Strange newness from Pizza Hut

Wasn't too bad, but I don't think we'll be ordering this one again. A little too greasy and not enough "pizza".

Batter up!

Casey and I had a great time at the batting cage. We'll definitely be headed back. It's a great way to blow off some steam, even in the cooling evenings.

You'll have to look real close!

This was forwarded to me from Katya. Please send her all your comments! I'm sure you'll have some.

First... TURN ON your speakers so you can hear the "narration"...
Then click on this link!
Find the differences... look real close (to your screen)!

Hyunjoo's Petition for an Immigrant Visa

We've made the decision to move to the States and we've begun the process for her immigrant visa and eventual lawful resident card (green card). We've started to fill out the I-130 and G-325A (for the both of us).

What are the steps?
What are the forms we'll need?
How long will this take?

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/services/residency/family.htm
http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/services/residency/index.htm
http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/visa/tvisa-ivgeneral.html
http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/visa/tvisa-ivi130checkmail.html

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?act=idx

Jason's back!

I tried to teach my students about Friday the 13th. They didn't seem to understand "bad luck". I don't think I activated their schemata very well. They just shouted "Jason"! Great. Thanks Hollywood.

Perhaps I should have started off with something like the number "42" - which is bad luck here in Japan. The number four - "shi" is also the same pronuciation for the character that means death. Oh well.

I think they liked my props anyhow.

Knitting

Hyunjoo has been busy knitting over the past year. She's recently finished a lovely scarf that even has a way to keep itself around your neck with out having to tie knots. Stupid knots.

I'm patiently waiting/hoping for a new cap this winter! Wink wink, nudge nudge...

A day in the park

Hyunjoo and I went out to a local, hillside park that's being built near a famous Zen temple not far from us.

We like to go up there on breezy days to fly kites and check out the city scape of Kanazawa.

Trying to get my Japanese driver's license

click to view videoblog

Godzilla-ville

These pictures are of a model of Kanazawa and the surrounding area. It shows the downtown region with the famous Kenrokuen park not far from the city center. These pictures also show the hilly areas of Utatsuyama north of the city. Unforunately, the students were not able to include Kanazawa Institute of Technology as that would have added another 40 feet or so to the model. It's a fantastic job that is elevation accurate through the use of foam contours.

Busy bloggin

Starting up multiple blogs made sense. I found that I needed something for my now-suspended podcast, this one about my time in Kanazawa, one for my computer and electronics trouble shooting, and yet another for my teaching. They're all distinct entities for totally different purposes, but it does get difficult juggling them at times.

Still suffering with Sudoku

Dad-folks got me interested in Sudoku a while ago, and then my friend Sheryl showed me a couple of tips in solving a few of the easier puzzles. So, I've been kinda addicted to them for a few months now, but I keep forgetting some of the more advanced techniques like the "X-Wings". This is a pretty good site for showing how to solve some of those more difficult puzzles. By the way, I'm still working on getting my average time on the "medium" puzzles down to a half hour.

Hobie

A visual update of our favorite little guy in San Diego.

The Instant Pet - almost

I brought back some SeaMonkeys for Hyujoo this summer. I had grown up reading about them in comic books when I was a kid. I even saw a South Park episode about SeaMonkeys recently.

We set up the water tank the previous day and these are shots of Hyunjoo pouring in the "secret mixture" of live instant eggs. Frankly, we didn't see anything instantly. Sure enough though, the next day, we saw six tiny white "commas" swimming around in the water. We're both pretty curious how big they'll get.

Touring around with exchange students from Singapore

We've had 12 students visiting from Singapore the last few days. They'll be here until the 19th. I was scheduled to join Juji-sensei to take them on a tour of downtown Kanazawa. It was their second trip downtown actually.

We took them to the Samurai district for a tour of a preserved estate. We arranged for a tea ceremony for the students so they could sample some of Kanazawa's green tea. Afterwards we went for lunch at the station with a shopping spree thrown in. Finally, we went to Omichou Fish Market to check out the area's most famous fish mongers.

It was really interesting to be a tourist again. I haven't seen Kanazawa through those eyes in a long time. It's strange though, I hardly feel like this is a home. It's more a solid retreat.

