Hi from far, far away

snow+cold = dormant

2009-01-26T16:07:00.000-08:00

That's what I was for most of the day. Until I started to do some absurd things around the house that I won't go into.
So I forced myself out into the windy, bitter cold and froze my face off. But I did get these lovely snow shots. It sure is beautiful.

I read in the paper today that Jack Lalane is 94 years old. And, he works out 2 times a day, + swims 1/2 hour. Amazing! That's my interesting tid bit for the day.

Wake up Katrina!

2008-12-27T21:03:00.000-08:00

zzzz. oh hello..... zzzzz.

I haven't posted in so long I think I forgot how to do it.

First of all during my waking moment I'd like to thank my brother Kevin for his excellent blog post, and for using up all the premium adjectives to describe our fabulous adventure in Egypt.

Trying to just make a post, but struggling to recover from my jet-lag delirium.
Delirium from 3 rd world wonderfully chaotic, polluted yet fragrant, helter skelter Cairo.

I mean everywhere, wafts of grilled meat, diesel, spices, exhaust, sweat, smoke, cat pee, coffee, dust, feet, big dumpage of more diesel, tobacco, felafil, dead cats, lotus.... More. And more and more. The synapses in my brain cannot connect quickly enough. And the intense pollution is killing them off fast. Then there is the visual. Oh this is just too much.
And, there are lots of eyes on us.

So. I have never ever, ever been anywhere like this. Maybe Istanbul comes somewhat close, but there really is no European influence in Cairo.
And so different from Japan. The Japanese don't yell. They barely squeak. They respect your 'space'. Heck they won't even come within 25 yards of your space.
Oh not the Egyptians. Right there. Right up in your face. Hey you have alot of stray eyebrow hairs there Mister.
Very curios. Always wanting to know where you are from. At one point Kev started to get comical:

Egyptian: Hello! Welcome to Egypt! Where are you from?
Kev: Egypt.

Egyptian: hahahahahaha! well what is your name?
Kev: Mohammad!

everyone liked that.

But from the moment you step out of your hotel room, it really is complete non-stop dizzying action---for hours while you are out and about. I couldn't really decide if it was safer on foot or by nutzo taxi driver. Either way, I found myself making a mental note to thank Allah when I arrived back at the hotel, frenzied, but intact.

I have to say tho, the giant, echoing, peaceful mosques were quite a nice respite. They were not crowded, probably because you can find one on nearly every street corner. At one point I counted 39 minarettes, standing in one spot. And that's just what I saw!

So now on to my brother Kevin. He can quite possibly be the worlds easiest person to travel with. He is fearless and knows how to figure out a huge city and it's people very fast. He has nothing except an extra pair of underwear and a wallet. And of course his bike. He goes anywhere, anytime, and eats anything. One night while cruising around the alleys, it was getting late into the evening without having eaten dinner and we stumbled across a man cooking up some probably very yummy and probably very questionable street food in his rusted old run down cart.

"I'll take 2 of those!" He says without even a blink.
Are you crazy? I thought.

He has an intense aversion towards touristy places (except Giza) so it's quite some adventure travel. I must have dragged him to the market 9 times without one complaint. He once very kindly suggested that maybe I could go out by myself since I kind of had the layout figured.
How thoughtful Kev. Get your shoes on.

I can't even describe, really, how much I enjoyed myself, without having to take care and watch over young children for 9 straight days. Nobody whining because they are tired or hungry, nobody with a poopy diaper, nobody who just can't walk anymore because they have a mosquito bite on their toe. I was in pure polluted bliss!

And the Muslims.
So exotic.
So so so devout.

Our 25 year old hotel receptionist, Ahmed, was so sweet and cute and charming and delightful and helpful I nearly stayed and converted.

But I knew I would miss Ira too much.

Hope to soon make a movie of this adventure. I will for certain go back, next time to Luxor. Thankfully it doesn't take much to get Ira to go anywhere. He's already on board!

10 more days

2008-10-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

...til the news can finally get off the election a bit.

I am not voting for John McCain because I think he is a Muslim.

Dad was here

2008-08-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

Little taped notes around the house.

That's how you know.

'Course I knew he was here, he was a gigantic help when the 90 boxes from Japan came in. He attacked the boxes like a crazed cave man.

Replacing the screen door, cleaning and organizing the entire work room, fixing closet doors, doing dishes, pumping up bike tires. The list goes on.
Wal-mart or Home Depot. Almost every day.

He is strong and healthy. Great to see him. And he's coming back, in a month, for another 3 weeks.

Hello it's me.

2008-07-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

....I've thought a-bout us for a long long while.

a note to say I haven't abandoned or forgotten my blog, even tho it seems that way. Summer has taken over, and we have guests, and frankly, there is really not a whole lot of wacky Japanese stuff happening here.

The dishwasher broke. The dog went to the vet.

Oh my gosh I am back to my boring old way of life. what to do, where to go. help.

I'm glad I am not in China tho. Or Kyrgyzstan.

Here is a little 'bit' I made, which happened to just sell today in my etsy shop.

The Joys of Jet-lag

2008-06-15T21:36:00.001-07:00

Joseph. An hour or so before landing. Yawn. Been home for 1 week and beginning to come out of the jet-lag, lack of oxygen and dehydration. But there is lots of cheese in the fridge.
That's what counts.
This is what's on the agenda. Unpacking massive amounts of boxes with completely random contents. Here is a shot of the boys room, and the storage room.

Aren't you all so jealous? Ira left for Japan today, he will be back here in Colorado for a visit on July 18. Then back to Asia again, not quite sure how long it will continue, but his working visa expires end of October. We hope he won't be gone for that long. The company needs to find his replacement and Ira needs to train him or her. He is in the process of interviewing.

Fresh air, big blue skies, mammoth shopping carts, and driving on the proper side of the road. (without a bike or 2 speeding in front of you at any moment) . Ah, the things I missed so.

Goodbye Japan

2008-06-06T17:02:00.001-07:00

In our last few days spent here, Ira and I went together to Kamakura, my absolute favorite place in Japan.

An ancient womens cemetary, on a giant forested

slope. The air is heavy and very rich with fragrant nature. Little paths meandering through the graves sites, the trickling sounds of tiny waterfalls, big moss and vine covered walls, dripping with moisture, the echo of the birds.

I found these mushrooms on a rock. Not even 1/2 " tall.

Such a quiet, peaceful and perfect place. I gathered leaves, twigs, tiny pebbles, fallen bamboo. Hope to make a small collage with my findings of this place that I love and will miss so much.

A wonderful last memory.

June 7. We are ending another chapter and leaving Japan in just a few hours.

I have to go pack, Ira is pushing me to end this. I will continue when I return home.

Sayonara Japan, arigato gozaimas

Countdown to June 7.

2008-05-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

I guess the countdown really begins with just 8 days to go huh? Wow, seems unreal to me, as this house and neighborhood have become home.

It is so humid and fragrant here this time of year.

Quite lovely. Preparing mentally for the semi-arid environment.

Packing. thankfully we don't have to actually pack things in boxes, the movers will do that. But like many people, we tend to collect a lot of crap, and I don't want to transport that back home and add it to all the other stuff crammed in the storage room. Lots of sorting being done.

The kids have entered into their final exams. Everyone is busy and excited.
So I thought that I'd post some random photos of Japan, seeing that I never really got around to that.

By the way, if anyone would like me to bring some tasty dried sea critters (or what not) back to the US, I'd be happy to. Please get your requests in soon. Some of you have some favorites,
otherwise just suggest 'ocean surprise.'

A Japanese wedding procession

bride and groom

Mt Fuji, last March, with Annika in the foreground

A typical beautifully wrapped gift

sashimi in the local grocery

incense at Kamakura

I have a hunch this guy is praying for cheese

This is a short clip of an outdoor performance we went to when my brother Steve was here. An Australian group travels around and performs this acrobatic type dancing/movement etc., to music, while harnessed to these bendable poles. Really interesting and different. Have never seen anything like it. So much fun to watch. Apparently, the music in this clip is Finnish, so Steve says.

Off to bed.

Final thoughts and goodbyes to Japan coming soon, very soon.

The home stretch

2008-05-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

Less than 1 month to go. Hard to believe.

I will start this entry with some very sad news.

Ira's dear mother Sylvia passed away 2 weeks ago. We were hoping we would be able to see her upon our return to the US next month. But it wasn't meant to be.

She had entered hospice and was suffering terribly, and her time had come. Ira flew to Florida for her funeral, and this upcoming summer there will be another service that we will attend on the East coast for all other family and friends from the NYC area.

Ira has been so strong the past few months. He has really been suffering as well. It was amazing the loving attention he was able to give his mother over the past 6 months while being all the way on the other side of the earth. He really has done such a tremendous job in every area of his life during this crisis, I just know I would have crumbled.

So admirable.

My brother Steve, his wife Judy and son Karl were here, right in the middle of this and despite it being the lowest point of our stay here in Japan I think they had a good time. An interesting time. They had pretty much zero jet-lag due to some miracle pills (why did I never hear about these in my 20 something overseas flights?) Called "No jet-lag" I think.

Trick question: can you spot the foreigners on the train?
I can, but really, if they both just closed their eyes, slumped their heads & necks over like a contortionist and went to sleep, I think it'd be hard to distinguish them from a local. :-) . Oh wait. The suspenders (that I happen to really like) may give Stevie away. But so close to blending right in.

On our way to Kabuki-za theatre in Ginza, which never happened.

After all the fuss about getting out of the house early enough to be one of the 1st in line, catching trains, making transfers & fare adjustments etc, we get all the way to the theatre and its CLOSED that day.

A very usual and typical frustration here, even though you may take every precaution for that kind of thing to *not* happen! (explanation on Kabuki farther down).

So we cruised around fancy Ginza, which has some of the most expensive (if not thee most) real estate in the world--something like 9 million USD per square ft.

Stopped into the Sony building to see all the latest state-of-the-art cool electronic stuff, i.e, cameras, walkmen, video etc. A place where I think teenage boys might appreciate most. And for only $400 US, you can buy one of these.

I got a good long laugh and actually wanted to buy one for a few minutes.

