Tsukuba-Dooba-Doo

It was day three with the Aztec crew.  Seth and I were extremely excited about this day because we were going to take them to our Japanese Church, which has become our saving grace to living in Japan.  On our way to church we stopped by a thick bamboo forest.  I could see the twinkle in Louis' eyes as he replayed countless Japanese stories that take place in a place like this.  In a similar fashion, Sam's gears were turning as he analyzed the inner workings of bamboo.  All of the "boys" had so much fun in there while Mary and I waited patiently for them to finish to climbing around and dissecting the tree to see what they looked like inside.

We did our 30 minute bike ride and arrived for the Christmas service at Agape International Chapel. 


One of the blessings of belonging to this church is that we get to see how Japanese Christians celebrate Christmas.  In Japan, only 1% of the country's population are Christians, which means that the real reason for this holiday (i.e. Jesus' birth) is a mystery to the other 99% of Japan.  The service was quite similar to what we are used to in America, but this was much more interactive.  There was choreographed songs as well as Christmas skits.  Louis especially enjoyed the energetic atmosphere. 

After the service there was a Christmas potluck where everyone from the church got to meet Sam, Mary and Louis.  This was fun for everyone, but especially fun for Seth and I to have his family meet all of our new friends.  Once we were done with church, everyone needed to finish up on some last minute Christmas shopping at Seth and I's favorite recycle store, Wonder Rex!  This store is three stories tall and has EVERYTHING from shoes to furniture to old cameras to musical instruments.   

Once we were done, we all headed to Tsukuba Center to catch the TX (Tsukuba Express) bound for Tokyo. On our way we came upon Japan's "luminarias" which were made of reused plastic bottles with decorated paper draped around the exterior.  There where hundreds of these luminarias scattered throughout the area.  Some where from school children and others from participating families.  While Sam, Mary, Louis and I walked around, Seth did a quick dash home on a bike that we borrowed from Matt because we forgot to pack our travel book for this evenings shenanigans.



Seth made it back to the station in record time as we headed to the Asakusa district in Tokyo. We wanted to visit one of the oldest temples in Japan when we were met with a pleasant surprise: a special New Years festival!  The temple was lined with countless vendors selling some paddles for RIDICULOUS amounts of yen! 


The paddles originated from a game similar to badminton that girls would play on New Years Eve.  If a girl missed a shot, she would get ink smeared on her face.  The game would continue until one girl's face was completely covered....there are some traditions that I'm glad are dead!   


Our next adventure for the night was Tokyo Tower!  Seriously, at this point, Tokyo Tower should be paying us for all of the business/publicity we give them.  So we got back on the train and headed deeper into Tokyo.  On the 1/2 mile walk from the station to the tower our jet lagged visitors began to emanate exhaustion, we needed to hurry up while everyone was in good spirits.  Once we got to the top of the tower the beautiful sea of lights of took our guests breath away.



It was a great night with everything going smoothly, but it was time to wrap up our fun night in Tokyo.  The last train to Tsukuba left around 11:30 and we were cutting it way too close.  On our brisk walk back to the station we passed a McDonald's which had several Santa's hanging out and drinking coffee.  Sam couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask them for a photo. 

We caught the last train back and we were all so, so, soooo tired.  Seth said he knew that it was a long day when he looked at his dad trying to catch some ZZZ's on the train.  By 12:30am we made it back to the the Tsukuba Center to jump on our bikes for our mile ride home.  Mary and I got on our bikes as Louis started circling around everyone (that kid = endless energy).  I looked over to see a very distinct look of frustration on Seth's face.  He said "I can't find my bike..." which was actually Matt and Chelsae's bike that we had borrowed.

If you know Seth and I, then you probably are already giggling at this because Seth misplaces stuff ALL OF THE TIME which I usually find within a few seconds.  Unfortunately that wasn't the case for this night.  Seth's bike, or rather Matt's bike, got stolen!  This is a first for us in Japan, it's usually such a trustworthy place.  We couldn't believe it and continued to look for about 30 minutes...sadly we never found it. We decided that we would give it another try in the morning so Seth rode my bike and I just jumped on behind him.  Yet another hick-up for HEROW-Japan...

