We all made it to America



View from Craig's room.
Mom is watering plants.
クレイグの部屋からの景色



I finally made the way to America yesterday. I was worried when I had to go through the immigration, but they didn't ask anything, doing some paper stuff. They let me go, saying "That's it." I asked, "That's it?"

Some secuirty people even said "Welcome to the States!" to me with smile when they figured out I am a new immigrant.
拍子抜けするくらい問題なく入管を通過してクレイグの家に着いた。空港で働く人がこの旅が私にとって移民としての初入国だと知ったとき、思いがけなく「アメリカにようこそ」と言ってくれた。ちょっとだけ感慨深い瞬間。

Our stuffed animals, Panda and Tosa Puppy, seem happy to find many mates here.

It is hot and humid today, around 30 degrees.

パンダと土佐犬のぬいぐるみをつれてきた。早くも友達ができたようである。
気温は30度くらい。今日は湿度が高い。

Barefoot reflexology paths & Russian experience in Seoul

In Korea, they are so health conscious that they have this kind of barefoot reflexology path in parks. I heard there are 24 parks which have reflexology paths. It doesn't hurt if you are healthy, it does if you are not. I was able to walk the whole path this time although I couldn't walk even 1 meter several years ago. When you have done it, you feel your feets are loose.

韓国では裸足で石の上を歩くことで足裏を刺激するためのリフレ小道が多くの公園内に整備されている。ここは竜山公園。比較的短い道で公園の一部分。160m?だったっけ？公園内の道全体がこうなっているところに何年か前に行った。


痛気持ちいい。健康な人はこうしてすいすい歩くことが出来るが、健康に問題がある人は、歩けない。痛すぎて歩けない。根性の問題ではなく、本当に痛い。前回はまったく無理だったが、なぜか今回は歩けた。足が軽くなる。

There are lots of parks in Seoul. You can easily get access to nature.




ソウルは都市計画がすばらしく、緑が多い。満濃公園級の公園もいたるところにある。





Many signs are in Russian and Korean.

Lots of Russian, Uzbek or Kazak people live in this part of Seoul.
This is the town for those people.










夕飯はウズベキスタン料理。ここはロシア語が韓国語の次に表示される街。


Their menu


Russian comes first before Korean on the menu.
ロシア語が韓国語より先にあるメニュー。

Tomato salad with dill

 

Borscht and manti

Inside the restaurant

Korean mandu is almost same as Russian manti. This mandu was 3000won+240yen.
Two kinds of Gyoza, 8 pieces. Really a good deal.


ゆで餃子はマンドゥという。安くておいしい。

Health drinks found in Conbini. I tried the middle drink which was sooo bitter. I don't know what this was made of...not jinsen or burdock root...maybe some Chinese medicine. I didn't try the garlic drink. Sounds scary. コンビニで見つけた健康ドリンク。真ん中のは、朝鮮人参でもごぼうでもない漢方。コンビニで売っているものとは思えないくらい苦かった。にんにくがメインに押し出されている右のドリンクは怖くて試していない。



Korean riots, food and a sassy wife.

Insadon was being attacked by riots.

Illegal food stand people (Team yellow) vs. Iegal shop owners(Team Red) 

It is interesting that they wear the team color shirts to identify themselves.


No harm or danger to the tourists there.

But...they were flipping over food stands and attacking the food stands venders, screaming out and punching them...Is this legal???

Our hotel is in the back alley.

A traditional Korean house, renovated into a guest house. 



Our room

 
  

Tofu special dinner.
Wrap tofu with kimchi and pork in lettuce.
One of the soup bowls was made of Natto, dealthly stinky even for me.

日本の納豆より臭い納豆が入った納豆汁（右上） 何でも食べる私でも「うっ」ときた。

If you put a spoon down like this,
your parents will die!

So this is wrong.

 スプーンを下向けに置くと親が死ぬ…そうです。
この置き方は間違い。

 
Next day, we came accross a cultural festival in a palace nearby.

There we had...

Kimbapp
(2000won=160yen)

  

Free flower tea

After this, we went to the Beautiful Tea Museum in Insadon.

Plum juice/tea.



Green tea+Pumpkin soup/tea.
Super tasty.

My husband and his friend, Johnny. He married to a Korean girl, who is really like the girl in the movie My Sassy Girl. The story seems true.

