Today I slept in a little bit and then headed over to the storage place in Sonoma to drop off some of my stuff there. My dad had rented a storage place there to accommodate my stuff and also my brother’s stuff, and hopefully they’ll have enough room afterwards to stash some of their stuff there for the remodel.

After that we came back and my aunt Vicki came by to pick up me and my grandparents. We went over to Francine’s place to have a lunch and sit and chat. It was nice to sit out on Francine’s patio, eat some wonderful food that Vicki had prepared, and just relax. My brother came by later, as well. My grandfather tucked a couple of napkins in his hat to protect his ears, and I teased him about looking like Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia.

Around 4 o’clock my dad called and Mark and I drove over to the Jack London bookstore to load some heavy objects into the pickup truck. Matt Atkinson, Josh Atkinson, and one of his friends were all there surrounding a big organ. We loaded the organ into the car, making lots of bad jokes along the way.

There was also a refrigerator to load up – once we got that all in we delivered the fridge to Matt’s place, and the organ to Josh’s place.

Now I’m back here at my folk’s place after eating a hot roast beef sandwich. I did a little packing today, and hopefully my luggage isn’t too heavy for the airline on Monday. I’ve got a lot of stuff in there!

Today was a day were I could finally relax. I slept in just a little longer than normal, and then we got our act together and went into downtown.

Our first stop was the new Petco Park in downtown San Diego. It’s where the San Diego Padres play – the place is really nice. The area where it was built was pretty shady before, now it’s a thriving area. There are tons of condos being built around there, and now it’s more upscale. They had a park that we could walk through and see the field.

The best part about the park was that they had incorporated an old building into the design of the new park. It gave it a rustic look and was really nicely done.

After the park we drove around San Diego a little, generally heading towards Ocean Beach. Once we got there we went right to Hodad’s for a burger. I went nuts and ordered a double bacon cheeseburger. That sucker was huge! It was impossible to eat all at once, I had to nibble on the top, then nibble on the bottom.

With a stomach full of food we walked out to the beach and relaxed there for a while. The water temperature was nice and warm, and there were plenty of surfers out there. The only downer was all the seaweed coming in on the tide. Other than that, it was perfect.

After an hour or so, we drove back home, and got ready for the party.

Nancy and Lynn were nice enough to invite a bunch of folks over so that I could say hello to them.

The party was great – lots of people came over and we had finger food to snack on while we caught up. Some folks I didn’t expect were there, and it was nice to talk them. Rachel and her son Ethan were there, Alan and Debbie, Dan and Gayle, and Kathy and Grett. Jessica Grant came by before the main event to say hello before she went to the Padre’s game. She brought a few friends – one works at a sushi restaurant and even said “Irasshaimase” for me… cool!

We stayed up late eating and drinking, and I even broke out the Japanese candies and we divided those up among us to snack on. It was a great time!

The big goal for today was to go through my storage unit here in San Diego and remove as much as I could. The best case scenario was having the unit with only things I want to donate, and to make a long story short, we accomplished that goal. I couldn’t believe how much crap I had in there. There were lots of things that brought back memories, and it was a little sad to leave so much behind.

Lynn came along to help me and we were able to load my parent’s minivan – it is a full vehicle. I had to make some tough choices on some furniture, but I haven’t needed this stuff in the last year, and I am really planning on living in Japan for the long term, so it made a lot more sense just to leave it to be donated. Still, it was a bit sad.

We got back from loading the van around 2 o’clock, and I took Lynn out to lunch at Rubio’s to thank him for all his help. With only 12 boxes left to move in storage Nancy drove me over there later and I was able to completely clear the unit of stuff that I didn’t want to donate. I do have a lot of boxes that I need to go through once I get to Glen Ellen. Some of that stuff would be nice to have, and some could be tossed.

For dinner we decided to go to Lido’s pizza, and I really enjoyed chowing down on the pizza there. The waitress was quirky – it was her third day of waitressing ever, and she forgot a few things and acted a little strangely sometimes. Still, overall she did a good job and the meal was excellent.

I went to bed early after that – another exhausting day!

I hit the road early in the morning – around 5:30. I had borrowed an adapter from my parents to run my MP3 player through the tape player, so I had 14 hours worth of battery power and 3100 songs. It worked really well with the mini-van’s stereo system, and I could really rock out on the drive down.

The drive is a long one, 8 hours or so. I used to drive all this route all the time, but it hasn’t been a while and it was fun to check things out and see how things have changed.