Also took a stroll to the Imperial Palace/ grounds. It was very exciting to see a corner of the palace roof and partial window behind the foliage. :-) Sadly, there were no Imperial family
sightings. Apparently, they come out twice a year and wave to people from the balcony.

Here is Stevie, after finding out how much his lunch costs

So, Kabuki is a traditional Japanese form of theatre, known for the elaborate make-up and stylized drama. The plays are about historical events, conflicts, and love relationships. Very slow moving, the actors (all men) speak in a very monotonous voice and in an old-fashioned form of Japanese that sometimes make it difficult for even the japanese to understand. I find it very interesting. Too slow moving for many though.

There are no cameras allowed in kabuki, (and they are watching you) but last week while visiting a museum in Tokyo there was a mock kabuki stage set up, fake figures and all, so here is an idea of what it looks like. I have to say, the costumes and lighting are exact! Now just throw in some funky japanese string instruments, a gong, and some odd, slow, incomprehensible whining, and you're there!

Really disappointed they missed it, I think it is such a unique activity. I am really gung-ho over kabuki-za. Emphasis on ho and za. I have been chanting it for the past hour.

Another new quote for me-- gung-HO on kabuki-ZA. That's how I feel today. A state of mind.

Enough NONSENSE!

No I don't talk politics on this blog. It's strictly goofiness. I am a few ~~thousand~~ miles behind on ~~all~~ most political issues anyway. Is that wrong? I have found that my quote for 2008 is "lighten up". because when you are overseas with 4 kids and a husband that you don't see much, things can get pretty darn serious ~~every dang day~~ from time to time. So, I keep telling myself to lighten up, and have even found that my art work is starting to become (even more) wacky. I need to keep a smile on my face.

Moving on, I just received an email last night from my brother Kevin, who has arrived with his loaded bicycle in China.

So, there is a BLOGGING RESTRICTION in all of China and he cannot blog about his bike trip while there. Can you believe it? There are something like 10,000 technicians manning this, and it's illegal. So, he will be emailing me his posts while in China, and I will be posting them (once I figure it out in about a month) for him. (should I charge him, and how much?!)

My 50th post.

Sayonara

2008-04-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

But I don't often hear the Japanese say that. I hear 'bye bye.'

Kind of a sad day today.

Through the blur of flowing tears, I watched my brother Kevin pedal off on his loaded bike, heading west along the Tamagawa river.... beginning his very long and hopefully not too dangerous 1 1/2 year journey across Asia.

We had a great 2 week+ visit with him and he actually managed to get a couple crash courses in Japanese from friends, in addition to.. Ira. hmm. It's amazing with the little that he has, all the planning that goes into the trip. Here he is testing and re-testing his tiny gas stove.

That look in his eyes means there is some 'hot dog soup' in his near future.

Ever get the feeling you are being watched by a strange foreigner?

My nephew David and his wife Kirsten are also visiting from Duluth MN for 1 week. They seem to be enjoying all the wackiness of the country and Dave has quickly picked up on the mind boggling train system here. It took me months.

My brother Steve, his wife Judy and son Karl will be here on Friday. Let's see if Stevie is as quick with the trains. "Here is a map, some yen, now GO!"

So here is Kevie, all ready to go. He should be in China after catching the ferry boat in 2-3 weeks I guess.

And finally, I loaded a video clip of him biking out of our neighborhood. Hope you can watch it.

All for now. More updates soon!

Thailand part 2

2008-03-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the lame blogger.

First I have to say, on a happy note, my brother Kevin is here and his company is greatly ~~bothered~~ enjoyed by all.

On a sad note, Ira had to make yet another trip back to the USA. It has been determined that his mother needs to enter a nursing home, so he has flown back to find a home, help with the transition and take care of all the complicated paper work. Very sad times. The past few months have been very rough, and dealing with all of this decline from afar is especially difficult. Ira has done a spectacular job dealing with the ongoing stresses of his job, kids and family back home. More power to you Ira. A big hug too.

Tommy Lee.
Again.
He's gone from mad to sad, now on this coffee machine. Next ad is crying in his mug.

Now you listen to me, Tommy. You are a long time movie star in America and a huge hero on every billboard and coffee machine in Japan. GET OVER IT.

So now that I have nearly forgotten everything about my Thai vacation, I'll post the couple things that I remember.

First a bit of advice:

In your next life, don't come back as a 3rd world mannequin if you can help it.

So after the beach, we headed up to Bangkok, hired a driver for a day to take us about an hour north to Auytthaya, which was a Thai kingdom that existed in the 1300-1700's. It eventually expanded to become the nation of Siam. Needless to say, there are hundreds of Wat (temple) ruins, and enough meditating Buddhas to make your head spin.

Monks on a mission

Siam Warrior declares
"Joseph, eat your Pad Thai"

the reclining buddha His mother-of-pearl feet (and Ira's beautiful bald head)a really bad night time snack I bought. Fried 'cakes' drenched in granulated sugar stuffed with corn and other mysterious items that went directly in the garbage

Ira making an entrance
entrance to a monks quarters

Asian eyes

2008-02-28T03:33:00.000-08:00

These eyes belong to Joe's Korean friend Felix. (His English name, I forgot his Korean name.)
I think they are quite lovely.

It's not unusual for Felix's dad to bring home a live octopus for dinner. Just drop the squirmy sea creature into some boiling broth, wait a few minutes, pull it out, cut an 'x' across the top of it's head, drop it back in and let the flavorful broth sink in and seep throughout it's body and tentacles.

Joseph and I listened to Felix describe the scenario, stunned.

Back to blogland!

It's winter, so a bit uneventful, as I don't venture out too much into the cold, (yes, I am cold, so it is cold all of you from Michigan) and I have been a bit busy with the nut-job 2 year old. Ira was back in the US for a week to help out with his mother who has been quite sick.

Then I started teaching English once a week and it is really a lot of fun. The money is great. I am also going to start another class soon, with a long time Japanese friend of mine, Kuniko, in exchange for Japanese cooking lessons. Then I also have been very busy selling my art online. It's hard to keep up with everything.

We were in Thailand a couple weeks ago. 4 days in Phuket, a really nice little island with warm blue seas, hot sun, incredible food. Just what we needed.

Yes, more spectacular Asian food. Steamed Red Snapper with chili-lemon garlic sauce. That meal itself had me hoping Ira might just have a look at what Sun Microsystems has going on there in Thailand. Not much. So getting over the fantasy, we all had a really great time swimming eating, and getting massages. Oh, yes, Thailand is where all the pros go to get trained. Massage *everywhere*. It is so great to be lounging by the pool, drifting in and out of red snapper land when a nice thai woman approaches and quietly asks if I'd care for a foot massage. Um, yes. I'll take an hour long for a few bucks I think. This went on for 4 days.
Unfortunately I was a bad mom and didn't put enough sunscreen on 2 of the kids, Joe had it so bad, he had oozing blisters on his face. It was really painful and I felt terrible about it.

Then off to Bangkok for 2 days. Bangkok is really not so much different from Saigon. It's full of pollution, traffic, people, dogs, street vendors, buddahs, puddles of mystery moisture.... every square inch is taken up by something. Very intense. Very interesting, but again, tough maneuvering around with the 4 kids. I think we lost each kid at least once in a shopping center. With it's reputation, Bangkok is not a place to lose track of a child.

Ira and I left the kids locked up in the hotel and went to the Chatuchak weekend market--a 10 minute train ride to the king of markets in Bangkok. 35 acres with 15,00o shops and stalls, selling everything imaginable. Antiques, books, clothes, religious artifacts, live animals, crunchy bugs, plants..on and on. It was hot, steamy, crowded, interesting. I loved it.

I like the Thai people. Even in a crazy place like Bangkok, they all seem to be so relaxed and happy. It's probably because they know they are going to have a fabulous dinner. Then another and another.

Yes the King, but can he move like Elvis?

Ira takes a dip at sunset

Ira takes a break from non-stop chatting with the pool neighbors

Annika

Street vendor salted fish

Bangkok from the hotel window

Walking to Chatuchak!

Chatuchak station! so you can buy...well, read it

market craziness

These are spirit houses. They are found all over Thailand. In a crop field, outside a gas station, in a driveway. The Thais believe that wandering spirits are around and can bring you bad luck, so these houses are here to put offerings in, of flowers, food, etc, to keep the spirits happy and amused and bring good karma.

As you can see, they can get quite elaborate

Next post:
Monks and statues and temples, oh my!

Bleary. Words for wear and tear

2008-01-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

Barf and sickness has plagued the household this week. I manage to escape it, always, but I feel a bit funny.

Here are some photos.Takoyaki.
Octopus balls. with cabbage, flour, egg, spices.
I want to buy that machine and do the American thing: make "pancake puffs" with a bit of chocolate, maybe a strawberry inside. Now doesn't that sound scrummy?

Asakusabashi.

Big shrine, over the holidays. Lots of tourists, many gaijin (foreigners) there. I am actually at the shrine, looking out at the entrance.

Is this the biggest aloe vera plant you ever saw? They have flowers? Why does blogger make my type blue and underlined?

Ok, is this not the tiniest car ever?

This is a random school paper, one of many hung up in the hallway of the boys school. I believe this was written by a Kindergardener or 1st grade. Cute.

Good night all!

Japanese goodness

2008-01-11T01:14:00.001-08:00

I have decided that I want to start posting photos even if I don't blog about anything. Sometimes I don't have much to say, but still have an awful lot of pictures to share.

I will pick a few pix out of my large photo file and try to post every couple days or so.

I did have a great weekend though. A successful trip to the salon, (even though I was late and had to phone the salon twice while trying to find it in the rain--) the stylist, a tall, lanky, cigarette puffing, 100% androgynous Serbian finally met me on one of the crazy corners, somewhere lost inside the maze of the neighborhood.

I am usually quick to figure out (if there is any question) in roughly 5-10 seconds or so what gender someone is. After living in a few big cities, you come across a few.
1 and 1/2 hours into this appointment, and I am totally stumped. Not a clue. Not a trace. Either way. What the heck.

