Once again we slept in a little longer than usual and then caught the Moscow Metro to Arbat street.  This was our first time to use the Metro, and I had heard a lot about it.  The stations were supposed to be beautifully designed – ready to house the people of Moscow in the case of a war above ground.  The stations we visited today were not over the top, but they were very elegant, and functional as well.

Which is more than I can say about the actual trains that we rode.  I guess we’re spoiled in Japan – clean, quiet and fast train are the norm.  The Metro trains that we rode were ancient, angular old beasts that stopped and started with a lurch.  There was no AC so they just opened the windows, which can be a little wild while running underground through tunnels.  It was an interesting ride, though – I enjoyed it.

Kuniko was impressed (and a little scared) because of the steepness of the escalators. Hold on to that handrail!  We emerged close to Arbat street, and then walked down the touristy street looking in shops with one eye out for breakfast.

One fashion trend that we observed in Moscow was that many women wore a transparent top that showed the world her brassiere.  Surprisingly this fashion was popular among old, young, large, and slender women, and none of them seemed to really care that their bra was clearly on display.  It wasn’t like these were special bras, either.  Just your standard workhorse bras.  There were exceptions – sometimes I saw a six-foot-tall slender model type walk by and I was happy to look.  Kuniko was mystified by the fashion trend, and we chalked it up to cultural differences.

Along Arbat street we found some shops with the usual cheesy souvenirs.  Nesting dolls, fur hats, you name it.  Some T-shirts on sale depicted Putin in various hero poses – one had him bitch-slapping Obama, for example.  We weren’t really looking to buy anything that day – just getting ideas for what to bring back later.

We stopped for breakfast at a small cafe that had an English menu, and had some crepes.  My crepe was stuffed with ground beef and topped with sour cream.  Kuniko had a ham and cheese stuffed crepe.  Both were excellent.  I like crepes as an alternative wrap to a tortilla.  The texture is soft enough that it absorbs some of the flavor of the filling, but it doesn’t completely fall apart.  Breakfast was cheap, too – just like everything else.  We found Moscow very affordable, which probably just goes to show how expensive Japan prices can be.

At the end of Arbat street we turned left and made a beeline for Gorky Park.  Although it looked close enough on the map it was actually a solid 30 minute walk in the sun, and it was pretty hot.  We walked by the towering foreign affairs government building, and then over a bridge that crossed the Moscow river.

I noticed on the sidewalk through Moscow we would come across a stenciled advertisement.  There were many variations, but I think they were for nightclubs or other youth events.  People likely spray painted them at night using stencils, and then enjoy the free advertising.  Interesting system!

Gorky Park was a bit of a let-down.  It was a nice enough park, and quite big, but there really wasn’t a whole lot to do.  We ate ice cream on a bench in the shade of the trees, and just rested our legs for a while.  There were some nice fountains in the park, and also a pond with ducks that was surprisingly bad smelling.

After resting for a while at the park we walked back towards the center of town along the river.  On the side of the river we found a giant black monument to Peter the Great, perched on a ship and dominating the skyline.  It was kind of strange – artistic but gaudy and cheap at the same time.  It was placed near a small break in the river, and on the break there were many nightclubs that were shut down at the time.  I’m sure at night the little peninsula really livens up.  We took an overpass, and then walked straight ahead to the colossal Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

Once again the scale of the structure was way larger than I expected, and it really reminded me of the Taj Mahal in India.  The day was perfect and we could walk around the outside taking pictures and enjoying the large amount of shadow that was cast.  It was all closed up – maybe only open on Sundays?  We didn’t really mind – we’ve seen the interior of one or two cathedrals in our day, and we moved on to our next priority – cold beer and some seats in the shade.

We found a place right near the cathedral, with outdoor seating and a view of the tourists coming in on buses.  Unfortunately they didn’t have any Russian beer on tap, so Kuniko had a Stella and I had Hoegaarden – a big 500 ml glass of it.  When it arrived there was a lot of condensation on our beers, and so we used our napkins to clean up the drips and drink deeply from the glass.  We had been walking in the sun for a long time, and cold beer is just the right thing for that situation.

As we continued drinking the condensation kept dripping from my glass, and the waiter even stopped by to help wipe it up.  Even with the hot day, I thought it was a little weird.  Then, as I lifted the big monster Hoegaarden glass and took a big gulp, the glass suddenly separately neatly in half – with the bottom half with the big heavy glass base falling suddenly to the table, the top half remaining obligingly in my hand, and about 250 ml of beer dropping neatly in my lap.

