Our Friend, Mr. Tachikawa-san

This brief post is a shout-out to our friend, the GSE Chairman, Tachikawa-san. He's done everything in his power (which is, how shall I say it modestly, well...vast) to ensure our every need, physical and intellectual, is met. Thank you, Tachikawa-san, for connecting us to wonderful people; entertaining us with your fabulous karaoke voice; providing for Claudia's comfort during her illness; making sure we are well-dressed for formal gatherings (photo to the left) and for taking us around in your gorgeous "Jeep Benson." The JB, by the way, is a jeep-style Mercedes-Benz imported from America. In a moment that had gotten lost in translation, none of us could figure out what model of jeep he was describing and spent the next day tickled about our mistake. I know Tachikawa-san may be blushing at my boastfulness, but we really do appreciate the efforts he, the other GSE committee members, and each of the clubs have put towards making this a truly remarkable experience for all of us.



Domo arrigato gozaimasu!!!

A day in the life...

Woke up this morning to find our picture in the newspaper. Not just once, but three times. In color.

This sort of thing really drives home the point that we are here in the very public eye representing Rotary International.

Happily they were all lovely pictures of us with the Mayor and generally behaving ourselves as we always do.

Today was really something. The Bunsui rotary club put on a fantastic dinner for us last night and provided all of the group with gorgeous traditional japanese garments called "Yukata." I can't say enough about how beautiful these clothes are.


Everyone was a blast and they had a wonderful jazz singer and band at the dinner. She sang slow songs while various couples waltzed and glided around the room.

Getting into and out of the geta and socks was a little hard, but with the help of a couple young ladies, I managed.

A long nights rest coupled with a wonderful breakfast and we were off to an amazing experience today. We got to visit our first grade school.

I mentioned to Dan, our fearless leader, that an English Teacher friend of mine in the province mentioned that almost every school in the district was having a bunkasai, or cultural festival, in the near future. This morning, Tachikawa-san informed us we were on our way to a school, Tagami Elementary School, to be precise.

Remember, this is the most recent interaction I have had with a child. I was pretty excited.

It was greater that I could have imagined.




The bunkasai was in full swing. American and Japanese flags were all over the place!

We got to play Taiko drums.



We got to eat lunch with the kids.



We got to hear a music recital with a ton of koto and a mandolin and a flute. Note the ninja jumping out of the crowd to attack the flute player. It was awesome.



I learned that I am conversing on a 6 year old level in Japanese; YAY ME! Total improvement. Here's a shot of our two hostesses



All in all it was a fantastic day. As a capstone, following the tour of a famed Sake brewery, we went to a Buddhist temple and engaged in zazen meditation.

I got to ring the bell! Thanks for everything, Rotary.

Niitsu- The Making of Mount Fuji

Ok, back to Niitsu, we took a tour of the Niigata University of Pharmacy, which we worried might be a little dull, but in fact, Kenja and I found it quite interesting. We had lots of questions when we got to the herbal medicine room and commented that we couldn't believe that the root form of the drug used to make meth was just lying out on the counter for anyone to grab. Apparently the drug's use is also a growing problem in Japan and people are required to sign for cold medicine just like the states.

We had a great time asking about the professional differences between working in Japan and the states. And the man to the right of Kenja Ogino-san was like a father to us. He went to great lengths to gets us English to Japanese and Japanese to English dictionaries and was always so thoughtful and considerate. He and his beautiful wife, also a pharmacist, were difficult to say goodbye to. We hope they do visit us in the states!

We also toured a local dental clinic, that has been in the Mimura family for generations. First the grandfather ran it, then the father and now the son runs it. His brothers are either dentists or married to nurses or dental hygienists. And like most business owners, the family's home is next to the clinic, which is great for patients who have a late-night emergency.

Kenja and I later remarked that it must both be a great honor to carry on the family tradition but we wondered if people also find it a great burden. Not in the sense that it is difficult work. But in that a child's heart may be drawn to something else, an area in which their talents would be vastly more utilized.

We also got to tour a factory that makes railroad trains and visited the most beautiful garden we have ever seen. The garden is housed at the Northern Culture Museum, which is a grand old house owned by a wealthy businessman. Again, it's been in the Ito family for generations and a family member's chance encounter with an American helped to secure the home as a museum and prevented it from being destroyed. Great story but I won't try to tell it for fear of getting it wrong. But if I got to look at this view all day, I'd feel like I was in heaven.

