on Saturday and then on a cruise with the Zellers next week.

Happy Holidays!

Egg Nog

It turns out you can make a rather tasty egg nog in your own kitchen. Who'd have thought? I guess some of you guys that's who. I figured it grew on trees. Anyway my lovely wife whipped me up a batch and I've just about drunk it all down. One question, any problems with those raw eggs? (See poll.) As noted in the comments, it happens frequently over here but hey, they have chicken sushi too so raw foods don't seem to bother anybody.

Woo hoo, we get our Christmas this Saturday. Woo hoo!

Poll Winners and Christmas

Well, Cole's favorite thing was his new basketball shoes. Congratulations to those who picked it and thank you to all who voted. I'll get a new poll up soon. Cole's shoes have "JORDNN" written on them but I think that was a typo. I really think they are the authentic brand. Kaori doesn't get a poll because she picked about five favorites, the Great Wall, the alpine slide, the rickshaw ride, the hotel room etc.

I must vent. Here it is the Christmas season and there is no egg nog at our grocery store. I mean it must be a top holiday seller on the strength of me alone. It is Christmas season right? We are going to parties, the kids' schools have had holiday shows and gatherings. I'm hearing the music and seeing the trees, so where's the nog?

Beijing, China

Beijing was a little different from the big, modern city that I expected. I guess Shanghai, China's business and financial center, is more like that. Beijing is the older, more cultural capital. Not so many large, modern buildings. A little bit older, a little bit dirtier. Still very bustling and full of people, bicycles and cars. Air quality was poor. Very poor. There was a constant haze over the city. Maybe it was my imagination but it seemed like when you went outside you could taste the air pollution.

We had a great time in Beijing. The first day we went to Tienanmen Square, evidently the largest city square in the world (whatever that means). There was a large monument there to the common worker, in contrast to the history of the square. Adjacent to the square was the Forbidden City, the ruling place for emperors. We were surprised by the sheer expanse of the city inside its walls. It seemed to go on and on and on. The kids thought so too, but not in a good way. Later our guide and driver took us to a little out of the way restaurant frequented by the locals. Very good. We decided that American Chinese food is closer to Chinese Chinese food than Japanese Chinese food. Got that? Later that day we went to the Summer Palace; the summer vacation home for emperors. This was one of our favorite places, nicely settled along a lake. Very scenic, very peaceful. Here we were able to walk along the longest corridor in the world (whatever that means).

The next day, Thanksgiving, we went to the Great Wall. Obviously everybody knows how big it is and can look up the dimensions. However you can't really appreciate its size without seeing it in person. At any one spot it isn't an overly large building, it's just that it goes to the horizon and beyond. Over 3,000 miles beyond. It was built hundreds of years ago on hilltops and rocky terrain. For its time, and ours, a truly impressive feat. We rode a gondola up to the top and walked along it for about an hour. To get down from the mountain we took an alpine slide. Now that's what I was talking about when I said there must be a more efficient way to get down from Mt. Fuji (see earlier post). After that we dined near the Wall. If this can be considered our Thanksgiving meal then I guess we ate what the locals eat. However for dinner after we got back from the Wall we ate at an international buffet. It would have been a very nice meal with a lot of different foods to taste and enjoy. But since we only had 30 minutes to eat before we went to a Chinese acrobatic show, it was a harried and frazzled experience. At the buffet we ate American, Italian, Chinese and Japanese. So if that was our Thanksgiving meal then it was an international affair.

The acrobatic show was fun to watch. It is amazing to see what the human body can do and odd ways it can bend.

On our last day we went to a Lama temple and the Temple of Heaven. The Lama temple is a temple for the Buddhist religion. The Temple of Heaven is a place to pray for bountiful harvests. After those we took a rickshaw ride. The ride kind of had a strange start as we went up and down some unattractive back alleys. Our drivers kept explaining where emperors lived or their sisters etc. We ended up going through old Peking and around a lake. Then we had lunch and went to the Silk Market which is actually somewhat like a mall but a little smaller and a lot more crowded. The best and worst part of shopping there is negotiating the price. At one store we bought two pairs of shoes, one for Cole and one for Robyn and the starting price was about $230 for both. That's crazy talk! We got them for about $26 total.

We did go to a silk manufacturing store (separate place) that was interesting. We bought a silk comforter there. Nice.

Our hotel was great. Our room had a nice sitting area, large flat screen TV and was equipped with a computer. The only problem was the bathroom as one whole wall was glass with a glass door. We called it the fishbowl because everybody could see in. Click here to see pictures of our trip.

