Tsukuba-Dooba-Doo

With about 10 years of fishing in multiple leagues simultaneously, he has essentially turned recreation into profession.  My dad's wall full of plaques, awards, and trophies are proof positive that he is one of the most talented bass fishermen in the southwest.  For him, the lake is the best kind of therapy.  Being that I am his favorite son (right, dad?), I catered to his love of the lakeside by planning a trip to the second largest lake in Japan, Kasumigaura Lake.  Firstly however, we had a relaxing breakfast on the top floor of the Ninomiya House. 

Sunning by the windows.

I'm pretty sure Louis hustled me.

We were amazed to find that we could see the Big Buddha from so far away.

After breakfast we all piled in the rental car and drove to the nearby town of Tsuchiura.  It is the nearest access to Kasumigaura Lake and has many parks along the lakeside.  While walking around, we spotted an area where the locals were feeding a whole gaggle of geese and some seagulls.  As we approached, Katie booked it across the street and refused to come within 100 feet of the "disease-infested, disgusting, terrifying, flying balls of evil."  She did manage to get some photos of my dad and I feeding them our of our hands.

See...?  Harmless.

We did have the good fortune of coming across a man who was doing some fishing.  My father was content with observing from afar.

Waiting. and wishing. and hoping. and praying.

We got back in the car after having a picnic and playing on Japanese playground equipment (which is of the awesome, dangerous, lawsuit inducing variety).  Dad swore up and down that he had spotted a Cabela's Outdoor Shop on our way to the lake and he HAD to stop by to check it out.  Sure enough, we pulled in and snapped the photo below.

Our crew walked inside, half-expecting to find a totally different variety of bait and tackle....we were disappointed.  Sure, there were some Japanese nuances, but nothing was 'souvenir worthy' for my dad, so we left. On our drive back we decided to go to "Tsukuba You World" for bowling. I hadn't tried bowling in Japan yet.  It was essentially the same as in the US, save for the fact that I had to write our names and age on a piece of paper so that the staff could enter our names for us.  Apparently, the most technologically savvy society in the world has a difficult time entering letters on a bowling computer. After we glanced up at the score screen it was apparent that my five year old handwriting had finally caught up to me.  Instead of reading "Sam, Mary, Louis, Katie, Seth" it read:


Hmmm.....well at least they got "Mary" right, right?  Oh well, we put on our shoes and headed around in search of a ball.  I couldn't put my finger on it at first, but there was something different about their bowling balls.  Then, I could put a finger on it, or rather, five fingers IN it!

Five finger bowling ball for maximum control.

Picking up the spare with immaculate form.

After an enjoyable (and regretfully expensive) bowling session, we went back to the Ninomiya House for the ceremonial, vacation-ending tako yaki dinner.


The next day Katie and I took everyone back to the airport.  I couldn't believe how awesome Mary, Louis, and Dad's trip had been.  They all did amazing when it came to foreign foods and customs.  I was very happy that they were able to experience Japan.  Not to mention the fact that they took half of Japan with them in their suitcases.

Perhaps the most surprising/enjoyable thing for me was how we all connected on a much deeper level than we have in a long time.  For some reason, in this completely unique setting, we managed to have truly meaningful conversations.  I'm forever grateful for that.

-Seth

Once we were all templed out, we ventured out to a couple of the many waterfalls.  The most famous waterfall, Kegon Falls, was unreachable since fresh snow prevented us from driving to it.  However, we were still able to breath in waterfall mist from two others that were close by.  I drove us on a nerve rackingly narrow/curvaceous road to the first waterfall.


Following our little photo op we started walking back to our rental car.  After examining a small pile of rocks (and debating on throwing some into the forest) I hear Mary say


Sure enough, as soon as we spotted one, our eyes started picking out monkeys all over the mountain! They were jumping across boulders in the stream, climbing on trees, and running around irrigation equipment.  There was about 12 monkeys in total walking/jumping/climbing everywhere in the valley.  One even dropped down some branches next to the pile of rocks we were just investigating.  I'm glad I fought off my prepubescent urge to throw those rocks.  I actually started getting nervous considering the fact that those same monkeys might have been surrounding us on our walk TO the waterfall.  They could have easily ambushed us and we would have never seen it coming. 

AIST
I woke up on Chirstmas Eve day at 7 am and was at work by 8.  The paper that I submitted to the Science China journal needed a couple revisions before the deadline on Monday, 27th....ugh.  I put on my big boy pants and headed to work.  Fortunately, Kate played tour guide to Mary, Louis, and my dad as they walked around AIST's museums that day.  As mentioned in previous posts, Science Square Tsukuba was more of a crowd pleaser than the Geological Museum.
 