The violent riot and his sassy girl...Maybe I can say that Korean people are basically very passionate.

クレイグの友達ジョニー（上）の奥さんのユンちゃんは猟奇的な彼女みたいだった。

Left Japan, now in Seoul

Finally I left Japan today.

I will stay in Seoul for 4 days and leave for the States on the 28th. 

Honestly I have not been so sentimental about leaving Japan, my family and my friends since I have been deathly busy dealing with a lot of things: getting my visa overcoming all the problems, arranging stuff such as flight tickets, packing and shipping, insurance, selling my car etc...I had to do these things within 2 weeks after I could confirm my visa was going to be approved. It was really exhausting.

It was painful saying good-bye to my beloved people when the time really came. I cannot see them in person whenever from now on. Although it is easy to get contact with them thanks to technology, it is still different.

Leaving a country and saying good-bye to people is a rare occasion. I took this oppotunity to say my biggest gratefulness and apologies to my family and friends. It is embarassing to dare to say such things usually. But saying good-bye seems to make you and your people miss each other all the more for it. It is sad but it makes the bonds to people strong.  

My mother gave me a letter, funny but touching. I didn't imagine that I could become so close to her when I was a child. That's why I feel so happy looking back my past although It is quite sad that I cannot see her soon again ...so I will invite my mother to where I live soon!!

A new phase of my life has started.
I will see and handle what is gonna happen there.

  

Farewell party

We threw our farewell party on May 21. It was fun. Thank you for coming for us, people! (Sorry, no pictures were taken there.) Here, I would like to blog about the after-party. Some of us went to a newly-opened bar where the bartender won the first prize at the National bartender-trick competition in 2010. His trick was amazing!!

I uploaded the video at Youtube. Please check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib79C-Wv1kg&feature=channel_video_title

He once appeared in a local newspaper. It was displayed on the wall in the bathroom, which explains how he mastered these tricks. He practiced alone in the park for hours, bruising his hands.

Great tricks and really tasty cocktails. Good job!

Bar and Flair / Recommend  

Masashi Komoda

087-823-3757(Takamatsu)

The picture of the city of Takamatsu
from the rooftop
where the beer-garden was being held.

I wouldn't have taken this picture
unless I knew I was leaving.
I have an outsider's perspective already.

Bye Prius!

I sold my car, Prius.
He has just been taken to a car dealer now.
It's sad... I feel as if I had sold my beloved cow.
Bye Prius!! Meet a nice owner and be helpful to him/her!!
(The dealer said he is going to be delivered to an owner in Ibaraki prefecture.)

Good luck!!（゜-Å)

Best Italian restaurant in Takamatsu, Japan

The city we are living in is small in population around 300,000, but there is an amazingly tasty Italian restaurant, Spacca Napoli. We visit this reasaurant on every occasion. Everything is tasty and cheap. This is fresh house-made mozzalella with prosciutto.

Potato Gnocchi in cream sauce

Spaghetti in crab tomato cream sauce

Assorted desert plate (Tiramisu, cheese cake with raspberry sauce on the top, and dark chocolate cake) and espresso

And Karaoke!! My husband and my mother's friend, Sugi-chan, who is already a direct friend of mine. They are having fun. But my husband was so much into karaoke that he was singing too much. He forgot that he had to care about the other people, especially Sugi-chan, our guest. So I cancelled a Bruce Springsteen song halfway which he was absorbed in singing without notice. Then he went furious, saying, "How could you cancel your neighbor's song!? My mom even had a car accident with him!! You are so mean that you cancelled your neighbor's song!! This song meant a lot to me!! blaugh..blaugh...blaugh..." It is just karaoke... He lost himself... it took a while for him to come to his senses.

The way you drive and the way you sing karaoke reveals a lot about your character. 

Pan :-P

Kimono

After learning how to put on kimono for 3 days, I finally could put on kimono by myself! Yay!

It is really hard, since I have to set this roll thing on my back by myself.

In Japan, if you don't know how to wear kimono, you have to go to a beauty salon to have yourself put in it for $50. There are 2-3 month kimono courses teaching you how to, so I had believed that learning how to put on kimono was difficult. But one apprentice learned how to from my tea teacher, so I also asked her to teach me. Then it was not so difficult that you have to pay to put it on or learn how to by taking a special course. I should have learned it much before...

My favorite kimono!