This will be the setting for the next G8 summit. Quite a coup for this museum. We were told each world leader will bring at least 100 secret service with them. This little town will be taken over, pretty much. What's interesting about this garden is that you have to sit on the floor to truly get a grasp of just how beautiful it is. This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. The picture below is of our tour guide, Brian (the name given to him by his American girlfriend at some point) showing everyone the expanse of the view.We also got to practice making pottery. I was not very good and provided lots of laughs. It was difficult to get the drift of what I was supposed to do with my hands. The artist would tell our translator Rika and by the time the translation got to me, it was already too late. Instead of a cup, I made a bowl with a little mountain in the middle. The artist said I was the first to create Mount Fuji.

Kenja on the other hand, was pretty good. But she did take three years of pottery classes in Tempe so I didn't feel too bad that she schooled me.

And we ended our stay here at the home of Mr. Hara, the owner of the Hotel Miyoshi where we stayed for our three days. His home is quite impressive and we coerced him into giving us a tour and showing us his family archives/treasures up in the attic. We found lots of scrolls and swords. We were fascinated and could have stayed there all night.

His family was quite welcoming and pleasant. One of his sons, Osama, practiced his English on us. He informed us that his sister, who is studying to be a doctor, is the smartest person he knows. It was so touching.

Niitsu Rotary Club

Yet another delayed post.

We have not had luck with getting access to the internet. So I am currently stealing someone's wireless internet. A neighbor of my host family. Kanpai (cheers) to them!

If I didn't have pictures to look at, I would forget what we've done. So while there is so much I want to say, I just don't have the time to get it all down. But I can keep you updated through pictures.

For Kenja and I, this rotary club will have a special place in our hearts. People treated us so well. We were treated like daughters and had a great welcome party full of fun and laughter. The rotary president danced for us and put his tie around his head with chopsticks. Someone said one of the women, who they call "Mama," looks like me. So from then on, I always asked where my twin sister was.



We also met two gentlemen, one age 60, and the other 82, who have climbed Mount Fuji. The 60-year-old is the 82-year-old's teacher. I made his day when I said he looked younger than his teacher. This brought tears to everyone's eyes. The sake and beer were flying all night as we had dish after delicious dish brought to us.

I will have to write more tomorrow if I am lucky.

Sake Flavored what?

Today marks my first official Bento lunch.

Bento is a food staple here in Japan. It's a boxed lunch, plain and simple. You can find them almost everywhere and they come with nearly anything imaginable inside of them.

Here's what Michael had to say about his lunch.



Most of the food we have eaten here in Japan has been oishii! That means delicious for you nihongo challenged readers. Some of it has been a lesson in taste bud differences.

We found a store in the mall yesterday that made one thing. Pan-chocolate. Bread with chocolate baked into it. I was turned onto this at San Fermin in Spain this summer and it's my number one (ichiban) favorite.

Tonight Michael and I are staying with the Watanabe family of the Bunsui rotary club in Tsubame. Their grandson is amazing and could power Manhattan Island indefinitely with as much energy as he has.


We've spent the evening eating the most delicious food, cooked by Watanabe-san's okusan, wife, and are relaxing listening to some jazz and making me wish I had my guitar.

We have had a wonderful night and even with my limited nihongo vocabulary, we have all been communicating as easily as I have with anyone in Japan.

Great people, great food, and great music. What more could a person want?

Ichi Go, Ichi E

Dave and I looked at each other last Wednesday, and said how are we supposed to talk about this at the District Conference next June for 30 minutes??? We've been here 3 days, and could already talk for a week about the experience.

Our royal treatment continues unabated. Today we will be treated to a boat trip down the Aganogawa River. Last night we ate dinner at a local restaurant. At our orientation here the Gosen Rotary Club asked us what our favorite Japanese foods were. I mentioned Okonomiyakis in particular. They are mostly an Osaka-area favorite. Sure enough the restaurant had made everything that was on our list.

I have been attempting to politely warn the Japanese Rotarians here that we are much more casual in America. Their GSE team will be treated to a Western style barbeque not a 12 to 15 course feast. We laughed Friday night when we began counting just the drinks in front of us. I had 6 glasses of different drinks in front of me. Our counterparts will be lucky to have a glass of water to go along with their Coke. But observing each others culture is a large part of what we're doing, so even though the feasts won't be so grand, I know the Rotarians of 5510 will show just as much friendliness and hospitality as we're receiving here.

