One Year! It went so much quicker than we could possibly have imagined. We are so excited (and have been for a month) to return home to our friends, family, dog, house, football, and everything else that we love about Georgia. At the same time, we're getting nastalgic already about things we will miss most about Tokyo. Japan is, if nothing else, completely different than any other country we have been or will ever go. If there is a bizarro United States, it is Japan. The people here are thin, unassuming, peaceful, ritualistic, spiritual, friendly, intelligent, and so much more. The [View Full Entry]

---

---

This is a dedication of sorts to those friends and family members that made the 7000 mile journey to Japan. Not only did our visitors provide a break in the monotony that comes with living overseas, but they provided just the catalyst we needed to get out and see Japan. We didn't need much motivation for some of our ski outings or trips abroad, but when you're getting ready for your 20th temple or shrine, it sure helps to have the enthusiasm that comes with first timers. And our visitors were just the necessary prod. They started arriving in March [View Full Entry]

---

---

My brother Jimmy came over for a visit and we did some traveling around Japan instead of just staying in Tokyo the whole time. We headed south for a two day visit to Hiroshima. It was an absolutely amazing and moving experience. The devastation that was caused by my home country dropping an atomic bomb on this city was disturbing, but in all of the museums and memorials, they don't blame the US. The city is all about peace and helping get rid of all atomic and nuclear weapons. What was really surprising is how built up and modern Hiroshima is. [View Full Entry]

---

---

For two months during the year, Mt. Fuji is open to climb. Last Friday was "Opening Day". I say climb, but really I anticipated more of a hike. And to be honest, I don't know how to climb anyway, so it was either going to be a steep hike or it wasn't going to happen. My training consisted of some treadmill work and lunges; there were no ropes or crampons or caribiners. There's a saying in Japan that a smart man will climb Fuji-san once, but only an idiot would climb it twice. I'm not sure about the first half of [View Full Entry]

---

---

There are commercials broadcast on Japanese television that tout the wonders of Malaysia, showing 20 exciting activities and finishing with the catchy slogan, "Malaysia, Truly Asia". We fell for it. Who says advertising is dead? So an easy hour bus ride to the airport, a 7.5 hour flight, and an hour taxi into Kuala Lumpur later, we arrived in Malaysia's largest city with 2.5 million people. For the first time in 6 months, i didn't feel like a tourist. English is taught as a second language, so it's fairly easy to navigate through town. We had a massive mall across from [View Full Entry]

---

---

It sounds so easy to get places in Asia if you're based in Tokyo...China, Australia, Seoul, etc. It isn't. Add an "epidemic" to the mix, and it becomes harder to get to Hong Kong than getting to England from the States. So, it was under this scenario that we spent 11 hours making our way to Macau, The Vegas of China. Macau is an island with Portuguese heritage. It was handed over to the Chinese at the same time the British gave back Hong Kong. They speak Chinese, Spanish, and English. They don't speak Japanese no matter how much Maureen tries [View Full Entry]

---

---

The streets of Japan are lined with Cherry trees. There are likely a million of them across the island. For 11 months of the year, you hardly notice, and no one pays attention. But come April, these things are worshiped. And i mean idolized, bowed to, revered, and adored. At first, we thought it comical. I mean a month ahead of time, they start discussing the Sakura (literally Cherry Blossom). As the Northern Hemisphere gets closer to the Sun, the mood in Japan, much like everywhere else, freshens. A new beginning, a fresh start. Whatever it is, it offers hope, and [View Full Entry]

---

---

We had our first visitors arrive last Sunday. My sister Susan and my brother-in-law Todd (aka Toad) made the long journey over to see what kind of life we've been living here in Japan. Here is the low down on the incredible week we had together. We started off Monday morning bright and early (left the apartment at 5:30 am) going to Tsukiji (pronounced ski-jee) Fishmarket. It's a classic old world fish market where we watched the traditional tuna auction. The auctioneers scream out things in japanese, while people are poking at and evaluating huge frozen tuna (so big some of [View Full Entry]

---

---

We headed to Nagano this past weekend to try and get one last ski weekend in. For those of you with a bad memory, Nagano hosted the Winter Olympics in 1998. We were technically in Hakuba which is a hour north of Nagano which is where all of the skiing events took place during the Olympics. We took the Shinkansen Friday evening and had happy hour on the train for the 75 minute ride. We then took a bus 60 minute bus ride in the rain and ended up at our hotel. It was very sweet looking hotel with a fire [View Full Entry]

---

---

We kind of did ourselves in early on the vacation front this year, spending 11 incredible days in the land down under. While the toilets don't flush counter-clockwise (i know you wondered), they do drive on the left side of the road. And while they speak English, I think we may understand Japanese just as well as their version of English. We started our journey on an island called Hayman just off the north coast of Queensland, Australia. The great barrier reef runs for 1600 hundred miles throughout 900 islands in the Coral Sea. It's essentially just below the equator, [View Full Entry]

---

---