Didn't know til I left and she handed me her card. It was a feminine name, at least, but these days, who knows, really?

Then. Then! One of my best friends, Alix, sends me a package, out of the blue.

Books on art.
Books on food.
Cheetos.
Chocolate.

I was so happy, I really did get tears in my eyes.

Up to my eyeballs in MSG and loving it.

And a book by one of my favorite people who makes me laugh my butt off, chef-turned-author-turned travel channel star Anthony Bourdain. A die-hard New Yorker that says something hilarious on every darn page of his books.
Thank-you Alix!

So here are just 3 random shots.
Tried to post more, but was unable to for some reason.

Goodnite!

Directions please

2008-01-07T21:21:00.001-08:00

Making a trip to the hair salon. To get an idea of how confusing it is once you leave the house and set out into unchartered territory, click here for a page of explanation, wonderfully done by the salon. Honestly I doubt I'd even make the attempt without it. With a billion streets in this country without names, it's no wonder I see a lot of confused people stumbling around with their head in a map!

Still plan to leave the house 24 hours in advance. With food, water, toothbrush.

Hello 2008.

2008-01-03T04:50:00.000-08:00

And Happy New Year.

A pretty low-key holiday for us this year.

We followed Japanese tradition and visited some beautiful temples, one of which was right in our neighborhood that I hadn't yet gotten around to going to.

New Years (shogatsu) is very much a family holiday and the most important one in Japan. Just about everything shuts down for 2-3 days, altho a 7-11 was open that had some questionable looking tofu-type-fried balls at the check out.

Entrances to homes and gates are decorated in pine and bamboo for good omen.

On New Year's eve, lots of fancy and strange food is served, along with soba, (buckwheat noodles) --they are long, and symbolize a long life to be had.

Ira sure was slurping them down, hoping to squeeze a few more years in.

Hoards of people visit the shrines and temples to pray for health safety, etc, all the good stuff.

Making a new friend

Tying wishes

Today was the first day back to school. Great to get back into a routine.

Starting to think more and more about moving back to the USA, as we have entered the final stretch here, with just 5 months to go. Kind of an odd thing, because life here is becoming more and more familiar and we are making more friends and as time goes on feel more settled into our way of life. (not that it is easy! the traffic is killing me.)

But 2 years is really not long enough for a country like this. 3 year absolute minimum I'd say. It takes that long. At least.

But we'll be home soon, and the cheese arguments will finally subside.

That will be so nice.

Fun in the Kitchen

2007-12-25T21:47:00.000-08:00

The Japanese cuteness that I once thought was so goofy is slowly drawing me in. Well I guess it's still goofy. Here's the tiny fry pan I bought just for eggs the other day.

A bit odd, but tasty.

Hurry and get it

2007-12-24T00:09:00.001-08:00

Candles and all.

Seriously family and friends, The Blooms wish you all a wonderful Christmas and Holiday.
Ira put in a Christmas CD and I just finished listening to 'Merry Christmas to You' by Nat King Cole, and it's really making me miss everyone back home. California, New York, Michigan, Colorado, and others scattered around the US.

May you enjoy some good comfort food, family, and relaxation with your feet up on a big cozy couch.

Miss and love you all.

Christmas in Japan

2007-12-18T04:59:00.000-08:00

Shinto and Buddhism are the two major religions here in Japan, but I am seeing an awful lot of cheesy Santa's around here. The Japanese love American stuff and Santa sure didn't get left behind. I think they are pretty clueless about the holiday (just as Americans are clueless about theirs) but yet it is fully embraced. A couple of Christmas traditions here:

The Christmas cake. That's right. A big fluffy whipped cream cake topped with strawberries. Beautiful. Expensive. (and small.) I have heard that the Japanese are stunned to hear that most Americans probably don't have the fluffy cake. It's a Japanese thing.

KFC. Christmas Eve dinner. Get your order in early. At least 3 weeks before. People line up to pick up their dinners. I was wondering why there were so many KFC ads, lined with holly and tinsel. KFC cleans up here in Japan every year--I have got to figure a way to get this country to believe in some other wacky American tradition that I can get in on. Anybody have any thoughts? Wow, when something catches on, it goes ballistic!

Christmas Eve is considered a romantic holiday so I understand. Mostly for young couples to be out together, showing the world they have somebody special. Girls, if you don't have a man for the Christmas Eve KFC, go home, go to bed, and don't bother celebrating anything. Santa comes to Kevie's classroom

That's him, back row left, lost tie.

Making Christmas crafts

Ira and I occasionally discuss how to make money over here. Something very simple.

Fall is here

2007-12-10T03:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple shots of nature in Kinuta park yesterday.

A really lovely fall day.

Something I say a lot in this country

About the Finnish cafe that I mentioned a few posts back... I decided to wait for a weekday to go visit because it was so packed on the weekends, with people lined up outside looking at the menu waiting to get in.

Well we drove past it, and it didn't even exist anymore. Absolutely bare, not a trace that it was ever even there. I wonder if I dreamt the whole thing up.
Was it a movie set or something?

Just one of the many very odd things that happen here in Japan, and you never find out why.

Creativity

2007-12-06T06:49:00.000-08:00

I guess Joe wins 1st place in "most creative with hotel room furniture"

We love travel disaster 4 -

2007-12-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

Our driver

Ira finally makes it down with the baby in the pack from the hill/mountain.
He is getting it from all directions, as his legs are on fire from the steep hill down: vendors, kids (the vendors know how to work kids here and attempt to bargain with them too) and me... firing conversion questions--

How much is 350 RMB???

what's 20% of 422????"

How many US dollars is 719 RMB"?????

It takes Ira about .004 seconds to do any currency conversion in his head-- I can do it, I just have to go sit down under a tree somewhere for awhile to figure it.

Also, it is quite funny the way Ira bargains. He does it in a long and painful way, but he does get the rock bottom price.

Ira: How much for that opium pipe?

rip-off vendor: How much you pay?

Ira: I pay 2 cents.

rip-off vendor: What? ha ha! You funny. 80 dollars. Antique! bargain!

Ira: Ok, Here is my final price. 3 cents. Final!

rip-off vendor: You crazy! Ok, 60 dollars. No lower. Best Price!

Ira: goodbye. (turns and walks)

rip-off vendor: Wait! 35 dollars! for you only!

So this goes on for awhile. I don't have the patience, but Ira will go on and on.

His final price is maybe 10 bucks.

We are trying to get out of the crazy vendor souvenir alley, and back to our car in the lot. It's nuts here. Celia then walks up to Ira a bit upset-- she bargained to have a stamp with her name inscribed on it in English and Chinese, and paid for it in advance while they made it. But then forgot which stall she bought it from, and nobody was admitting to having the stamp.

So Ira steps in and starts asking various vendors who took her money for the stamp. Well all those chatty-please-come-here vendors suddenly got hush hush.

*This* is when you get mad. All of that being nice -nice while these people are bugging the crap out of you , and now you are getting totally ripped off--no, your DAUGHTER is getting totally ripped off. Oooh.

After asking (loudly) who took her money again, while everyone turns away, Ira gets mean.
(yelling) "OK. SOMEBODY TOOK MY DAUGHTERS MONEY. I WANT TO KNOW WHO HAS HER MONEY!!!!!!"
WAS IT YOU? point.
WAS IT YOU? point. point.

Oh my gosh now I really want to leave. I don't like this kind of confrontation, especially when it involves stealing etc. Yikes. Please lets end this. Ira starts walking back up the ally.

"YOU? DO YOU HAVE HER MONEY? SOMEBODY'S GOT IT AND I WANT TO KNOW WHO"

A guy finally admits to it. I think he was waiting in the wings for us to just disappear, but as Ira started approaching he saw that Ira meant business.

In the meantime, a different vendor made Celia a stamp, but she hadn't paid for it (another misunderstanding) and this woman wanted her money. Ira was in no mood, we were desperate to get out, and then she starts yelling at Ira that we ripped her off.

We hustled out quickly.

Ira to himself: ha! woo hoo...$225 bucks down to $35. love it. I am so cool
Vendor to herself: ha! $35 on that $2 junk

I want to yell.

2007-12-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

Katrina, ~~pretending to be~~ relaxed, at the Hyatt in Beijing

One more thought on the yelling that goes on in China.

I don't normally yell too much. Usually it's in the evenings after I ~~had a few glasses of wine~~ have asked various kids to do certain things 10 times. Then I finally yell.

After thinking about it, I believe that I could actually live in China, as smelly and crowded and insane as it is, just for the yelling in public. How freeing it would be, don't you think? Maybe for just like a year or something.

Can you imagine how much fun it could be?
To just start yelling at the grocery.
Pumping gas.
In the Doctors office. "HEY I'VE BEEN WAITING 15 MINUTES! WHAT'S GOING ON BACK THERE!? I'M HUNGRY AND I HAVE TO PICK A KID UP FROM SCHOOL!!! LET'S GO"!

And it would be just normal to everybody. Stress would disappear.
I like the thought of it and I have to talk to Ira about it right away.

Yelling. In China.
It's a good thing.

Speaking of Ira, I received a phone call from him the other night, he called me from WAL-MART in Southern Florida. (He is in the US for meetings). Anyway, it is 10:30 pm here in Tokyo, I am laying in bed, and he calls while strolling the aisles, wanting some advice on what to buy. That was kind of funny to me. Shopping in Wal-mart, via cell phone, in Japan.
In my jammies.

In other news, I was asked to participate in an art exhibition in San Francisco. The show, called "tinyshop" runs from Nov-Jan. I am exhibiting 5 pieces. There is a blog about the show that the curator is writing, if you want to check it out--there is a cheesy bit about me, under the artists section. I really don't know how I have the time to create, it's painfully slow going, but I do get a lot of inspiration living here, which I will really miss when we are gone.

Oh Mao Baby

2007-11-25T05:08:00.000-08:00

Post by Ira...Looking at the photo of Mao down below, it's hard to believe that Mao was actually quite the lady's man in his day. He had a reputation of being a very prolific womanizer. I mean, what's with the hairstyle? You'd think that after successfully leading his people through a major revolution and wielding absolute power he'd be able to come up with something better than that.