I was kind of shocked by the sudden cooldown of my crotch area, as it happened in a most unexpected way.  The waiter rushed over with towels and showed us to an adjacent table, and we examined the glass in more detail.  It was a clean break – almost like it had been made with a glass cutter.  I looked around for the camera crews in case we were on a reality show or something, but the only thing that appeared was a fresh, full beer in a stronger glass.

I’m a glass-half-full kind of guy, so I happily accepted the free beer and didn’t mind walking around in beer-soaked shorts.  Later I washed them in our hotel sink, and they dried out nicely, so no worries.  It was a weird event, though, and something we’re not likely to forget about the trip.

After that episode we walked on past the Kremlin back to “theater street”.  It was a pretty long walk, and we were thinking about having a light lunch.  We ended up at what was perhaps an Iranian/Russian restaurant.  The waiter spoke a little English and they had an English menu, so we got by.  We ordered some bread stuffed with cheese and tomatoes, and also “Khinkali”, which were a lot like jumbo shorompo that you get in Taiwan, but with a lot more dough.  We also got some other dumplings, and I got the sense that maybe finally I was overdoing it with the dumplings.  They went down well with some more cold beer in glasses that managed to stay intact.  We really liked the music that they were playing there – despite their target audience being younger people they attracted us.

Next we went back to the hotel for pool and jacuzzi time.  Afterwards we went up to our room for a little nap that turned out to last for five hours.  Around 8 pm we headed out to get some dinner at the restaurant that I had heard all about, Khachapuri.  It actually wasn’t far from our hotel, and as we approached it had a really nice atmosphere.  Outdoor dining, nice lighting and the tables were all full.  Somehow we communicated with the staff and she managed to explain to us that there wouldn’t be a table for 50 minutes.  Rather than wait, we decided to try our luck somewhere else.

The neighborhood around the area was under construction, and it was not just walking down the street – you always had to watch out where you were walking, and avoid the sandtraps and granite flagstones just laying around everywhere.

We finally settled on a little cafe not far from Khachapuri, called Cafe Fillial.  The interior was a little dark but it was filled with younger people and they had an English menu and the staff weren’t afraid to use English with us.  It wasn’t exactly a Russian restaurant, but we had some really good food (and beer) there.  Kuniko had a salad with braised duck, pomegranate seeds, cheese, carrots, and some kind of radish.  I had a quiche with chicken, and both were really good.  I really liked the atmosphere, especially as it was a restaurant that was off the beaten path.

After dinner we stopped at the supermarket to buy some souvenirs, vodka, and beers for our hotel fridge.  Finally it was back to the hotel, where we ordered some ice for the vodka.  There was some kind of mix up that delayed the delivery, and I think some other person probably was wondering why ice was delivered to their room.  The vodka was good, as you would expect in Moscow, and then it was off to bed.  Another long day of walking, eating and drinking!

We made sure to sleep in and enjoy the big comfortable bed in our hotel room.  The room was a little more luxurious than usual for us.  We figured since the Russian economy was in worse shape than the Japanese one, we might as well splurge a little.

The started off with a little exploration around the hotel.  About a five minute walk from the hotel was the outer gates of the Kremlin complex.  We observed the guards of the tomb of the unknown soldier, who took their job very seriously.   Following the outer wall of the Kremlin to the west we could walk through a nice park, with plenty of shade.  It was starting to get hot in the sun, so our job during most of the trip was to try to find the shadiest pathway.  

As we walked around we discovered some Japanese vending machines.  It turns out that we didn’t see many vending machines in Russia, but the ones we did see were all Japanese.  The products inside were Japanese, and the descriptions and lettering of the packaging were all in Japanese too.  In fact, the first time we walked by them they were totally invisible to me because I walk by nearly a hundred of them every day during my commute.  They were expensive, though – nearly double the prices in Japan.  We did see some Russian people buying drinks, though.  It was kind of gamble for them since they didn’t know exactly what they were buying.  It was almost like some sort of roulette.  In Russia.  With drinks instead of bullets.

Near the vending machines was a small supermarket, and we spent more time than you would think checking out all the products.  Already we had to start thinking about what products might make good souvenirs to take back to Japan – we are like typical Japanese tourists in that respect.  It was fun to look through the vodka section, and I couldn’t believe how many different kinds of cheeses were available.  Since we were just starting our explorati0n we didn’t buy anything at the time.  Just taking notes.

We left and wandered some more streets, and found ourselves a little north of Red Square on a street that had small theaters and playhouses on one side, and on the other side cafes and restaurants.  It seemed like as good a place as any for breakfast, so we had a light breakfast and some coffee.  The cafes were serious about their coffee in Moscow.  I didn’t have a bad cup of coffee the whole time we were there.  The staff was very friendly, and since there weren’t many other customers she put up with our bad Russian expressions.  