In the end the kids seemed like they had a great time, and I had fun with them. So it was a good day.

KTC Jr. High School Open Campus Day

This past February, I joined Phil in his workshop to make a couple of little robots. I had talked about how cool it would be to make a lesson plan based on these little critters and it looks like with the help of the engineers here at KTC I'll finally be able to do that. These pictures were taken from the very first lesson that designed on one of the bugs that Phil made for me. Furuya-sensei was so impressed with the bugs, that he redesigned them for a workshop used to recruit new students. I hope to adapt that lesson into a hands-on type English class this winter.

Fireworks along Uchinada Beach

Please click on an image to see a larger version.

Pig out!

While I was chillin' in "Bean Town" with my brother. A group of us headed over to a Dominican Republic-style birthday party for one of my brother's co-workers. She said that a D.R. birthday was all about the food, lots of drinking, and plenty of dancing. She also said that I was disrespecting by not staying to have some of this pig. I had to promise that I'd try to make one of her future birthdays, just to get back to Princeton on time.

The pig was something else. They prepared this pig for a whole day, the day before. She had to use her bathtub to wash it down and season the sucker. The firepit was started at 8:30 am and they had the pig on a "skewer" that was about an inch in diameter and featured a steering wheel for the ultimate driving control. By the way, this pig roast is an annual event. Damn!

Hikin' Mt. Hunger

Even though my stay in Vermont was so short, I was able to meet up with Adam and Katya to hike Hunger. It was a great day and we made it up in no time thanks to Katya in the lead. I really have missed the mountains of the NE.

Road to Hana

The road to Hana on the "far-side" of Maui is quite a journey. Alicia, Hyunjoo and I made the trek all the way around that side of the island in about nine hours of driving. We obviously had some swimming... but don't let that fool you. This road is so windy and narrow in parts that you'll be amazed that it's actually a "highway".

Like I said we did stop for some swimming in Wainapanapa State Park and at the Seven Sacred Pools area of the lower Haleakala State Park. It was a fantastic trip, perhaps the second time I've been all the way around. In the end, I'm sure we'd all recommend going out there.

Baby X

Phil just sent me the great news!

We now we have the cutest little baby boy to share with you all !

Born June 23 at 3:53 p.m.
Kanazawa, Japan
9 pounds !

After many hours of labor the baby did not move into the right position
so...J.J. had to have a C-Section... :-(

The surgery went off like clock work . J.J. and baby x (no name yet)
are
doing well.

I have attached some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Sorry for the Mass E-Mail. But I have to get back to the clinic!

Phil& J.J.

The guys in Moab

Just a walk in the park

Haaah? Whaddda say?

I'm sure everyone has heard about the "audio-repeller" that was supposed to chase away teenagers... and how the kids rebelled by turning the sound into a ringtone only they can hear. Wicked smart. Well if not click here to read the article. I've finally found another site that host the sound files for what I believe is true 18MHz files. You can also find a cool site that lets you check your hearing based on a frequency scale. I can here the sound on the NPR site, but not the 18MHz files from the other site. Very cool.

HJ's new nails

...and she just loves them!

Around and about

Casey and I went for a quick ride downtown to run some errands. He's determined to get new pins for his guitar. I believe we were successful ordering some new rosewood pins for his beloved guitar. We even ran into four first year KTC students. On the way back, I spotted this cool heron-of-some-sort. We didn't see the festivities, but the Hyakuman Goku festival was this weekend. The TV footage looked exactly like last year's event. We'll most likely go again before we move from Japan, but we didn't miss much this year. Thankfully the weather held and it was a great weekend.

\(^o^)/

I used to be (-_-#) because I couldn't understand a lot of (^_^)'s. But I began to research (^_^)'s for my computer classes and realized that asian (^_^)'s are different than what I'm used to in the States. (-_-¤) Well, I found some websites that are very helpful interpreting the (@_@) of (^_^)'s that are out there. They can be very (o_O) if you don't know what they mean. I used to be (._.) whenever HJ would write me and I wouldn't know what she was (9_9) saying. So now I'm \m/>_<\m/ and having a (b~_^)b time with my new found understanding. Take care (n_n)

Cockaroach!