I reached the top of the valley by 7 a.m., and I was over the grapevine and in L.A. by noon. Around 2:30 I pulled into Carlsbad, and I did a walk by my old employer, RealCapitalMarkets.com. They appear to be still in business, but it was fun to walk by anonymously after how that little job adventure turned out.

Eager to hit the beach, I stopped in at Torrey Pines and walked down to the water. The temperature of the water was warm and comfortable, and I spent about 20 minutes walking on the shore. Feet all sandy, I headed back to the car and into town.

My next stop was Barnes and Noble in Grossmont center. I worked there during the time I was waiting to see if my JET program application would go through. I bumped into a few people that remembered me, and I even got a chance to talk to Pat, the manager there. She offered me a job, but I had to decline – that would have seriously put a damper on my vacation.

I dropped some things off at my grandparent’s house, and then I went over to Nancy and Lynn’s place. It was great to see them again! They both looked great – we caught up over tequila, beer, and wine, and had some awesome smoked ribs. We stayed up late chatting and listening to music, and then we went to bed. I was exhausted after so much driving around.

I slept in fairly late today, but everyone was up and around by late morning, and we got started prepping for the big fiesta today. While we were setting up outside we noticed that there were a lot of wasps flying around.

My dad put some new bait into some traps, and soon the wasps were buzzing all over the place trying to get it. By late afternoon, I think we had the whole swarm stuck inside two wasp traps trying to get out.

Despite the presence of the wasps, the party went great. I got to see lots of people that I haven’t seen in a long time. We hung out in the back and stayed in the shade to avoid the heat. I bounced around trying to talk to everyone and show my pictures from Japan – people were really into seeing Kuniko, and seeing where I am from and what I do every day.

The open house format was great – I could see lots of people in a short amount of time. I especially enjoyed chatting with Maria, a lady that lives across the street. She had some interesting perspectives on Asian marriage that I was interested to hear.

Rico and his family made it, and had a surprise for us – Sheri is pregnant! They’re 19 weeks along and really excited. Victor and Lisa brought Alexander along, so he got some good socializing time with lots of new people. He was a great kid – really well-behaved. He looked a little overwhelmed by everything going on around him!

Other highlights included Luisa in biker gear, Betty Jane, Katie, and Tyler making a visit – it had been so long since I had seen them!

We stayed out having fun until late, and then started cleaning up. There was lots of food and dessert left over, so we’ll be working on those for a while. We finished cleaning up around eleven o’clock, and then we sat around joking and laughing. I had a late-night burger and some carrot cake – I had been so busy I forgot to eat!

My folks and I made the hour and a half drive to Sacramento to pick up my grandparents today. It was interesting to visit the airport without actually taking a flight – I still get those traveling nervous excitement jitters when I go to an airport… even Sacramento airport.

They arrived right on time and came off the plane excited and happy to be here. They don’t often travel on the plane – for the longest time we would relay them back and forth between San Diego and Glen Ellen by car.

The drive back was a little traumatic – my grandmother’s travel sickness kicked in, so we took a long slow drive back. Once she got some time to rest up she did just fine.

We snacked big time on chips, salsa, and cheese, and then had a big dinner. I cooked up yakisoba, and we also put some veggies on the BBQ – giant portabello mushrooms, onions, and peppers – wow! I had forgotten how good portabello mushrooms are.

After dinner I passed around samples of two of my favorite beverages in Japan, yogurt-flavored Qoo, and Calpis. They both got good reviews from our panel of judges. Maybe I can send some back now and then.

Tomorrow is the big party, so we’ll be preparing in the day and then partying through the night!

Banzai took the day off of work today so that we could beat the crowds and get into Costco to do some shopping for the big fiesta on Sunday. As it turned out, the crowds were still there – lots of them. We walked up and down the aisles and stocked up. I didn’t find anything I needed except for contact solution. Everything else was no big deal or I could get it at my local Costco in Amagasaki.

After Costco we walked through Trader Joe’s (or TJ’s, as my mom calls it) and bought some more stuff. I found some salmon jerky for the history teacher – he’ll get a kick out of that.

My dad and I decided to meet up with Mark at the sushi restaurant in Sonoma, called Sushinoma. I thought it was cool when I saw the kanji for the name of the restaurant (寿司の間) – it basically translates into “sushi-time”. It’s a clever name in English and Japanese.

We had a combination sashimi platter, and my dad had his first experience with raw fish. The quality of the sashimi and sushi was quite good – very little difference between the sushi I get when I buy it in Japan. We had some hand rolls, so nigiri sushi, and some makizushi as well – delicious.