~Katie

A mere 20 days had passed since we said our good byes to Katie and Jonce and we found ourselves hugging Sam, Mary and Louis.  Only 20 days to recover, plan another trip, and, of course, do some Christmas shopping.  To say that it went by fast is a serious understatement.  It flew like a crane in a rice field!

As we drove to the airport, Seth and I commented on how it felt like just yesterday that we were driving that very road to pick up the W&G group.   But this crew was special for many reasons: 1. It was Christmas!  2. Louis is one of the BIGGEST fans of Japan I have ever met!  Seriously, he has been talking about coming to Japan long before Seth and I even knew that this job existed.  We were super excited to catapult him deep into Japanese culture.

As we pulled into the airport, we put on our tourist jackets and got our sign out for these Christmas vacationers.  Seth has made a funny mock video about our fake tourist company, the Hosting Enterprise of Rubberneckers Organized by Walkers in Japan (a.k.a HEROW-Japan).  I hope you enjoy!



Above is Seth waiting for Sam, Mary and Louis to come through the security gates.  Once they landed and had all of their bags, we went to the airport currency exchange.  Sam and Mary traded their bundle of US dollars for some good ol' Yen.  After that, we loaded up in the rental car and were on our way to Tsukuba.

We did our traditional drive home and ate some Coco's curry, which we have done for every guest now.  Once we got home and showed them to their guest room, they plopped down to get some much needed jet-lagged sleep.  You see, their trip started with a 3am, three hour drive to Albuquerque before their flight departed.  Yikes!

The next morning, true to every one who has visited us, they were up early and ready to go.  Following a quick Japanese-ish style breakfast, eggs cooked over easy (True Japanese eat their morning eggs raw) on top of rice, we got dressed and headed to....the tall Buddha, Ushiku Daibutsu!  Yes, I know,  we have done this with every guest, but it still does not get old with everyone saying "Wow now that's a tall buddha".  Well, it truly is. We have also learned that one can see this buddha statue towering over other buildings from our apartments which is a little over 10 miles away.



That evening we decided that we needed to go up to Mt. Tsukuba and view the sunset, Tokyo city lights, and Mt Fuji.  There was also supposed to Christmas lights at the top, but this turned out to be essentially untrue! So we raced to the eastern most tip of Mt. Tsukuba.  Seth told Louis to literally sprint up the mountain because we thought we were going to miss the sunset.   Plus, it was a win-win because he needed to get some energy out.  When we reached the top, we gawked at the beauty of scene as the sun sunk below the earth.  Below we have a picture of Sam and Seth with Mt. Fuji in the background (which I have learned that once you have hiked that mountain, you have a hole new appreciation for it.)


Below is Mt. Fuji alone, with the beautiful pinks and golds created by the falling sun.  It is crazy to think that we had watched the sun rise on that mountain a 100 miles away from where we stood, and were still able to see it's silhouette clearly.

Following the Tokyo Tower debacle, we followed the big blob of a crowd back to Roppongi for some serious clubbing.  Since the last train to Tsukuba left at 11:30pm, we were dedicated to playing in Tokyo at least until the first morning train at 5:30am.  It was going to be a long night.

The club: Feria.  The rub: 4 stories of dancing mayhem.  Upon our arrival Katie and I strolled down to the basement floor.  From the stairs we tried to scope out a spot for dancing, but couldn't locate a single square inch of vacant dance floor real estate.  If there is one thing I've learned from riding the overly packed Tokyo train system, it's that there is always room for just a few more.  So, we promptly squeezed our way to a little dance nook by a small stairway.  We danced for a little while before getting fed up with the overcrowded room.  From there we elevator-ed up a couple levels to check out the other floors.

