August 2014 – Bill's Blog

Owen Starts Middle School Baseball Career

August 31, 2014September 3, 2014billkralovec

Senri and Osaka International Schools Middle School Boys’ Baseball Team – August 29, 2014

I was a proud Dad to watch Owen play his first baseball game in Japan. He was a bit unsure of himself, being one of the youngest players and not speaking much Japanese, he over came his fears and had a great day of baseball. The two schools form one team and the “A” Team is for the older students and the “B” Team is for the younger students. In the first “B” Team game against the Canadian Academy of Kobe, Owen came into the game in the third inning to relieve his classmate, Jun, as a pitcher. After getting the first batter to strikeout, he then walked, beaned, and walked another batter to load the bases. He then cooly struck out the next guy to get the second out and then fielded a grounder and tagged the runner heading home from third to get out of a jam. He went on to pitch three more hitless innings to earn the win and him and Jun combined for a no-hitter and an 11-0 victory. Owen through 6 strikeouts and also made another good play in the seventh inning to throw out a runner at first.

He got into the second game against the Marist Brothers International School of Kobe, and in his only at bat, doubled with a line shot between the left and center fielder, to drive in two runs and eventually scoring in a 9-2 victory. He also walked with the bases loaded to drive in a third run. In the first game he scored twice.

Owen carried around his glove all weekend and is very enthusiastic to keep playing baseball! It was a rewarding start to his Sabers career.

The Calm Before the Storm

August 9, 2014August 10, 2014billkralovec

Update: The typhoon passed quickly by Japan, crossing the island in few hours. Here is a short video of the peak winds and rain from the lobby of our hotel. There were a few branches down and everything got very soggy, but overall, it was just a bad storm and nothing exceptional. The family slept through most of it, battling jet lag.

We arrived in Osaka a couple of hours ago and are cozy in our hotel. We got in just in time as many flights are being cancelled due to Typhoon Halang which will hit the Japanese mainland in a couple of hours. As you can see from the screen shot above, Osaka is located at the tip of the arrow. Halang, with winds gusting up to 180 km/hour is between a Category 2 and 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. That means there will be heavy rains and winds, and expect some trees and wires to fall. The weather was quite cool with a nice breeze upon our exit from the airport, which is one of the nice things – the heat and humidity of the Japanese summer has dissipated, at least for the weekend.

We are very tired after the 14-hour flight. I’ll try to take some video tomorrow if possible as it is almost 11:00 PM here in Osaka. The Japan Meteorological Agency has an excellent website in English which I will be checking often during my stay here. It also covers earthquakes, weather, and ocean data.

Good night and we’ll see what tomorrow will bring.

Goodbye USA

August 8, 2014billkralovec

We are saying goodbye to summer and our visit to the USA tonight. To celebrate, we went out to eat at General Zapata Restaurant in Bethlehem and walked around the Lehigh campus. It was another gorgeous late summer evening.

I want to thank Jack, Cathy, Julie, Alice, and others for being such gracious hosts. We really enjoyed our time together and hope to continue to see each other.

It was a summer of good food (way too much), friends, family, and exploring the mid-Atlantic region, from the Appalachian Mountains to the New Jersey Shore and many places in between. The classes at Lehigh were extremely stimulating and will really help me next year as I lead a new school. The kids loved spending time with Uncle Jack and Grandma Cathy.

The “star of Bethlehem” shines over the city

Weekend Family Journal

August 5, 2014billkralovec

Ocean and Oliver Show Off Their New Haircuts

We had a quiet weekend in Freeland, Pennsylvania. On Friday morning we packed and headed back to the Appalachians after a week on the Jersey Shore. We stopped to get haircuts at shop in Toms River, New Jersey. The kids look so much older with their their new hairstyles. We then checked out the Franklin Institute, a museum dedicated to science education in Philadelphia. I highly recommend a visit, although you can skip all of the extras, like the IMAX and 3D theatres, and the flight simulators. All three attractions were quite dated and not worth the extra cost. The regular exhibitions and activities were excellent however and the kids could have stayed there all day. It was the perfect thing to do on a rainy day. We didn’t get much time to see the city and I do want to go back and explore a bit of the history of the city, especially see the Liberty Bell, the building where the Second Continental Congress met, and most importantly, recreate the training scene from the movie Rocky. The museum district is quite nice and I recommend Matt & Maria’s Italian Sandwich Shop, where we didn’t have the famous Philly Steak&Cheese sandwich, but we did have some gourmet sandwiches that really hit the spot.

The visit did make me reflect on the life of Ben Franklin. I can see why he is called the “First American”. He was such a tour de force of intellect, creativity, ambition, and service. His accomplishments and wide variety of interests are truly impressive. I got chills seeing one of the original lightning rods he designed and reading some of his original journals about electricity. He was also a great diplomat and politician. We are fortunate to have him as one of the Founding Fathers of our country and his personal characteristics helped forge the ideals of America.

We spent the rest of the weekend resting and spending time with extended family. I did take the kids for a hike in an old strip mine just outside of Freeland, near the “patch town” of Upper Lehigh. We climbed the giant ore pile nicknamed “Big Ben” and contemplated the legacy of the coal industry. The locals use the area for motorcycle and ATV riding and also as an illegal dump to avoid fees at a landfill.

This week we are finishing up with packing, doctor visits, and saying goodbye to family before heading out on Friday.