After dinner we headed to Murphy’s and had a beer there. It was pretty lively, and before long Victor and Rico showed up. We sat around and chatted and enjoyed the atmosphere and nice cool weather. I was loving it. My brother and dad took off soon after, but Rico and Victor and I stayed through a few more beers to relax and catch up.

During the evening we ran into one of my father’s old students, Nate Pouch, who was pretty sloshed. He told us all about his experiences in Amsterdam while eating our appetizers and shouting obscenities across the crowd. It was a lot of fun – really!

At 10 p.m. or so we drove over to the radio station to watch my brother’s radio show. It was cool to be in the studio with the mood lighting and have the whole place to ourselves. Mark did a great show and told us all about how it worked. I’ve gotten a little more appreciation into what goes into a show when I’m listening in Japan.

Around 11 o’clock we left the station to head our separate ways. Mark was probably glad to get rid of us. We’re all going to meet up again during the party on Sunday. Tomorrow my grandparents fly in from San Diego, so we’re heading into Sacramento to meet them at the airport. It’ll be great to see them again!

Today was my parent’s 37th wedding anniversary. They spent it like any other day – my mom went to work. My dad stayed home and did chores around the house.

I went into Sonoma to walk around the plaza looking for good omiyage ideas. It’s interesting to walk through with a tourist’s perspective. Lots of stores and lots of shopping. I went into the Cheese Factory for some free cheese, popped into lots of art stores to look around – it was fun.

I ended up finding some cool stuff at the Mexican folk art store in Boyes Hot Springs. I also stopped in at the Imagery Winery to taste some wines and pick something up for Mr. Hayashi. I ended up picking up the Malbec – it was delicious. It was fun to see all the new labels that they’ve done since I had been there last – some really cool ones!

Mark and I had planned to cook dinner for my folks to celebrate, so we put together a serious meal. We had steaks, risotto, green salad, baked beans, and some great wine.

After dinner we had some desserts that Mark had picked up down at Glen Ellen Village Market, and then we took a short walk before retiring. It was a lot of fun, especially for a Thursday. Tomorrow we’re going to go to Costco to do a little shopping – I’m stocking up for my trip back to Japan.

Today my father and I drove into town to pick up some sandwiches and have lunch at my mom’s winery, Gundlach Bundschu. We sat out in front of her office in the shade and ate our sandwiches. People would walk by and we could say hello to them – it’s a small family winery and it definitely has that feel.

Afterwards I brought my pictures into the office and so people could get a look at them. I brought way too many pictures – almost 150 – so it takes a while to go through them. We also sat with Mary Bundschu and talked for a while about the pictures, life in Japan, and the family. It was fun – a good way to spend the hot afternoon.

We drove from the winery into town to visit the Sonoma Valley Art Museum where my brother works. Mark got the job a couple of weeks ago, and so we wanted to stop in and see him, but also see the exhibition by Rodin. His most famous work is “The Thinker”, but he did a variety of other interesting pieces that were on display at the museum in Sonoma.

The museum itself was well-designed. Mark had especially recommended the bathrooms, and upon visiting I noticed some really cool sinks. I should have taken a picture, but I’ve noticed that people tend to get uncomfortable when you do photography in a public restroom.

After enjoying the art for a little while we drove home, stopping in at the lcoal grocery to pick up some goodies for our taco dinner that night.

Dinner turned out great – it has been a long time since I’ve had the chance to eat mom’s tacos. The beans were especially good, with some chipotle peppers floating around in there for flavor. I went to bed with a full stomach – it was excellent.

Today I woke up at home with the house empty – everyone had gone to work. I got my act together, had some breakfast, and soon after my dad called looking for a ride home from Sassarini School. I jumped in the Cressida, and headed out to pick him up.

Rather than coming home, we decided to go out and do some shopping. I found some good omiyage for my teachers and students, and a couple of books on the Japanese language that look interesting.

For lunch my dad and I went to Rubio’s in the Santa Rosa Plaza. I was planning on hitting a Rubio’s in San Diego, but my schedule looks to be so tight that I figured I’d take care of it now. We both had fish tacos, and I also had a shrimp burrito. I’m going to gain so much weight on this trip.

In the evening my dad and I went to the Degliantoni’s, for the monthly poker night. Matt Atkinson was there – I hadn’t seen him yet this trip and it was nice to say hello. We got to hear about Bob Weller’s trip to Italy, and he had even brought back some great wines for us to try. We had burritos for dinner (delicious!) and played poker for a couple of hours.

The games were pretty good – most of them I had played before. My dad helped me out with the details of some of the games that I didn’t remember. These guys play so often that they know the games by heart, and they are throwing around poker terms all the time. I ended up losing five bucks on the night, but it could have been a lot worse – I won a couple of hands near the end otherwise I’d be almost ten bucks in the hole.