The 4th floor was less crowded so we spent the majority of the night up there.  The music was awesome (American pop music, in case you were wondering) and we were having a blast.  However, being that Katie and I aren't actually party animals ( I may have exaggerated a little bit in the last post), we started checking our watches fairly frequently around 3:00am.  We visited the 3rd floor bar and outdoor lounge until about 4:00am.  One this particular night, the guy-to-girl ratio at Feria was about 4 to 1.  This meant that EVERY time I turned my back for a second a guy was trying to swoop in on Katie.  Truth be told, it was kinda funny to me.  Poor guys...it's good to be a married man.

In Japan, the coming of the New Year is considered to be the most important holiday of he year.  It is a deeply religious week where people spend time with their families as well as visiting temples and shrines.  The Meiji Shrine in Tokyo hosts several million visitors in the frist three days of the new year.  In some ways, it parallels how Americans celebrate Christmas.  However, it doesn't resemble how Americans bring in the New Year (e.g. "Partyyyyyyyy!").  We usually seize this opportunity to throw back a bucket of beer, eat a crock pot of queso, and toast to the New Year in every time zone imaginable.  "3...2...1... Happy New Year Portuguese Azores!!!"

One Japanese tradition we indulged in was eating soba (buckwheat) noodles.  They believe that eating long noodles will yield long life.  We went with Junichi, Kaoru, the Haines', and Akira to a noodle shop in a small town north of Tsukuba.  Akira said that he eats at that shop every New Years Eve and only on New Years Eve.        





After what felt like 10 minutes after arriving, I noticed it was 11:45pm.  Katie and I decided to book it over to the Tokyo Tower for the end of the year countdown.   We approached the tower and got gobbled up by the huge crowd surrounding it.  About 5 minutes before the new year, colorful strobe lights began to flicker at the base of the tower.  As the new year approached, these lights moved their way up the tower.  The anticipation was building, but there wasn't an "official" clock anywhere.  I didn't want to miss the countdown so I began nervously checking my iPod clock.  "Three minutes......two minutes....ONE MINUTE...."  I could feel the anxiety in the air.  Nobody had enough confidence in their timekeeping device to muster up a countdown.  Before I knew it I looked up and saw a big "2011" light up on the tower.  Crap, we missed it!  Katie and I looked at each other with shocked/confused/apprehensive expressions and said "Happy New Year!"



We had missed the official countdown...awwwww swizzle sticks!  Oh well, it was the new year.  I took this moment to simply stop and take it in. What a difference a year can make.  2010 had been the most life changing year I could have ever imagined.  Not in a million year would I have guessed that I would climb Mt. Fuji, spend the night in a Tokyo sleep pod, and visit Tokyo Disneyland on multiple occasions.  Best of all, I've been able to share everything that Japan has to offer with so many loved ones.  So good luck 2011, you have a hard act to follow.

-Seth

Maybe it was the insanely busy week.  Maybe it was the comfort one can only experience in a sleep pod.  Or maybe it was Maybelline.  Whatever it was, I had the best night of sleep in my life while in the sleep pod hotel.  I didn't hear a peep from anybody throughout the night.  In contrast, the girls would later tell us that they met a Chinese girl, who sounded like she was from California, roaming around Japan for two weeks by herself.  She shared my passion for the sleep pod experience as well as my snobbishness towards this particular establishment.


I didn't envy their late night 'Baby-sitters Club' gossiping because I woke up totally refreshed and ready to hit the ground running.  That extra energy would come in handy because the previous night we decided to spend this day at DISNEYLAND!!!

I don't know the exact figure on how many times Jonce and/or Katie have been to Disneyland.  However, I do know that they are professionals when it comes to indulging in childhood fantasies.  I won't detail the day since I already blogged about Disneyland on Reagan's 2nd birthday.  I will just hit the highlights.  As soon as we walked in the gate we rushed to get our first fast pass (something we failed to do when we came with Matt and Chelsae) and primed the whole day by hoping on the tea cup ride. 




Of course, Splash Mountain was at the top of the list of rides to ride.  Jonce and Katie both loved the fact that most of the audio is in Japanese, naturally.  Since I've never been to an English speaking Disneyland, everyone in our group had to explain the storyline of the ride to me.  We also brainstormed our photo pose.  As you can see, we went with the stereotypical 'overly-excited Japanese person' approach. 