Beijing for Thanksgiving

Next Tuesday we will be flying to Beijing for our Thanksgiving vacation. Here is our itinerary as provided by our tour guide Oliver An:
1. 21st November
Visit the Tienanmen square and the forbidden city. Afternoon visit the Summer palace.
2. 22nd November
Visit the mutianyu great wall (cable car up and slide down).
Evening visit the acrobatic show (children like it very much.) I would be make the reservation for your family.
3. 23rd November
Visit the lama temple and Old Peking (by rickshaw).
Afternoon visit temple of heaven and local shopping.
A lot of expatriates use this guy to arrange outings when travelling to China. I'm sure this is the standard package of outings that he uses. Mostly I'm looking forward to seeing the Great Wall. I think it will be impressive.

That daughter of mine is a silly one. I was eating warm apple crisp with ice cream and offered her a taste and she recoiled like I was offering her the bubonic plague. Then I was chopping onions and peppers for supper and she walked up and said "I want to try one" and grabbed a slice of onion and started eating it. That is just wrong on so many levels. You veggie eaters have to tell me, is it just me or is this strange?

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween! So I'm a day late here but still on time for those of you back home. Unless of course you read this in the morning, then I'm a day late again. Well I could hardly take Halloween pictures before Halloween could I? There we are, all decked out and ready to score some candy. Cole is so funny. Whenever somebody would say help yourself, take a handful, he would just say "I only want one." Kaori would take a couple but neither grabbed as much as I did. Two-fisted trick or treating baby!

I thought I should mention this article because of the obvious social impact it could have. It is so transparent that the "study" was done by some sort of fruit and vegetable lobby trying to raise the attractiveness of their tired and fibrous products. I say "Go ahead, eat the bacon!" I mean, really, when was the last time you saw a fat bacon eating animal. Wait...what? Oh nevermind...

AZ

A Weekend in Saipan

We kind of talked about it this month. We sort of thought about it. But we really didn't do anything about it until last Wednesday. Then we looked into flights and hotels. On Thursday and Friday we made some reservations and on Friday night we flew to Guam, got in at 1:30 AM Saturday morning; took the 2:30 AM flight to Saipan and were asleep at our hotel by 4:30 Saturday morning. We stayed at the Saipan World Resort. Decidedly only 3 stars in spite of it's 5 star billing. The water park however made up for those other two stars. We had a great time on the beach, lazy river, water slides and wave pool. We even took a turn in the spinning cauldron of death (my name, not theirs (see picture of Cole below)), which reminded me of those yellow vortex things that make donating coins fun. They even had a water slide that could go up (picture of Cole and me). It was a great getaway for a three day weekend and I heartily recommend going to Saipan for all my readers.

Last week before we went Cole was home from school for two days because he was sick. On Thursday night when we were putting the kids to bed Robyn made Kaori promise she wouldn't catch a cold so that we could go on vacation. A few minutes later Kaori called Robyn back into the room and said that even though she promised she was afraid she already had a cold. Robyn had to tell her that it was okay and it wasn't her fault and she wouldn't ruin our vacation. And she didn't.

The next what now?

Shingo = stoplight
Ringo = apple
Last weekend I told the taxi driver that he could let us off at the next apple. Two plus years in and I'm still making these mistakes. And that's not counting the ones that I don't know I made. At least the driver was polite enough not to laugh at me, unlike my family (and readers?).

This evening Kaori took a drink of milk, started coughing a bit and then said in a raspy voice "smooth." I shared a good laugh with her about that one. She said she was laughing so hard it made her have to go poopy.

An electronic meltdown

In the past couple weeks each of the following has stopped working:
Television
Cordless phone
VCR/DVD player
Computer

I suppose that since the television is 20+ years old, it was about time for it to go. Robyn has wanted to get a new one but I keep telling her that it has lasted this long, we have to see it through to the end. And so it seems the end has finally come. Now we are looking at some large screen, flat panel, high definition TV's. But here's the dilemma, do we buy now or wait until we move back to the U.S.? We do have an extra small TV we can use. Of course here in Japan they have excellent electronics and I believe the price wouldn't be too much different. Still, even with the assurances of the salespeople, I would feel more comfortable buying a product made specifically for the U.S. market. Also there's the possibility of it getting damaged/lost when we move back to the U.S. I think we are leaning toward waiting to buy a replacement.

For the cordless phone I just had to replace the battery; no big deal, just $15. That's a crisis I can handle.

With the VCR and computer a funny thing happened (funny as in peculiar and ginormously inconvenient, not funny ha ha). We had a power outage a few days ago and since then the VCR has started working again. I don't know why. I do have to reset the clock to get that 12:00 AM to stop flashing but again, that's a crisis I can handle. However the same power outage caused the computer to crash and stop working entirely. All I get out of it is an incessantly flashing green light. Likely it will never run again. I've spent a little time at an internet cafe (better than I expected) but now I have our old computer (children's play computer) set up with internet access. Of course it is dial up access and a much older computer; making for much slower operation all the way around. Also the "m" button and space bar don't work unless you practically stand on the buttons. With my large feet I would end up mashing the whole keyboard and typing 15 letters and numbers that I didn't really want. Finally I had a light bulb in my head and plugged in our old keyboard. It works even with two different brands of computers. How nice. Our solution to this conundrum is to buy a new computer and to do it now.

