Category: Family Journal

An archive of our family’s daily life.

AFC Champions League

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Last night my friend Josep and I took our boys to the Asian Football Confederation Champions League game between our home Gamba Osaka and Shanghai SIPG Football Club. It was our first time to the new Suita City Stadium, which is absolutely gorgeous and a great place to watch soccer. The visitors won 2-0 virtually eliminated Gamba from the competition, but we had a great time anyway.

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Shanghai players acknowledge their fans after the game

The Suita Stadium is conveniently located only about a 15-minute bike ride from our house as Suita is a suburb of Osaka that borders on Minoh. The 40,000 seat stadium opened this winter and it was our initial visit. I loved the rectangular shape of the stadium, without an athletic track that puts spectators really close to the field like in many English Premier League stadiums. I was not sure about the seat location when I purchased them online. We were in the “family” section and the reasonably priced tickets (1,500 Yen for children and 2,500 Yen for adults) gave us seats a few rows from the field behind one of the goals. On the opposite side of the stadium were the fervent Gamba supporters and they provided a nice backdrop with their singing and chanting through the game, similar to the European professional leagues.

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Conca with a free kick

Shanghai International Port Group FC had a much better team and game and deserved the victory. The coach is the famous ex-England coach Sven Goran Eriksson and they had a couple of high-priced stars in Conca (Argentina) and Elkeson (Brazil). They dominated play and fortunately, the two goals in the second half came on our side of the field.

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Fight between supporters of the teams

It was interesting to watch the China versus Japan dynamic played out in the stands. We were near the visiting fan section. Several Gamba supporters tried to raise a sign that I couldn’t read but it had something about Shanghai. A Chinese fan grabbed the sign and eventually threw it on the field before being escorted out by security. There is a lot of tension between the two countries, stemming back from Japanese takeover and occupation of China last century. I felt like watching the future conflict between the two countries as China is growing economically. It is the first time in a long time that both Japan and China are doing well economically and I wonder what the repercussions will be for the Asia Pacific region. I hope they can cooperate for the benefit of citizens from both countries.

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Go Gamba! 

We had a great night as fathers and sons bonding over sport and it was a thoroughly entertaining night. We might head to another game in the regular J1 professional league this season, although Gamba is currently in 12th place in an 18-team league after 5 games.

 

 

Goodbye Guam

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Goodbye Guam

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It is so strange that Guam is part of the USA and prides itself on “where America’s day begins.” Guam is so far away from the continental USA. The closest American state is Hawaii, which is a 7-hour flight away. From Osaka, Japan, where we live it was only about a 3 hour flight and that is one of the major reasons why the US has Guam as a colony, er, “unincorporated territory”. It was a strategic location to fight the Japanese in World War II. Today there are close to 6,000 soldiers and a naval base and air force base on the island. They have 10 times that amount stationed in Japan. I don’t see the USA leaving anytime soon as the Americans will want to keep a presence in the Pacific due to the rise of militarism in China and the unpredictable North Koreans. The locals are ambivalent towards the military, a high percentage serve in the military and the money the bases bring is needed. In speaking with an experienced military person, he mentioned that that there is some resentment for the amount of land that is reserved for the military. He feels they can get by with much less and put more in private ownership.

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Ocean overlooking Merizo

As I wrote earlier, it is a convenient location for resupplying ships and planes. It was the same for the Spanish, who arrived with Magellan in 1521 and ran the island for almost 400 years. They liked stopping to resupply ships going between the New World and Manila. The Spanish treated the local Chamorros horribly for a long time, so when America won possession of Guam after the Spanish-American war at the end of the 19th century, the people were generally happy. The Japanese took over for a 4-year period during World War II and were quite cruel to the chamorros. Today we visited the massacre site of 30 villagers from Malessa. The Japanese army, anticipating US forces retaking the island, took the 30 biggest men and executed them days before the invasion in fear that they would help the Americans. It shows you how much time has passed since WW II in that one of the biggest sources of income today for Guam is Japanese tourism. It is a short flight to a tropical country with US shopping.