I can wear this kimono someday again by myself! Yeah!

Confucius said, "Be a friend to those superior to you"

I talked over coffee with my Chinese friend today. Chatting with her is always learning like I do with my Taiwanese mother. Since I am leaving my country permanently, she tried to give me advice as a person who have experienced the same situation. 

1. Live in a good neighborhood/area for your future kids
The environment is really important for kids to be raised up. Needless to say, it is to secure safety, but it is also for the future of the kids. It is sad but people still tend to judge you where you are from. Don't decide where to live not only with the rent or the convenience but also the quality of the neighborhood.

2. Encourage your kids to meet their grandparents
Little kids love their grandparents. They can learn a lot from them, and also will recognize that they are the offspring of their family which has been passed through generations. They can acknowledge their roots being with their grandparents. Their respect for their grandparents will also leads to having a pride in their own family and themselves.

3. Work outside and try to get connections to people
Don't try to get into whatever groups just because you are a stranger in society. Choose who to hang out with. Don't join any religious group (since I told her that I am interested in a Buddhist community to learn Buddhism and Chinese). It is a matter of philosophy, strictly speaking, a matter of realization of life and the world. It is a personal thing. Ideology of groups might ruin your rational thoughts before you know it.

Okay, good to hear and know...

4 Tips to seduce men
Please don't misunderstand, I didn't ask! She taught me how to. There is a reason why she started talking about that...I can't say here..it is a long story...Anyway, she learned this from her friend with powerful sexy-pheromone air who is always popular among men, never lack in temporary/permanent(which does'nt matter for her) boyfriends. She taught me for fun. Here is the tips:

1) Wear swinging-type earrings
2) Sit slightly diagonally
3) Put on high-heel shoes
4) Put on sexy dresses with plunging necklines
5) Don't wear a marriage ring
6) Put on a little cologne
7) See men as men
8) Say "Thank you" with a smile when men praised your hair/dress. Don't deny it.
9) Talk to men online to stimulate your pheromone!

I don't fit into none of these but No.5...I just don't have my marriage ring :-P 


Mrs. Wang, you are a friend superior to me! That's why I like you!

Udon

Although it doesn't look so, this is a famous Udon (wheat noodles) restaurant.

This is in a tourist place where Japanese old-style houses are displayed. They made one an Udon restaurant.

We had free coupons. So we came here.

Inside of the house.

High ceiling, all the structure are exposed. The roof is made of straw.

There is a little shrine on an old n big pot to cook noodles for tourists' interests.

Cold noodles on a bamboo plate.
This is just one style.
The most popular style is the way to eat noodles in hot broth. 

You can order accoding to your preference:
whether Udons are washed after being cooked or not;
whether Udons are served in hot broth or cold broth;
whether it is in hot/cold broth or with a dipping sauce.

You have to decide what to order before you enter an Udon restaurant. They usually don't give you time to think to order!

Visiting my hometown

I visited my hometown where I had lived until 18.

This could be the last visit for me to see my father and my grandfather before I leave this country. This made me look back my childhood.

My father is living in this house alone.

The left one is a storage, the middle is the old house (one one lives now), and the right one is where my father lives. It is also where my room was. 

My parents bought me lots of books. I want to give my child(ren)

such an environment.

I used to play outside every day. I hanged around my grandparents who were often in the field. These field banks were the playground for me. I caught insects, picked up flowers, walking along them to call them for meals. There used to be a lot of insects and birds in my childhood but I didn’t see many when I visited there yesterday. My father said, one stat says the number of sparrows is now one tenth compared to it 10 years ago. It would be partly because they have encased most of the banks of the paddy fields in concrete in my hometown a few years ago.  This one is unchanged, but most of the others are concreted. The less the natural bank where grass glow becomes, the less insects survive, and the less birds we can see now.

It looks peaceful, but it is not. Maybe, using insecticide and herbicide caused the decrease too.

It is a shameful long story but the family of my father's side live apart physically and emotionally. It is so sad that they hate each other although they are the immediate family.

I don’t want to be involved in such a stupid entanglement. Since my big brother, my little sister and I see their sad relationship, we get along together. We know what is important for life.

I was soo happy that I could meet my grandfather for the first time in...I don't know...8 months? (This is also a long story...) He is the nicest person I have ever known despite his life so full of ups and downs. Maybe I need to visit him again before I go to record his life...