Sunday, November 30th

The longest day of my life! Up by 6:00 a.m. Peter Cooper and I met the GSE chairman Ikedo and Assistant Chairman Takamura in the lobby and we went to Imperial Palace Grounds where the castle for Emperor of Japan lived for hundreds of years. It is a park-like setting complete with moat. Really a beautiful area. It was 57 degrees in Tokyo. We left for the airport by bus at 11:50 a.m. and arrived early at the airport for checkin which went smoothly. We enjoyed our last Japanese lunch and said our good byes to Tom and Takamura. They really did an outstanding job with our GSE team. Every team member will have wonderful memories which will last a lifetime! We boarded our plane about 2:50 p.m. for our 12 hour flight to Detriot, then the final flight to Northwest Arkansas, and we landed about 4:50 p.m. Dick Trammel was there to meet me and took me to the Arvest Bank to get my truck. It was 32 degrees and there was some snow and ice on my truck but it melted quickly. I was eager to get home -- too eager. Not the Japanese way! On a bridge just South of the Highways 86 and 71 I lost control of my truck and hit the side of the bridge. No injury so much to be thankful for and after a short walk to a farm house and pleasant time spent with Glenn and Charlotte Nichols, then a long wait for the tow truck and ride home. There had been so many wrecks on the bridge that the highway patrol closed the bridge by the time my truck was towed away. I arrived home at about 10:00 p.m. Barbara and I visited until midnight. There is a 15 hour time difference between Tokyo and Pittsburg so Sunday, November 30, 2008 was about 31 hours long. November 2008 was one of the most wonderful months of my life.

Saturday, November 29th

The Assistant Governor picked me up at my host family’s home and we said our goodbyes ( } We stopped by his business and I got to see his Mercedes-Benz which he keeps stored most of the time. A few pictures with his family and employees and we are off to the railway station. There are a dozen Rotarians and one of our translators who are there to see us off. They wait about forty minutes at the station visiting with us and stay that long just to wave goodbye as the train departs, what patient people. The railway system is a great example of Japanese efficiency -- the trains run fast and on time. We arrived in Tokyo before noon and put our luggage in storage in our hotel, the Shinagawa Prince Hotel (annex). Tom Ikedo took use to a nice, small local restaurant for lunch. The meal was prepared at our table and was delicious but slow to prepare. Tom had called Tomomi Kitagawa and ask her and her brother Nobu to meet me in the lobby which was located on the seventh floor of the annex. We were a little late getting back to the hotel and it took me a few minutes to register at the hotel. Then we tried to find a table in a restaurant where we could sit down and visit (the third time is the charm). Tomomi has a Master’s degree in Fine Arts (dance) and is currently working in Physical Fitness at a University, and Tobu has completed his third year and is majoring in accounting. He is taking a year off and preparing to take the CPA exam in May and the final exam which is given on August 25, 2009. Nobu is very idealist and would like to do several different things. He is considering helping in the family business, he would also like to work in government and would like to eventually operate a school to help train workers. He and his sister are very well dressed and have lots of questions. I tell them the bad news as well good. Kansas is too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter and there are very few Japanese people. They both seem very interested in the PSU intensive English program. Nobu seems to be a good fit for our MBA degree with an accounting emphasis and he would have an opportunity to take some classes in Wood Technology which is his family work. We went out for a last night on the town excellent dinner and went to the Top of the Tokyo Tower which is about 50 feet taller than the Effiel Tower in Paris. Great view! The number of people is amazingl There will be hundreds of people at an intersection waiting to cross the street when the light changes. It is a mad dash. I did have the advantage of being able to see over most of the Japanese. We stopped at a bar and I sat between the smokers and non-smokers and drank my first Zima of the trip. Here's to you, John Kreissler! Back to the hotel and I was up until 10:30 p.m. packing.

Friday, November 28th

It was difficult to get out of bed at 6:30 a.m. because it is the last morning that I will spend in a Japanese home on this trip. Yesterday was a nice day with an easy paced morning; delicious breakfast feauring for the first time a tub of soft butter and peanut butter, presentation of a few small gifts for family members, and a visit to the family business which is the Izu Chuo Aqua Trading Co., Ltd. They are a wholesaler of all types of fishes, both domestic and worldwide, sold to retailers and aquariums. Last week they had one order for 500 jellyfish to be sent to Dubry (sp.). They also sell salt water to aquariums and bottled water. Our last GSE team presentation at lunch to the Numadzu West Rotary Club. In the afternoon we visited in Numadu the Imperial Household Memorial Park, and the Mito Sea Paradise/Aquarium, and then the District Farwell Party. A long fast ride to my host family then visiting with the Hara family with the help of their teenage son Takaharu. On Saturday morning we travel to Toyko for one final day.
Always a Gorilla,
Ken