We've learned some amazing words and phrases since coming here. One phrase is Ichi Go, Ichi E. It's something of a proverb that we have no English equivalent for, but it's so appropriate for what we're doing. It fits a situation where you meet someone, and you know you have only a short time together. Ichi Go, Ichi E, is what lets you have a wonderful, amazing time together even though you know you may never see each other again. It completely takes the futility out of brief encounters and allows you to have tons of fun.

Another great word that Americans should have is: Nijikai. Ni is Two (2). And you can count as high as you want: 2-jikai, 3-jikai, 4-jikai, etc. Jikai is the counting word for party. It works like this. The other night we had a wonderful Japanese feast dinner party. That was party number 1. Then we went to a Karaoke bar and had nijikai--party number 2. Then we were taken out to KokoJun bar by two of the Rotarians--sanjikai--party number 3.

Thanks $525,310.23 (That's thanks a million after taxes) to District 5510 for sending us, and District 2560 for hosting us,
Dan

More Muramatsu R.C. pictures

Tour of Sake Factory. We sampled delicious sake and got a tour of the facility where a certain brand is made. We were shown into a room that houses the rice (covered by large cloths) used for sake. It was quite hot in there.




Kenja and I toured two kindergartens, one private and one public. The kids were so happy to see us. You'd think we were rock stars. They had lots of questions for us, from "what's our favorite Japanese food?" to "how old are you?" Kenja told them she was 7 and I was 1. They thought that was hysterical and started protesting very loudly.


















One of the signs at the public kindergarten school shows kids what happens to their poop if they don't eat the proper food. Quite funny illustration. But it works! Apparently, the kids proudly run to their teacher to show them their poop was "good," and not the bad crap caused by junkfood.




We also visited a senior citizen home. The gentlemen in the front is 94 years old and he made my day when he complimented me on my smile. As he sat lotus-style on his chair, he peppered us with questions like "what's the hardest thing about Japan?" My response, "The in-ground toilets." Everyone burst into laughter.

Enrio comes around

Kaizu-san's house is absolutely beautiful. Not in the overstated decorated half to death way you might see in America, but in the practical elegance and sincere honesty of tatami and shoji.

Upon my arrival in Shirone, I was very excited. As much as I have loved the places and things I have seen in Japan, it is the people who are the real treasures here. I've learned so much from the people I have met here thus far and I am only a quarter of the time through my time here.

Shirone was to be my first 'home stay' since my arrival here and I was looking forward to meeting the people who had agreed to have a total stranger come into their house. Muroga-san gave me a ride to the Kaizu house and explained that Kaizu-san was a good friend of his.

Instant cool points as Muroga-san is one of the GSE council members and has been extremely awesome the entire time.

I had no idea how great the Kaizu family would be.

Kaizu-san and his wife were very reluctant to speak English at first, so Muroga-san and my dictionary filled in anything I was missing, which is a lot because my Japanese is very poor.

After Muroga-san left for the evening, I had some time to sit and talk with my host family for a while about life and what they are like.

I was surprised to find we shared many common interests, even in so much that Kaizu-san's father is a Shodou teacher and Kaizu-san is a Nidan in Kendo.

The following day, we went to the Kite Museum and saw the "Taco no taco" which has been Michael's main source of entertainment, and I got to build a kite.

I picked an agehachou, butterfly, and Mae-chan and I sat down together and colored it that night. After we were done, I gave it to Mae as a present, humble though it may have been.


Kaizu-san was gracious enough to let me try on his kendo equipment for some pictures and we did some fun posing for the camera.

Afterward, I mentioned to Kaizu-san that I would like to find a shop that sold hakama, the pants, before I left Japan. Kaizu-san's generosity still overwhelms me. Kaizu-san presented me with his personal hakama and kendo shirt. Afterward, he gave me a shinai to go with it. All of these items have his family name on them.

I tried to practice enrio and refuse the gifts but Kaizu-san was as insistent as he is generous; folding the gear and placing it on my bag.

I never expected such a heartfelt gift to come from this trip and I am deeply honored and amazed that he would consider me worth something of such great personal and sentimental value.

As wonderful as this present was, the greatest thing I will take away from my time in Shirone is the humanity and warmth that were shown to me by the Rotary Club members there along with Kaizu-san and his family.

Stay in Gosen w/ Muramatsu Rotary Club

Sorry for the delayed post.

Kenja and I have not had internet access. We are in Niitsu now but wanted to try and play catch-up.

