"Over There" somewhere...

Here I go... mouthing off about something I don't really know too much about. I've recently been seeing ads about a series on FX about the war in Iraq.



Not having seen one episode, my gripe is the principle of the show fictionalizes the war to an extent that appears to be evasive of the real suffering of the conflict. I'm talking about the suffering of the Americans who have lost loved ones and those that have made sacrifices to stand up for what the believe in and the innocent civilians who now live in a war zone. I'm not sure it's a good sign that Americans can turn to a fictional account of the war to have to understand the implications of the real one going on out there.



I'll watch and episode and see how I feel afterwards.

Bye Hyun-joo!

Hyun-joo left today for Kanazawa. We had some problems when we arrived at Northwest. They cancelled the flight because of "maintenance" and it took them a while to re-route her. Instead of flying from Newark to Detroit to Nagoya... she had to take a taxi to JFK Intl. Airport in NY to fly directly to Tokyo. From there she'll hopefully get the airlines to buy her a train ticket to Kanazawa. I spoke with her on the phone when she was waiting to board in JFK and she sounded well. I just hope she doesn't have any other surprises.



I packed a little... cleaned up some stuff in the basement... and thought about what else I'll need to do before I have to return to Kanazawa. I have to start replying to all the wonderful emails from folks congratulating Hyun-joo and I about our engagement.



I'm a little concerned about the wedding... I have no idea how we're going to work this with folks coming from Korea and all around the States. I would like to do it bilingually for her family. We haven't even set a date, so I guess there's no rushing around just yet. I think the only thing we've decided is that we're not going to get married in Korea or Japan. I suppose somewhere in the States makes sense. I dunno.

Engaged

On August 5th I asked Hyun-joo to marry me and she said, "Yes!"



I took her to the top of Mount Philo in Western Vermont and while looking out over Lake Champlain I proposed to her. Actually her first response was "Oh, My God!" and then she started crying. It was only about a few minutes later that I was able to get a real answer from her. We just told my parents last night and they were nicely surprised.



No plans yet on a wedding. That seems a little far away right now. I think we'll just focus first on getting back to Kanazawa and get settled into the new semester.

Back in Burlington

Hyun-joo and I are in Burlington again. The past few nights, we've been camping out at Little River State Park. Tonight we hope to stay at a friend's place and then the next couple of nights, we're out at North Beach park in Burlington. That'll give us the option to hang out around town and see friends, etc.



Hyun-joo was successful at getting her work visa from the New York consulate. We ended up going to NYC instead of Boston because we couldn't find a cheap hotel to stay at. In the end it was much easier to just hop on the train and make the trip into the city.



We've been camping, kayaking, hiking, shopping, catching up with old friends, and even catching a few movies. We hope to see "March of the Penguins" later today before we cruise over to Marc's for his movie night tonight.



Only one more big push planned!

At the Stroke of Midnight: Harry Potter

Hyun-joo, my sister, my brother, and my nephew went to the local Borders bookstore to grab a copy of "Half-blood Prince". Hyun-joo bought him a copy as a present. Even at 25% off it seemed a little expensive to me, but it was worth it when I saw my nephew. I didn't get to go, but would have liked to just to see the crowds. Not surprisingly there were a lot of folks there. One of the employees used a megaphone to count down to midnight then folks who didn't reserve a copy for themselves were able to grab one. The long wait didn't come until the check-out. Everyone had to take a number which a clerk would call out when it was your turn to pay for the book. Here in Maui, there were about 600 copies sold in the first hour.

Back from Kauai

Lee, his girlfriend, Hyun-joo, and I just returned from three days in Kauai. It was our first time to go there. Of the dozens of times we've been to Hawaii we've never made a trip out there. We didn't have a lot of time (or money) so we decided to go the fun and adventurous route and camp out. We also decided to focus our efforts on the NE area of the island. We spend one night car camping on the beach and the next night was a wilderness trek along the coast to a campsite next to a river that flowed openly into the ocean. It was fantastic! We were all a bit tired from the trip, but we've hit the ground running again.