I dunno what Hyunjoo goes on about... me over-reacting. Look, when I see one of these critters... it's all out war in my opinion. They might be able to survive the next nuclear holocaust, but they ain't gettin' by me and my double-slinging termination techniques. I might just have found out my next calling... bug busters!

Chase and Cole Hikin'

The latest pix from Carter. I'm envious!

Alone in the Car

There are some things you'll never get used living in another county. Perhaps it's the food. Maybe it's the language or a particular custom. One thing for me, that always catches my attention are kids in cars.

I took these pictures while waiting in the parking lot. This little guy, like all children here sit in the front passenger seat. His mom left him alone in the car for about 15 minutes. It was funny to watch him quitely sit there for about 15 seconds trying to figure out what was going on. Then, curiosity got the better of him and he grabbed on to the steering wheel and began to pull on it back and forth. I could hear the car's gears grinding away as he probably yanked on the shifter based on cues he'd most likely seen watching his mom. I realized that he wasn't even wearing his seatbelt.

They are lucky here not to have to worry about kidnapping or accidents to the degree where people can just leave their kids "in the shotgun seat". Heh, he seemed to be having a grand ole time.

SPAM Musubi

Here's an interesting one: I found SPAM musubi at the neighborhood convenience store. Now, I don't know where the first SPAM musubi was created, but I doubt it was here in Japan. I was having them in Hawaii before I was in high school. Yeah, haha. All you haoles are laughin... and I ain't gotta defend SPAM to the likes of you! But to put SPAM into historical perspective, the soon-to-be Americans living in what you call paradise back in the 40's had to make do during the war in ways the rest of the country didn't. Lots of stuff had to get shipped to Hawaii and not at the top of the list was beef and poultry. So Hawaiians had to make do with the rations they had: SPAM and Vienna sausage. Those products became apart of the diet and might be regarded as a hotdog is at Fenway. So yeah, I eat SPAM and I'm proud of it. I might not eat it often, or even occasionally... you could call it a "once-in-a-blue-moon" treat that reminds me of a home in Hawaii. Until recently we had to make all of our own SPAM musubi, but looks like things have changed... a little for the better.

Aquarium R/C

Hyunjoo and I found this cool little submersible that's perfect for our fish tank. It has a 6-channel radio controller that smartly moves the little critter we've begun to call "Piranah" along all three axis. The submarine charges off the controller and will zip around the tank for about 5-10 minutes before it needs recharging. Our fish don't mind, they just think Piranah is another fish in their tank. I'm quickly discovering that our 15 gal. tank is too small now!

KIT BBQ

Hyunjoo's office had a welcome party for Casey and Chieko, KIT's two newest teachers. We had yakiniku out on the patio with a full spread of beef, veggies, squid, salad and even a bundle of yakisoba. I was stuffed to the gills!

Miki Cote

It's a late announcement, but my friends Travis and Ericka are very happy to introduce the newest member of the Cote family: Miki! She was born back in February and I'm sorry not to get these pix up earlier. Please click on the album to see a full-sized slideshow!

First Videoblog!

Springdoo.com rocks! I've been using their services for a couple of months now and I love it. Katya recommended me to them and I just found out that they offer video services too, so I've been happily sending off video emails now. So, here's and adaptation of their service to my blog. Check it out!

Show me da money!

I didn't pick the best day to send cash home, but we're looking at an OK time to send money to the states. I botched the withdrawl form and asked for an equivalent of $115,000. I didn't figure that one out until the teller pointed to my bank book. Of couse I didn't have that much in yen, but how could I tell? There are so many freakin' zeros! It's like Mexico 20 years ago... "4,000,000 pesos - sure! here's your burrito!" Japan should just lop off two zeros from their currency and get with the program! Oh well, I sure did feel rich while I had the cash.

Biking through the bamboo forest

Please click to listen to the audio slideshow
It was a perfect day to go for a bike ride. I went up to the local bamboo forest (JPN010) to get some exercise. There's some pretty steep terrain and I vowed to get to the top of the foothills on my rickety 3-speed without stopping. I just barely made it in the horrible shape I'm in. Once on top I took in the view and enjoyed some quiet time before dashing at breakneck speeds to the trailhead.