In Gosen, Kenja and I were separated from the boys and will be for most of our time here. It seems there are more rotary clubs than GSE members so they thought this would be best. Kenja and I each had separate host families.

Mine were the sweetest couple, the Kanekos. They will have to forgive me because their first name escapes me at the moment. We have met sooo many people. My host father is a doctor and my host mother is a stay at home mom.

They were soo sweet. They had like 5 or 6 English paperback dictionaries in their kitchen and would kindly tell me "one moment please" when we were lost in translation. They would run to the pile of dictionaries (they also had two electronic dictionaries) and assist me and were so genuinely happy to assist me in furthering my Japanese. They were also so happy when they said something correctly in English. We both couldn't help but smile.

I stayed in a guest room upstairs with a mini-kitchen to myself and a bathroom. When my host father saw my luggage he said "oh my God" because he had to carry them up to the second floor. Ｉｔ was so cute!

While we were in Gosen, the Murumatsu Rotary Club took us to a temple to have Zen meditation with a Buddhist monk. It was so hard to sit lotus position (with your feet crossed on top of your legs). My feet and legs fell alseep and I had to change legs halfway through. Just when I thought I was getting it down and really meditating, the monk came by and hit me on the back with a bamboo paddle．　Ｉｔ was my turn to say "oh my". I was not expecting to be hit and thought I had done something wrong (maybe it was my Catholic school training) but I was reassured when he hit the others in our group. It was a great experience.

We also got to try on a beautiful expensive kimono made by hand in Kyoto worth like $10,000. And we got to participate in a traditional tea ceremony. Everyone we met was so warm and gracious.

I was sad to leave my host family. My host mother gave me a beautifully written note in English, her FIRST, that left me in tears. Her sentiments were simple but made me feel so special.

First Day in Niitsu

10/22/07

Only the penitent man shall pass.

It seems wrong that my hotel room is on the top floor of this building. Only two floors, but it’s too high after a day spent mostly on my knees.

Our team has spent the last two days in the more-than-relative creature comforts of the Hotel Niigata in Niigata city. Each morning a huge breakfast was prepared for us, and during the day we were entertained by men and women of power, influence, and surprisingly humble demeanor.

Today we were taken by two of our fantastic new friends on the GSE 2650 team out to a nearby city, Niitsu. Niitsu has two rotary clubs, though they are somewhat small in comparison to clubs in the larger cities, and as such the Niitsu club will be hosting Claudia and Kenja while the Niitsu-cho club, meaning Central Niitsu, will be hosting Dan, Michael, and myself.

Our hosting club members are fantastic.

I’ve made sushi before. I have a whole assembly for making and eating sushi. I’ve never seen anything like what I was shown today.

I was busing exchanging meishi and greetings with the members of our welcoming committee when I turned around to see Dan putting on some white shirt over the Rotary polo he already wore. Then I saw two more shirts come through the side door in the hands of the restaurant staff.

We were then led into the kitchen and bade wash our hands in a sink the size of a toboggan. A man with a shaved head and the brisk happy movements of a zen monk brought in a huge wooden tub, much like the bottom of a barrel, in and set it across from us on the table. He poured a large quantity of rice into it followed by a mixture of what we were told was vinegar, and sugar.

The sushi monk then began stirring, chopping, slicing, and generally agitating the mixture with timed precision. Dan was provided with a fan, and told to fan the mixture while the monk stirred it.

Done with stirring, the sushi monk turned to a giant knife and a slab of fish on the nearby cutting board. He sliced about 10 slices off the fish, each the width of a cracker, and then proceeded to ask Dan to make his own sushi while watching the monk do the same.

At the end of the next ten minutes, Dan, Michael and I were covered in sticky rice and had each made two of the saddest pieces of sushi the world had ever seen, made much more humble by the fact that one of the monks sushi masterpieces was between our attempts on our serving boards. But then we all got to eat the sushi we made and it tasted delicious either way.

Niitsu served us a fantastic luncheon complete with a whole fish each. No kidding. Eyes, gills, mouth, skin; the works. It was delicious. I may never be able to eat American seafood again.

We swayed outside to see what was next and found a Toyota bus labeled Niitsu Driving School. I wasn’t sure what was up, but just rolled with it. We hopped on and spent the next hour talking to students teachers and staff at the local University for pharmaceuticals and applied life sciences. These folks are great. They teach everything from modern sciences to ancient Chinese secrets. They were quite impressed when I told them about a girl I know who was just accepted to Acupuncture school.