After breakfast we continued on our random walking tour and saw the Bulshoi theater, and found a big supermarket that was very close to our hotel.  This place had everything, and it turned into our shopping home base throughout the trip.  It was big but overstaffed, and the workers inside were struggling with consciousness.  At least they had jobs, but it didn’t look like a very fulfilling career.  We stocked up on beer and snacks to try later on, and then took our loot underground to cross over to the street with our hotel.  Underground the pathways were lined with tiny red shops, some open and some closed.  They were very shallow, so you could barely fit inside, but the shopkeepers stood at the door and they would reach into the store if you found something that you liked.  Some places sold food like piroshkis and breads, others sold cheesy souvenirs and clothes.  Plenty of Putin memorabilia, too. 

Once we got back to our hotel and properly refrigerated our beers and juice we went back on the street to go check out the inside of the Kremlin.  The ticket system was easy to understand, and we got through security fairly quickly.  Inside there was almost no access to government buildings, but plenty of chances to walk through some very old cathedrals.  The architecture of the buildings was very impressive, and there was almost no signs of heavy security.  Being at the center of a fortress has some benefits, I guess.  There were police officers whose job was to keep the tourists out of the roads, which was a busy job.  The scale of the buildings and towers was so huge that everyone was backing up to take a picture and try to get everything in the shot.  Everybody wants to take a picture of the world’s largest bell, but it is a little tricky to get it all in the frame!

Most of the cathedrals in the Kremlin were strictly no photo zones, so we just tried to file away the beautiful interiors into our memory banks.  We spent a while going through the rest of the grounds and then finally left.

By the time we left the Kremlin the tourists were really out and about.  We saw lots of Asian tour groups – mostly Chinese.  This city seems to be a major tourist draw, which must be very helpful to the economy.  I’ve never seen so many selfie sticks in my life.

We stopped for lunch at a small cafe stuck between the Russian chain restaurant MyMy and a McDonald’s.  I think we made the right choice.  They brewed their own beer there (and it was quite good and reasonably priced), and we could do some people watching while we drank and ate.  We ordered a “Russian Assortment” which was huge.  Veal tongue, pickled tomatoes, pancetta, bread with fish and onions, potatoes, all kinds of little goodies.  We did our best, but it was a lot of food.

After our beer break we headed back to the hotel to try out the pool.  On the way back we walked through the GUM shopping center, which was located right on Red Square.  It was pretty upscale, but they had some interesting items that we were considering for souvenirs.  It was worth a look, but not the kind of place you’d shop every day.

Since we were walking around in the sun most of the morning, a swim sounded refreshing.  Back at the hotel we took the elevator to the basement level, and we signed in to use the pool.  It was a beautiful pool.  We were the only ones there the first day, and it was a rare case to see any other guests during our week’s stay at the hotel.  The pool room was actually two floors, with the upper floor containing the gym, spa, and exercise equipment, and the pool, sauna, Turkish bath and jacuzzi on the bottom floor.  The pool was heated to about 28 degrees, so very comfortable and easy to get in.  We spent a lot of time at that pool during our stay.

Once we finished with the pool we went back to room for some more beer and snacks, and then we took a long nap.  This is what vacations are all about!

For dinner we walked a ways north to Cafe Pushkin.  It was written up by the NY Times as one of the few restaurants in Moscow that understands what true service is, and since they are open 24 hours we thought we’d easily be able to get a table.  We were right – they showed us to a window seat and we had a very nice dinner of beef stroganoff (Kuniko) and mushroom pelmeni (Bryan) and we shared some fried pancakes for an appetizer.  Everything was delicious, and the NY Times was right – the service was impeccable. 

Since we had eaten a big lunch and had snacks after swimming we stuck with the light dinner, but after walking back to the hotel we found ourselves drawn again to the outdoor terrace of the beer restaurant for a final drink and some more pelmeni – I couldn’t get enough.  This time we had bear and elk pelmeni – so delicious!  

Every time we go to Europe we love to sit at cafes and watch the world go by, and Moscow was no exception.  We would sit at a cafe for an hour or more just sipping our coffees or beers and enjoying conversation, or just people watching.  It is one of the things that is a little hard to do in Japan, especially in summer with the hot, wet weather.  Luckily this trip we could get lots of cafe time in.

Finally we decided to head on back to the hotel and get some sleep.  No effects from jetlag so far – that is good news.

We’ve gone through all the preparation of visas, the planning, the Russian language study, and finally we’re ready for the big trip.  

Friday night I had a drinking party that I somehow survived without too much damage, and so we got up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and loaded our suitcase into the car. 