Lee and his girlfriend are off to Hana. Hyun-joo and I are sticking around to go diving with my sister and my cousin tomorrow. My sister and her family leave on Sunday and then Lee and his girlfriend leave on Monday. We only have a few more days together. I'm happy for the time. It's been a fantastic vacation so far.



Hope yours is going well too.
Off to the beach!

Haleakela Bound

Time has been flying by. Everyone went to Paia for their O-Bon festival. Chase, Cole, Elise, and Lee joined the dancers for the festival. The food was wonderful as usual. We're looking forward to the Makawao O-Bon this upcoming Friday, especially since a lot of my cousins will be in town for a short spell.



Tomorrow we're doing a little hiking in the crater. Then we're off to Kauai for three days. Then we're spending time with our cousins. After that Lynn-folks have to leave and then Lee and Elise leave the following Monday. Finally Hyun-joo and I are off to the East Coast for the second part of the vacation. It's been fantastic so far. I think Hyun-joo has been having a good time. It's great to just hang out with everyone again.



It's so nice to understand what folks are saying around me. It's nice to take a break from Japan. Thank goodness for vacation!

Maxin' out in Maui

It feels like we've been on the move since early this morning. The gang packed up every thing we had into 16 check-in packages among the nine of us and cleaned up the house in Kailua by 10 am. With some wonderful help from Aunty Winnie we lugged everything over to Honolulu International Airport.



It's about 6:30 in the evening and we're slowly unpacking the gear. The little ones have discovered the Playstation2 and now they're fighting away with each other, virtually and in reality. We're going to have to keep an eye on them in the next couple of weeks.



I can't think very clearly right now, but I guess we'll begin making preprations to go diving soon. The vacation is turing out pretty well. I think with the nine of us here, we're going to be getting on each others' nerves sooner or later. Thankfully it's always nice enough out to go for a walk and get some space.



I'm actually roasting right now since the air conditioning isn't working in the house. We keep blowing out the fuses around here! Yikes.

Chillin' in Narita

Well, I have to say that it hasn't been so bad here. There's a fantastic Public Lounge on the lower level of the No. 2 Satellite, Terminal 1 (take note Hyun-joo!). It has CNN, big open benches, recliners to sleep in, and even massage chairs. I've been reading, browsing around the Duty Free areas, and snacking from time to time. It's almost time to start thinking about leaving here. Looks like we depart at 20:55, a little earlier than I thought. No problem. I've slept so much I wonder if I can sleep on the plane. I've been doing some serious catch up from this past week. Hanging out with the elementary school kids was pretty tiring. So, keep your fingers crossed for me - that it'll be a smooth flight. Back to you soon, probably from Honolulu!

Early start... Late train...

i've begun my long wait until my flight tonight. my train was 45 min late today! crap... i thought i was going to miss my flight. all's well now. i have a 7 hour wait here. lots of reading and walking around the airport for me. i'm just glad i made it.

excited to be finally off to the states.
i hope everyone's well! bye!

it's only marginally cooler here in tokyo. still wicked humid. it's like thailand here. the airport is comfortable enough for some exercise. i plan on doing a lot of laps to get some exercise before my flight this evening.

i was really hungry earlier and stopped for some tempura udon. expensive but quite nice considering it was airport food. i wonder what's for dinner?

At last!

Didn't shave, didn't wear a tie.
No more classes. No more class preparations.
No more packing.

Just some final touches on my grades and one more day in the office. I just need to find out when my bus should come by and then I'm off to Hawaii! I'm excited for Tyson's wedding. I hope it'll be a real party. Lots of family are headed to the islands. It'll be good to see everyone again.

I hope everyone has a fantastic summer. I'm outta here.

Where the heck will we be?