Rolling out, we drove to the top of a hill above Niitsu. The day was beautiful. The greenery was striking. The guard rail was a little weird.

From our vantage point we could see the fields of tomatoes, stretching out below us, turning into rice fields, and then into city. We could even see the tower in Niigata, quite a ways off, where the District Conference is going to be held next month.

We traveled to a petroleum refinery museum and looked at an assortment of drill bits the Spanish Inquisition would have loved to get their hands on and learned a little about the economic history of Niitsu.

After we left, we walked down the street toward a garden I had seen through the window of the bus earlier that day. There are two entrances to the garden, so we walked past the first doorway to get to the main entry. As I passed it I smelled something and stopped dead. I stood there in the archway for a minute smelling the air.

Oranges. Moisture. Earth. Flowers. Light decay. It was the best thing I had smelled in days. I forgot to bring underarm deodorant.

The tense changes here to present, because I am remembering it this vividly as I recount it as to seem as though I am actually here.

I run to catch up with the rest of the group and find out what this place was; hurrying through the next gate without pausing. It is like seeing the Emerald city for the first time; green everywhere. Old buildings, still covered in the waving roof tiles dotted the area, each completely unique from the others, but still uniform enough that it was clear they had all been built by the same mind. There’s a hammer going somewhere, metal-to-wood… metal-to-wood…

Walking past the first four buildings we head down to the last house on the right, the largest in this row, still dwarfed by what appears to be the main house situated elsewhere on the grounds.

Two obaa-san welcome us to the house and hand out menus asking for our drink orders. Iced coffee and apple tea are passed around and conversation floats on the breeze bearing both the unique scent of the area and the espresso from neighboring glasses. It’s a welcome respite from the last few hours spent on the go. Tsuchida-san hands out brochures and tickets to each of us talking about the area that we are in. The snap shot in the brochure makes me say, “I know Kung Fu.” Michael responds in kind, “Whoa.”

Quickly, we all finish our respective glasses and give thanks to the hostesses while we walk back out into the jungle. Walking down the pathway to the main building I pause to take a picture of the main house on the grounds and my camera seizes up and dies. It won’t come back. Shoving it into my pocket, I hurry to catch up with the others. Shun-san is the last person waiting for me.

The first few rooms are uneventful, we see the old genkan where people originally would have entered the house, we see amazing oyster inlays in black marble cabinets, zen displays of decoration and a dedication to excellence that would be hard to find in America.

The back yard speaks to me. It brings back all the memories of the Japanese gardens in San Diego and Phoenix where guides do their best to explain in English something that was conceived and created by the Japanese culture.

The moment pushes me to my knees in seiza as I was taught to do in the dojo years ago; left knee first in case you need to draw your sword at a moment’s notice. I’m not sure how long I have been kneeling when Kasuga-san sits next to me and says that the caretaker of the building, an elderly gentleman who until now had been content to sit on the far said of the building and watch, is proud of me for sitting. I’m confused, but confusion isn’t a new feeling here in Japan.

The caretaker starts motioning us towards him and soon we are all sitting on the floor as he starts talking rapidly in Nihongo, Shun-san translating for the gaijin.

“This building was made to be seen from the ground. There are specific places to kneel and reflect while you are here. Where you were sitting was one, this is another. The caretaker says that you will not actually see this house if you stand while you are here.”

I’m sure it doesn’t translate well, but I get the point. Mt. Fuji is carved into a wood panel above the rafters and light is filtering through it, showing the intricacy of the work.

Caretaker walks to the next space and we follow. More and more wonders unfold as we move from place to place sitting in different vantage points, including the old genkan we already walked past. Each time you shift your view, the caretaker explains, the picture changes.

That’s what all these windows are. Picture Frames.

Caretaker via Shun-san says,”This house was designed completely by Buddhist philosophy. In Buddhism, when you stand, you cannot help but look down on things, including other people. This is not the way Buddha teaches.”

Moving us to a spot in the far corner of the house that we hadn’t seen yet, Caretaker starts sliding pieces of the wall around. He opens up the section in front of us, then runs down the length of the house, sliding all the glass mado closed.

I can see the texture and it’s pleasing. I have an eye for things like this, but I missed the important part.

“This view represents two worlds,” Shun says. “The outside here, represents the real world as it is. The wall, the reflection here, represents a dream world; yume.”

Only the penitent man shall pass.

Slowly we rose and left. Caretaker showed us tori, and ryu, and thousand year old maple trees on the way out of the area. We went to a driving school following. We rode virtual motorcycles and cars and ate the first persimmons of my life; which are awesome by the way.