I think Stalin had both Mao and Hitler beat in the hair department. Good style, full complement, impressive mustache.

We love travel disaster Part III (let's end this)

2007-11-22T02:31:00.000-08:00

I'd like to say a little bit about the Chinese language.
Totally incomprehensible.
That's all.

My Brother Kevin has been studying Chinese for some time (1-2 years?)
When he bikes through China in the Spring, apparently it will help him.
Well.... I'd like to take a moment to thank my brother, Kevin, for giving Ira and I some of the biggest laughs we have ever had, and right when we really needed them.

We pictured Kev, studying those wacky and impossible pronunciations with his tutor, over and over, then eventually paying him, whatever it was, $10-20 per hour, hour after hour, week after week.
Oh my Kev. Are you in for some fun. Good luck my dear brother. And thanks for providing the best laughs. We had a great time imagining you getting out your grammar notes, just before peddling across the border, happy about all those lessons that you invested in.

another giggle attack.

So let's finish up China.
How about just jumping right to Ira and how he lost his 'Bloom coolness'.
---The Day of the Great Wall hike. We went up to the Mu-tian-yu section of the wall, whisked up to the top by gondola/cable car. (By the way, I don't give all those fancy facts about where I am like my brother does on his trip around the world. I am on a really long stone wall. That's about all I know. Oh, and it's quite old too.) We decided we would all hike together the several kilometers on the Wall, and then the older kids and I would toboggan back down--(like an alpine slide/go-cart ride). Ira would walk down the trail with the baby in the backpack, and we'd meet at the bottom, to buy souveniers on the tiny street to the entrance..
Crammed with vendors, they were coming at you from every direction. "Hello lady, you need t-shirt? what size? here, try red one", and right as she is going on, another person calls you "Miss!, I have table cloth Miss!"-- "Excuse me, I have best price lady, you need hat? look I have pretty carving--best price."
You get the picture.

We love travel disaster part II

2007-11-21T00:11:00.000-08:00

I wonder if I should call it 'disaster', it kind of makes it sound like we suffered through an earthquake or a tsunami or something.

And for those inquiring, yes, Ira did blow his top, and I'll get to that in a bit.

I wanted to talk a little about our celebrity status in Beijing.
The Chinese were nuts over us. They were like paparazzi and we were like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt with the kids. (Yes I am darn cute as her and Ira might be able to pass for Brad.) We would walk down the street and people would literally stop walking in their tracks to stare. Some would stop and ask us to take pictures with them. A group would form. Then the group grew larger.
Before I knew it, 15 minutes of smiling like a dork for pictures goes by and there is a large crowd of grinning Chinese people herding us together for photos, and you finally just have to say "sorry everybody, no more photos, we have to go, so sorry."

This happened everywhere. Day one, I must admit, it was kind of nice. It made me feel pretty special, and I did a few times in my own head pretend I was a movie star, I mean why not, like this will ever happen again in my lifetime? Where the heck will I have this almost celebrity status again?

No where. But it wore off quickly and became very annoying. And this isn't even with obnoxious photographers right up in your face trying to get that $10,000 People magazine cover shot. Finally we had to just start waving people away, nodding and apologizing. I did see a few snapping shots from afar, which didn't bother me.A small group forms, enchanted with baby: the guy smiling in front is counting how many kids we have

it grows Ira discussing money for photos

The kids loved it all, never tired of it. Can you make out Joe's expression?
Again, from Michigan, 4 kids isn't that many. I sort of felt as if I was walking around with 10 kids the way they made such a deal of it.

Ok, off to the Beijing Night Market.
A few blocks of a busy sidewalk street crammed with various food vendors, lots of action, and interesting things to eat.

how about a scorpion
Ira was ready to gnaw on one of these fellas but chickened at the last sec

looks like something from a nightmarenow this was great. sauteed chicken with fresh beansprouts in a realllly tasty sauce. Boring but deelish

Ira and I went out for dinner one night and unfortunately I didn't have my camera to take a photo of the menu. It was hilarious. Some of the funniest entrees listed:

Braised Bullfrog in tube-shaped container
Spicy duckblood & intestines in chili oil
Steamed object with crisp splendid elbow
Fried waist pieces with fresh bunge prickly ash
Boiled peacock
Fried cowboy bone France style
Boiled fish's lip in sauce
Boiled turtle water chestnut paste with clam
Spicy beeflung
Shredded pork maw
Chicken stomach in pot
Braised goosefeet & wisdom mushrooms with abalone sauce
Braised pig's intestines with preserved mustard cabbage

We had nothing that extreme.
Off to bed. Will get the 3rd and final disaster chapter with the blowout asap. night.

Ira here...our celebrity status was the result of a few factors. First, the Chinese still don't see that many foreigners with kids. Especially those Chinese from the provinces. I suspect many of those fascinated by us were from outside Beijing. They were at the same tourist spots we were and probably were there for the first time. So in a sense we were a tourist attraction for them. Second, the Chinese are limited to having just one kid per family, so seeing a troop like ours is unusual. Lastly, we've got some blonde hair going with our kids - we get similar reactions here in Japan and on our summer holiday in SE Asia - they just don't have many pink-skinned, blue-eyed, blonde children around here.

Last time I was here on business was 1998 and I was with a colleague who drew a lot of attention - he was black and 6 foot 5. Everyone asked him if he was a professional basketball player. Lots of locals asked us to pose for photos with them. I tried to get him to be like me - blend in and not look so much like a tourist - but he couldn't quite get the hang of it...

SHANGHAI'ed: We love travel disaster Part 1

2007-11-08T03:54:00.000-08:00

I think I am finally starting to recover from China. So I can write about it.
We hesitated going because 6 airline tickets for only 3 full days + the fancy hotel to boot was very pricey. But Ira says "once in a life time". Ok.

The travel agent accidentally books us to Shanghai, and when we get the tickets, we don't notice, because we are too obsessed with the price.

So we get to the airport, check in, and the person-behind-the counter says "enjoy your flight to Shanghai". ...
Ira: "No, Beijing. We have a hotel, reserved a driver, Great Wall, bla bla..."
Counter person: "no, look, your tickets all say Shanghai. Have a nice flight."

The tickets were non-refundable, non-transferable, non-everything.

Ok. Well I will make this quick, but there really was quite a bit of sweating and swearing and making phone calls in different languages that made everything very stressful, so after about an hour or so, it was evident that we either fly to Shanghai or go home.
So, we were set on Beijing, and decided to book 6 more tickets from Shanghai to Beijing, flying to Beijing the next morning, out of Shanghai. (Technically this was not the agents fault, because Ira "ok'd" the tickets, not noticing the destination.)

Ok, I don't want to go into any more of these details. It gets uglier. But lets just say, that our pricey flight to China just went up. So instead of 6 tickets for 3 full days in China, we ended up buying 12 tickets for 1 full day in China. (we had to fly in and out of Shanghai, so we lost time in Beijing).

I will now skip to the 2 hours of happiness in China. We had a blast on the Great Wall. Even had a picnic. A beautiful day, not a lot of tourists, maybe a bit foggy for viewing purposes, but overall really pleasant.The Great Wall: Joseph chucking his rotting banana at the Mongols.

There are enormous differences between the Japanese and Chinese cultures. But I can sum it up pretty easy. Japanese: quiet. Chinese: loud

And very aggressive. Since we spent more time than I will talk about in the airports in China, I was able to observe the Chinese people for a time.

Advice for those going to China: If you want service at an airport counter, you basically have to get in the some sort of line that you think has formed, and as you begin to somehow approach the person-behind-the counter, you then have to quickly turn and slug the person in line next to you as hard as you can and knock them to the ground. You may then have a chance. It's the Chinese way. People are yelling mad everywhere. And literally pushing each other out of the way to get service.

After long lines, miscommunications, over-the-top frustration, and the kids, making gym equipment out of the escalators, I began wondering when Ira was going to start yelling too. I could feel it coming on. After a year of living ultra polite and quiet in Japan, the true Bronx Jew-boy was slowly emerging in all of this madness. I was beginning to see it in his walk, being sent from wrong counter to wrong counter, seeing it in the beads of sweat flowing freely off his forehead, his eyes, getting that crazed helter skelter glare.

Yes, I have connections...

2007-10-23T03:54:00.000-07:00

To the General Pancho de Villa himself.
I know, I know, you are wondering......but it's true. Even though he's not around anymore, we are tight.

The great, great niece of Pancho, (Suzanne Gonsalez, a wonderful artist/photographer) has purchased a piece of artwork from me.

There you go. Me and Pancho. Connected forever.

On another note, I have so many odd pictures--here's a few randoms.

Need a dishwasher but don't have the space? Buy a "counter-top" one.This is a box, that knows something about dating dogs

A popular Japanese snack, dried squid, which I am not yet fond of.

A grave site. I love the ball as opposed to the usual rectangle headstones.

Ok, that's all for now. We are leaving for China tomorrow, for 4 days. Sayonara.

Inconsistent

2007-10-16T01:45:00.001-07:00

Yes, I like to blog about every 3 weeks---then 2 days in a row.

OK Kev, here is your funny sign. I think it says,
"If you toss your can on the ground instead of the trash, a nasty pup will come and bite your butt."

I forgot to mention the new cafe that opened this weekend.
"Finlandia Cafe"...10 minutes away. Will check that out soon. Hmm..Dried shrimp flaked nisu?

I wonder.This is the best photo I could get, while waiting at a red light.

And speaking of driving, signs like this make me not want to drive in Japan.
I do get the exclamation point part. And here we are, real quick back in Cambodia. A shot of Joseph, 10,
Angkor WatIra turns 50 years old today. We celebrated with his favorite: lasagne. And a very decadent flourless chocolate cake.

It's Tommy!

2007-10-15T04:29:00.000-07:00

I like Tommy Lee Jones. So do the Japanese. His new billboard is out, and he's looking real happy about it.

In other news, well there's not much to report. Getting all self-conscious -n- stuff, now with my brothers exciting and fast-paced blog out there. Ok...we are going to China next week, I guess that's pretty good now. Although, unlike my brother, I will not be sleeping on the ground, surrounded by bugs and dung.
I am happy about that.

