Month: April 2015

Happy Birthday Oliver

billkralovec

We had a delightful afternoon celebrating my son Oliver turning 10 yesterday. We invited 10 of his friends from his class. The party started with a visit to a local park to play “Hunger Games” dressed as ninja fighters. Everyone got a Daiso (the famous 100 Yen store) plastic kendo sword and Japanese headband. We also played soccer and some games and gave away prizes. We then walked over to the house for grilled hamburgers and chocolate cake. The kids also popped a lot of balloons and drank ice cold Sprite soda pop.

Nadia and I can’t believe Oliver is 10 years old! It only seems like yesterday (being a parent turns cliches into dogma) that he was born. I will never forget that night! Nadia wasn’t due for another month and she had just finished working at the school on the Friday April 29, 2005 to start her maternity leave the next week. That night however, she started bleeding and she needed to undergo an emergency cesarean. Our regular doctor was in a conference in Caracas and the hospital we planned to use was a 90 minute drive north to the coast, too far to travel in the state Nadia was in. We ended up staying in the small town of Anaco, Venezuela and met a colleague of our doctor. It was a stressful night of uncertainty, but Oliver did arrive, a bit blue, but healthy. I remember holding him in my hand and placing him in the warm incubator so I could sleep with Nadia. What a night!

Oliver has brought so much joy to our lives! He is a fun-loving, crazy little guy that uses his charm to connect with people of all ages. He is the most even-keeled of our children emotionally and many of his personality traits are similar to Nadia’s. Ollie likes to move and school is always going to be a challenge for him. He really likes legos, fantasy and the typical boy adventure things, like playing war with nerf guns, etc.  Oliver also looks up to his brother Owen and plays with his sister Ocean all the time.

Happy 10th birthday Ollie – We love you!

Last fall at the Tottori Sand Dunes – October 2014

Azaleas in Bloom

billkralovec

It is the peak season for azaleas here in Osaka. The city is full of them and they can be seen in parks and gardens throughout the city. Azaleas are a group of flowering shrubs in the Rhododendron genus and have been cultivated for hundreds of year around the world. There are over 10,000 different varieties which show a history of horticulture. The Japanese call azaleas tsutsuji 　(つつうじ) – Hurray, my first try at the Hiragana script on my keyboard. I am working through Tuttle Publisher’s book, Hiragana and Katakana for beginners. They use strong images to form mnenomic devices to help one remember the symbol and corresponding sound. It is surprisingly easy to read once you go through the book.

 

I never thought of azaleas when coming to Osaka. I know them from the American south, where there are azalea festivals and they are always mentioned in the Master’s golf tournament. It makes sense they are popular in Osaka as it is approximately the same latitude as Atlanta, Georgia and Columbia, South Carolina.

An azalea bush at Minoh Citizens’ Baseball Park – April 25, 2015

Hike in the Meiji na Mori Minoh Quasi National Park

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It has been an unseasonably rainy spring, with most days being overcast and cold. Despite the cooler temperatures and threatening skies, we went out late Sunday for a walk up a trail into the Minoh Park. My batteries recharge with time spent in nature and it gets the kids exploring and talking with us in a quiet environment. They always complain about going, but once they are there, they wind up having a great time.

Walking under the tall cedar trees through a narrow ravine with fog, gave the place a spooky feel. With the heavy rains, the water flow in the creek the path went along side of was quite strong and the trail was a bit muddy. I read that the park has 1,300 plant species and it makes me want to learn to identify some of them. The ferns especially, are beautiful and abundant.

I am hoping the weather clears and we start to get some sunny and hot days. I am ready for the heat!

Going Crazy Over Cherry Blossoms

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As a former biology teacher and amateur botanist, I have to admire a country that celebrates the spring cherry blossoms to the extent that the Japanese do. Everyone talks about the sakura or cherry blossoms that can be seen all over the city. There are many different species of cherries (Prunus spp.) and next year I intend to identify more of them. We had a hanami (blossom viewing party) at school. Everyone was talking about it and many people were having picnics under the trees. There are a lot of cherry trees in Japan. I saw hundreds of them all over the city. As you can see in the photos and video, they are a common tree in parks and they are used to line streets, streams, and reservoirs.

The viewing of cherry blossoms started in the 700s here in Japan and at first the ume or plum tree was more celebrated. They are a symbol of the ephemeral nature of life, which has Buddhist influences. Stopping to “smell the roses” or cherries, here is a good lesson for all of us. Soak in as much of every day as you can!

The symbol of the cherry blossom was used by the military in the build up to and during World War II. Japanese kamikaze pilots painted them on the side of their planes. Today they have a more peaceful symbolic value.

Below is a video of my morning bike ride. Loving the spring morning runs and bike rides!

Universal Studios Japan: Inside the Beehive

billkralovec

On our last day of spring break we took the kids to Universal Studios Japan (USJ), which is located near the waterfront here in Osaka. I am not a fan of the big, themed amusement parks. I find them artificial, expensive and crowded and USJ lived up to my expectations. I would rather spend my family’s free time out in nature or doing something spiritually uplifting or engaging with the mind rather than lining up for “attractions”.  However, I was convinced by my lovely wife to give our children the experience, and she is right. It is one of the activities everyone should do at least once.

We did chose a bad day to go as it is during the local schools spring break as well. In speaking with a friendly parking attendant on the way out to our car, he gave us the figure of 51,000 visitors that day. He said the day before the park welcomed 60,000. On a bad day, they usually get round 30,000. The demographics were overwhelmingly Asian, with mostly Japanese, but with significant populations from the Philippines, China and other Asian countries.

I felt overwhelmed at the number of people as you can see in the photos in this post. All of the rides were between 90 minutes to 2 hours waiting time. There were even longish lines for getting food. My worst nightmare!

USJ was built in 2001 and the park has been highly successful throughout its history. It is the only non-Disney theme park to crack the top ten world wide in revenue and number of visitors. They are another one of those money-making machines, with for example, 9 dollar plastic souvenir mugs of “butter beer” for sale in the Harry Potter exact replica of Hogsmeade. Note that I am not a Harry Potter fan and I couldn’t get through the first book in the series. I don’t understand the universal appeal of the story, especially with adults.  Everywhere we went, came the opportunity to spend more money.

The best thing about the day was that we spent a lot of time together. There were some bright moments. There was an exciting Waterworld action theatre performance, complete with explosions, drama and getting the crowd wet. The roller coaster in the Jurassic Park was also priceless. It was the first time on a roller coaster for the kids.

I am glad I went and got it over with. How can a family with three young children who lives in Osaka, not go to USJ? However, it would have been better on a less crowded day.