Tokyo Happenings

FRIENDS, FOOD, SAKI, BOATS, GIANTS, SUMO AND MORE!

I feel it's about time to let you all know what's going on here in Tokyo. I've been writing about my travels and forgot to tell you about the great time I am having in Tokyo. About two weeks ago my good friends Ken, Rhonda, Kat and Cole Schwartz showed up from Hong Kong to hang out in Tokyo. They arrived on a beautiful day and were ready for some good sushi and great Saki. But, first we had to deal with Rhonda losing some of her documents and train passes. She forgot to take them out of the back of the seat and realized it as the train pulled away. We were there in the station for about an hour trying to figure out how to explain to the station men that we left them on the train that just left. They working so hard to help us and so friendly even though they didn't speak any English. But, it didn't matter at all. They understood what happened from my broken Japanese... and the help from an English speaking operator on the phone. It all worked out and we would pick them up 2 days later.
So, we got back to my place and immediately took the children to the metro to send them away with some friends they knew from Warsaw. We had a night alone without kids and ate some great sushi just around the corner from my place. I go there quite often and was greeted boastfully from the staff, well as boastful as the Japanese can be that is. We ate and ate some great food and toasted to friendship with some great saki and beer. Then a little more beer. There is a great place called Popeye's. It's a bar that prides itself on good beer at a good price. They have about 70 beers on tap. We sat, talked and enjoyed some great local and international brews. It was a good night to have friends in Tokyo. You know, I might end up there tonight.
Ken, Rhonda and I went out for a walk in my area of Tokyo called Tsukishimida. It is right just across the river Samida from me. It was a good walk that ended about 7 km (that's about 4.3 miles) from my house at the Emperor's Palace. We were lucky enough to come by a Omochi Party. Omochi is pounded cooked rice. It was mostly older Japanese men and women celebrating the blossoming of the cherry trees. Ken was asked by the elders to pound some omochi. It was great. He picked up this heavy wooden mallet and reach backed almost touching the ground and smacked the ball of rice over and over. I thought he was going to hit the old man moving the omochi in the head. Luckily, we didn't have to rush anyone to the hospital. But, we did have to rush in line to get some of that fresh omochi.
I could go on and on about the wonderful times the Schwartz Family and I had together. It was a pretty great week of fun, food and most of all friends. Ken, Rhonda, Kat and Cole made my year so far. I felt for the first time while living in Tokyo that I was home. It revived me from the winter and set me up for some great adventures to come.
I ask all of you readers out there if you feel like visiting please contact me. I love having friends, family or friends of friends. Like you, Dana Mason from Independence, Mo. I hear your daughter is thinking of international teaching. If so have her drop me a message and you must have her read my good friends blog. He and I taught together in Poland and he puts together a good argument for traveling. The Keilbasa Chronicle - Wanted: Teachers willing to relocate to faraway lands

After the Schwartskis left Tokyo I started getting out enjoying the lovely weather of Spring. It's so beautiful here and I can't wait to finish writing so I can head out again. But first I need to talk about the boat ride. I was out with my friend Kristy. She and I like to go on adventures in Tokyo and do anything we can. This trip came about after watching a beautiful concert in Hamarikyu Garden.

Kristy and I started walking around and she decided she wanted to go on a boat ride up the Samida to Asakusa. These boats go right by my house. I see them everyday and had always wanted to take a trip so I said why not. Let's go. It only cost 700 yen which is about 7 USD. Pretty cheap and it brings you back if you want and we wanted. So we had some beers, and some food and laughed all along the way. It was a great day for a boat ride and really enjoyed seeing my place from the waters. We came back to the park and checked out he great Japanese gardens and sat back to watch the people. As Jack Johnson says,

I like people watching the other people watching me. We're all people watching the other people watching we.

The gardens in this park are amazing. The ground they sit on were known as the hunting grounds for the Shoguns in the 1700's. It's now lined with tea houses and gives attractive views of the large metropolitan city surroundings from the middle of this peaceful garden.


This past Friday and Saturday were two highlights of my adventures in Tokyo. One of the parents of a child in my class asked me if I like baseball. Of course I do!! He had two tickets to the Yomuiri Giants, known as Tokyo Giants to many people around the world. Our tickets were amazing with ideal seats on the 20th row behind and behind home plate. The game is played the same obviously but the fans and food make it so much more fun and interesting. Hordes of fans dressed in white stand and cheer for the Giants while at bat singing songs and chanting for there favorite player. It's like nothing I had every seen before. I thought going into the game I would be distracted from the the noise and cheering. But it was the opposite. I was drawn into the cheering and yelling. It was entertainment at it's best. Topped off with food and beer girls. Yes, beer girl strapped with kegs of beer on their backs ready to top your glass off with a cold and refreshing Bier. Every where you looked there was another girl coming up the aisle. After the beer goes by you have your choice of food too. Not hot dogs or pretzels, though you can get hot dogs at the concession stand, but soup, rice bowls and sushi boxes. Nothing like enjoying game with beer and sushi. You gotta love Japan.