Africa: A few loose ends

A final post about my trip to Africa, just to add a few things that I forgot.

1. I missed one of the dangers in visiting the Congo; that being flying. These are a couple excerpts from this article:

"Congo has one of the worst air safety records in the world. The country's safety regulations are notoriously lax and the old and ill-maintained planes are constantly being overloaded. "

"The fiery crash underscored the dangers of flying in Congo, which has experienced more fatal air crashes than any other African country since 1945, according to the Aviation Safety Network. The turboprop belonged to the Congolese company Africa One, which has been barred from flying in the European Union because of safety concerns."

2. Life expectancy in the Congo is only 44 years. The man that I previously mentioned, the one that gets malaria every month or two, is 48 years old. He jokes that he is living on borrowed time.

3. The guys who made this trip two years ago saw a noticeable difference in the economy/activity of Kolwezi. A large copper mine has reopened, increasing the population (both good and bad) and investment from external sources.

4. WorldVision has completed a school and is in the midst of a water project adding 16 (I think) wells that will bring safe drinking water to thousands. Safe drinking water is a key to their healthy living.

5. In the Congo they speak Swahili, French and a few lesser used languages. I was surprised at how well my French came back to me and at how much I was able to use it. That was kind of fun.

6. After the bungee jump I guess I still didn't have enough. I did a tandem gorge swing. A cable was attached to us and to another cable off in the distance. We jumped off the bridge and swung down and in a large arc and eventually settled at the bottom. This was not so good an idea. I wrenched my neck and back and Jeff felt like he broke a rib but was likely just a pull or tear of some cartilage or something. Next time, I'll just stick with the bungee.

7. On the safari we also saw warthogs. Among all the animals that is the most appropriate name. They are nasty looking hoggy things, not cute like Pumbaa from the Lion King. Speaking of which, they really do say Hakuna Matata in Swahili.

Finally, pictures are up. Click here. As always, thanks for the readership, votes and comments.

AZ

On to the Safari!

After we left the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we flew into Livingstone (I presume), Zambia. As we flew into the town, our pilot flew over Victoria Falls (underlined words can be clicked on you know). The falls are a mile wide, bigger than Niagara. The bridge in the foreground of the picture is the one we bungeed off. The whitewater just to the right of the bridge was where we put our raft into the river. We got to the resort late Thursday afternoon, walked out of the lodge to the riverbank and promptly saw a hippopotamus in the water. He would periodically go under and surface, occasionally gaping his jaws to an impressive distance. During the night he (or she or one of his/her podmates) would come up on to land and munch on the grass. He felt safe under cover of the darkness and so did we as we sat and watched him feed.


Friday was an exciting and intense day. We decided to do a half day of white water rafting on the Zambezi River in the morning followed by lunch and bungee jumping in the afternoon. Hmm, seems like and odd order to do those last two things but let me preface by saying nobody lost their lunch, breakfast or supper during the whole day. For the rafting we made the request (and mistake?) to the guide, Vinnie, that we wanted to flip the raft at least 3 or 4 times. Mission accomplished. For some reason Vinnie took us through several maneuvers prior to even starting, like how to paddle, how to float, saving each other etc. No other raft did these. Either he recognized the skill level or he knew what he was going to take us through. Turns out the other rafts didn't need the practice. One group we talked to got in the "down" position for every rapid (tucked down in the raft; we did this once) and took the easy way through. Vinnie took us right into the teeth of the rapids every time but if you ask me, we had a lot more fun.

The bungee jumping was an incredible experience but it is one of those things (like running a marathon) that get better as you get farther from the event. I was very mentally prepared for the jump and after the 5 second countdown I leaped into the void. Several of the guys said I was calm and focused and didn't look like I had a problem with it at all. Like I said, I was ready. Unfortunately I can't really describe the feeling for you. You can see the pictures but if you want to know what it is like, you'll have to do it yourself (like running a marathon). At the time I felt that I had done it and I could say that and I wouldn't need to do it again. Now though, maybe I would if the opportunity presented itself. Unfortunately, I don't think the setting would be nearly as scenic the next time. Best part = rush of adrenaline as you begin the free fall. Worst part = hanging upside down and spinning with the blood rushing to my head as I waited for them to pull me up.

