This is a note to tell all about our trip to Japan.
We had made plans that I was to leave on Friday November 15th to go to Osaka and meet Naoko. Then Monday Naoko and I were planning to go to Nagoya to meet Michiko when she arrived there. She and the kids were leaving Sunday November 17th to Portland Oregon and then a direct flight to Nagoya arriving Monday the 18th. At Osaka Mariko (another Internet friend) had agreed to be telephone central in case I got delayed. I would call her and let her know what was happening and then Naoko would call her and find out if I was coming as planned.
Mariko and I had met on the Internet through Net Meeting and had exchanged pictures and Email for a couple of weeks before I came. She lives in Koka-gun Shiga but had lived and worked in Osaka. She was to be in Osaka that weekend to clean out her apartment. It was very nice of her to act as a message center for me. I have never met her or even talked to her but have enjoyed her Email very much.
Naoko had been ill and I had to cancel the trip to meet her so I decided that I would leave Monday and arrive Tuesday November 19th.
Yasuko was to meet me when I arrived at the Tokyo Central Air Terminal (TCAT) from Narita. However she works late and would not be there when I arrived at 6:30am. I had met Keiji and Akemi via the Microsoft Net Meeting and several Emails and they had wanted to meet me in person. Michiko and I called Akemi and I Emailed Keiji that we would have a chance to meet at the TCAT when I arrived and we could spend some time together. Everybody agreed to this plan. Yasuko then called Akemi and arranged to meet us when she got off work.
When I came into TCAT bus from Narita I saw a young couple sitting in the waiting room watching the bus. I knew that it was Keiji and Akemi - and it was. We met and then walked over to a hotel where we were to meet Yasuko. Here I got to know Keiji and Akemi. They were delightful! They were two bright young Japanese who seemed to have their act together. I was impressed by both of them. Although they make a very cute couple they actually are not boyfriend and girlfriend. Akemi has a dreamy Spanish boyfriend who she is going to visit, in Spain, next year.
When Yasuko arrived we decided to go out and eat at "Baseball" a restaurant by the Tokyo Dome baseball stadium. There we met Keiko, Yasuko's best friend and many time guest at our house, and had dinner. We all had a good time and then we all departed and went our separate ways home. Yasuko and I arrived home late (in Yokohama) and at this point I had been up over 24 hours without any sleep.
Wednesday Yasuko had to work and I just took it easy and worked through the jet lag problem. I had come to Yokohama to assembly a computer for Yasuko's father, Mr. Suzuki. Mr. Suzuki was going to take off Thursday and Friday to work with me and learn how to put a computer together. For the next 4 days we worked on his computer. It is a Pentium 166MHz with 32MB of RAM, a 2GigiByte hard drive, 33.6 Modem, a NEC 4x4 CDROM with is 4X speed and hold four disks, a Ricoh CDR that records a 2X speeds and plays back at 4X speed. Nice computer!
After a conversation Friday with Mrs. Suzuki, Michiko was convinced that she better come to Yokohama instead of going home Friday. She took a Shinkanzen to Yokohama Friday and we picked her and the kids up. We all had a very good time and was glad she joined us.
Michiko had been with her mother in Nagoya. There they had taken the kids to have their pictures taken in the traditional Japanese clothes. Daniel was 5 and Mariko was almost three. I will enclose a JPG file for those who can view it. They also went to the Aquarium which the kids enjoyed. As always the kids enjoyed "ba-chan" and I am sure grandma enjoyed the grandchildren.
Yasuko and her family have been friends of ours for about 8 years. They have been frequent quests in out house as we have been frequent guests in theirs. They are a very fine family and we always enjoy being with them. Mr Suzuki is an Executive with Ricoh Corporation. Thanks to him I was able to get and bring back a Ricoh CDR and the new Ricoh Digital Camera. It is the model DC-2 that has just recently been released. It is the Japanese model and the US model has not been released yet. I spent a lot of time taking pictures and learning how to use the camera. (All the directions are in Japanese.) Now I will be able to take a picture and download it to the computer and send it over the Internet. REALLY NICE!!!
Then Sunday Yasuko and her mother took us to TCAT and we caught a bus to Narita. When we got there we had time so we went to the lounge area and there was a bunch of Japanese girls, in uniform, who were going to Singapore. They were in their last year of high school. There was a group of them lining up so that one of the girls could take a picture. I stuck my head up in the background and everyone was surprised to see some stranger there. They all laughed and giggled and then we send Mari-chan and Dai-chan over to give them hugs. The girls and the kids had great fun. Everyone wanted their picture taken with the kids. Many pictures were taken and many hugs and kisses were given until the girls had to catch a plane to leave.
We caught our plane and arrived tired but happy. Today I am just trying to get over the jet lag but do have to go into one of my clients companies sometime today. Michiko is off work until Thursday, Daniel is in School and Mariko is home with us.
I guess that is all for now. Again thanks for all of you who made our trip an enjoyable one. To Keiji and Akemi, we will meet again one of these days. To Mariko (in Japan) we hope that someday we will be able to meet and get to know each other. To the Suzuki family, thanks for a grand time and making this a very enjoyable trip. Keiko, thank you for coming and having dinner with me.
Love to all of you.
Don, Michiko, Dai-chan and Mari-chan
Snoopy, my first horse, passed away on Sunday November 24, 1996. He died apparently of natural causes, perhaps a heart attack. When I went to feed Sunday evening he had already died. He was laying down, like he does so often, with his feet in front
of him and his head resting on his feet. Just like he was sleeping. Snoopy was about 30 years old which is very old for a horse. I had already discussed with Michiko that he was getting old and that I might have to put him to sleep soon.
For those of you who knew and had ridden Snoopy you will always remember him as a kind and gentle horse. We could put kids on him and he would walk very carefully and slowly to protect the kids. I could walk in front of him and he would follow me around like a little puppy. You will remember his soft velvet like nose.
Those of you who have been in our home will remember the trophies that I won riding Snoopy. Snoopy had been a roping horse before I got him and a gymkhana horse for me and for Dawnie. He could go very fast with an experienced rider and be yet so gentle with new riders.
Snoopy had been with me as a part of this family since about 1980. I will miss his little call to me every morning and evening when I went to feed him. Yes, I will miss him every time I look out into our pasture.