After they got done playing "Louis' head on dad's body" we met up for lunch.  Unfortunately, I still hadn't finished at work so they trudged around the Geography museum for a while.  Later that day we all met a the house to start the Christmas festivities.

Christmas in Japan
Christmas in Japan is nothing more than a commercial holiday that you spend with your significant other.  Men are expected to spend ridiculous amounts of money on their girlfriends, and that's about it.  No family gatherings, no time off work, and no religious significance.  Although the generic atmosphere of Christmas is here (Christmas lights, Santa hats, Western Christmas music, holiday sales in stores), there is no religious depth behind it.

Of course, if you understand the religiosity of Japan this is no surprise to you.  Celebrating this time in a country comprised primarily of Buddhists means that CHRISTmas turns into Xmas.   Everywhere you turn, it's "Xmas" this and "Xmas" that.  Rarely will you actually read something that says "Christmas."  Although I do feel like America is becoming like this more and more every year, at least everyone knows the actual story behind Christmas, the birth of Jesus.  It was quite odd, to say the least.

Xmas Dinner
Roast turkey or ham, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, eggnog, and pie.  These food items constitute what we fondly call "Christmas Dinner" in America.  As you might have guessed, Japan has quite a different menu when it comes to dinner on December 25th; fried chicken!  Not just any fried chicken, KFC fried chicken.  This is what I refer to as "Xmas dinner."

Santa Claus and Colonel Sanders are synonymous in the eyes of the typical Japanese citizen.  Through a stroke of marketing genius, KFC has convinced the entire nation that everyone else in the world eats KFC on Christmas, its a virtual monopoly.  For your viewing pleasure, I've provided this Japanese commercial.


Knowing these facts, Kate and I thought that it would be fun to make a Japanese Christmas dinner.  We opted to cook our own since we didn't want to deal with the KFC madness.  Our Xmas dinner menu was ginger soy fried chicken, sashimi, rice, sashimi salad, and for some American flair, mac and cheese. We had never hosted such a prestigious dinner, but managed to pull it off in our 6'x10' kitchen (without an oven). 


 
After we had filled our bellies full of chicken and fish we went down stairs and started opening gifts!  This was great fun where we all enjoyed ourselves and laughed a lot.  Towards the end of the gift exchange the Haines came down and joined in the fun.

Although Katie and I were in Disneyland less than a month earlier, the excitement in the air was palpable.  On our first visit to Tokyo Disneyland we were like lost little children. We made a hand full of classic newbie mistakes in the blazing summer heat. On our second trip, we learned much Disneyland-ism from our senseis, Jonce and Katie Jean. Now, however, we knew the ins and the outs.  We learned from our mistakes and intended on exploiting all of our knowledge to maximize F-U-N. This time we were the pros.

Mary wanted to do Disneyland the right way, Mickey ears and all.  So as soon as we walked in the entrance, we purchased some headgear.  Louis, being that he prides himself on his Donald Duck impersonation, opted for a DD hat.  Sure enough, as if Donald's spirit lived inside the hat, Louis started speaking fluent "Duck" as soon as the cap touched down on his skull.  Later in the day he completed his attire by spending his limited allowance on a Donald cape and gloves. 


Although the term "neek" came about organically in our conversation, it's actually a pretty common term on the internet.  It is unofficially defined as "a cross between a nerd and a geek."  Much to my dad's dismay, he actually does fit the bill.  Once this word was uttered, it nudged its way into almost every conversation, usually in the form of a sound (i.e. "neek, neek, neek"), for the rest of their visit.  Dad was less than impressed.

Our timing throughout the day was immaculate.  We hit all of the major rides, saw all of the parades, and even had time to see a lot of the smaller attractions.  Christmas Eve was only two days away, but the park was essentially dead in comparison to our previous visits.  This meant that waiting times were relatively short with one glorious exception, "Pooh's Honey Hunt".


I'm usually not too keen on the whole "Pooh Bear" thing, but this ride was cool!  You sit in honeypots that seem to float since there aren't any visible hints of wheels or tracks.  Throughout the adventure you are rushed around, room-to-room, in a seemingly random fashion.  In fact, every honey pot does take a unique journey through the ride.  This is achieved by a local positioning system, or LPS, which tracks and plots out the paths of each individual honeypot on the fly.  A master computer safely guides everyone around the chaos.  Seriously awesome.  Read more about it here.

Ummm....in retrospect, I'm probably much more guilty of being a "neek" than my dad.  It must be hereditary.  I blame genetics.  

Check out the post on "Christmas in Japan" coming soon.

-Seth

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.