The next day most of us went to a large game park in Botswana. However some stayed to go fishing for tigerfish. I would rather keep my fingers so I didn't fish. On the safari we saw all of the following and more:

Herd of elephants (maybe about 200)

Hippos

Crocodiles

Antelope type animals: Sable antelope; Kudu; Springbok (I may be forgetting one or two)

Cape Buffalo

Zebra

Giraffes

Monitor Lizard

Lions.

It was pretty cool seeing them in their natural habitat. Proof of this were the animal carcasses that we came upon.

Best Memories of Africa

My best and strongest memories of Africa are the people. In spite of the conditions that they live in, they all seem quite happy and are very strong in their faith. Also, the energy, enthusiasm and sincerity of their gratitude was overwhelming. First of all, visits for sponsored children are understandably rare. So when it does happen it is like five years of Christmas and birthdays all wrapped in one. I'm sure they get more soccer balls, clothes, dolls, toothbrushes, candy, balloons, etc on this one day than they have ever seen before in their lives. The entire family dresses up in their Sunday best (in contrast to our t-shirts) and the whole neighborhood appears around the house. In gratitude and any celebration/happiness they let out an infectious ululation that spreads throughout the crowd. The only way that I can describe it is how a young boy would flutter his hand over his mouth while emitting a war cry when playing "cowboys and indians". They do this with such fervor that it is difficult not to feel their gratitude. I kept thinking that it would be great if we had something in the U.S. that was similar to this but then I realized that would make their celebration less memorable so I was glad there isn't.

While many of the children were shy, the parents (and especially the aunts) were not. They would openly welcome and hug us and with each visit, offer up a prayer for us and for us to remember and pray for them. Can you imagine enthusiastically sharing your child with some stranger from a faraway land? It sounds quite odd for us but they did it willingly and happily. Their whole mood was not one of being beaten down and needy but one of welcoming and gratitude. It was inspiring to experience.

I must say that the singing and harmonies were incredible to listen to. We went to a worship service put on by a few churches that lasted for 3 hours but amazingly enough it didn't seem like it at all. While the electricity buzzed in and out, there were 4 choruses that took turns performing. The dancing, music and especially singing were fantastic to experience. While one chorus would be getting to the climax of their piece the others would join in and send up their ululations of celebration.

One final memory was of a soccer game that was arranged between us and a group of boys, probably 13-15 years old. While we took the lead early to gain some respect (a dramatic diving header by yours truly) we ended up losing in the end, 3-1. Appropriately so. This game is such a good memory because of how much it meant to the town. It was actually broadcast on the radio. When the game finally ended the crowd rushed the field and we all ended up chanting "Kolwezi! Kolwezi!" and doing their cry of celebration. There were hundreds of kids surrounding us all wanting to touch us, slap hands or just get our attention. Must have been what it felt like when the Packers won the Super Bowl.

Below is a picture of the soccer teams and a typical house. I promise more pictures as soon as I get some more from the other guys. Next up, more about our safari and bungee jumping(!?!).

First Impressions

As I mentioned before I first thought of Kolwezi as 20 mud huts in the wilderness and then as an urban center with a population of over 400,000 people. In the end it turned out to be somewhere in between but I really feel it was closer to the first than the latter. The neighborhoods we visited had more of the feel of the "mud huts", it's just that there were several thousand of them instead of just 20. They were constructed from clay bricks and the lucky houses had corrugated steel roofs without holes rusted in them. Additional bricks were set on the steel to keep it in place. I can only imagine a muddy dirt floor for the unlucky households. Of course there was a "downtown" sort of area but the buildings seemed to be limited to 2 stories. Roads were severely potholed at best, not paved, rutted and dusty at worst.

Dangers in the Congo

In spite of the recent Ebola outbreak and civil war, I never felt like I was in any sort of danger. Both the Ebola and the fighting were hundreds of miles away from where we were. More pressing was the danger of common diseases such as malaria and typhoid. Even though I was vaccinated or taking pills to prevent malaria, typhoid, yellow fever and hepatitis A & B, those diseases were always on my mind. There weren't many mosquitoes, I think because it was the dry season (hasn't rained since March), but when I did see one I couldn't help but think "malaria with wings." When we were looking at the neighborhood wells and they poured water out, I would think "typhoid in a bucket." Here are a couple rather poignant examples of the presence of disease in everyday life in the Congo and our reaction to it:

1) One of the people we worked with has a good job with WorldVision and has his doctorate. He said that he gets malaria every month or two. He recognizes the feeling of it in the back of his neck and then goes to the doctor. It's not difficult to treat, but this treatment isn't available to everybody. It isn't fiscally practical for the locals to take the preventative medication that I was taking everyday. It is just something that they must live with on an everyday basis.