Sumo practice was on my agenda for yesterday. It' so hard to put into words and describe everything I saw. To make it easier I have included some videos instead. We were very lucky to be able to video and take photos. Rarely is that allowed and complete respect for the fighters is required or you must leave. No flashes, no talking, no sounds and your feet may never point to the ring. You must sit cross legged or with your feet to the side. It is a matter of respect and tradition. There are anywhere between 12 and 18 men in at the stables. I like the use of the word stables for the description of where these massive men workout. Before watching the videos keep in mind that these men are very big. Most much taller than I an weigh about 165 kilograms, that is 363 pounds!!! Try pushing that around while getting smacked in the face several times. The color of their Mawashi, the belt worn around their waist, indicates their level of rank. The sumo with black mawashi is very young and known as Amasumo or amateur Sumo. Often they are only teens in training. The dark grey mawashi are worn my the more experience fighters. Then the white mawashi are worn by the top fighters and these men compete at the highest level of competition. Enjoy the action and training. I know I did and I hope to bring you to see them in action when you come to visit.
Sumo Training

More Sumo

Highest Level of Sumo Training


It's been fun for me to relive my last few weeks. I hope you enjoyed. See you back here soon.

Kota Kinabalu

It's hard to begin writing about a wonderful Work/Spring Break Vacation. Sounds funny doesn't it? My school thought it would it be a great idea to plan our Spring Break during the
EARCOS Confernce in Kota Kinabualu (aka KK), Borneo. Yes, I know, it's Borneo what am I whining about? But still I had to work 3 out of the 10 days on vacation. So i decided that the conference is all on my terms. I left Tokyo on the 21st of March and planned to stay until the 29th. How I needed that break. I felt I was going to explode if had to spend another day in the massive city without a feeling of being lost in nature. So it was on a plane to Borneo.

I knew it was going to be a great time because I was going to see some good old friends from Warsaw. I knew I would see Jeremy, Jill, Chip and Lillian, Paul and Amanda Jacob and to my suprise Sally. I had not seen most of them for two years and having a great reunion together in the middle of the Malaysia was an ideal location. We met out for drinks and spent some good times together as well. It made me really miss Poland and my friends who are still there. So to those of you reading, lots of love for you.










For the first day I sat at the pool side and drank up some beer and relaxed. I met some nice new people from my school. I hadn't met many from the main campus but did meet Steve, Peter and Glenda. I had a great time with them and hope to keep seeing them. But, the main campus is so far away it's tough but i will make it happen. Later on I met others from all over the world and had a wonderful time talking, laughing, singing and being happy. Most of you know me pretty well and are saying "figures, you always meet so many people". I am a social butterfly and I was feeling very good buzzing around talking and enjoying life. I hadn't done that in a long time.

Now, one of my highlights of the trip was going to dive on Mantanani Island. Oh my! If this place isn't heaven then I don't know what is. We took a nice skid across the bay for about an hour to arrive on a dive shop, restaurant and rooms to rent stilted in the middle of the ocean. Not on the beach. Just out in the middle surrounded by water and islands. So amazing. If I had known about that before I left Tokyo I would have stayed there for 3 days diving and living the life without electricity, phones and computers. If you want to know where the place is and feel the need to get away send me a message and I will give you the contact. I don't want to put up a link cause it needs to stay secluded and peaceful. I hope it never changes. The diving was good and I saw some wonderful creatures. I am so happy I took the classes in Bali. It's changed my life and my outlook on life. Being out in the middle of nowhere was so wonderful. Blue skies, blue water, beautiful people, wonderful food and Peace and Quiet. Maybe the best place I'd been in a long time...OK 4 months. I hope to be there again or someplace like it soon.
When I was out on the Mari Mari Lodge I met this great traveler name Carlo. He was out there hanging out for a few days and just relaxing. We talked and enjoyed traveling stories and laughed about how crazy people are in the cities. Getting away from the world and life outside of nature is something I need as often as possible. We said our farewells and said to each other "I hope to see you again."

About two day later I decided to take a trip to Mount Kota Kinabalu to do some birding and hiking alone with a guide. Before I go on I must say this was the first time going birding on my own and I am so happy my friends Ken, Rhonda, Kat and Coletrain turned me onto this wonderful world. A lot of you know I am from Kansas and born and raised as a hunter. Listen, looking for birds and not shootin' them was hard and a very different for me, but realized now that my hunting life is over thanks to these wonderful friends. Well, at least until i get back to Kansas in the Fall, which may never happen. Anyway, this guide I hired, CK is an amazing guide. You can reach him at Borneo Birds if you are in the area and need to get out. I won't go into the names and species but I did some some amazing birds that can only be found on that mountain. I really enjoyed my time in the mountains and wished I had more time. Hoping for more time will become a repeated pattern in this post. After finishing up hike and heading to the truck for another site who do I see walking down the stairs? Carlo!!
There is was again just as we said to each other meeting again. Funny how life works and throws good people back your way. It's proves what I have said many times to many poeple "Whenever I look over my shoulder to the places I have left, I always know someone has helped change my outlook on life."