It was an easy drive to Kobe airport, an easy ride across the bay on the ferry, and we had no problems catching our departing flight to Seoul on time. 

We flew on Korean airlines the first two legs of the trip, so it was natural to spend some time at the airport at Incheon.  It is a big airport, but it does tend to repeat with the same pattern of duty-free stores and restaurants, terminal after terminal.  We had some good food for lunch – I had braised kimchee with a fried pork cutlet in a fish soup, and Kuniko went with the old favorite – Bibimbap.  The kimchee was free for the taking on the table, sitting at room temperature – that was a little surprising.  We had a couple of beers, and then went down to the gate and boarded our plane for Moscow. 

The plane had an extra 40 minutes waiting time before pulling away from the gate.  The announcement said that there was heavy congestion over China, but I don’t know what that really means.  

Once we actually left it was a very smooth nine hour flight to Moscow.  The entertainment system was quite good, and with plenty of movies and music to keep us occupied we didn’t need to even open a book.  

Once we arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport, one of the three international airports surrounding Moscow, we lined up in a very slow immigration line.  It might be the longest we’ve ever waited for immigration. The other passengers were starting to get impatient.  Once we finally got our turn, the immigration agent gave Kuniko lots of extra questions.  I was starting to get worried, but they finally let her pass in.  I went through without even one question.  Weird.

I had arranged with a taxi company to pick us up, but when we got into the arrival terminal there was nobody waiting for us at all.  We waited for a few minutes, but figured that they went ahead and took someone else – between the long wait for departure and the long immigration line we must have been more than an hour late.  Luckily it was no problem to get another taxi from the official taxi stand.  The prices were marked and I got a receipt in advance so no problems with negotiation and shady drivers.  It was about double the price of the taxi that I had arranged, but I guess you get what you pay for.

It was only about a 30 minute drive to our hotel since there was no traffic at all.  The hotel was located a short walk from Red Square, called the St. Regis Hotel.  It turned out to be a great location, and it was a really nice hotel.  Kuniko hit a home run with this place. 

After checking in and dropping off our bags we took a short stroll to Red Square.  The temperature was perfect – a little cool and very dry.  It was a big difference from the hot wet summer we left behind in Japan.  

In Red Square we got our first look at St. Basil’s Cathedral.  This was the main attraction for Kuniko and we took lots of pictures of it.  It was just as beautiful and impressive as the guidebook photos.   Red Square itself was quite large, and we could easily see Lenin’s Tomb, several other churches, the walls of the Kremlin, and a big shopping center.  Later we’d have time to explore in more detail, but for now we were happy to enjoy the experience of being in the center of Red Square.

Because it was so far north it stayed light out for a long time, so we could explore the area around our hotel.  Everything in Moscow was on such a big scale – the roads, the buildings, everything.  The main road surrounding central Moscow had 5 lanes going each direction, which made crosswalks impractical.  Instead we found that you need to find underground crossings and travel on foot that way.  

At this time of night there were a lot of young people out and about, and you could feel the kind of nightclub culture that some big cities have.  We found a “beer restaurant” that had a huge patio area with outdoor dining, and so we sat down and luckily got handed an English/Russian menu.  

With our Russian beers we had some pelmeni (dumplings stuffed with meat) and also some fish cakes that did a good job absorbing all the beer.  Since we had spent a very long day traveling it was good to slow down and soak in the city.  We tried some Russian phrases with the staff, but they looked too busy to tell us what we were doing wrong, so we gave up and just used English.  Later we had more success with Russian.

After our beer and snacks we suddenly felt super sleepy.  Maybe the adrenaline and excitement of arrival in a new city wore off, so we made our way back to our hotel to crash.  Thanks to the long flight and the time difference we ended up having a very long Saturday.

The last week before a vacation is the absolute worst time to catch a cold.  I catch a cold on average just once or twice a year, so the odds are pretty slim.  Still, I try to do everything I can to avoid it in the weeks leading up to departure.  

From last week a lot of my students started to catch colds as the weather turned from rainy season to hot summer.  Last weekend I started to get the little dryness in the back of my throat that usually means a cold is coming.  From then I started gargling more, washing my hands twice as often, and I stopped riding the exercise bike every night to give my body a chance to concentrate on fighting the cold.

Luckily my efforts have seemed to pay off.

We are on target for a flight out early on Saturday morning.  Yesterday, today and tomorrow have been filled with little odd jobs to get done before we leave.  Friday I have one last drinking party with some coworkers, and then we’re off. 

The drinking party will be held at a restaurant called Sake Yashiro which literally translates to “The Shrine of Sake”.  I’ll have to be careful not to anger the gods of booze on Friday.