2) When we went out to visit the neighborhoods, health centers or schools, kids would appear from all over to see us, get their pictures taken and receive the candy or other items that we passed out. They wanted to walk and talk with us, hold our hands and give us five. When we got back into our vehicles to leave, one of the first things we did was to get out the sanitizing liquid and rub it onto our hands. It is not something that any of us felt good about doing but something we had to do nonetheless.

This trip will probably take few posts for me to present the entire picture so keep checking back. Also I'm waiting for some pictures from the other guys to put up. The picture below is of a baobab tree. Truly massive. There are six of us standing in front of this one and we are about half as wide as it is. Amazing.

On the home front I'm told that Cole and Kaori were very well behaved when Robyn and I were gone. Robyn was gone for work from Monday to Friday the same week that I was in Africa. Thanks to Grandma Alice and Grandpa Ron for coming to visit.

Into and Out of Africa

I've gone to Africa and have made it home again. This will be just a short little post with a few pictures but I'm planning on writing a more comprehensive description of my trip in a few days. But for now here are the pictures:

The first picture I'm with Beti, our "adopted" little girl. She is 4 years old just like Kaori. The second picture I'm with Moise, of course our "adopted" boy. He is 7 just like Cole. This bottom picture is us when we were whitewater rafting. I'm on the top left. I was in the front but when we went nose-up, I moved quickly to the back and fell on everybody in the process.

Africa here I come

I was hoping a little mention about the Congo would inspire a few comments. Turns out I think the corn soup was more popular. Anyway, I'm leaving this Friday for a trip to the heart of Africa. I'll fly from Tokyo to Hong Kong to Johannesburg to Lusaka, Zambia and then on to Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sunday the 23rd, I'll do that trip in reverse. Why? A couple years ago Robyn's brother Bill went with a group of guys from WorldVision to the village of Kolwezi. They "adopted" the village and have continuing school and water projects there. Robyn and I "adopted" two kids there, a 7 year old boy and 4 year old girl. Now I'm going with many of these same guys, Bill included, to visit the village, see the projects and meet our "adopted" kids. I'm not really sure what to expect although I know we won't be in a village of 20 mud huts. Kolwezi has a population of over 400,000 so it is definitely a metropolitan area. However, what does that mean for Africa? I don't know. I'm mostly going in with an open mind, excited to see what I see.

After doing that for a few days we are going on a safari. We'll be staying at the Waterberry Lodge. It seems to have a lot of adventure opportunities. I'll be sure to post pictures when I return.

Cole and Kaori are doing well in school. Kaori enjoys going every day and her class alternates between Japanese and English each day. I can tell she is picking up some Japanese even though she isn't using it. Cole has made the "A" swim team, he was on the "B" team last year. I'm still surprised at the amount of homework he has. He does at least 30 minutes everyday, sometimes more. I never had that much when I was in 2nd grade.

AZ

More About Food

One day last week Robyn came home from work and Kaori told her we were having "meat love" for supper. Kaori just kept calling it "meat love." Later, after we put the kids to bed I told Robyn that Kaori kept forgetting the name "meatloaf". Finally she asked me if she could just call it "meat love, because I just love it so much!" Of course Cole said "I wish I liked it because then I wouldn't have to eat something I don't like." Can't have a grilled cheese every day!

How often does anybody eat corn soup? I mean really. You can buy it here at McDonalds and in vending machines. I'm not saying it's popular because I've never seen anybody eat it but they must be selling some if they have it. I can't imagine buying a can of "corn potage" from a vending machine on the street and having a satisfying experience with it.

Next Friday, the 14th, I leave Tokyo to go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I get back home on the 25th. During that time Robyn's parents will be here to help take care of Cole and Kaori.

Of Donuts and Baseballs

Last week Robyn was putting the kids to bed and Cole responded with "I want a donut." So the next day Cole, Kaori and I made a trip to Krispy Kreme. It was another hot day; line was long, sun was strong and the humidity high. An all around bad day to spend it standing outside in a crowd. However Krispy Kreme was ready. They handed out umbrellas so we could stand in the shade, cups of ice cold water and glazed donuts hot off the donut cooking machine. A class act all the way around; everything I would expect from a donut company.

Last night the kids and I went to a Yakult Swallows vs. Hanshin Tigers baseball game. This one was outside, not in the dome. We were in right field looking into the sun so it was a good thing that it set at 6 PM (when the game started). An enjoyable experience all the way around. We got free team hats and umbrellas. The umbrellas weren't for rain, they are to tell the opposing pitcher that it's time to hit the showers. We ate the typically ballgame fare of hot dogs and popcorn and not so typical yakisoba (fried noodles) and yakitori (skewered chicken pieces). To top it off, the weather even cooperated with a cool evening. One of the highlights were the fans sitting quietly while the other team was up to bat and giving the other cheering section their time. Also the 6th inning stretch was celebrated by everybody in the stands (except the unknowing foreigners) releasing a 4 foot balloon into the air and onto the field. We only lasted through the 7th inning but it was quite enjoyable.