6/30 T	Oahu	kent arrives at 09:25 NW022
7/1 F	Oahu	wedding, diving, beach, pearl harbor
7/2 S	Oahu
7/3 S	Oahu
7/4 M	Oahu
7/5 T	Oahu	hyun-joo arrives 09:00
7/6 W	Maui	we leave oahu 13:55
7/7 T	Maui	diving, haleakela, hana, good-eats, kauai?, aquarium, golf
7/8 F	Maui
7/9 S	Maui
7/10 S	Maui
7/11 M	Maui
7/12 T	Maui
7/13 W	Maui
7/14 T	Maui
7/15 F	Maui
7/16 S	Maui
7/17 S	Maui
7/18 M	Maui
7/19 T	Maui
7/20 W	Maui
7/21 T	Maui	we leave kahului 13:34, arrive in oahu 14:05, then we leave oahu at 17:30 NW098
7/22 F	New Jersey	we arrive 10:42 NW1090
7/23 S	New Jersey	un-packing and re-packing
7/24 S	New Jersey
7/25 M	Boston	lee, madeleine, red sox?, japanese consulate
7/26 T	Boston
7/27 W	Boston	alicia's birthday
7/28 T	Vermont	camping, chillin' out with friends, road-trippin'
7/29 F	Vermont
7/30 S	Vermont
7/31 S	Vermont
8/1 M	Vermont
8/2 T	Vermont
8/3 W	Vermont
8/4 T	Vermont
8/5 F	Vermont
8/6 S	Vermont
8/7 S	New Jersey	meet alicia
8/8 M	New Jersey
8/9 T	New Jersey	hyun-joo leaves :-(
8/10 W	New Jersey
8/11 T	Vermont	solo-trip into the woods ??
8/12 F	Vermont
8/13 S	Vermont
8/14 S	Vermont
8/15 M	New Jersey	packing/shipping
8/16 T	New Jersey
8/17 W	New Jersey
8/18 T	New Jersey	leave 12:34 NW071; land in japan 8/19 18:00

Packing List:

• stone pots, presents for the boys, etc.


• digital camera, extra battery, charger, av cable


• uw housing, suunto stinger, mask, fins


• iPod, charger, Bose headphones, battery pack, iTrip


• Clie, battery charger


• dress pants, shoes, shirt, belt


• shorts, tees, pack pants


• sandals, shoes


• visor, hat, X6HR, binoculars


• toilettries, contacts, razor


• passport, maps


• PS2 games

Holy crapper... not a lot of days left before I leave. I'm still jamming on school stuff. I'd better think more clearly about what I'm brining with me!

Well, it's the last night of packing. I kinda forgot that I needed to finish and HJ and I sat down to watch a 2.5 hr long movie! Oh no. So it's just before midnight and I'm finally done. The suit case is heavy, but manageable. I think it'll pass the weight limit. Only one more day of elementary school visits. Thank goodness. Then I finish the final touches on the grades and I'm outta here!

Last weekend

We're getting down to the final push here. We ran errands downtown today with Phil and Jessica. It was good hanging out with them, but we were all a bit knackered from the heat. HJ picked up some omiage and I just grabbed some food-stuffs.



I've got almost everything set aside to pack up. Because I've chosen to go on the train light and ship my luggage before hand, I have to pack everything up Monday night. That shouldn't be too much of a problem. It's just in the middle of elementary school visits, grading, cleaning, and final errands. Whew. It'll be nice to finally be in Oahu. I can't believe I'm headed right over to the wedding. It'll be a lot of fun though.

The End?

I finish teaching the last of my classes today, at least the ones here at KTC. Normally we'd be busy with grading final papers and tests. Then we'd finish up the grading and say "Have a nice summer" and take off on our different paths. This year is a bit different.



Someone got the fine idea of "offering" our teaching services to a large number of elementary schools in Kanazawa. We had to cut off the requests because there was so much response. Two of our "Exam Days" are now filled with visits to 1st, 2nd, and 5th grade classes. Teaching at elementary schools makes no sense for us what-so-ever. When we do special visits to JR High schools I can understand that, since it is a recruitment visit. What 1st grader is going to remember that teachers from KTC came to teach them English, and more generally why would an engineering student choose a school based on their English program anyhow? Why don't we send math, engineering, and science teachers out more? Just because they might suck at teaching doesn't mean that we should have to go galavanting around Kanazawa as the PR saviors for this school.