But that moment sticks with me. I am the student; this experience and all the people I am meeting are the teachers. As much as I may think that I have something to offer them, I will receive more. No matter how much I give out, I can never give these wonderful individuals more than they are giving me.

We ate dinner today on our knees again this evening, which seemed appropriate even if not the most comfortable. It’s been a long time since I have knelt so much, and it will be another several weeks of kneeling on a daily basis, but today more than ever before, I know it is worth it.

A Million Thanks to Rotary here and at home.

I feel like a hillbilly in a five star restaurant. We have been treated to far more courtesies than anyone would have the right to expect. At the Chinese dinner Saturday night, I was seated in a particular spot, obviously by prearrangement with the hotel staff. From the moment I was seated the world revolved around my pleasure. I was served first on each of the 8 courses that were brought into the room. I wish I had the proper manners and level of sophistication to
have been more gracious in this situation.

Sunday evening the Niigata District hosted a welcome party for us. The District Governor and myself were seated in the places of honor and were shown much deference. The meal was served in a dozen courses, and while I have no clue what some of the food was I enjoyed it very much. I discovered I was on the agenda for the evening only a few moments before it was to begin. In fact I was on it twice. Once to give a formal greeting to the Niigata dignitaries that were assembled there, and again to introduce my team. The introductions were a piece of cake, but the more formal speech was a little difficult. I told the group that when I left Osaka, Japan 25 years ago I sang "Itsu Made Mo" to my friends at a farewell party. The song is a goodbye-'til-we-meet-again song. The end of the first verse says "Asu no hi o, yume miite, kibo no michii o", which interprets roughly to: "I see a dream of tomorrow, it will be my path of hope". I choked up (a very unjapanese thing to do) as I explained to the group that today my path is ended and my dream is fulfilled, and expressed my gratitude to be back in Japan. I didn't say half of the things I meant to say though. I should have expressed my gratitude to Tachikawa San and his GSE committee. They have done so much for us we could never repay their kindness.

The team is doing wonderful. I couldn't ask for a better team. They are extremely diligent in trying to speak the language and partake of everything this Group Study Exchange has to offer. None of them is holding back. They eat everything they are served, which can be scary at times. They talk to our hosts, and while the conversations can be hodgepodge dialogues of English and Japanese, they are not letting anything stop them from participating 100 percent in every activity that has been presented to us. I couldn't be prouder of them. The frustrations of the language barrier has not slowed, or depressed them in the slightest.

After the welcome party last night we were again treated to a Karaoke party. Karaoke is something I have never done publicly before, but something I have always wanted to try. It has been a blast. Fortunately karaoke here does not seem to revolve around showing off your talent. It is an opportunity to participate in a party and enjoy one another's company. Normally singing in a public is a very nerve-wracking event for me, so I can't relax and enjoy it, but here it is a very comfortable thing to do. Now, as Claudia says, I only need to expand my repertoire, so they don't feel like they're listening to their great grandfater sing from the dust.

All my love to the Rotary district back home that has helped shaped who I am and give focus to my energy,
Dan Hill

Day in Tokyo's famed

This is a delayed post.

The day before our arrival in Niigata we took in the sites in Tokyo. We figured out the whole subway thing and took a train from Narita to Tokyo. We went to a part of the city reminiscent of New York City, although even the Big Apple can't hold a candle to the type of mad rushing that goes on here.

When you exit the subway, you're immediately greeted by a wall of people. People are just eveywhere. Sitting, standing, running, riding their bicycles in business suits and balancing an umbrella. Quite a feat.

As you make your way toward the street, you come to a circle where like 5 or 6 sidewalks intersect. While you're trying to walk straight across, you have a throng of people trying to walk diagonally. You just have to weave through bodies until you get across.

Then we saw a giant sign for Starbucks amid the flashing lights. We shook our heads and walked on toward the dizzying lights and rows of restaurant and store-lined streets. Kenja had okonomiyaki on her mind after watching a competition on TV with chefs who tried to flip their humongous okonimiyaki without messing it up.

For those of you who don't know, it is a bowl of cabbage, an egg and whatever ingredients you want that you cook on a flat surface. The result? A thick-looking pancake. After it's cooked, you put a dark sauce on it,

An image shattered.