Earthquake

Seems the earthquakes have been coming more often lately. Mostly just little ones, however one was big enough to wake us up at night. It seemed like the longest one that we've ever felt but I guess our perception could have been a little off since we were waking up in the middle of the night. Hmm, are these small quakes a harbinger of something bigger to come? We hope not, although supposedly the "Big One" is due to come.

I ought to be in pictures

Last October I joined several members of my running club to run around the Yamanote line. That is a subway line that circles through Tokyo. Total distance, about 26 miles or 42 kilometers. Since I had run the Portland Marathon only 2 weeks before I only went halfway and then, conveniently, hopped on the subway for a ride home. Well at that time somebody else in the club who was a free lance writer (since moved back to Minnesota) brought a photographer along and did a story about us in The Japan Times. Only the foremost English language paper in Japan. So I got my picture in the paper. Just this last Wednesday, again they ran a picture of our run alongside another, unrelated story about exercise. So now the tally is:

Tokyo = 2 years = 2 pictures in the paper.
Minnesota = 10+ years = 0 pictures in the paper.

Mt. Fuji

Another hot and humid day here in Tokyo but how would it be at the top of Mt. Fuji? I'd been warned to pack plenty of clothes to keep warm but was also told that the temperature would probably be from 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. In spite of what my Japanese friends thought, I didn't think that was so bad, especially for someone from Minnesota. I left home at 5:45 AM and caught a couple trains to Shinjuku to meet up with the rest of the group, 12 of us in total. It was about a 2 - 2.5 hour drive but even at that early hour there was some traffic that slowed us down. When we finally reached the national park, there was a long line of cars waiting to get in. Evidently a lot of people wanted to climb Mt. Fuji today. We sat and waited for over an hour until they let us through, then another short wait at the parking lot. Finally we were at the 5th station and ready to go.

It was really quite crowded with even more people coming down the mountain and filling the already crowded square. As we made it through the crowd I was surprised to see that the number of people coming down far outweighed the number of people going up. I realized that these were the people that went up the night before, many of them in the darkness, in order to see the sunrise from the summit. They were all tired and haggard in contrast to our energy and enthusiasm.

At first the hiking was quite easy. Walking, mostly up and some down but no actual climbing. Gradually, almost unnoticed, it became quite steep. I walked with a slight forward lean so as not to lose my balance and fall backward. In some spots I found it easier to scramble up on all fours. I started using the makeshift handrail (long metal spikes driven into the ground with ropes or chains tied to them) more and more. It seemed we were going quite slowly; methodically placing one foot in front of the other from one station to the next. Each station was a shack where you could buy candy bars or drinks and use the restroom. Since we had experienced climbers in our group everybody carried their own supplies. I smartly froze my 2 liter bottle of water so I would have a cold refreshment all day long. I guess I wasn't so smart since my drinking came only a few swallows at a time and at the end of the day there was still a frozen block in the bottle. So I ended up being able to use only half of what I lugged around all day. Curse my brilliant idea!

Our group quickly segmented into 2 or more. I was in the front group so I didn't know what was going on behind us. All I knew was that our fearless leader, a veteran of 10 or more climbs, wasn't resting at all. He speaks only a little English so every time I asked how much further? or how much longer? I was answered with a string of Japanese of which I could only understand a few words. Oh well, we'll get there when we get there. Finally we were blessed and cursed with our first glimpse of the summit. There it was, so close yet so far. After every 15 or 20 minutes of climbing I would glance up only to see that we were no closer than the last time I looked up. However judging by the number of people we were passing, we were making very good time. I was impressed by wide range of people doing this climb. There were the very old, moving slowly but surely and the quite young, in groups of boy scouts or families being urged on by their parents.

Up close Fuji isn't the beautiful, peaceful, snow-topped mountain that appears in the classic pictures. It is steep and rocky and sharp. In the summer there is little snow but a few plants dare to grow between the lava rocks. The rocks are large and small and gravelly and make you stumble and slide down as you try to ascend. It was mostly sunny towards the top as we climbed through and above the clouds. It wasn't overly hot or cold. I wore my shorts and t-shirt almost the entire day.

Finally we reached the top. I was told it would take 3 to 3.5 hours but we were there in 2 hours and 40 minutes. I was a little unsure at first because we walked down between a row of shops. There were souvenir stands, cafes and vending machines. This is the top I wondered? I was looking for the crater of a volcano. We chose a shop and had a lunch of ramen noodles. While we were eating I was told that the crater was just a little further. Slowly our group continued to straggle in with most arriving an hour after we did. Later we wandered down the row of shops and came to the end, it was there that I finally saw the crater. Quite impressive with sheer cliffs that fell deep into the mountain. A little dirty snow was still clinging on the side. Incredibly I still had cell phone service so I called Robyn from the summit and emailed a picture. We spent a couple hours on the top and then started back down.