Today at work I had a couple of cancellations from two students back to back, and so I find myself with a little free time at lunch.  Why not do a little catch up blogging?

Here in Japan summer is really setting in.  We’re talking about the hot, wet and sticky that I had almost forgotten from last year.  We are struggling to find the best settings on our bedroom air conditioner to cool us down and keep us both comfortable while we sleep.  Usually we set a timer so that the AC kicks off a few hours after we go to sleep, but inevitably I wake up a little sweaty now and then.  I shower and go to work, but 30 minutes into my commute I’m all sweaty again.  Luckily I’m the only one in my office so I can completely control the air conditioner.  Power!

Last week I had the whole week off, and I spent most of that time staying inside, playing video games, riding the exercise bike, and doing preparation for our upcoming trip.  Kuniko and I went out for dinner a couple of times, we watched some movies together,  and really got to spend a lot of quality time together.  We had a great Korean dinner with friends in Osaka on the eve of the Tenjin matsuri, which was quite good timing.  We also had an anniversary dinner at Chiro in Akashi to celebrate our tenth year together (on paper).  The real celebration will actually be in November, but this was a nice way to remember that fateful day when we walked into the city office and filled out some forms.

So now we’re working through the heat, with just two weeks of work between the two summer holidays it is hard to stay focused on the job and not think too much about upcoming vacations.  

This weekend on Saturday we are planning to take Kuniko’s folks with us out to Okayama to visit Kuniko’s sister and our new nephew.  This’ll be our first time to see the little squirt – I hope he’s up for a visit from the wild relatives…

It is just about the middle of July, and finally it has started to get hot, rainy and humid.  Usually all the rain happens in June, and by July it is just hot and humid, but for some reason this year we’re getting the tail end of the rainy season combined with the stickiness of summer.  

Boo-yah.

I’m wrapping up a pretty busy week, and getting ready for a relaxing weekend.  We don’t have any plans other than catching a movie on Saturday evening.  I’m looking forward to the free time, but because of the weather it will mostly be spent inside.  Actually, most of my weekends for the next two months will be inside, come to think of it.

Next week is my last week of work before nine days off!  We’ve got some anniversary events planned, and also I may escape to Fuji Q Highlands if I can get away for a day or so.  For some reason July is full of social events for us, so I’ll have to start training up my liver to deal with it!

Usually we don’t get into Osaka very much.  Despite being the third largest city in Japan, and being just a 45 minute train ride from our home, we don’t have much need for it since Kobe pretty much has everything we want and it is only 20 minutes from our place.

But sometimes there are things that only Osaka can provide.  

Monday night after work I met Kuniko in Osaka station.  When I came out of sakurabashi gate in the station, she was there waiting and it was once again one of the moments when she catches me off guard and I do a double take, because I can’t believe the beautiful woman waving at me is actually my wife.  

We walked through the underground walkways that make up the catacombs of the Osaka Umeda area, which is nice because even on rainy days you can walk through the city without getting wet.  Kuniko led me up and out on the street to a little restaurant that she had researched for tonight.  It was kind of a Spanish/Italian tapas bar with an emphasis on vegetables, and it was very good. The atmosphere was nice, too – good music and a dark restaurant on a busy street.  They got the European feel just about right, too.  The place was empty on a Monday night, so the service was prompt.

After catching up on our day over tapas and Cava we hit the road and went to our next stop, the Ritz Carlton hotel.  Kuniko’s friend and former co-worker does some jazz singing at the hotel lobby lounge, and so we went in and grabbed a table with a good view of the piano and stage.  Her name is Eppi Esperanza, and she’s got a single on iTunes if you want to check out her music.  She introduced her pianist, a Japanese guy who did his best to play some of Kuniko’s requests.  Eppi’s voice was quite nice, and she started out with a husky-voiced rendition of Etta James’ “At Last”.  Her voice reminded me a lot of Norah Jones, but she also had a song in Spanish that I really liked. Her performance and stage presence were worthy of the Ritz Carlton, that was for sure.

  
While we watched we split a cheeseburger and we each had a glass of red wine with our (second) dinner. We wanted to spend a little money there to let the management know that Eppi’s friends were bringing in business.  Between songs Eppi chatted with us, and after the set she came over to take some pictures with us and talk some more.  

After that we decided that we had stayed out quite late enough for a school night, and so we made our way back to the train station.  We passed big tents and temporary restaurants that had been erected for the summer beer garden season.  There is big money in summer beer drinking in Japan, and it is really on display in downtown Osaka.