Thursday, November 27th

Today`s trip had much historical significance for us and America. We traveled to the Southern end of the Isu pennisula to Shimoda where Commodore Perry arrived in 1853 with his six black ships and after after several months of discussion was able to sign a treaty which opened the ports of Japan to the world. There was a small Museum and nice memorial plaque on which the last statement read: query-if for real good of Japan. At the Buddist Temple Ryosenji the priest gave us much information about the whole process and spoke in perfect English. Jimmy Carter visited this site while he was President. After 155 years we can says that the opening of the ports has been good for Japan. At lunch we tried more new Japanese dishes and our translator for the past three days really helped me out so that I would know when the next item would be bitter or sour. Dinner at an Italian Restuarant which featured mostly Japanese food but did serve Spaghetti and the sauce on top was a light oil with Tuna-it was good. There was much discussion about where I was to spend the night. Rather than staying with the Assistant Governor as scheduled he took me to one of his close friends and the father of our translator for the last three days. It turned out to be a real blessing. Her father is my age and has a worldwide business. His home office has an internet connection with Skype, so that at 6:00 a.m. on Friday morning I was able to extend Thanksgiving wishes to my family, including Barbara who was in Kansas City (3pm Thanksgiving Day there). It was my most unusual Thanksgiving but one that I will always remember. In 48 hours I will be on my way to the airport and ready for the long flight home. I am ready to be home among family and friend but I have several new friends in Japanese who will continue to be a part of my life for a long time.
Always a Gorilla
Ken

Wednesday, November 26th

We started the day with another green tea ceremony -- our fourth. That would be more than 90% of Japanese would have in a lifetime. The tea was dark green but not the bitter type. I was very grateful for that because each of us had to drink the entire cup of tea with my comment "I have never tasted anything quite like it". Then we went to a place where they have built a very large/wide gate that can be lowered in case of a tsunami to protect the port. They have a large fish market located next to it. I don`t know it if will work but it is an amazing engineering project. After a Japanese lunch we went to a traditional Japanese hotel where they had a ceramic arts area. Each of us were able to make a cup which we will use for green tea. I had time to make an additional cup for our Rotary Governor Ron Petersen. They will be mailing them to us in about two months. Each day seems to include a surprise and today it was a late this afternoon. We went on a large private boat for a cruise out on the Pacific Ocean and were able to watch the sunset with a beautiful cloudy sky. We enjoyed a brief hot springs bath followed by a ten-course chinese dinner.
Another wonderful day.
Ken

Tuesday, November 25th

The morning featured our third tea ceremony this month. For most Japanese they would be fortunate to experience a formal green tea ceremony once in their lifetime-which shows the hospitality we have enjoyed during our trip. The famous Japanese Tea Ceremony has nothing do with enjoying a cup of tea. Japan Mad Easy, “It is a way of developing character, refined manners, sensitivity, and the ability to appreciate natural beauty. The formalities of the tea ceremony are very mechanical and precisely prescribed. It is following these formalities exactly and doing so in the right frame of mind that is the essence of the tea ceremony. There are several interesting contrasts -- for example, in the building and room where the ceremony is performed there is a digital clock and calendar in the corner. The light fixture in the room doesn’t use anything a but a flourescent bulb. We receive a sweet treat prior to drinking the tea (which is made from some type of beans , sugar (sato), etc. which is pressed into an attractive multi-colored flower. At this ceremony there are six participants and two cups of green tea are prepared (three of us share each cup). Fortunately I am seated in the position of the guest of honor so that I receive the cup. I am required to turn the cup three times (for good karma) then I drink as much as I want-which is one swallow. I am really wide awake. That is definitely some full-bodied dark green tea. Scott VanAsche drinks one swallow which leaves our final drinker Peter Cooper with five swallows. Peter definitely took one for the team this morning. When asked what I thought of the tea, I used the wise words of my friend Harvey Dean, “I never tasted anything quite like it”. They seem happy and I have told them the truth. We make a short PowerPoint presentation to the Shin Fuhi Rotary Club. In the afternoon we visit the Kititagawa Water Springs which is the shortest river in Japan. Then a visit to the Yoneyman Memorial Hall, which honors the man who brought Rotary to Japan in 1920. A visionary man who still has an impact on his country and the young people of the World through scholarships which are awarded annually in his name even though he died over sixty years ago. Our schedule says that we are to give a presentation to a welcome party this evening but none is required. A young lady who has accompanied us today is the daughter of the assistant governor who will be my home host in two days. More to write but I must leave my host home to start my day.

Monday, November 24th

Countdown begins on our final week. We leave the hotel at 9:00 a.m. missed one team member Scott VanAsche who did not make it home last night and is AWOL. Our first stop was at the Sengenjinya Temple or Shinto Shrine. Our team was treated to a special Shinto ceremony. Shinton religion has parents bring the three, five and seven year old to the Temple for a special ceremony with them dressed in the Japanese traditional costume. We were able to take pictures of a three year old girl and boy. Another great Japanese lunch cooked in the middle of our table, featuring a dish that had a very thin huge pancake on the bottom topped with lots of veggies, and at the right time the gal turned the entire thing over. WOW! She had been cooking this for 50 years. Kinda of a Japanese pizza. The final course featured noodles cooked on the grill with lots of other good stuff. Today was the last day of the year that vehicles were allowed to drive to stage 5 on Mt. Fuji and we did. The problem was that is snowed on us and it was very cloudy. We were at 2,400 meters high and Mt. Fuji is over 3,000 meters (or 12,000 ft. high). Another Osaka Distillery on the way back to the hotel. Two young Japanese girls who were daughters of the owners accompanied us on the tour. Free samples and gifts. When we arrived at the hotel Scott VanAsche was there. We are glad that he is safe but he did make our team look very day today. Tonight a very fun high class dinner with the Fuji Nomiya West Rotary Club. I must repack my suitcase and prepare to meet my new host family tomorrow.