We played outside on the patio, and the weather was perfect for an outdoor poker night. Too much fun. Afterwards my dad and I just walked back home, and hit the hay soon after. Tomorrow I’m hoping to go visit Mark at his new job in the Sonoma Valley Art Museum.

Since I went to bed fairly early last night I was able to get up at a decent hour today. My dad was planning to do his daily ritual of pulling down some bags of insulation in preparation for their new kitchen. He went up into the attic while I was in the shower and filled a bunch of garbage bags.

By the time I was out of the shower he had finished up, and then we both got ready to go out and split wood. I had packed pretty light this trip – in fact, I didn’t even pack any pants. Definitely nothing I could wear while working with the wood splitter. My dad found an old pair of overalls in the back of his closet that seemed to fit me. I looked like an Oklahoma country boy – I should have taken a picture.

Anyway, by the time we finished splitting wood it was around 1:30, so we cleaned up and went up to visit the Benziger winery. I was able to see Luisa, Brian, Terry, Casey, and Nacho. Everyone looked great, and it was fun to walk around the winery again after being away for so long.

Soon after we got back Mark and Banzai came home from work and we were off to the Degliantoni’s for dinner. I hadn’t been over to George and Margaret’s place in years and years. Their place was really nice, especially the back yard area. It is all shaded by trees, and they have a nice hot tub out in the woods.

We ate BBQ chicken and burgers outside and had an incredible blackberry crisp for dessert. We chatted about all kinds of things, from my adventures in Japan to Mark’s adventures in a snowbound car with my dad.

Finally we headed back and relaxed around the house. We’re trying to get my computer to recognize the network at home, but it’s proving to be a pain – hopefully I can figure it out before I leave!

Today I managed to wake up at 5:00 a.m. to call Kuniko in Japan. It was around nine p.m. there on Sunday, and she was just getting home. I was pretty tired on the phone, and she sounded pretty good after being wired running around work.

We talked for about half an hour, and then I went back to sleep – I didn’t wake up until around 10:30 in the morning. We had a nice breakfast and then organized a trip to Concord. My folks wanted to go there to do some paperwork relating to their new kitchen, and I wanted to do a little shopping.

The shopping turned out pretty well, actually. I picked up a nice pair of flipflops, three pairs of socks, and a cheap pair of sunglasses. Just walking around the mall was interesting – American people are interesting to watch. Nobody pays much attention to me here, and I can understand what people are saying while they are walking along.

After Concord we drove back, and in Napa we stopped in at In-N-Out Burger to satisfy my burger craving.

I really enjoyed digging into a proper hamburger, and then we headed back home.

In the eveing I went over to Victor and Lisa’s, and I got to see their son Alexander again. He’s a lot bigger, and really cute with light hair and a great smile. He was walking around organizing his toys, and he was fun to talk to. He just stared back at my like I was a total lunatic, which probably isn’t too far from the truth.

We went out to Mary’s Pizza and had a big meal – it was delicious. The place was decorated to look like the first Mary’s Pizza shack – interesting decor. We caught up about all kinds of things – and afterwards we went back to their place where I wore down everyone’s patience by looking at pictures from my first year in Japan.

Upon leaving they awarded me with an entire case of Guinness – what a lucky guy. Lisa still gets cool fringe benefits at her company, and this time it worked out for me. How lucky! Now I’ve got to find a way to drink all this beer. Big issues to deal with around here.

Today I slept in until around 10:30 in the morning, and then got up for some breakfast and to relax a little bit. Around the middle of the day we decided to go into town to do a little shopping trip for me. I’m looking for a lot of things, flip-flops, t-shirts, sunglasses, and more.

We decided to go into Napa to do the shopping, really just because there is a Jamba Juice in town, and I really had missed the juice. I did some shopping in the Target next door, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I’m going to keep looking around, and hopefully I’ll find what I need later on.

We did do some shopping in the local grocery store, and we have the ingredients to make yakisoba now! I’m hoping to do a little cooking sometime soon. I also picked up some garlic salt and garlic powder to bring back to Japan.

My dad and I both scored a Jamba Juice, and then we headed home. On the way back we passed by a wildfire that was burning to the south of Sonoma. It was incredible how much smoke was created by that fire – it was really heavy.

For dinner tonight we went to a party at Francine Sweeny’s house. It was a lot of fun. The beer, wine and appetizers were great, and the dinner was even better. It was fun to catch up with everyone, and we got a chance to look at pictures from my adventures in Japan.