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Campaigning for Bernie Sanders in Hagatna

I’ve been thinking about should Guam be independent. The UN, among others view Guam as a colony and declared that there should be no more colonies. Former US president Gerald Ford gave his blessing for Guam to become a commonwealth in 1974, but it was never acted upon and some in Washington actively stopped this movement. I think the locals would vote to stay in the USA because of the development that has come to the island. I have visited several Caribbean islands that are independent countries and the scene is pretty bleak for most of the locals outside of the tourist resorts. They do have much autonomy with a democratically elected governor, a 32-representative legislative body and a supreme court. Guam also gets one representative in the US House, without voting rights, but he/she serves on committee and can participate in discussions. This is much more than they ever had with the Spanish and Japanese. However, I do feel that they should have more autonomy. I would suggest merging with the rest of the Marianas Islands and become a commonwealth, similar to that of Puerto Rico.

It somewhat feels like the USA with Kmart (no competition from Target or Walmart so it is THE place to be in Guam), Home Depot and several American fast food franchises. Most (75%) of the people are chamorro, Filipino, Asian, Pacific Islander, bicultural and only 7% white. That compares to Hawaii with a 25% white population, so it does feel like a foreign place.

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Guam National Wildlife Refuge – Coconut Palm Grove

When I travel to places I always ask myself could I live here. I am not sure what it would be like to live on an islands 4-8 miles wide and 32 miles long. The weather and scenery is so nice, however. I don’t think I would ever get sick of those beautiful sunsets, Pacific waves, palm trees and the green hills. Sadly the introduced brown tree snake from Australia has decimated the island’s bird population and there is certainly a lack of birds here. Not many mosquitos however as well. The chamorros remind me a bit of the Venezuelans (where I lived for six years) with the cement block, flat roofed homes, cars on blocks in the yard and dark skin. Everyone here has been super friendly and I am sure we could find friends and a community here. I think I could live here with a fulfilling job and good school for my children. We will most likely be back here as it is an inexpensive flight from Japan and there are plenty of outdoors (hiking, snorkeling) for me.

It was great to decompress in a tropical paradise and enjoy a bit of the US culture.

Reaching the Top of Guam

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Reaching the Top of Guam

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Ocean is leading the way 

Yesterday we climbed Mount Lamlam (lightning in Chamorro) which is 1,332 feet (406 meters) above sea level. The locals look at it being actually 38,300 feet if you start measuring the elevation from the bottom of the Marianas Trench. However, the trench is 75 miles off the coast of Guam and so cannot really be considered a single geologic feature like Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

We actually did two summits, the first Mount Jumollong Manglo (1,283 feet) is where the annual Good Friday stations of the cross pilgrimage takes place. We saw the white crosses at regular intervals and the big monument cross was a short distance from the fork for Lamlam.

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Oliver in the grove of Pandanus trees

We encountered steep hillsides of sawgrass in the initial portion of the hike. It reminded me of the 1998 movie about the WWII battle for Guadalcanal, The Thin Red Line   . The sign that used to indicate which direction to the two peaks are the fork is missing. For those of you reading this before doing the hike, Jumollong is to the right and Lamlam is to the left on the smaller trail.

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Hills of Sawgrass

The path to Mount Lamlam goes through some incredibly beautiful Pandanus forest and limestone outcroppings. It is amazing to think that the limestone rock was once coral reef. One needs to be careful climbing on the sharp rock, especially towards the peak. It was the most pandanus trees I have ever seen! It felt like walking on the set of Jurassic Park. I am not sure which species of pandanus of the 750 total, but it is also known as the “screw pine” because the leaves are arranged spirally like a screw and the fruit looks like a massive pine cone. They kind of look like palms, but are not related. I also spotted several cycads, which are endangered in Guam. The forests surrounding Lamlam peak are the only limestone forest tracts except in the Guam National Wildlife Refuge in the far north of the island.

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A careful descent from the peak over sharp limestone

South Pacific Paradise

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This was our view yesterday afternoon at the Guam National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is a protected wilderness area that abuts the Anderson Air Force base. They have preserved a stretch of coastline in the far north of the island from hotels, private homes & apartments and other development. If it was up to me, no one would be able to put anything on the a body of water. That is for another blog post…

It was a Saturday afternoon and there were probably about 50-100 people in the entire 385-acre park. We had a big section to ourselves. We drove our car down a narrow two-track path to a section of forest with an opening to the beach. It provided a shady, flat area to set up our blankets and gear. There was plenty of coral for the kids to snorkel as you can see Oliver and Ocean below.