A few adjectives come to mind when picturing a Japanese business man: formal, stoic, serious almost to the point of being dour, and attentive to hierarchy, tradition and rules. So when our hosts filed of of the bus to greet us, I was, simply put, intimidated. Each one in perfectly pressed suits, starched white collars and freshly shined shoes, as if ready to go to the office and direct the affairs of multi-national conglomerations. Meanwhile, here we are dressed in our polo shirts and casual American grins. Although they greeted us with warm smiles and firm handshakes, I wondered if that was just a momentary lapse in their usual state of formality, and if my bow was low enough to be in accordance with their expectations.

We all piled into the back of the bus where the 11 of us sat facing one another around a small table. The ritual trading of meishi (business cards) began. If you don't know, trading business cards here is a serious affair. Each card is given and received with two hands, a bow, and a reverential 'please humbly accept this' and 'thank you, very much.' Each card is studied and placed carefully into a card holder (which we spent an hour shopping for in Tokyo the day before). Naturally, people in seniority initiate the engagement. After 45 minutes the ritual began to wind down and , I thought "okay, so now what are we going to do for the next 5 hours to Niigata, stare at each other and see who can look the most serious for longest?"

And then our hosts bust out with two six packs of Asahi and two karaoke microphones!! Woah, talk about shattering an image - completely! Their ties came off and they sang their hearts out for hours on end - we all did. And they laughed and congratulated all of our Nihon-go successes and foibles. And, well, the rest of the story you know from Dave's and Claudia's posts. But I can tell you that of on this cold and rainy October day in Niigata, I feel nothing but absolute glee at how a group of serious career men gave up an entire Saturday to sit on a bus with a five young American strangers to sing karaoke. I think it's going to be a good month.

Proud Mary Keeps on Rolling

We have had the most surreal day. From the moment the Japanese Rotarians picked us up this afternoon, we have had a blast. Things started off slow as everyone tried to understand each other. My Japanese is horrid but Kenja and Dave did well, Ryoji (our tutor) would be proud. How is it that I took lessons too but nothing stuck?

In any case, our chartered bus had room enough for 50 people. You'd think, naturally, we would spread out and each have our own seat, choosing to sit two or three rows from one another to get nice and comfortable for the six hour drive. Not so. Our party bus had a special (almost U-shaped section in the back) with a semi-coffee table if you will, which all 11 or 12 of us sat around.



Nice and cozy. No hiding our fishy breath from one another. The table was covered with snacks. Safe drinks like Japanese beer and tea. But wait, there's more. Squid jerky anyone? How about peanuts and seaweed wrapped pretzels? Seaweed potato chips?

And while we all enjoyed trying to communicate with one another and snacking on the feast before us, we reached a pivotal moment. What Japanese party bus would be complete without a karaoke machine? That's when the party really got started! Our Japanese friends belted out American tunes like "Proud Mary" and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and of course, some of their personal Japanese favorites. They don't mess around either. Finely tuned voices!


Then there was us. Dan sang energizing songs like "Danny Boy" and "Some Enchanted Evening." Good pipes, he just needs to expand his repertoire into the 21st century. Michael obviously karaokes for a living. Not even a cold threw him off kilter. He brought his game. Kenja sang several times ending with Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier." Dave sang some Oasis and an oldie but goodie "Mack the Knife." And I, sang token songs like "La Bamba" and "Besame Mucho" which the Japanese Rotarians liked very much.



Now we're at the Hotel Niigata. We each have our own room, which is very gracious of our hosts. For dinner we had an 8 or 9 course meal of various Chinese foods like squid and octopus, scallops, corn soup, chili pepper shrimp and other interesting foods. And to drink, we had brown Chinese sake and beer.

As I prepare to go to la la land, I'm awed by the opportunity to be here and experience such graciousness and generosity. Our hosts left at 5 a.m. this morning to pick us up, chartered the party bus for us, gave us a great dinner and our own room. Tomorrow we have a welcome party which I'm sure will bring more pleasant surprises! Until tomorrow.

Dinner with the Chairman

What do the following things have in common?

Jellyfish.
Plum seed powder.
Lillypad blossoms.
Lotus roots.
Bamboo.
Fungus.


Give up?

These were just a few of the ingredients of the 7 course meal Chairman Tachikawa Tatsuo and his entourage served us upon our arrival in Niigata-ken. The meal was delicious with attentive service, uniquely tasty dishes (oishii), and a private room. We finished up conversation threads of the day and had fun passing around some pictures of past exploits I had laying around.

Our sumptuous meal at the Tendan Chinese restaurant in Hotel Niigata was the capstone to a long day of amazing company and surreal pastimes.