Soccer-man: Cole

Cole-dude playing soccer. Hey Cole, what position are you playing? Check out those beautiful Uinta Mountains in the background too!

New photos from Carter

Click to play or click on the album to see the large slideshow.

Happy Birthday Hyunjoo!

We had a really nice dinner at Chungju House (Korean) not far from our home. Hyunjoo lucked out with some really nice gifts from everyone! These are only a couple of pix I was able to snap off of some fireworks and a piece of artwork that she got as presents. Thanks to everyone for coming out to celebrate Hyunjoo's birthday with us!

Happy Birthday Cole!

Hi Cole!
Happy Birthday from Uncle Kent. I'm sorry my present was late. I hope you got it and like what I sent. I look forward to seeing you this summer! Have a great spring and keep sending me pictures!
Love, Uncle Kent

Kite Park

HJ and I went with Phil and Jessica to a new park JPN009 - Kite Park not too far from home. It being built off the new road behind our house. The park is perfect for kite flying as the hills catch winds coming off the city headed into the mountains. We flew a number of kites with various success. The big experiement was lauching his kite-camera to take pictures of the city. I attached my altimeter to the camera and found that it reached a height of 177 feet at its apex. Hopefully we'll get some good pix from the camera. We lost a bunch of exposures due to technical difficulties, but I'm confident we got at least one good shot.

Golden Week - Day 2

Another fantastic day. Two in a row and I am counting! We wasted no time getting out. Downtown, we bumped into Casey and Chieko in the Montbel store in Rifare. Then, minutes later Hyunjoo saw Ernesto and Emilene going up to the upper floors of Libro bookstore. Small town. We were all pretty hungry so we headed off to "Garlic, Garlic" for some dinner. That place puts out some good dishes. I've never had anything there I wasn't happy with.

I got my "sizing ring" in the mail today from Grannis Gallery. Unfortunately, I'll need a small size. The Japanese 18/US 9 ring is a bit too big. I think I'll have to order a JPN16 size to fit properly. I also got the sketches of the ring and I'm pretty happy with the custom design of the ring as well. It'll feature Mt. Mansfield, Camel's Hump, and Mt. Fuji set in an evening sky with a full and crescent moon.

Google'n with my Garmin

Where have I been you ask? (or may be not)... but in case your interested anyhow check out this link:
SAKURA - Picnic and Campsite
This is a local picnic ground up in the bamboo forest. We've gathered here a few times during good weather and I took these coordinates a couple of days ago when I went up there with Casey, Chieko, and Hyunjoo for some frisbee throwing.

I've combined Google's neat online mapping function with my basic GPS from Garmin to create a database of places around the world where I've been. Click on this link to check out more locations.

Spring finally feels like it's here

It's been too cold and rainy until recently to call the beginning of spring. This weekend broke that unfortunate streak and we celebrated. I went to Kanazawa Castle on Saturday to throw the frisbee around with Casey and Chieko. On Sunday, Casey and I biked about 12 km to the waterfront surrounding the terminus of the Sai River. With a bit of climbing we were able to make our way out on the massive concrete pier to check out the old breakwater. We even saw someone catch a "fugu" or blowfish.

Sakura by the river

This was just about the last sakura we could find in our neighborhood. Even though the season was later than expected, it was as spectacular as always.

Portable Boating

Alpacka Raft

Alpacka rafts are built tough with fabrics designed especially for us to meet adventure travelers’ extreme demands. All seams are butt welded for strength and durability. And they are designed and tested to survive all sorts of use and abuse. Inexpensiive pool-toy boats work fine for quiet lakes and ponds but as soon as you hit the river you need an Alpacka. Alpacka rafts stand up to season after season of adventure. And Alpacka users don’t worry about running out of patches before they run out of river.

Feathercraft

The wonder of a Feathercraft is not just that it folds into a backpack. It also lets you experience the nuances of the water surrounding you. The skin on frame kayak responds actively to the changing sea conditions. From the gentle undulation of a calm day to a storm’s fury, your Feathercraft kayak offers a sense of security, of being taken care of. Wave energy is absorbed, and the skin kayak flows through surges and swells, protecting you. You experience the fluid environment that surrounds you. You are not separate from the water, but joined.