We proceeded to do the 'ride-the-rides' thing until magic hour was upon us.  It was then that we took a breather and snapped some classic D-land pics.

If you will kindly direct your attention to the gray sweaters that Jonce and I are wearing in the above photos.  The Katies thought it would be hilarious if both Jonce and I wore gray sweaters (that they bought for us) at the same time, thus exponentially increasing our chances of looking like twins.  We agreed.  We obliged.  The hilarity of the matter was confirmed by the countless double takes we noticed throughout the day.

For dinner we ate at the Blue Bayou Cafe which is located inside of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  As we waited in line, I became increasingly concerned that my legs were literally going to fall off in protest to my abuse of them.  God himself could not foresee the amount of walking/standing these feeble little legs would endure (Okay, He could, but still...).  We did, however, get sit on some benches when we got to the front of the line.  As I looked around it seemed like it was only me, Jonce, and a bunch of old ladies sitting in them.  Lets forget the implications of that...  Anyway, we finally got our seats and had an amazing dinner in which we discussed Katie Jean's business policies. 

The next morning I had to go back to wark. I mean werk.  Wait....that doesn't sound right..."wirk"...?  *WORK!*  Oh ya, that's what it is!  Between the trip to South Korea, Katie coming back, and everybody visiting, I had almost forgot what work is.  Although I was about to get reacquainted with this concept, it would have to wait until after I had breakfast with Kate, Jonce, and Katie Jean at a bakery with the infamous octopus doughnut, or so we thought.


As I mounted my bike for work I gave Jonce and Katie one last hug and said goodbye.  It was the weirdest thing saying goodbye to them at somewhere other than the airport.  An even more surreal fact was that they would remain in Japan for a couple more days as they visited Katie Jean's cousin.  Kate actually joined them that day as they walked around "Fabric Town" in Tokyo.

My short ride to work was a perfect time to reflect on the incredible week I had experienced.  It is these moments that should always be remembered, which is why I created this blog in the first place.  So I guess what I'm saying is....kudos to me  :)

-Seth

*P.S.*
I had to sift through over 650 photos to pick and chose the ones I wanted to include in these recent posts.  You can view any/all of these by clicking here.

Only six days after their arrival, we said 'sayonara' to mom and Joe.  Jonce and I took them to the airport and enjoyed a helping of pork cutlet curry before they went through security.  On the drive back, Jonce and I discussed plans for the rest of their stay with us.  We had about a day and a half together before they met up with Katie Jean's cousin on the other side of Tokyo.  Jonce and I enthusiastically decided that we MUST stay in a sleep pod hotel.  The girls found and reserved a really cheap one in Asakasa (East Tokyo). 

I must come clean...before I go on any more I need to catch up on a small adventure us young bucks experienced on Thanksgiving night.  Since we weren't able to visit Asakasa on the day we went to Tokyo, we decided to go check it out.   






Okay, now that I got that off my chest I can continue...where was I...? SLEEP PODS IN TOKYO! That's right, now I remember.  We all got packed up and was just about ready to go when the girls mentioned one thing they wanted to do before we left Tsukuba.  Kate looked at me with deer-like eyes, batted her eyelashes and said "Bambi-na!"




Satisfied with our photo shoot, we boarded the train bound for Asakasa.  This time there was no rain, which made our exploration of the area much easier.  I lead everyone in the direction of the main canal that cuts through the area.  We found our sleep pod hotel, dropped off our bags, and dilly-dallied around for a while. 






A couple of things are givens when it comes to Japanese karaoke.  Beer will always be involved, the re-verb is turned up way too high, and everyone will spend 90% of the time standing on the seats.


The men's pod room housed 8-12 pods.  Apparently there were some other men in our room, but Jonce and I never heard a peep.  The women's pod room was separate and had about the same number of pods.  Between us was a community sink.  Bathrooms and showers were located on different levels because the hotel was in a tall, slender building.