Michael and I decided to talk to some of the local shop owners this morning and set out to find him a wallet that would not scrunch up the yen notes that we are wielding like Press credentials everywhere we go.

Starbucks is still Starbucks in Japan. It's just a little harder to order; which is an accomplishment in and of itself when a half n half no caff double whip triple cafe mocha java is just one of a million options at a Starbucks to begin with.

Shopping is a tag team sport here in Japan, as it takes two Gaijin to formulate any complete thought in Japanese. Michael and I were eventually able to successfully buy a coffee, breakfast, a wallet with an amazing inscription on it (ask him about it), and an ironing board cover...

Ok, so maybe not everything went exactly according to plan.

The charter bus, yes just for us GSE folks, from Niigata arrived at our hotel in Narita this afternoon. Tachikawa-san was all smiles and as down to earth as anyone I have ever met. In a land where ritual and caste are so inherent in everything a person does, he made interaction seamless and relaxed despite the language barrier. Nothing less than would be expected from a seasoned Rotarian and a qualified Chairman.

Tachikawa-san was accompanied by several other Rotarians: Goto-san, who, much like me, has a reputation for having fun; Nobuhiro-san, who speaks English much better than he lets on; Masanobu-san, who has a lovely singing voice; and Kurihara-san who is kind enough to be hosting Claudia at his families home for some parts of the trip.

Oh, and the bus... also a karaoke bar on wheels. After an hour of conversation we all broke out microphones and directory books of songs and sang our way through 5 more hours of bus ride to our destination.

Dan sings a mean Cindy Lauper.

We talked heavily about school, children, travel, friends; nearly everything that we could squeeze in between songs.

The very pleasant surprise for the day came in the form of Hiromi-san, a former GSE team member from the 2560 district exchange with Brazil in 2002. Hiromi speaks English with a European accent, impeccable Japanese, and some decent Portuguese to boot. She was one of the welcoming committee along with the 4 other gentlemen that comprise the GSE committee here in Niigata.

Hiromi-san had alot of great insight in working abroad, having spent the last two years in Australia and Europe, and was more than happy to share her experiences. Hiromi-san is back visiting her home town, Niigata, on holiday while she waits for her work visa for the Netherlands to be approved so she can return to work abroad. Definitely our good luck.

I'm fading fast, as I am still trying to kick this jetlag thing, so I'll make this short. The day was great, the singing ranged from frightening American howling (me) to hauntingly beautiful Japanese ballads (Hiromi), and everything in between thanks to our seasoned group or Rotarian karaoke experts extraordinaire.

We have some great pictures. I'll see what I can do about uploading them tomorrow morning.

Morning in The Land of The Rising Sun

Santa Claus and a Camouflaged Bunny purveyor of the Original Bionic Drink were our early morning companions. This is definitely not Kansas.

The flight yesterday was long in the way that Christmas Morning taxes the patience of a 3 year old. Sleep came in bouts; rough and with little pretense.

The waters of the Mid Pacific are as seamlessly blue as the center of the Atlantic; sapphire blue with sparse white polka dots farther than Chris Columbus could have imagined. Closer to the islands, things changed. Between glances out the window the ground was coated in cloud banks that looked like wonderfully tracked snow; piled up as it does in mid-march when the sun and snow are at war with each other while snowboarders carve new lines through the endless expanse. It was beautiful and made me even more anticipatory for the imminent landing.

I spent the flight next to a Filipino man that was easily twice my size. We passed the hours talking about snowboarding, pirates, racing motorcycles, $30,000 fish, and snoring on each others shoulders. It was as bizarre as it sounds.

It did not prepare me for this sight:



Dan and I both arose this morning at 4 am local time and decided to make full frontal assault on the gym here in the hotel so as to assuage our calorie-minded consciences for the day of abuse we were planning to subject ourselves to. Dan is pretty spry for an old man. :D

Breakfast was an adventure and everyone got into the act by trying new and more viscera abusing food than the last person, although Kenja won that contest by eating the grilled fish, bones and all.



We are sitting down to practice our presentation, polish our language skills, then set loose of the little town of Tokyo. Heaven help us.

Preparing to depart..

We're all pretty busy with last-minute preparations for our trip to Niigata, Japan. We leave Wednesday, October 17th and we're all extremely excited.

We'll try to update this blog frequently so district members and our families and friends can see first hand the amazing experiences we are sure to have on our trip.

Stay tuned!

-Michael