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We sadly had to leave at 4:00 PM because government officials close the refuge. We will definitely go back this week and fully explore the trails in the park.

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Initial Impressions of Guam

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Owen and I out on the kayaks. 

I have been on the island for only a few days and mostly spent in the far south of the island. Purposely I chose to stay away from the urban area Agana with its resorts and hotels.

Driving through the villages of the south, it reminds me of Venezuela. The quality of most of the homes is substandard to mainland American homes. Definitely a poorer economy for most of the islanders. This is in contrast to the military housing facilities which are suburbia USA. You can’t beat the weather however, with sunny skies, warm nights and the Pacific ocean always near by, it makes me long for living again in the tropics. I spent 13 years living in Latin America and was ready for temperate climes and the change of seasons, but there is something to be said for tropical living.

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Another delicious dinner by Nadia!

I basically see Guam as a roadside park. The Pacific Ocean is huge and refueling/rest stops are needed for America as they try to control shipping and air of the whole world with their military. Hence, the naval and air force bases on Guam and it is an American territory. I can see why Guam and Saipan were fought over so fiercely in World War II. Using airstrips and facilities on these islands put the USA within striking distance of mainland Japan. With China building islands in the south China Sea and apparently trying to make a sphere of influence similar to what America did in the Caribbean (read Robert Kaplan’s book, Asia’s Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific), I don’t see the USA leaving anytime soon. Outside of the city, it doesn’t feel like America until you get in the supermarket or watch TV. Most of the people I see are dark-skinned Polynesians, who look a bit like Venezuelans. It is ironic that besides military bases, Guam relies on Japanese tourism to boost their economy. Over 1 million Japanese visit yearly. It is only an inexpensive, 3-hour direct flight from Osaka.

We are enjoying quiet family time together and soaking up the south Pacific land and sea natural beauty.

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It is nice to have time to watch the sunset. 

Sella Bay Hike

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A view to Sella Bay from the top of the trail. 

A wonderful and challenging hike today from the Sella Bay trailhead, 500 meters above the beach. The trail led us across two small creeks and into an old coconut palm grove. The views were spectacular all the way down with some varied vegetation. When we got to the beach, we were rewarded with crossing this old Spanish bridge, over 300 years old. Amazing it has stood the test of time with erosion and typhoons, you think it would not still be standing.

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The highlight of the beach time was the superb snorkeling. Owen and I went out past the reef and looked down into the abyss. Thousands of multicolored fish, coral and other creatures. Ocean and I had a great time snorkeling in the tidal pools.

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Oliver and Ocean were troopers! Ocean is so calm and methodical in her hiking. Oliver is really in his element in wilderness. It rained a couple of times, making the trail quite slippery in many places. We made it back safe and sound.

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We didn’t see anyone the whole afternoon and had the beach to ourselves. I love the tropics and the smell of the sea, high humidity and tropical foliage, made for a day I won’t soon forget! My highlight was Owen’s reaction when we passed the high point of the reef. “It was like a documentary!” The snorkeling was really great and I recommend anyone doing the hike. It is located on the south side of the island, not far from where we are staying.

 

Ollie & Owen Sporting Glory

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Oliver displaying Saber sportsmanship

Friday I accompanied the “Junior Sabers” basketball team downtown to play basketball at the Osaka YMCA International School (OYIS). The grades 3-5 basketball club at school wanted a culminating game, so we arranged a day of hoops at OYIS. Oliver was a combination of the power of Andre Drummond and the speed of Reggie Jackson. We are big Detroit Pistons fans and the boys model their games after them. The kids on both schools really enjoyed themselves and the purpose of the day was exercise, learning the fundamentals of the sport and experiencing a competitive team sport and all that comes with it.

Owen centers the ball against Marist Brothers I.S.

Owen finished his soccer season last weekend by winning the Western Japan Athletic Association (WJAA) championship. The “Sabers” upset a much older Nagoya I.S. in the semifinals 7-5 and host Canadian Academy 2-1 in the finals. Owen scored 5 goals in the two days.

Ollie is so fun to watch on the court. He is a big boy, especially here in Japan and is quite physical on the court. Playing against your older brother makes him a bit more aggressive than the other students.

Owen played striker this season and enjoyed playing.  The winter seasons are now over for both Owen and Ollie and we are looking forward to more sports this spring.