We were celebrating Richard’s birthday. There were some cool presents for him, including a goofy visor with a fan that blows down on your face to keep you cool. We all had a great time. We heard through the grapevine that the fire had flared up, and Francine’s boyfriend, who is by coincidence my parent’s new kitchen contractor, went to go check on a house that he was working on. Apparently everything was OK, though.

I’m getting ready to head to bed – I’m tired out. Tomorrow I’m going to get up early and give Kuniko a call. We’re going to head to Concord to sign off on some paperwork for the new kitchen, and I’m hoping to get to In-N-Out Burger while we’re there!

So I’ve arrived safely here in California. The trip was a bit arduous. I started by hauling my heavy suitcase to the train station in Futami, and by the time I arrived, I was covered in sweat. Then, I took my gear to Akashi, and finally to Kobe before getting on the airport bus.

Getting on the flight was no problem – I zipped through security, and nobody took a second glance at all the weird stuff I had in my suitcase. Before I knew it I was on my airplane and heading towards Korea.

I had requested an emergency exit row, so I got a lot of leg room. I also got to sit next to a couple of flight attendants that were very friendly. We talked in English about all kinds of things, and it was interesting to hear a little about their jobs. They are expected to speak Korean and English, since we were on a Korean airline. They also find it helpful to learn some Japanese and Chinese, since those countries are part of their flight plans. They were all really nice and they treated me really well when it came time to give me food and drink.

I said goodbye to my new friends and got off at the airport in Seoul. This was my second visit to the airport. Last time I left right away, this time I could relax, eat, do some shopping, and have some fun while I waited for my flight. Things were dirt cheap here, and I could use dollars, yen, or wan to pay for stuff.

Around 6:30 local time I was boarding my plane, a big Korean airlines 777. The flight wasn’t too bad, actually, but I didn’t get much sleep. I sat next to a very talkative lady that had been visiting her American boyfriend stationed in Korea. She had been in Seoul for a month and had never eaten a meal off the base. She said she isn’t too adventurous. What a shame. She was nice enough, though, and we chatted for a while before I finally got to reading my book and listening to music.

I was very happy to arrive in San Francisco – I picked up my suitcase and cleared immigration and customs without a problem. The first thing I noticed was all the security – lots of guns and uniforms. Scary.

I went outside and saw my mom right away – my dad swung by in the van and we were off! We made the drive home to Glen Ellen and I was finally able to relax a bit. I had a Fat Tire Ale, and we went in to town to eat some Mary’s Pizza. Oh yeah…

Now it’s Saturday here, and I’m getting ready to go into town with the family and do a little bit of shopping. Tonight we’re heading to Francine Sweeny’s place for a party. Should be fun!

Today was my last day at school before I leave for vacation. I had two classes, both with Mr. Hayashi. We amused ourselves by having the students write questions for me about my upcoming trip. They could write in English or Japanese, so we got some crazy questions. Here’s a sample:

“What would you do if the world was destroyed after summer vacation?”

“What do you prefer, American girls or Japanese girls?”

“What is the first thing you will do when you reach America?”

“Isn’t America dangerous? Why are you going there?”

“If your plane crashes in the ocean, what will you do?”

As an added twist, Mr. Hayashi had me try to answer the questions in Japanese. That lead to all sorts of embarrassing situations. The students were pretty supportive of me trying Japanese, and Mr. Hayashi thought it would be a good on the spot check of my abilities. I made lots of mistakes, but hopefully it’ll show the students that nobody is perfect.

We also had a firedrill today. The students ran out to the back of the school and stood in the hot sun while a fireman made a speech, and then the principal got up and made a speech. Only one student collapsed, which has to be a record.

On the way back I noticed cases and cases of Gatorade in the hallway. Apparently they were shipped to our school for free. Gatorade has made almost no headway in the Japanese market – it’s very rare to see it in the stores. The boxes said that the Gatorade was free for the members of the sports clubs. There were 20 boxes, and there were six 2 liter bottles of Gatorade in each box. Interesting strategy – we’ll see if it works.

Mr. Hayashi is using my departure tomorrow as an excuse to skip a party put on by the second year teachers. He’s “seeing me off” tomorrow, so he can’t go to the party. Not true, actually – I’m going by myself to the airport, but I’m happy to give him an alibi. He’s not much of a party person, anyway.

Tonight I did some last minute packing, and I ran out to the grocery store for a couple more little things to bring. The bag weighs 22 kg (48 pounds), so I hope that’s cool with the airline. I have to be at the airport tomorrow by 10:30 a.m., so I’ll be getting a fairly early start tomorrow.

Next update is from America – back to where I started from!