Pappy's Japanese Adventure - The first few days...

Konnichiwa! My dad and I are enjoying our time in Japan...he is still a little shell-shocked by the fact that he actually flew across the Pacific Ocean and is now in Japan. He looks around and says, "You know, I guess I am really in Japan!" So far we have not eaten any fish heads or things that crawl off the plate...although he has used chopsticks once and it was a fun time for me to watch his technique.

I think my dad's biggest surprise so far...is the chill that permeates the air in my apartment...yes, I have heat, but its not central heating...so...the shower room and toilet room are a bit frigid - always...and those are the rooms where we all appreciate some comfortable temperatures. Oh well...we are surviving just fine - its kind of like luxury camping.

Here are the highlights...

• Sunday, March 29th - Dad arrived at Kansai International Airport (near Osaka) after nearly 20 hours from the start of his journey in Griffith, IN. We did a b-line for the bathroom, then the bus...and my dad started sharing his experiences w/ all the forms, finger printing and as he calls it "face lifting" (aka picture taking) that a foreigner endures going through customs. We ate dinner at a pizza place in Sannomiya (downtown Kobe) and hopped in a taxi and headed home to Suzurandai.

• Monday, March 30th - We visited Kobe Suzurandai Sr. High School (神戸鈴蘭台高校学校) to say hi to some teachers and give my dad a look see at high school life in Japan. No classes are in session, but he was able to meet a few students, some teachers and the school principal. Everyone was very nice and greeted us warmly...the Principal was kind enough to take some time to chat w/ him...As a first timer in Japan, my dad was a little nervous about how to communicate w/ everyone. Should he shakes hands or bow?...was he talking too fast?...could they understand him?, etc...its something we all experience when we visit a country where we don't know all the customs or the language...I told him...whatever he does will be fine...and he was okay.

• Tuesday, March 31st - I introduced my dad to the various train lines in my area by taking him from Suzurandai to Kyoto...about 2 hours one way. We transferred stations, crossed streets and the whole time my dad was saying "Are we there yet?" Our goal in Kyoto was to see some Geishas and cherry blossoms...we saw a few Geishas, but the cherry blossoms drew most of our attention...there are many varieties of cherry trees (non-fruit bearing) and they all bloom at different times...blah, blah, blah right...but we were quite lucky b/c was got a show from the weeping cherry blossom trees (see picture above)...they looked like a roman-candle bursting w/ long, thin branches w/ cherry blossoms as ornaments. We finished our hanami (cherry blossom viewing = 花見) experience by taking a 1.8km stroll down the "Path of Philosophy" (Tetsu no michi)...not sure if we found our "zen" there, but it sure was beautiful...pictured here is my dad's new Japanese friend (did not ask his name) sharing a seat along the "Path of Philosophy."
  

We are going to take a rest day and just bum around...our outting tomorrow will consist of a nice Kobe steak dinner in Sannomiya (三宮)...we will see what my "meat and potatoes" childhood cook thinks of Kobe cows.

Ja mata...