Kuniko bought me Tuesday’s lunch at the Ritz Carlton gourmet shop, so I’m looking forward to a nice quiche today at lunchtime, with a macaroon or two for dessert.  It’s nice to live the good life once in a while!

I thought I should pop in here and post a quick update.  The last month has been pretty busy with work, but I think I’ve started settling into a more comfortable routine.  The real ordeal last month was a toothache that was getting worse and worse.  I went into the dentist three times before he found what was wrong – underneath one of my old fillings was some decay that had gotten bad enough to cause the pain and headaches.  He did a root canal, but two more visits later and I was still in remarkable pain.  I was taking about 12 ibuprofen a day, combined with a slug of whiskey before bed to help me sleep – seriously bad news.

I finally ended up taking a day off of work to have the dentist take one last shot before I fired him and moved on to a specialist.  Luckily on that day he found a completely different cavity on a different tooth, and after giving me another root canal on the other tooth the pain completely disappeared.  For the first time in what seems like years I can drink a glass of cold liquid without having any pain.  My ibuprofen count went back down to zero and things are getting back to normal.  I still need to get crowns for the two teeth, and before that I have to let some temporary medicine sit inside the empty teeth to completely disinfect the teeth before sealing them up.  That means chewing on only one side of my mouth, but I am getting used to it.  Hopefully I’ll have the crowns in place before our trip in August.

Today after work I’ll join a farewell party for Mr. Watanabe in the human resources department.  He was one of the first contacts I had with the company, and it’ll be sad to see him go.  He is leaving Kawasaki and moving to Tokyo to work for another company – which is a rare career move in Japan.  I hope he’ll be happier in Tokyo but we’ll miss him around here. He is a very good worker.

Kuniko has a party tomorrow night, and she’ll be working on Saturday, but we are planning to go to the Osaka Ritz Carlton on Monday night to see one of her ex-coworkers singing jazz in their bar.  I’m hoping they sound something like Sausalito from “Lost in Translation”.

These days I am teaching a couple of new kinds of classes.  One is actually not a class, but really more of an opportunity for people to come in and chat with me and other students in English.  It is called “English Cafe”, and we even have some coffee, tea and snacks to make the name more or less true to the experience.

This week I’ve done two sessions – both of which I consider a qualified success.  Tomorrow I have the last one of this week.  I like the free coffee, but I realized this event will really increase my calorie count every week.  Maybe I can do sit ups while I talk with the students?

The other class I started was an email writing class.  The students came in, and I think they got more than what they were expecting.  One of the HR people gave a short speech in English explaining that the company expects them to do all communication in the class using English.  That means all the writing, and all the speaking during class time.  I could see a look of shock on some faces – it was the last thing that they were expecting.  Some of the students have been in my class before and were ready for it.  Some of the newbies I will have to watch closely in the future for signs of surrender.  

This weekend Kuniko is working on Saturday, but we’re hoping to go out to dinner somewhere Saturday night after she gets off of work.  The sky is really the limit since our restaurant zone has expanded to Osaka.  We’ll just have to see what we’re craving on Saturday and go with the flow…

I’ve been plugging along here at work, getting ready for a little change of pace in my courses starting next month.  I’ll begin to teach a business e-mail writing course to a small group of students once a week.  It’ll be a good way to stretch my teaching skills a little since it isn’t as much of a student-centered class as my one-on-one classes are.  I’ve got a curriculum and outline put together, and now I’m just filling in the details of the class flow.  

Also next month we’ll start a little experiment where I work – an “English Cafe”.  It sounds more stylish than reality – but I’ll be spending some time before and after work in a classroom in different parts of the factory, and we’re hoping that people will drop in and spend some time talking to me in English.  If lots of people stop by then we’ll see about extending the chance, but if it is just me alone then it’ll be a great chance for me to do deskwork.  Either way I get paid overtime rates so I have nothing to complain about.

The weather here in Japan has been steadily warming up.  For the first time last night I had to turn on the air conditioner while I rode the exercise bike.  The rainy season should kick in next month, and then after that it’ll be heat and humidity for three or four months.  I’m ready to sweat off some pounds!

Last week we enjoyed a long holiday – called Golden Week in Japan.  The bad news with Golden Week is that everyone celebrates it at the same time, which means any kind of travel will be about four times as expensive.  In addition, there are lots of traffic jams all over and domestic tourist destinations are filled to capactity.  

Originally my parents had planned on coming to visit during this time, but they had to change their plans, and so Kuniko and I had a wide open schedule.  