Ira surprised the family and booked a suite at the Grand Hyatt (woo woo!) in Bejing which supposedly has a pool that is of decadent romanesquian (?) grandeur. I'm gettin' happier by the moment.

By the way, for those of you wondering, my brother Kevin is (pedal)biking all over the dang world. If you want to read about it, it's really good, quick (and fascinating!) reading. Click here
He is in South America right now. This trip started mid-August, 2007. Please no comparing/contrasting these 2 blogs. Thank-you.

So we have only 7+ months left here in Japan. Time is really flying. Once again, I extend an invitation for friends and family. I believe, at some point to various people, (at least 1!) I said "you pay the airfare, and we will take care of the rest..."

I take that back. Bring cash. Bring lots of cash. And if you have any cash right now, I'd appreciate it if you'd send it to me right away.
Thanks.

Cicada attack

2007-10-02T05:50:00.000-07:00

I found 2 cicada shots that Celia took, so you can get an idea of what we are talking about. This first shot is of the shell that it has left behind. Apparently, they live in the ground for something like 7 years, then make their way to the surface, find a comfy spot up high in a tree, shed their shell, and sing like crazy for 10 days, then die.Here's the mature mama. Singin' away. That's all I know. Why the big wings? I don't think they fly anywhere.

I never posted any shots of our summer visitor, Nick Gaulier. A few shots. Celia, 13 and Nick, 15. Kev in background.
Joe (10) and Nick Cleansing, before entering a temple

Hello strange bugs

2007-09-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

These two were on my front porch. If you are wondering about all the insect postings, I just happen to be seeing a lot of them lately.

Speaking of insects, we are going to have our first Japanese lesson now. Here is the word of the week: MUSHI

MUSHI means mosquito. And there is no "Off" brand repellent in this country, they have "Mushi Bye-Bye" brand. I walk around chanting rhythmically "mushi-bye-bye, mushi-bye-bye". I even have a little jig I do for the kids. Bad!

The mosquitoes are smaller than in MI, (not surprising) and their legs have black and white horizontal stripes. Yes, the bugs here have high-fashion legs.

"Ya got cute socks, but I'm gonna smack ya anyway...."

Hello Spider

2007-09-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

This guy was the size of my hand.
Ok, maybe not. But he was at least 1/2 that.

Hello Grasshopper.

2007-09-21T17:23:00.001-07:00

You better get going before crow-san makes a tasty snack of you

Hoian Market pix

2007-09-18T04:56:00.000-07:00

classic image: mom in love with baby.

The dock at the market in Hoian. You'd never know it, but it was so hot and smelly here, that it kind of burned your eyes. There was a puddle of hot mystery moisture that I stepped in, and my foot was stinky sopping and didn't dry off for about an hour. A feeling and a smell that I can't quite forget!

Beach in Hoian

A lot of little old ladies working hard in sweltering heat. I cannot tell you how many really elderly women I saw carrying lots of heavy things. I wanted to just stop them and say, "Hey, where you going? Stop.. let me carry that!" Some tough gals...

Here's Granny, waiting for customers, in a 7-11 type. We bought a cheap and dusty bottle of red wine that was, um...quite tasty.

Attack of the Motorbike

2007-09-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, which is it, Ho Chi Minh or Saigon?

Ho Chi Minh...

Saigon...

Sorry Ho Chi, I'm sticking with Saigon. Just like it better.

Saigon was definitely thee most intense city that I have ever been in. And yes, Tokyo certainly is nuts, but there is some order to it. Hot, humid, loud, stinky, busy, and stinkybusy. Hey I just made up a new word.

I'll start right in with the traffic. Every single intersection of every single block of every single street were packed with motorbikes. Hundreds, thousands of them. Walking around this place was quite stressful. If you are lucky, there is a stoplight at the intersection you walk up to. If not, you can just wait there, all day, to cross the street, but you will never get the chance to.....unless you do this....

Just start crossing. GO. Walk normal. Don't look anywhere but straight ahead. The motorbikes will all swerve around you. Don't try to dodge them, don't even look at them, you will have heart failure.
It is the hardest thing to do, taking your children to cross the street while there are 74 motor vehicles coming right at you. It goes against all instincts and everything you ever drilled into their heads over and over about learning how to cross the street safely.

My Uncle Frank warned me of this before we left, but I thought ...a bit extreme. He was right.
After doing this a handful of times with the whole family and stroller, I am certain that I shaved off a couple years of my life. I know it. That night at our hotel, I laid down on the bed to rest, and everything went black. I was cemented into that mattress. I never got back up, not even to brush my teeth. And I never go to bed without brushing.

Here is a short traffic clip. Taken on the way to the airport.
And some shots of various, downtown Saigon. Click on the pics to enlarge...

It didn't help, crossing the street with these masked people. I think they just escaped with the loot, and surely wouldn't care if they bumped me off.
I saw a lot of dirty plates on the sidewalk. Just eat, wherever...someone will pick it up later on?
I think there was a motorbike under there somewhere

Hey are those kids buckled?

The slug makes an entry

2007-09-12T04:18:00.001-07:00

Attempting to study my Japanese. Oops, I'm
not doing too well.

Sorry I have not yet talked about our vacation. I am so drained from the heat that I can't think straight. Really, it's been bad and I have fallen into somewhat of a depression because of it. I feel like I am sick, actually. A real break today, it cooled off considerably, and I had a cup of hot tea, something unthinkable lately.

But anyway I am here to post a few shots and say a couple things.

Nick Gaulier, (15) my cousins kid was here for a couple weeks. Had a great time. Nick is funny and easy to get along with . We took a trip out of town into the mountains and saw great stuff. He got quite good with the chopsticks, even though at times he ate his rice grain by grain.
Now off to Cambodia...

Here is Angkor Wat. These temples are nearly 900 years old. There are several of these ancient Buddhist sites around Siem Reap, but this is the largest and most well preserved.I loved Cambodia. I am not sure why, but the people seemed to be crazy about us. Must not get too many foreigners with kids, and a curly blond baby. They would stop in their tracks to come over to see us, like we were long lost family, and gave off such a genuine feeling of happiness with gigantic smiles.
One excited woman approached me asking, "Your family?"
I said "yes."
she gleefully yelled, "You so happy!"

I don't remember if I was really happy quite at that very moment, but, she decided I was, so I got happy right then. They don't have much material stuff there, and family must be everything, so the bigger the family, surely the better and happier your life must be.

It was one of those moments to be thankful for. And there were quite a few of them.

One of the "7-11's" of Siem Reap.

More on Cambodia later. I'm tired and going to bed.

Talk about the weather

2007-09-06T05:17:00.000-07:00

Ira here - A word about the weather..

Summer is probably the worst season weather-wise in Tokyo. It starts off in June with tsuyu - rainy season. As you might infer from its name, this is a five-week-or-so period in which it rains a lot. Generally with high temperatures. Very uncomfortable, but nothing compared with what's to come. Around the middle of July it eventually gives way to a brutally hot, humid stretch that lasts into late September. This is when the cicadas emerge from their dormancy and begin a daily serenade that begins around 4am and goes through to the next evening. These large bugs make a very loud buzz saw-like obnoxious noise that can drive you nuts after a while. It combines with the cawing of the huge crows co-inhabiting our neighborhood to make for a not-so-pleasant awakening too early each morning. Got an idea for a business - breed cicadas that taste good to crows that once eaten cause the crow to lose its voice.

Anyway, back to the humidity. It's really bad. Short walks outside result in drenched shirts. Do this a few times and you realize all of a sudden you're on your fourth layer of dried grime that day. And then try sleeping in it. Air conditioning, which I usually don't like while sleeping, is an absolute necessity, global warming notwithstanding. I've been avoiding looking at my electric bills all summer. There goes my cost-of-living adjustment.

So the last few days have been hellish. A typhoon (hurricane) has been making its way up from the tropics and has been pushing warm moist air ahead of it. If it's possible to have more than 100% humidity this is it. It's finally hitting us tonight, with loud, strong winds and horizontal rain. Never mind the umbrellas. Supposed to go on through tomorrow to the point where school might be canceled. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any Japanese to commit to me with assurance that once this blows through the humidity will come down. Supposedly we've got another two-three weeks. Yuck.

After that the weather will be fine until next June. It'll get dry for the most part, and winter's not too bad. And the cicadas shut up.

A feast

2007-08-29T05:12:00.000-07:00

Ok people, this is what I am talking about.

Grilled fish in banana leaf. Snapper, with a chili, garlic, lemon grass sauce. I was so drugged up by this stuff that Ira went ahead and bargained with the waiter (who I was willing to run away with) and his boss and bought the plate that it was served on. What a guy.

Spring rolls... rice paper stuffed with fresh herbs of all kinds and crispy and fresh julienne veggies.

Ban Xeo, which unfortunately I have no photo of, is delicately seasoned pork and prawns wrapped in a rice flour pancake *stuffed* beyond belief with fresh herbs and served with a chili garlic lime dipping sauce.

I almost left my husband . Shame on me for even thinking about it . But the Hong Phuc restaurant, I could easily spend the rest of my days there. And yes, Ira bargained for the cheesy plate....they wanted $4 for it....he came back with "What? but it's plastic!"
"Yes, but "special-made" plastic!"

Well I think he got it down to $3, I don't remember much in my food induced stupor.

And you know, there is something about Vietnam, that even if a rat runs under your feet while eating at a restaurant (which happened) you kind of are startled for a second, but then ignore it and go back to feasting. It's just OK.

Handsome guys

2007-08-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

Real quick, I have been getting some emails asking about the boys hair. Both had their cuts, Joe in Colorado and Kevie in Vietnam. So here are some shots.....

Not quite sure of the precision cut on Kev....

OK, time for routine

2007-08-21T22:32:00.000-07:00

Nice and boring everyday routine, come and get me.

Back from all travel for awhile and it has been great, but I need to slow down and sleep in my own bed for a few months straight.