The route coming down is different than the one going up. As we climbed I was wondering about that because I thought it would quite hard to go down over some of the same rocks that we were climbing. The path down was 2 or 3 inches deep of dirt and gravel. Our movement consisted of sliding, stepping and jumping. I kept thinking that there must be a more efficient way to get down. Maybe a hang-glider, alpine or water slide or even skiing. However since none of those methods were available to us, we kept trudging. Finally I was able to recognize some of the terrain that we crossed at the beginning of our ascent. We started passing some people, whole busloads of tour groups, that were just heading up, presumably to see the sunrise the next morning. We started climbing at 11 AM and returned to the 5th station at 6 PM. Quite an enjoyable day. The effort was more than I had hoped but about what I expected. The shower and soak at the onsen afterward felt wonderful. We topped off the day with a traditional Japanese supper, sushi, noodles, seafood etc. All in all, I'm glad I did it but not something I plan on doing again anytime soon.

Pictures, as promised

Here are some pictures of our time in the U.S. Tubing in Wisconsin and touristing in S.D. Can't get that Mt. Rushmore picture to turn right side up though, not sure why.

That Mt. Fuji climb is sneaking up on me. Hope I'm ready.

Safe at Home

An hour and a half ride to the airport, an eleven and a half hour flight, two hour bus ride to Tokyo and a 15 minute taxi ride to our apartment. At the end of it all is home, sweet home. By far the worst leg of the journey is the vomit-inducing ride from Narita airport into Tokyo. Ask anybody who has made the trip, they'll concur. Not exactly sure why that is, maybe after an eleven hour flight you are just ready to be done, maybe it's the stop and go traffic going into the big city or any number of things that conspire to make that part so difficult. At any rate, not so fun but over with for this trip anyway.

So now I sit at 4 in the morning updating my blog. The kids and I are up, have been for about 30 minutes but awake for much longer. I anticipate a few more mornings like this before we get adjusted back to Tokyo time. Probably more for me than for the kids though. I did make them say they'll take a nap this afternoon though but it remains to be seen if that really happens. I'm sure I'll be able to nap, not so sure about them.

I was hoping to take advantage of waking so early and get out for an early morning run before the heat of the day gets too bad. No such luck. Already 79 degrees with 83% humidity. Yuck.

Second thing Cole did when we got home (after hugging mommy) was to go find his baseball glove. He seems to have been inspired by watching his cousin Mac play a baseball tournament when we were in SD. I'm sure we'll be out playing catch later today.

The Expat Summer Vacation

We are now experiencing the typical expatriate summer vacation. Cole, Kaori and I are in the U.S. visiting family and friends while Robyn has returned to Tokyo to work. Many foreigners return to their home countries for weeks and months during the summer while the working spouse either works in the office back in their home country, takes vacation and/or returns to Tokyo much earlier. This makes for a transient summer vacation and lots of time apart as a family.

I have to say I enjoy being in the U.S. but we all miss Robyn very much.

On Wisconsin!

We have made it to the U.S. Nothing exciting on this flight which is the way we like it. No sick kids all over my clothes or using up several many barf bags. Just a little Nintendo DS, movie watching and sleeping. Not as much sleeping for the parents but that's okay.

We've been trying to change our body clocks. Cole and Kaori seemed to do that on the first day, good for them. Robyn and I are taking a little longer. A few boring, sleepless hours in the early AM. Oh well, a nap in the afternoon makes up for that. So far we are lounging in our vacation time. Swimming, boating and eating. For me it's much easier to run here than it was in the quagmire called Tokyo's summer.

AZ

Today is the day!

Okay, as the countdown says, today is the day. We are all set and ready to go (mostly). We are excited anyway. We'll be seeing many of you soon, can't wait. Ja, mata ne! (see you soon)

AZ

Cucumber?

At the store today I noticed Pepsi is selling a new flavor: Ice Cucumber. I'd like to offer to bring some back for you to sample but I don't think I can. The moving companies wouldn't ship soda. Would it explode? My take is that it is just another subversive plot to get me to consume more vegetables. I'll show them, I'm just not going to drink any.

(I have to admit that the melon soda over here isn't too bad. Do I dare try the cucumber?)

The Fifth Season

Japan's fifth season is here, tsuyu, rainy season. Last Friday it rained. Sunday rain. Monday rain. Forecast rain. At least Saturday was nice and we got to spend the whole day at the pool which was surprisingly warm for this time of year.

Rain, rain go away, come again some other day...

Woe is me...