The weather cooperated with our easy-going plans, and we spent a lot of time outside.  We took several walks out to the beach to sit in the shade of the palm trees and watch the ocean.  I discovered a brewery making local craft beers not far from the beach, so that was worth a couple of visits.  We bought a couple of folding wooden chairs at IKEA, so we could sit out on our patio in the late afternoon and sip drinks and watch the sun go down. 

We also spent a couple of evenings at the Yamaji’s place.  They also like to eat and drink outside while the weather is good, and so we went over to play with their kittens, as well as eat good food and meet Yuki’s girlfriend.  

Towards the end of the long holiday we did some gardening out front, and I think it turned out pretty well.  An old tree that didn’t quite make it was removed, and now it has a much better look.  The Yamaji’s dropped by while we were working to take a look.  Their yard sets the standard for the neighborhood, so I was happy to hear their approval.  Mr. Yamaji offered the use of his power washer in the future, so I might take him up on that once the weather heats up even more. 

Finally we were able to get a lot of other things done, a trip to Costco, a couple of BBQ nights, lots of lesson planning, some video gaming, exercise every day, and a couple of trips to Osaka for nightlife. 

In Kobe my Japanese visa was approved for another five years, so it’ll be nice not to worry about that until the Olympics roll around in 2020.

I also applied for our Russian visas, which was an ordeal for me as an American but a piece of cake for Kuniko since she is Japanese.  Hopefully we’ll get approved in a couple of weeks.  The Russian consular building was a story in itself, and I’ll go into that more later (like, after our visa approval).  

So now I’m back to work on a very regular schedule, and I don’t have any extra classes so I can concentrate on exercise and cooking in the evenings.  I’ll be on this schedule until the middle of July, so it’ll be nice to settle into a routine.

We had quite a weekend.  It all started on Friday night, when we agreed to meet up with the Yamaji’s in Osaka after work.  Mr. Yamaji used to spend quite a bit of time in Osaka and he wanted to introduce us to a tachinomi (standing restaurant/bar) in Umeda.  Friday actually turned out to be a very busy time in Osaka.  It was the first payday for all the new employees in Japanese companies, so lots of younger folks were out burning their first paycheck on drinks with friends.  

We followed Mr. Yamaji to the tachinomi restaurant, and after a brief wait outside we were able to stand at the counter and get started.  The place served kushi-katsu, fried food on sticks, along with plenty of cold beer.  The frier was right in front of us, so we could watch the guy cooking for a crowded restaurant in the heart of one of Japan’s biggest cities.  It was a really cool experience.  

We ate a lot of sticks – fried tuna, chicken, lotus root, chikuwa, kisu, tomato and basil, pork, cheese, shumai, and a few more that I forget.  After dinner Mr. Yamaji said, “Just one more drink” and so we followed him to the Kita Shinchi area of Osaka.  It is kind of the traditional nightlife and entertainment district of Umeda, and it was full of older guys drinking with younger ladies, and big money changing hands like back in the days of the bubble economy.   I didn’t realize it at the time, but we had been there once before last year to eat yakiniku and meet Ai-chan’s husband for the first time. It is an interesting place to hang out – and it kind of puts Kobe’s Higashi-mon street to shame.  

Our destination was a snack/restaurant that is owned by one of the Yamaji’s friends.  We had met her once before – she came to a party at the Yamaji’s house and was introduced as a sommelier at a restaurant.  On Friday night she produced a bottle of Zinfandel from California, so she knew what we liked.  It was a really nice wine.  While we were there the other customer in the place came over to have his picture taken with us, while he wore a rubber horse head mask.  Kind of surreal. 

Another one of the Yamaji’s friends, a sushi master from a nearby restaurant, dropped by with a box of sushi for us to enjoy.  We had met him before as well, and it was good to see eveyone again in such a unique place.  

Finally, we wrapped things up and caught a train back to Okubo.  I think everyone was sleepy from the long work week and the late night of eating and drinking, but it was a great time out.  

We managed to sleep in a bit on Saturday but in the evening we went over to the Fukumi’s for dinner, and were also joined by the Yamaji’s.  Party, party.

Before going over Kuniko and I decided that we would try to leave as early as possible – the Fukumi’s have a kid now, and previously while over at their place we kind of wrapped things up early.  They don’t drink so much, and we had partied pretty hard on Friday, so all signs pointed to a short night.  

But we were wrong.

Sayaka prepared a really good dinner – Russian cuisine.  We had piroshkis, borscht, a Russian beet salad, a potato cassarole with a rich beef sauce, and even a Georgian wine on the side.  It was damn good.  The Fukumi’s also had a box of Every Flavor Beans from USJ, and those were a big hit.  I liked the vomit flavored one, and the sausage one was good too.  While we ate everyone kind of rotated playing with Hiroka-kun, and he was having a great time.  We went through lots of wine bottles – I think when we finally left after two am there were eight empty bottles lined up.  Mr. Fukumi was down for the count, and everyone was feeling no pain.  Time to go home and take some aspirin!