Hanami 2006

The cherry blossoms have just begun here in Ishikawa. Looks like they'll be peaking sometime before next weekend.

Click on album to see a bigger version.

Welcome Casey and Chieko!

Casey and Chieko just moved from Tokyo. After a few shopping sprees, they bought a bunch of stuff for their apartment not too far from our place.

Click the "play" button to start the narrated slideshow!

Tokyo during the Spring break

Click the "play" button to start the narrated slideshow!

Rockin' little robots!

These little robots were made by Phil (and I helped him with a couple of the models). They are custom-made from parts found at a local electronics store and run on button batteries. Very cool!

Click the "play" button to start the narrated slideshow!

Earthquake Survival

Here's an interesting article that someone sent me about getting through an earthquake. I found it interesting since I'm living here in the land of quakes.

Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the" triangle of life". The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured.

The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the "triangles" you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building. They are everywhere. I trained the Fire Department of Trujillo (population 750,000) in how to survive, take care of their families, and to rescue others in earthquakes.

Pain in the Bun!

You'd probably be surprised. It's hard to make a hamburger here in Japan. Buns for hamburgers are very rare in these parts and if you find them, they're often mixed in with other types of buns or have weird things in them. We got lucky!

Demolition

The Japanese move fast to tear stuff down around here.

Preparing wedding invitations

Casey and Chieko in Town

Casey and Chieko stayed the night this weekend to check out some apartments. The found one only about 15 minutes walk from where we live. I believe they'll be moving in next month!

Snowshoeing

I took off to the mountains today. Got cabin fever big time. So, I went up to the bamboo forest - about a 20 minute walk from my apartment.

Flying Pig to the rescue!

Here's a million dollar idea that I missed out on... taking Costco online for foreigners around Japan. These guys were thinking. You place an order through an ingeniously designed site that has you buying to fill up boxes to keep you shipping costs down. Then they go to Costco's and buy your stuff then ship it to your doorstep. It's not cheap, they don't have a huge selection of stuff, but they do offer a great service and it is a great convenience. Where else can you get 3 KG of spicy cheese sauce for your nachos?

Yakitori

Got lazy lastnight and decided it was time to go out for some yakitori!

2005 Darwin Awards

When his 38-caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California, would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.....

And now, the honorable mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat-cutting machine and, after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer...$15. (If someone points a gun at you and! gives you money, is a crime committed?)

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinderblock through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinderblock and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinderblock bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."

9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at 5 a.m., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away.

******A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER*****

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges, saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

Happy New Year!

I got to celebrate New Year's Day in a typical Korean fashion. The Lee's celebrate New Year's on January 1st, along with about half of Seoul's residents, from what I could make out. Many folks still observe the Chinese calendar for the New Year.

Our day began with a formal ceremony in front of Hyun-joo's parents. Then we played a game called "Yut-nori" followed by "Go-Stop". There were meals through out the day. In fact I had to sit out the last meal because I just couldn't think of eating any more.



The formal ceremony required the children (and their significant others) to bow before their parents and wish them a Happy New Year, "Sehe-bok-mani-ba-duseyo". It took me about 20 practice run-thru's to get that line straight. Even then I could only say it like a four-year old when the time came. BUT I did it. Hyun-joo's father then said some blessings and gave each of us some money for the New Year!




The game "Yut-nori" was played with four sticks that were thrown to determine how many places game pieces could be moved on a circular game board. You could either move one, two, three, four, five, or back one space depending how the sticks fell. If one of the sticks fell out of the playing area (a towel on the floor), then you lost your turn - a very disgraceful outcome I came to learn. We played in three teams of two with two game pieces each. There was big money to be won - each game profited the winners with 30,000 won, about $30. An interesting thing about this game is that it is only played on New Year's Day.


"Go-stop" was equally profitable to the winners in much smaller increments. This game uses cards that are very similar to Japanese Hana-fuda, but played with different rules. I won't explain them, but it was complicated enough that I needed to rely on Hyun-joo for our winnings.



The rest of the day was spent hanging out with family, much like an American Christmas day with feasting that reminded me of Thanksgiving back home.