 

West Iron County Basketball 1984-85

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I made a digital copy of an old (almost 31 years ago) VHS tape of my high school basketball team. I graduate from West Iron County High School, “the Wykons” in 1985. On the video tape were the following games:

  1. My dad filmed the fourth quarter of a regular season game against Iron Mountain high school in the Iron River Armory. We played our games there for years before a new gymnasium built in the new high school. It is appropriate that the new gym is named after our coach, Charles “Chuck” Greenland, who passed away a few years ago. This was the game featuring “the shot” which was my greatest moment in my high school basketball career. I made a last second shot to give us a 56-54 victory, giving the then #1 ranked team in the Class C Upper Peninsula of Michigan polls their first loss of the season. It was wonderful to hear my dad’s voice on the video. It was also great to see so many people at a high school basketball game. This was in the early 1980s before the internet and cable television was just starting, so people had more time to pay attention to high school sports.
  2. Next are the WLUC TV channel 6 news broadcasts of the game above and later in the season, we played Iron Mountain again in the first game of the district tournament. I enjoyed watching the sports segment on the 10:00 pm news program on the television station in Marquette, Michigan, the “capital city” of the Upper Peninsula. My sons were awestruck to see and hear me speak as a teenager and I won’t forget the look on their faces when they watched the video.
  3. Finally, there is the entire WLUC TV broadcast of the class C regional championship basketball game we played against Manistique high school. This was the unofficial Upper Peninsula championship game. We went on to the Michigan state finals, that season, finishing 24-4. I hope to find some more old VHS tapes that I can upload.

I want to thank my teammates, Dan Lewis, Brian Lewis, Jeff Shepich, Mike Nelson and “the scrubs”(Tom Anderson, Scott Bociek, Dave Puskala, Troy Brunelli, Matt Sherman, Kyle Erickson (RIP), Gary Sarafiny, Darren Bray, Bob Lindbeck, Ray Waite and coach Greenland. I have so many fond memories from our basketball team and the good times we had in high school.

Kralovec Boys Perform

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Oliver is shown above (third from the left) in the recent school production of Grease. He was a member of the elementary school choir that performed several songs in the musical. Oliver’s costume was that of a “greaser” and he had fun with the 1950s hair style. The little guy put a lot of time into the rehearsals and the four performances. As he was on stage more, he became more comfortable, singing and dancing in front of large audiences. The performing arts gives young people the opportunity to develop self confidence and presentation skills. It also gave Nadia and I a thrill to see him on stage. Congratulations to Oliver, we are so proud of you!

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Earlier this week Owen had his turn on the stage at the middle school music concert. He was featured in the first ensemble. The four piece ensemble played the difficult, “Gonna Fly Now” the famous theme from the movie Rocky. He has been playing the trumpet for almost two years now. Owen is getting pretty good and I hope he continues to play. Music is good for the soul and being able to create your own music to me, a non-musician, is special.

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Below is the video of his performance. Way to go Owen!!!!

Geocaching on the Yodo River

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Sunday afternoon we took the kids down to the Yodo River, one of the big rivers running through Osaka into the bay. There are over 300 geocaches along the shores of the river and people come from all over to see how many they can get in a day. We did a loop around both banks of the river and got a bunch, but not close to 300. The sun was out and despite the cold winds, it was quite pleasant to be outside. The Japanese love baseball and play all year round as you can see by the photo above. I also like to see the large number of bikes at the park. That is one of the reasons the Japanese are so healthy is that they get a lot of exercise, which is a suggestion for Americans to improve their health.

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As I have previously written, geocaching is a great excuse to get outdoors, spend time together as a family and explore new areas. The river banks are for public use in Japan and one finds sports fields, golf courses, bike paths, fishing spots, etc. We are passing over the Nagara bridge, just outside the central business district (photo above)

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Above are the old locks that carried boats between the Okawa and Yodo rivers. Because of dams and levees to prevent flooding, the two rivers had a large difference in elevation. They are no longer used and city officials have turned them into a sort of outdoor museum.

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A highlight for me was crossing this train bridge. The tracks are under construction so no trains are crossing, but Oliver was really frightened to cross, thinking a train would come. There is space on the side and it is safe, so it was a managed risk situation. We made it across with no problems.

Thanks to Josep for driving and Pico and Bernie for helping us find so many geocaches!