Sunday we watched some movies at home, one of which was called “The World’s End” which I enjoyed immensely. It has been a while since a movie caught me by surprise like that. Highly recommended! We also did some chores but mostly took it easy to recover from the wild party.  It was a comparatively mellow day, and I think we needed it.  Our livers have been working overtime lately, so I think we’ll have to take it easy this week and next.  Luckily we don’t have any parties scheduled in the near future.  

This week I have to work only three days, and then I get eleven days off for Golden Week.  We’re trying to think up stuff to do during the Golden Week holidays, but I think our top priority is gardening and relaxing.  Can’t wait for the long holiday!

It has been a little while so I thought I should check in on the blog and give a quick update.  April is a busy month for Human Resources at my company.  During this month all the interdepartmental and intercompany transfers kick in, and also it is the first month of work for newly hired employees fresh out of university. 

I always start a new term in April, so we have to line up students and get them used to the course system and flow, and also we have to close the previous fiscal year and so some reports need to be published in English, and I always seem to catch a little work checking documents for people in between my regular classes. 

Phew!  That’s a lot to do.  Luckily next month should be much more sane.  

Yesterday I taught two special classes to the new employees, and also gave most of them an interview test to get an idea of their English speaking ability.  This term the overall ability was pretty high, but we’ll need to work on the business side of their English, which seems to be lacking.  I had fun teaching the classes, though.  One student described a tomato plant he bought and put in his dormitory room.  He is now living far from his family in Fukuoaka, so he said that the tomatoes are his family to keep him company.  I asked him if he was planning on eating his family, and he proudly said yes.  

This weekend we’re going over to have dinner at the Fukumi’s place.  Last weekend everybody got together for an impromptu party at the Yamaji’s, so I don’t think we’ll have too much new to talk about, but it should still be fun.  I’m going to try to eat and drink less than last weekend – I woke up with a serious hangover on Sunday and it pretty much knocked me out for most of the day.  I guess I can’t party like a rockstar anymore…

It feels like it has been a long time since I’ve blogged, so I better get back to it.  

Last weekend was a pretty social weekend for us.  We were invited by the Yamaji’s to their house for a lunch BBQ with some other guests.  The Fukumi’s were there, but also some of Mr. Yamaji’s staff and coworkers.  His company is apparently doing well.  It was nice to meet everyone, and luckily the weather cooperated and we could sit in the the sunshine outside and enjoy the day. 

In the evening we had the Takeda’s over for dinner.  It was the first time that we had seen them since 2009, and they looked happy and healthy.  The kids had grown up a lot, and we had fun with them playing Jenga in the living room.  The Takeda’s also like to drink wine and eat lots of food, so we got along really well.  They are moving into a new place soon, so we’re looking forward to visiting them and checking out their digs in the future.  

This week I’ve got a pretty regular routine at work, with a couple of interviews of new employees and a lesson with the VP.  Next week should also be pretty normal, but after that I only work three days before Golden Week starts.  We’ve got a pretty wide open schedule during Golden Week, so we’ll probably end up cleaning up our front yard, pulling weeds, and drinking lots of sparkling wine.  I’ve got some good books to read, too, so there is a lot to look forward to.  

Today at work I’ll meet the last of my new students, and my routine at work should start to become a little more clear.  So far I really like the students I have met, and I’m looking forward to watching their speaking skills develop over the next six months.

This term I’ll be teaching a business email course, and I have this month to plan the curriculum and activities for the students.  It will be good to try out a new course, and part of the design of the course will be lots of homework for the students.  I have to put my thinking cap on to come up with some challenging assignments that will work for all students across all departments.  

This weekend we’re signed up for a drop in lunch at the Yamaji’s on Saturday.  They have some new kittens and I’m hoping to get some playing time with them.  Kuniko is very allergic so there is no chance of taking one home.  It is like risk-free kittens.  I heard the master of Paddy (formerly Red Spanky) will be there too, so it’ll be nice to see him in a smoke-free environment.  We’re hoping the weather is good enough for sitting outdoors.

After lunch we’re hosting the Takedas.  Mr. Takeda was one of my students back when I taught at Mitsuboshi belt years ago.  He was transferred to Thailand for five years, and we visited him the last time we were in Thailand.  His family really rolled out the welcome wagon for us.  I was checking the dates and it has been almost eight years since that trip.  Unbelievable how time flies.  It will be fun to see the kids grown up a little bit and to catch up with everyone.