Cambodia and Vietnam...what great places to go. Don't know how to begin. I highly recommend it, but maybe not with a 1 year old.
It seems the more I travel to, and learn about these different and exotic places, the more I realize how little I know about everything in the world.
Really, there is so much I do not know.

Take for example, Khmer. I have never even heard of the word before--the Cambodian people, let alone Khmer food, Khmer tradition, the incredible history of Khmer civilization! It of course is mind boggling, and I left these countries having learned just little bits of information here and there. (It was a bit difficult to really concentrate on the cultures, as the 1 year old was very consumed in sampling the tasty little bits of 3rd world gutter garbage, thus I was on hyper vigilant alert, as there are no typhoid shots for babies that young.)
I would say the top 3 things that I come away with, from visiting these places are:

1) I really really like and admire Buddhists
2) As an American woman, I truly do live like a queen
3) the food was the best I have ever eaten. It was like a drug. (maybe there were drugs in it?!)

Really. Maybe it's the loads of fresh herbs, I don't know. Tasty beyond belief. And healthy to boot.

to be continued....

By the way, I read the cheese blog, and I am sorry that I went on and on about the dang cheese for so long. It was a bit much. I will try to not obsess again, or at least not blog about it!!!!

Hi from the Kingdom

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

Hi everybody

Thought it would be kind of cool to type an entry from Cambodia. Don't have much time, as we are leaving this afternoon and I need to buy some cheap souvenirs before heading to the airport.

We are in Siem Reap, where the highlight is the amazing Ankor Wat temples . We have spent most of the 2-3 days here touring these incredible places. The religious temples are around 900 years old. More details on those to come.

The food is amazing. I think it is the sauces. So light and flavorful. Maybe all those fresh herbs they use in everything. Initially I was to eat nothing raw, even the veggies in the spring rolls, but I have succumbed. Heck, we had our typhoid and hep A shots, I am going for it. And glad I did..... I am in heaven with the food. More details on that later too.

There is quite a bit of poverty here, and it is devastating to occasionally see these poor land mine victims. Went to a killing fields monument yesterday where there are displays of human skulls and bones from the tortured victims under POLPOT'S (sp) rule. That shut everybody up for awhile.

It's hot and muggy here, but at the tail end of rainy season, so the clouds save us a bit from the blazing sun. Thought there would be many more mosquitos---there are tons in Japan. We are all taking malaria pills anyway. Thankfully with the 'new' pills there are no side effects thatI have noticed.

People are very friendly and are crazy about the baby. The men love her! SO different from the Japanese men who don't give her a 2nd look.

Gotta run. Today we fly to Saigon for 1 night, then off to Hoi An, central Vietnam, to the beach.

Lots of photos to post soon.

Katrina

To let you know

2007-06-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

The medical check-up post was by Ira, not me--(Katrina).
I would never carry a piece of turd around with me anywhere.

buh bye!

2007-06-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

The boy's last day of school...

I went to St. Mary's the other day (the boy's school) and found myself talking with the Headmaster ( they still exist--Celia's school has a Headmistress) and the conversation inevitably turned to the boys over grown hair.
I was reprimanded.
The hair needs to be cut, upon arrival back to school in the fall, "nice and neat, no weird stuff, and no spikes."

Spikes....I looked quickly to see if I had goth boots on.
I guess that if hair is a bit too long, then the spikes are right around the corner.
I assured him, it wasn't my intention to let the hair to that point, I just see haircutting places around here for something like 4,800 yen per cut, and don't have it in me to drop that kind of money on the boys hair. (That's about $45 . per)
I guess they have more of a problem with it in the Jr hi/hi school, and next year apparently will be a strict hair rule, it cannot touch the shirt collar. And of course no spikes and 'weird stuff'.

Going back to the USA today. Fly into Seattle, then off to Denver CO.

Looking forward to a bag of cheetos.

Maybe I'll make an occasional post about what is happening in Golden CO.

So goodbye, and wish us luck on that long flight in coach!

2007-06-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

Strange experience the other day. Went for my annual medical check-up - it's a benefit all Japanese get from their companies and the government. The entire process was in Japanese, which created an air of mystery and puzzlement to the proceedings.

First of all, I had to complete the form that details personal and family health histories. My friend and colleague Ben Strauss, who's also here on assignment from the US, had his exam the same day. He's fluent in Japanese and coached me through the form, translating the Chinese characters (kanji) into such interesting ailments as Autonomous Nerves and Big Liver Disease.

Preparation included three consecutive mornings of coughing into a liquid-filled plastic beaker for I don't know what purpose and taking a stool sample the morning of the exam. Also not eating or drinking after 9pm the night before, which greatly hindered my ability to provide a urine sample the next morning.

So I'm standing in the crush of the morning subway commute into central Tokyo and I'm having a very Hunter Thompson/John Waters-like moment realizing that I'm carrying around a piece of turd with me. Wondering what the people pressed against my briefcase would think if they knew. Then I start doing the math. If all the salary men and women in Japan exercise this benefit each year, on any given subway car on any given morning there must be several people carrying pieces of fecal matter with them to the clinic. I started looking around me to see if I can pick out my co-conspirators. They must have been very practiced, because nobody was giving anything away.

At the clinic I disrobed and put on a stiff cotton two-piece light green pajama set that was at least three sizes too small for me, as were the slippers (open heel style - my favorite), and waited in the general waiting area. The clinic is set up this way - four or five rooms and some other stations surrounding the central waiting area. There were 8 or 9 of us going through the same order of activities - sonogram to check various innards (turns out I'm not pregnant), blood pressure, air-puff into eyeball, electrocardiogram, others - all done by young female Japanese nurses. I guess having women do these tasks is the only way to get the typical Japanese man to go for their check-ups. One bizzare test had me drinking barium and standing on a machine which was then maneuvered around horizontally and vertically to get the stuff to swish around inside me for different views of my stomach. The nurse was barking orders at me to turn towards her, then away, then slightly towards her, then roll over three times. Often I couldn't understand her and she'd run over from the controls and move me a bit in the direction she wanted me to go. Fortunately she was cute. At one point when I wasn't looking she ordered an extended metal arm into position pressing against my solar plexus. I did a lot of laughing through this whole stage because it was so absurd.

The result of all this - I'm healthy and need to exercise more (knew that) and drop a little weight (knew that too). And I can now go for another year without carrying crap with me on the subway, but I'll be a little hesitant squeezing into the car next time...

Goin' home.....

2007-05-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

Four days, 'til the something like 47 hour nightmare flight home.

I have been dreaming of cheese.
And all-purpose flour.
And asparagus . (there is asparagus here, but at a buck a spear it might as well not be here)

And so many other common and boring items that have come to be so meaningful for me.

I am dreaming of reading a newspaper, going to a bookstore and browsing.
Eating Mexican food.
Watching Larry King. Or just staring at the tv, mindless channel flipping with the remote. Watching others yell at their kids.

So we are finishing up the 1st leg of our life in Japan. I have to say, it was incredibly shaky at first.
I learned a lot about myself, some of it not so good.

I really had no idea that I was so fearful. There is a giant chicken inside of me that I didn't know existed. I don't really ever experience fear, back in Golden Colorado.
Life is nice. Life is as easy as it can be, with 4 kids...but when I came here and pretty much had to re-learn how to do everything, all with a baby in my arms, it was so intimidating. I was waiting for that intimidation to go away, but it just seemed new and bigger challenges came at me 100 mph every day. I cannot learn so much, all at once.
One of the biggest fears was driving. And getting lost. Or hitting someone. You cannot let your mind wander off of which side of the road you are supposed to be on for even a moment....Week after week consumed with a heightened sense of anxiety is just awful. Many times I thought to myself--"how can I get out of this.... with the least amount of pain--especially for Ira"?

Well, just too many contracts had been signed.

The wind is gonna blow. What am I going to do. Collapse?
Go home, and then what? Admit to all my friends and myself that I just couldn't take it? I tell you I was ready to do just that. It didn't help that Ira was never afraid to do anything. It made me look even more like a wuss. I thought a lot about my mom, living down in Costa Rica years ago, with a maid in the house that was stealing from her, and other troubles and misadventures.

I really don't know how I overcame it. There wasn't a big moment of enlightenment.
I remember walking home from somewhere one day, realizing that I started to feel this itty bitty sense of contentment and happiness inside of me. My shoulders felt lighter.

So, long live the fearful chicken that exists in me, just be a chicken that can fight every now and again, ok?

Here is Kevin and his class.
He is in the back row, far left.

Ira here -Katrina's waxing poetic about the mundanities she's looking forward to reminded me of one little crystalization of priorities that hit me after we settled. I realized that more than missing having a tv set in our bedroom, I missed having a full range of Tupperware sizes to choose from when cleaning up the kitchen after dinner. (C'mon guys, admit it - you take special pride in knowing exactly which one to choose.)

a real cute guy

2007-05-27T04:13:00.000-07:00

I just have to post this photo of what I call one of the 'tidy-uppers'. These guys are all over the parks, sweeping and sweeping--trimming, raking, making everything look nice.

He is at the park that I frequent with the baby. So happy, so friendly.

And here is another shot of a couple of the trees in the park that these guys try to keep up. Not sure if this is normal upkeep for these trees or if they are infected. If you can see, they have this wrapping around them....looks like a bandage.

Faux pas-ing our way through Japan

2007-05-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

That's what the Bloom family seems to be at times.
One giant faux pas fumbling their way around Tokyo, all eyes (very discreetly) on us.

The Japanese take painstaking measures to not call attention to themselves or their immediate surroundings.

We naturally have that attention, first of all, because we are foreign. Nothing you can do about that one.
Then, there are 6 of us. I think we are viewed as somewhat of a freak show with 4 children. I don't think the Japanese know about or would even believe the 10, 12, 15 kid families back in various parts of Michigan.

OK, then we have bright colored clothes, the boys hair is way too long, (both boys just received notice from school that their hair needs to be cut).
We wear sunglasses. (Only the Japanese mafia wear them), and we talk loudly and occasionally yell suddenly at one of the kids in public. Especially Ira.... You should see all of us on a train platform, waiting for the next train. It's so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Then here we come....
big hummer-type stroller bouncing down the steps, kids with plastic swords making every sound effect imaginable, baby, "bah bah bah"-Ira and I usually arguing about *something*.