OK, not all of this rant is fair, but on the other hand, they aren't really that concerned about fairness in our favor. I understand now why some folks can't wait to start a business of their own: just so they don't have to obey the stupid orders of "the man".

PodShirt for Hyun-joo

I totally forgot to post these cool shirts that I'm buying for Hyun-joo's iShuffle. They feature some kind of magnetic clasp system to keep the iShuffle in place. Apparently it's strong enough for active wear, but doesn't affect the operation of the iShuffle. They just released their original shirt to the public again after an initial 1000 unit offering. These are so cool I might just buy an iShuffle to go along with one of these shirts!

Tax time!

I finally finished my 2004 taxes.
I really milked the automatic two month extension. I don't know why since I had no reason to. My folks were nice enough to send me the forms I needed and I found the rest online. Hyun-joo was a god-send helping me with some of the forms.



I used TurboTax again since I has been a great piece of tax software for the past few years. This year, I had some problems though. I couldn't finish all of the procedures since I kept failing the "check" phase.
Turbotax had to update to download the newest version of form 2555 except the program kept locking up and failed to upload. I ended up doing half of my taxes manually and I'm just crossing my fingers that I did them right. I consider myself a relatively educated person, but some of the instructions on the taxes are difficult to understand. What a royal pain in the butt.



So, now I wait. Next year, I'm going to keep to the April 15th deadline and finish these up earlier. I'm done!

Summer means shopping in America!

OK, I've had to set a limit for myself because I could just keep buying and buying stuff that "I need" to bring back here.

• "sporting" stuff from Vermont
• ONE new PS2 game: Champions (Return to Arms)
• SCUBA refresher video
• First Aid masks
• "Das Boot" on DVD

And then there's stuff that I'd love, but can't justify
• a replacement for my 5 year old PowerBookG4
• Garmin GPSMAP 60CS

What do you want for the summer?

On my SH!T List...

Yeah, it's stupid. It's immature. But christ! I find it so annoying and rude when the Japanese teachers here ignore me when I say "good morning" to them in Japanese! There are a handful of friendly teachers, but the majority of them treat me like I don't exist or worse! So here are teachers my SH!T List (in no particular order):

• HJ suggested that I leave names off the list and I think that's a good idea

And if you're wondering: The Japanese aren't polite all the time or even most of the time. It basically extends to formal situations between superiors and inferiors, brief periods of times with strangers, and between good relations. Beyond that, I've found through anonymous observation (being ethnically Japanese helps immensely) that the Japanese can be as rude as any other society, even ruder than American in situations. And you know what, I do feel better now.

Forget "The Forgotten"

Hyun-joo and I biked out to Saty to check out Julianne Moore in The Forgotten this weekend. Unfortunately it wasn't very good. Very X-files, but not as developed. It falls short in the thriller department, but it was mildly entertaining.

We hardly get movies out here. The movies change every couple of weeks, but there are only four or five English movies at any given time. Thank goodness I have a projector to watch DVD's and Divx movies. I think I'd die out here.

Phone home!

Just talked with Lee last night. It'd been almost a year since we last talked! Geesh. I waited too long. It was great to hear his voice again. We talked about summer plans. Sounds like there's a lot of stuff going on. Folks have been thinking about what they want to do in Oahu/Maui. I've just been thinking about going back to the States and seeing everyone again. I guess it's the feeling of being so far away. I could do anything, but I'd better start thinking about what we'd like to see exactly. Looks like this weekend is the time to get crackin' on some ideas.

Oahu
• USS Arizona/Pearl Harbor
• Diamond Head Hike
• Punchbowl Cemetery
• Polynesian Cultural Center
• Sea Life Park
• Honolulu Symphony

Maui
• Iao Valley
• Haleakela
• Maui Ocean Center

Kauai
• ????