Once again the world is being denied my exquisite talents. I received a call last night from the casting company and I wasn't picked in the final photo selection for the movie. Was something wrong with my pictures? Did they listen to my voice recordings? Perhaps another movie, another day...

The Family

Enough about me and the movies, let me tell you about what is going on with everybody else. Kaori finished school last week and is starting summer school this week. She is so excited to start, I'm not sure why. Usually she has been a little tentative in a new class with new friends and new teachers. Not this time. She's also excited to go every day versus MWF that she had been going. She's growing up.

Cole finishes school this week and will start summer school next Monday. It will pretty much be the same schedule for him except school will be more relaxed I think. He missed a couple days last week because he was sick and so he was excited to go back today.

Robyn is in China where she'll experience a week of 90+ temperatures. It has been pleasant here as we enter the rainy season. And rainy season it is as we got wet yesterday and today. Hopefully it will clear up tomorrow.

One other issue, below each entry I make is an underlined "0 comments". If you click on that it will take you to a page where you can add your own comments. You can enter your name so I know who has left a message or you can just do it anonymously. Hope that helps.

AZ

Movie Update: Meeting with the Casting Company

Yesterday I received an email and phone call from the casting company. They wanted me to come in today and meet with them. Basically they just want to fill out my file. With what I wondered. I already filled out my personal info and sent pictures. Turns out they want more pictures and some voice recordings. Great, right when I have a humongous zit on my nose, just got my hair cut and can't do a thing with it and these few extra pounds I'm carrying make me look bloated. Perfect timing.

When I got there I was greeted by two nice Japanese women who spoke very good English. They looked at my file and pictures and said a bunch of stuff to each other in Japanese and then complimented me on the pictures but still they wanted their own. That was fine with me and I fully expected to be instructed to turn my head slightly so as to hide the zit on the side of my nose but she was either too polite to mention it or thought there was no use in even trying to hide it so we might as well live with it. Then I was requested to make three voice recordings. One casual one about myself, one talking seriously like a newscaster and one lively like a radio DJ. "But I'm not an actor and not looking for a speaking part" I protested. "I just want to run in the background of this movie." Evidently this only came out in my head because we went ahead the recordings anyway. They were polite about it and said I had a good voice. But was that a stifled snicker I saw? Recently there has been a trend to have a foreigner speak one or two Japanese words in commercials; these sound distinctive. So maybe I have that to look forward to.

As far as the movie itself, I haven't been officially chosen yet. Final photo selection will be in a week or so. However I have been told that I no longer need to keep June 13th & 14th open, just the 26th and 27th. I'm not even in the movie yet and I'm getting written out. D'OH! The movie is based on a detective series that has been on TV for 7 years. It started out playing late at night but was recently moved to prime time, 9 PM. Now it is having a major motion picture made about it; to be released in theaters, not just made for television.

Finally, the casting company really wanted me to send them pictures of Cole and Kaori. There are plenty of opportunities for children to appear in magazines and advertisements. That might be fun too.

AZ

Rhubarb and Movies?

I hope everybody made it here safely. If not, I'm sure I'll hear about it. I hope all of you can bookmark this new page but for those internet-challenged folks out there I'll leave up a link at the old site. It might be the long way to get here but at least you get here.

If you'll remember from the past site I had trouble appropriating rhubarb here. Not that it wasn't available, just that it was expensive. Like $3.50 for an individually wrapped stalk. Not so outrageous compared to some things here but prohibitively priced nonetheless. So as I went through our newly refurbished grocery store today I was delighted to find 4 stalks for $3.50. I don't know if that is a good price or not compared to the U.S. but it was good enough for me to buy it. I'll be having some rhubarb crunch in the near future. And given my desire for a greater crunch vs. rhubarb ratio, that 4 stalks might turn into two pans. You can freeze rhubarb can't you?

A few people have been asking about my budding movie career. Here's an update: Yesterday the casting company lady called again to be sure that I was reserving the days in June that they requested. I am. I can't make the days in July though so I'll likely just be in the background running group. But it definitely sounds like I'll be in the movie in some respect. Likely for about 5 seconds running in a pack of people way in the back behind some trees. I don't even know if it'll be on the big screen or if its made for TV. I'm hoping to get a copy of it and then maybe I'll put up my portion on youtube.com. If I do I'll let you know; however that won't be for quite awhile.

AZ

Welcome!

Hi! Glad to see you could make it. So this is the new home, how do you like it? I think you'll like it. It provides more space for pictures and will probably be easier for Robyn to make an entry or two (I say probably, not sure about that). If I were more web aware when we first moved here I would have started this whole thing here I think. An additional feature is that you'll be able to join in on the action. Just click the "Comment" link below and start typing, easy as that. So now if you want to say hello you won't have to send a whole different email.

Hope you like the new digs!

AZ