"JOE! don't get so close to the edge!
KEVIN! stop waving the sword!
"SOMEBODY GRAB THE BABY HURRY! "

(me) : IRA! STOP yell-ing..... oops. shh!

But our kids are still not used to the cars and traffic. Where we come from in Colorado, you drive everywhere. So, occasionally, one of the kids wanders into the street when we are walking somewhere without noticing the cars. So as you see cars flying down the road, it is just natural to suddenly YELL at the kid to GET OUT of the ROAD!

Now the Japanese people are just not used to yelling, or loud talk (in public anyway). And twice now when Ira has made a sudden, sharp YELL at one of the kids out of the blue I have seen a couple of people, who happened to be very near us sort of do this ducking or recoiling type motion with their body in fear. Like there was some crazy type person behind them that was hurling something. It was quite funny, but actually at the time I was really embarrassed.

Then, one day, we were out somewhere and one of the kids was relentless about something---I forget what it was and they just wouldn't let it go. Ira was at his wits end, arguing, and it takes a whole lot to get Ira angry, but then finally he was so mad he just yelled and took the stroller and shoved it really hard (no, the baby wasn't in it).
There happened to be a handful of Japanese people witnessing this--and of course we just added to the stereotypical rude, uncontrollable, immature, bad parenting Americans. --oh and this all happened at an art museum--at a Picasso exhibit no less.
Eventually you kind of just start to not care so much, I mean, it's almost expected of you anyway so why not?

Here is a picture taken at an entrance to a restraunt.

Photos..

2007-05-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

Hi

Got a few photos posted, but I am going to upgrade to the next level--I am only allowed 3 sets of photos, which doesn't end up to be much. To view, click here.....

Another reason to sit on your bum in front of the computer

2007-05-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

I have decided to post photos on Flickr, a photo sharing site. I can't post so many on the blog and I also have a bit of trouble arranging them. And, with a digital camera, before you even know it, you have taken 150 shots.

So I will post that link when I get a couple sets up. Flickr is really something to sit and waste a bunch of time with! Just for fun I punched into the search bar "finnish", and came back with something like 14,000 photos that people took of anything finnish related....candid shots of people, landscapes, food, animals...really interesting! Then for the heck of it I punched in "Copper Harbor", and got something like 759 photos that came up....lots of shots of the Harbor area, some really nice ones, even a couple shots of the Isle Royale Queen were in there. Someone took a shot ---you rellies and fellow michiganders know-- that classic image from the Brockway Mount. lookout of the Isle Royale dock, and wow--the "new" boat was there, and it has really altered that image in my head....it is so big, and now dwarfs all the buildings around it. Good thing the baby started tugging at my leg and whining...I would of sat there all day and missed making dinner for everybody.

We went up for a long weekend to the Japan Alps, to a town called Matsumoto. It was spectacular and I will write about that later and post the photos as well.

By the way, all I needed was for someone to tell me to chuck the tea. Just one person! Ira didn't tell me to chuck the tea.
Thank-you for the tip, Uncle Don. The green tea has made its way back into the earth. I actually had a couple more cups and decided it wasn't all that bad. But when I have a moment with my tea, I think I should realllly enjoy it. So, if I happen to come across a lovely cup, I will investigate it, but for now I am not going to seek it out. 7 bucks a bag can get expensive afterwhile.

Haircut or cocktails?

So, off I go to my new 'flickr' hobby while the babe naps.

It's tea time

2007-05-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

Just recently, I decided to start drinking green tea, daily. 1-2 cups a day. I mean why not... It's supposed to be so healthy right? It's all over the place here. I've seen the Lipton green tea bags back home, but haven't tried it. And now I am here and I am going to drink the real stuff. Maybe it'll tack on a few years. It's supposed to be up there in anti-oxidants with the berries and walnuts and dark chocolate etc...and now I hear that 'white' tea is now the new green tea. Supposed to be milder, but can't find it yet. So anyway, I asked a few people about the green, but nobody really knew what to recommend and I never got any good answers so I just decided to go buy a bag.

So I went to the grocery, found the tea aisle, (there is nearly an entire aisle devoted to tea) and found about 87 different bags of green tea. I was lost, as you can imagine, quickly scanning every bag to find maybe just 1 word in English. Nothing. So I just kind of resorted to looking at the images on the bags and decided to buy whichever one had the most pleasing composition, or nicest pictures. What else could I go by? Then I thought, this is ridiculous, I will ask the stocker, this woman who happened to be right there. Now, I know the word for tea, and I know the word for 'best' and delicious...and I know how to put it into a question form.... simple. So I ask her.

Well, I am not joking here, this woman looked at me like I just asked her if I could plow my mini-van through the front store window. Did I somehow get that wrong? So I repeated...just 2 words! "tea? best?" "tea? good?" (with a smile, and pointing to different bags) I really don't know what happened, but she got totally flustered and nervous and sort of looked at the teas and back at me and then basically said in Japanese, I don't know, I am sorry, excuse me, thank-you. Followed by a bow. And another bow. The only thing I can think of is that maybe she had never talked to a foreigner before and it just put her into shock! Or maybe she just wasn't a green tea drinker *and* she never talked with a foreigner. She was kind of young, but not that young--maybe 20's. Ok, so I bowed and thanked too, she then quickly left the aisle. I hate it when I do that to people!

So here I am on my own again. My eye finally catches some roman letters. Yes! That's all I need, there's my tea. A mid-price range, $7.00. Already bought the tea ball from the 100 yen store.

I went home all excited about my tea and my new healthy habit I was about to begin.
note to self: double check the word for tea.

So I get home, open the bag and take a big whiff. Um..not so nice. But ok, it's healthy. And the bag says that the taste is wonderful. I make my 1st cup. I take my 1st sip. Hmm, it's not horrible. But it...sort...of... tastes like.....grass clippings, that's it.

I really don't have too much of a problem drinking grass clippings flavored tea, I love the smell of fresh clipped grass, but the more I sipped this tea, I decided that it is not fresh grass clippings, it is really stale clippings, like the kind that got left and forgotten about in the mower bag for 2 weeks...in the rain. Not so good after all. Especially the last 1/4 cup. Downright horrible! I actually made one of those faces, that you have no control over making when it's so bad.

But because my genetic material is of Steve Szyszkowski, I am going to finish the bag. I just have to remember to chuck the last 1/4 cup. (which is probably the really healthy stuff). I may just need to acquire a taste for this pure type stuff, or maybe it was just a cheapie bag. I don't know, but before I buy my next bag, further investigation will be needed on the tea matter.

Oh my gosh the comments I am reading from this blog are hysterical. Ira and I were holding our guts laughing so hard the other night.
And no Ben, I didn't get my toes into that sharp and crunchy sand. I didn't want to have to try and visit a doctor way out there after stepping on a rusted can. Plus I was just fascinated with all that weird stuff I was finding on the beach. I really wanted to walk on and on to see what else there might be but we really had to get the kids out.
'night all...

Notes from the Office 1

2007-05-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

Well, after 13 years, four kids and the deterioration of many brain cells, my Japanese language skills aren't quite what they used to be. Very frustrating. Each week starts off Monday morning with four hours of almost exclusively Japanese meetings, during which I gamely try to piece together what the heck is going on through a combination of searching for English words in presentation materials, translating Japanese three sentences behind the pace of conversation, and leaning towards my neighbor and saying, "Excuse me Suzuki-san, but what the heck is going on?" I haven't been so lost since attending synagogue services conducted only in Hebrew. Usually I have Mika Tanaka sitting next to me. After some lengthy back-and-forth she'll whisper to me the gist of the discussion, which goes something like, "Because of a close business relationship that our founding president's great great maternal grandfather had with our customer's great great paternal uncle we have been funding $37 trillion yen of research and development costs performed by the customer for the past 8 years. The team would like to know if the culturally insensitive foreign barbarian will support continued funding for this important program." Of course, nobody can explain what it is we actually get out of this investment, but hey, what's a few trillion yen amongst friends?

More crow crap, this time by Ira

2007-05-01T05:53:00.000-07:00

Don, you'll be happy to know that the other night I accidentally left two garbage bags outside our house in prep for the morning's garbage pickup and found one of them riped open by the local crows. Fortunately it was a dry nonburnable load, but annoying to clean up nonethless. The garbage pickup locations have large green netting under which we leave the bags so that the crows can't get at them. Still, these guys always seem to figure out how to gain access, and walking the streets of our neighborhood I often see garbage strewn about.

Speaking of crows and their raven cousins, little known fact about Edgar Allen Poe - he lived the last few years of his life in The Bronx, up in the Fordham section on Kingsbridge Road. My folks would take me to Poe Park, where his cottage still stands. Back in the mid-1800's it was very bucolic, now it's a slum. But the cottage is still there ungraffitied, with period furniture inside, and as far as I know the Irish bar Poe Cozy Nook is still across the street. (My parents never took me there, though.)

Lastly, having these huge birds around inspired me to rent Hitchcock's The Birds a few weeks ago to scare the kids. It worked, and of course now I can't help keeping an eye on the crows when I walk past them. It's there in the back of my head, like the Jaws music when I'm swimming in the ocean...