People People and more People on my vacation. I have a friend, Ellen in Bangkok who told me some good people were coming to the conference. She told me I should try to find them. So one day out in the pool I see 5 lovely ladies swimming and decide to approach and see what's going on and sure enough, it' Ellen's friends from Bangkok. We talked, drank, laughed and made plans for the Happy Hour evening provided by the conference. We all met up and planned a night out after the free drinks and set out for a good time on the city of KK. When getting out of the taxi and going to the bar I hear from behind, "Hey, do you know Heidi Laffey?" Heidi is a friend who works in Warsaw. After some searching through my brain and talking I realize this is Nancy from Zagreb who worked with Heidi in Mexico. We had met 4 years before at a conference in Croatia. Crazy huh? We talked and she introduced me to a great person, Jen. Soon after meeing I learned Jen worked with the Schwartz family in Hong Kong and was new in Bangkok. We had a great time together for a few days and once again I hoped I had more time but i had to catch a flight back. I hope to see Jen and Nancy again in Bangkok real soon. It might be sooner than they think it could be tomorrow so be ready ladies.

This international world of teaching is a very small world and I love it. If you have ever thought about getting out of you routine and day to day life then CHANGE IT. I beg you to do it. If it's not traveling then it needs to be something. Just make the change. It was the best choice of my life. Look at this view. Could I have ever seen it if I was still teaching in Kansas? Glad I never had to find out.

It's Return to Korea 60 Years Later.

I must say that I am getting pretty bad and updating. I need to get reminders from you faithful readers to drop me a line and tell me to get off my but and start telling stories.

So here's one from a month ago.

I had a few days off in February and decided to take a break from Tokyo.  It was a tough choice at first to decide where to go but by the title of this post I am sure you can figure out on your own where I went.  I decided to go see my good friend Dawn Melarvie who teachers in Seoul.  She and I worked together in Warsaw and have stayed in touch over the years. My final decision was influenced by another important person in my as well. My Uncle Gene who, to me, is what a man' man is all about. I could go off on many stories about how amazing he was and how much he taught me throughout my life. But, I think I will stick to this story today.
My Uncle Gene passed away 2 years ago. This is My Aunt Seenie and Uncle Gene. How I miss them so much. I hope to see Seenie when I am home this summer. Uncle Gene was a retired Air Force Master Sargent fought in the Korean War. Besides being in the Air Force he also served in the Army and the Navy before finding his place in the Air Force. I don't know many stories about Uncle Gene and the war. I wish I had talked to him about it but it was something I felt should be left alone. War was a hard thing for him. During the Vietnam Conflict his only son Keith was killed and it was a major blow to him. So, bringing up any type of war stories would bring on memories of Keith and I didn't want him to have to show me the pain.

The thing that made my decision for me besides Gene and Dawn was an old Air Force Parka. This parka, which I have now, belonged to my Grandfather. My Grandfather, Ira Bughman, wore it during the winter time on the farm in Kansas. To this day it still has grain from Grandpa's farm in the pockets. It really brings me back to my childhood and fishing on the farm. Well, this parka was a gift from Uncle Gene to Grandpa. Gene told him it would keep him warm on the cold winter days in January. When Grandpa died I remember saying I want to have that coat. It's something that is very important to me and I feel like I am wrapped up grips of the two strongest men I've known, Grandpa and Uncle Gene.

I decided to bring this parka along with me to Korea to makes it return 60 years later. First, took a trip to the DMZ. Yes, the Demilitarized Zone. The line that separates North and South Korea. I coming from the South headed up to the boarder with a group of people from Japan and the US. When we finally reached the DMZ, we were searched, checked by armed guards and had our pictures taken for security and personal safety reasons. This place is really the most heavily armed place I have ever scene. Bunkers on both sides with anti-aircraft guns ready to fire. Soldiers, tanks, trucks and explosives ready to detonate in case of an attack. Which is possible with the testing of the "satellite missiles" in North Korea. Which most of the world believes its for NUCLEAR Weapons testing. Either way when I was up there on the border you felt that it could happen and any minute.

We were able to go into a building with highly trained hand to hand combat soldiers. Remember...no weapons. In this room you could walk around the other side of the table and be in North Korea. One side has South Korea soldiers. The other, North Korea Soldiers. It is a very tense place. We are asked not to smile, wave, laugh, point and make any gestures or faces that may be used by the North Koreas as propaganda to show their people either how bad we Americans are or how bad we want to be in North Korea. It was a surreal experience and something I am glad I saw.

While walking around wearing Gene's coat I was stopped and asked where I got it. I told this older South Korean couple that it was my Uncle's from the War and they asked if they could touch it. It was was shocking to hear that question and I said of course. They spoke in Korean, smiled and stroked my coat for a moment. It was really a good feeling. They told others about it and they all showed happiness and a sort of thankfulness. It was a very interesting place. Something I will always remember. Whenever I think about Korea it will always bring me back to Gene. I hope I can post some more stories about Uncle Gene and Aunt Seenie. Maybe I'll go back to the summer of 1987 in Seguin, Texas to write about catfish contests and skinning snakes. Ok time to go. Miss you buddy. L