Crunchy shells and dead poultry

2007-04-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

Off to the beach this weekend!
Yes, just ask Ira if you want to head to the beach here in Japan. He knows. He studied the map for 3 hours. And who cares that it would take 2 1/2 hours in some stand still traffic--we're going to the beach! It's sunny! it's warm ! the air smells sooooooo good with the humidity and everything blooming. I can't wait to get my toes into the sand. It's been so long. I think I may have gotten my toes in the sand in Guam last Feb, but I really don't remember. I was too consumed with giving all my kids massive quantities of childrens tylenol and motrin from the flu. I was also too consumed with happiness that there was a K-mart within walking distance of our hotel where I could buy more massive quantities of tylenol and motrin.
( I think I brought back to Japan about $900.00 worth of tylenol and motrin). ---I will continue my side note here---there are no over-the-counter child meds here in Japan. So if your baby has a fever, or teething pain or a headache or whatever, and you need a bit of relief, you actually have to make a Doctors appt.
After you get to the Dr., and get diagnosed, (assuming you go to an English speaking Dr, otherwise you just don't know what the diagnosis is) you then pay $900.00 for the 'diagnosis' (headache) and then get a prescription that costs about $700.00 for a powdered type something, which you then have to mix with a liquid and give it to your baby to drink. I was so scared I thought it was going to kill my baby girl. Everything is in decimeters and kilograms and milliliters and you have to measure and I JUST DON'T REMEMBER all that from the 2 weeks we studied it back in the 4th grade!!!!!!! So Ira and I kinda had to wing it and then just watched the baby closely in hopes she didn't start convulsing or something. I know---what the heck am I so worried about? You'd think we were living in the Congo or something. This is a civilized country with a very high birth rate and the average life expectancy is probably like 125. I guess when the Doctor speaks maybe 5% English which is very broken, he sounds like he just doesn't know what he is talking about. But you have to tell yourself- he is a DOCTOR. He speaks Japanese, in Japan. Because he doesn't speak English well doesn't mean he is an idiot. *I* am the idiot for thinking that. When I speak Japanese and string maybe a sentence of 4 words together and think I am brilliant, the Japanese are thinking "what an idiot". I am sure. But anyway, that's all over and I am well-stocked with tylenol and you can see why it brings me such pleasure. Back to the beach!

What a winner. Yes, that's where the crunchy shells and more part comes in. The visual imagery of this beach is really quite memorable.

I first got suspicious when I saw way too many rusted cans that looked to be 100 years old. And what do kids do when they get to the beach? 1) shriek 2) take shoes off

then came the bits of glass, cigarette lighters, and lots of dead things.

Which way to the better beach? That-a-way?

Taken from a bridge, the canal that fed into the ocean.

More finds.....A cute little boy who was running around while his dad fished
Heavy duty latex gloves? light bulbs? Any ideas? My guess is that much of this stuff washed up on shore from somewhere. And I don't know if those are "real" false teeth. Wasn't going to touch them. Even with a stick.
Kinda surprised...usually don't see trashy stuff like this around Japan. Made me feel like I was somewhere back home! A delightful day. Got home by 3pm. Oh, lastly-- the wind was blowing like 90 miles per hour so you had to scream like you were being murdered for anyone to hear you. fun.

And you thought....

2007-04-14T05:27:00.000-07:00

No, Japan is not the land of the rising sun. It is the land of the hanging clothes.

There goes one of the crows, after someones undies.

The Winged Demons

2007-04-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

I do believe E.A. Poe must have gotten his inspiration for crows/ravens from Japan. These large creatures inhabit what seems every single neighborhood. And I know, deep down, that they are evil.
I am not sure what goes on every morning, is it a festival or a war, but they consistently wake me up before dawn. Cawing and cawing. Cawguing might be a good word. They interrupt and caw at each other. I have looked out my bedroom window, many times to determine if there is a particular high wire or tall tree that they fight for rights to during this chaos, but nothing to me looks all that high and mighty.

I walk down the street and I feel them watching me. Then one flies overhead to a perch and watches me walk by. Then they fly about 20 meters ahead (Asia is metric) and wait for me to pass while they watch. I think they want to steal my scarf. Their caws are loud, deep and menacing. One afternoon while goofing off around the house, I heard one outside, it's voice so deep I swore it was a man. I rushed over to the window to see. It wasn't a man. It was a doberman with wings and a beak. Its eyes were glowing red. I wonder if they are possessed, like in The Omen.

Yesterday my neighbor told me that the crows are building a nest in the tree, right outside their bedroom window. They are stealing *hangers* from the apartment building balconys next door--the Japanese hang clothes everywhere--and they are making a nest with hangers! No wonder the crow babies grow up to be evil. My neighbor got a friendly note from the Japanese apartment people telling them that the crows in their yard are stealing hangers, socks and other miscellaneous laundry and that they need to do something about it. I couldn't believe this is actually happening. So the property manager was called, to do something about these stealing crows, and I have no clue what will happen next.
I am sorry I don't yet have a photo to post of this nonsense. I am afraid if I snap a picture, one of them will then really come after me. but I will try to post one soon, so you can see what I mean.

Ira here...

Actually I kind of like them. It's like living in an Animal Planet documentary. Some of them have serious wing spans, and huge beaks that could really do some damage. Birds of prey type stuff. Supposedly they're pretty sharp for birds. I definitely wouldn't want to mess with them. Sometimes I worry that they might be eyeing Annika, sizing her up for lunch.

Jackpot!

2007-03-18T04:45:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to do a chronological thing here with the blog, however that means that it would be time to talk about Christmas and I'd really l don't want to talk about that anymore. Depressing. To sum it up in a sentence or two, we had guests (my Dad and brother) and it seems everybody was either sick or injured, then more sick. We had no doctors yet and the communication with the Japanese doctors at the local clinic wasn't going well, we were given improper medicines and on and on. Pneumonia, twisted ankles, non-stop coughing, fevers... But it's over. All are well and we now have a fantastic German doctor in Tokyo who I am completely loyal to. And anyway I want to write about two great things that happened this weekend...

First, we had decided to go back to Colorado for a portion of the summer. But our house is rented by friends, so, no where to live. Looked and looked for a house rental via internet---not easy to find a fully furnished house in or near our neighborhood for only 7 weeks, and the corporate housing 2 bedroom apartments were off-the-charts expensive. But! One of my girlfriends found a place, right next door to her, the lower level apartment of a house. fully furnished, has everything and it's in our neighborhood and it's dirt cheap. Relief. Thank-you Aileen!

Secondly, just around the corner from our house here in Japan, is a really, really old falling apart house, where a 102 year old woman lived. She passed away around 3 years ago, and nobody ever came to claim anything in it (or not much). The house and all of its contents was starting to be bull-dozed on Saturday, so my German neighbor Markus came over after a portion of it was torn down and the dozers left, to go, you guessed it, looting. We put on our thug hats.

I can't believe what was in that house. First of all, it was a bit dangerous because parts of the wood floor were torn up, and some boards were loose so you had to watch where you stepped and hope that a weak board didn't cave right under you. It was like a haunted house-- cold, really dusty, mouse turds, webs, creaking floors... But the stuff! Hundreds of old books, blankets, linens, furniture, Japanese arts/crafts, a full kitchen of everything--glasses, plates, stacks of Japanese sake and tea cups and pots, even several old bags of dried up, cracked up noodles. Hundreds and hundreds of antique Japanese photographs, the kind with women in real authentic kimonos. Tons of ephemera for collage, old tins and tools...I could go on and on. I had quite a rush, flying through all of this stuff, occasionally dropping things and peeking out the busted windows hoping the nearby neighbors were not catching a glimpse of this very odd, very non-Japanese behavior, possibly calling the police. It was also quite sad, in a way, to see that this is how all the belongings of this old woman ended up--in big dirty,dusty heaps, being stolen by gaijin. (foreigners). I mean, didn't she have kids or grandkids that at least wanted those lovely old photos that are really in superb condition?

We hauled all of the goodies we wanted to a big pile near the entrance, and then later on, after dark, went with a flashlight to carry them home, hopefully unnoticed. One day later and no knocks on the door....We will divvy it all up soon. I got 3 nice pieces of furniture. They need a bit of fixing up and I started sanding today. Lots of old 'bits'...don't know what I'm going to do with 'em, but they are old, with character, and from Japan. Groceries are pricey here but no, I didn't take the noodles.

I really enjoyed looting and can't wait to do it again one day.

The goods

Ira here...

Ethical question: Is it wrong to bring a 14-month-old to a looting? Being from the Bronx I didn't give it much thought, but afterwards it struck me as perhaps something most people might frown upon.

Back to Japan

2007-03-09T04:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, ....we have been here in Japan for just over 4 months now, and this blog has been sitting here..... so empty.....so lonely, so sad, for just as long. My "B" blogger icon has been just waiting forever to be clicked.

Sorry it has taken so long to get anything posted, but by the end of the night, there are times when I can barely string a sentence together let alone write anything remotely interesting.

So here we are again, back in Japan.
I have wondered, several times, since we moved here ..... why I again signed up for this madness.

Will somebody please tell me???

For those of you who didn't know, we lived here for approximately 2 years back in 1992-1994

The first 2 months were pretty much " what have I done..... how do I get out of this with the least amount of pain"? type of attitude.
Where do I even begin with all the 'fun stuff'?? Well first of all, having a 1- year old no matter where you live is not easy. Put that together with transporting your whole family to a really different culture on the other side of the planet and what do you get?

A gigantic wine bill.

So we live in a quiet and quaint neighborhood in Setagaya-ku, about 20 minutes outside of Tokyo. A very pleasant area, located conveniently between 2 train stations. We live in a 2 story home, 4-house compound, (not typical in our neighborhood, it is pretty much for foreigners--and more than likely viewed by the Japanese as 'mansions'.) We have 3 German neighbors, one family French/German. All have kids of varying ages, that have quickly made friends with ours. All very lovely people, very helpful, and I am picking up a bit of German.

Our kids, Celia, 13, Joseph 10, and Kevin, 6 attend private, international Catholic schools. All-boy, all-girl, uniforms-- the whole bit. It is quite different from the public schools, back in Golden Colorado, as they have religion and Japanese classes. They even attend 'mass'. This photo here is of a yard down the street in our neighborhood.

They have all adjusted quite well, despite the major upheaval. Joseph was especially excited, to my surprise, about wearing a tie and blazer to school, as he could "dress like James Bond everyday." So the first few weeks were quite frustrating in the mornings, getting all those buttons, (some of them popping across the room in anger...) figuring the tie, dressing like you are going to Sunday school every morning, but they have pretty much now got it down.

We were all plagued with the season-changing illnesses as we arrived, on November 1. Flu stuff going around, then around again. And again. So just when the kids were getting used to the new schools and catching up on the curriculum, they'd fall behind another week.
Ok, so we got through that and no talk of divorce.

Ira here...Don't know what Katrina's talking about. It's all been going so smoothly...