I am realizing my time in Osaka is limited so I am getting around the city and taking photos/videos so I remember it. The Keishin (Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe) metropolitan area of 20 million people is vast and I discover new buildings, neighborhoods, parks, etc. all the time. Below are some photos of my recent travels on bike, foot, car and train.
Osaka is diverse and it is reflected in the photographs above. The 580-meter long ShinSaiBashi Suji shopping street gets up to a quarter of a million visitors on an average weekend. Osaka is a city of rivers and canals which flow through the city, going from the mountains in the hinterlands of Kansai, eventually pouring out into Osaka Bay. Photos above show the Yodo River downtown and the Muko River near the mouth, which is an industrial port zone. Speaking of ports, a couple of the photos are from the artificial island, Rokko. Japanese construction projects are amazing and for 20 years, from 1972-1993, they moved mountaintops behind Kobe on giant conveyor belts to the sea. They created a 3.4 kilometer by 2-kilometer wide artificial island, built from the Rokko Mountain range. The sunset photo is from my morning bike ride. The sun is coming up over Senri New Town, which is really not “new” anymore, being developed in the 1960s and 1970s.
I survived my first big meal of fugu (blowfish) earlier this week. The school had a consultant visiting and so we showed him some of Osaka. Ganko restaurant in Senri Chuo was serving the winter special, fugu. The liver and some other parts contain poison and if not prepared and served correctly, diners could die. The poison of the blowfish is stronger than cyanide. A possibly poisonous fish was sold last week here.
A hotpot of Fugu
We ate it served in a “hotpot” served right on our table. The mix of vegetables, glass noodles and fugu cost 1,980 yen ($18) and it was enough for three of us. I love in Japan when you can cook at your table. I will definitely have it again if I come across it this winter.
We finished classes this week on Tuesday and the first week of our Christmas and New Year’s holidays has flown by. I am teaching myself video editing with Mac’s Final Cut Pro. I am trying everyday to learn a new technique or part of the program. The best way to get better at something is to get a lot of repetitions, hence the series of videos I am making.
Oliver after one month of wearing an elbow to wrist cast, getting it removed is the subject of the first video. Japan culture is risk adverse and so for a small fracture of the radius, they put an elbow-to-wrist cast on Oliver for one month. It was nice to watch his relief at finally having his arm free. It also speaks to the Japan health care system, one of the best in the world in my opinion. They really do take care of its citizens and provide free health care for everyone. Our family is outside of the national system, so we pay and get reimbursed by our international health insurance company. You can see how automated financial transactions are becoming here at the end of the video.
The second video documents the arrival of Alejandra and Sebastian and our Winter Solstice tennis game at the local courts here in Minoh. Despite a day of rain yesterday, the weather has been really nice with temperatures well above zero and blue skies. It is not good for skiing however, and I am disappointed that higher temperatures are delaying the opening of the nearby Biwako Valley Ski Resort for the season.
The tennis in the video is certainly not ATP-level play, but the spirit of competition is. Enjoy!
Owen dreaming of Matthew Stafford (Imabari Beach – November 25, 2018)
We celebrated Owen’s 16th birthday on Thursday by going to the Korean BBQ restaurant, One Karubi in our neighborhood. We had a good meal and went through our family blog looking at the entries for his birthday celebrations through the years.
Outside the restaurant – December 13, 2018
As you can see in the photo, the kids are standing on their toes to emphasize the fact they are getting taller. Owen has passed Nadia and I. I can also no longer beat him in basketball or sports, as he is faster, stronger and more agile than me. A milestone has been reached! Oliver is quickly getting there as well!
I am so proud of Owen as he is growing up into a fine young gentleman. It is also so nice to have the kids at these ages (16, 13, 11) because we have such rich family conversations. Happy Birthday Owen, we love you!
I was brought back 30 years to my high school basketball playing days in the annual faculty versus students basketball game. On Tuesday, the “Fossils”, a team of teachers, staff, parents and alumni defeated the high school varsity basketball team 55-54. There were quite a few students in attendance and as the game became closer in the second half, the crowd noise was reminiscent of my playing days. It felt good to be part of a team and involved in a tense, closely matched game.
My mind felt like I was 17 years old again, but my body felt its 51 years. I am still able to shoot, make passes and enjoy the game, but I felt slow and weak compared to the high school players. Our team was helped by the younger staff member Keishi Uenoya, who scored 21 points and a couple of young and new faculty members Nikolic sensei and Okamoto sensei who propelled us to the win. I scored 6 points and was happy to contribute to the team.
A group of adults play every Wednesday evening at the school, but I do not regularly participate for fear of injury. I can still play, but it is not worth the risk of long-term damage, so I pick my times I participate. I am content to play with my children and the neighborhood kids.
Okamoto, Morioka, Yamamoto, Kralovec, Nikolic, Mecklem, Honda and Uenoya (left to right)
I am teaching myself video editing in Final Cut Pro. I put together some footage of a bike ride the boys and I did this summer. I miss the warm weather!
The past three days I have been really busy at the conference and not much time to do any sightseeing. The conference is being held at the Intercontinental Hotel which is in the West Berlin area of Kurfurstendamm. This has always been a commercial area favored by the upper classes of Berlin. The focus of the city has moved east and today it is more touristy than authentic, according to the excellent guidebook, Rick Steves Berlin. The Germans are fanatical about Christmas and so I had to buy a decoration for our tree at the Kathe Wohlfarht Christmas Ornament Superstore in the Bikini Berlin Shopping Mall.
Kaiser Wilhelm I Memorial Church
On my walk from the Kurfurstendamm train station to the hotel, I pass the Kaiser Wilhelm I Memorial Church. It is dedicated to the first Emperor of Germany who reigned from 1871 to 1888, which is the year my dad’s grandfather, Andreas Kralovec, emigrated to the USA at age 18 from Bohemia. He probably remembered Wilhelm’s reign. The church was partially destroyed during an Allied bombing raid and city officials wisely decided to keep it as a reminder of the destruction of the city. A modern church was built next to it.
One of the many running paths in Tiergarten
The hotel is close to Berlin’s Central Park, the 400-acre Tiergarten Park is a really nice wooded area. I love large urban parks and the Tiergarten fits the bill. This was the site of the infamous June 17, 1953, uprising of East Berliners and subsequent massacre when the rally was closed down by officials. To this day, June 17 is German Unity Day and a national holiday. Hitler moved the iconic Victory Column (Siegessaule) to the center of the park before World War II. The column celebrated Prussian victories over the Danes and Austrians. He had grand plans for his Nazi capital of the world and the tower was to serve as a landmark, Washington Monument-style for the long and wide boulevard from the city center. The tower was moved from near the Reichstag and by doing so, saved it from being destroyed by the Allies. You can walk up the long winding stairs to the top and get a pretty good view of the city. The Tiergarten was close to the hotel that was hosting the conference so during short breaks, I walked around the park. The classic autumn leaves, crisp blue skies and long paths through the forest was such a delight and recharged my energy during the many interviews I had during the three-day conference.
Oliver fell off his bike on Monday after school. He had a small break at the end of his radius, near his right wrist. I shot some video at the Minoh City Hospital. I am learning how to edit video using Final Cut Pro and this is one of my first attempts.
He is doing OK and is in not any pain. He loved all the attention the cast garnered him at school. Ollie showed up early to school with his Sharpie® for his classmates to sign the cast.
Ollie poses in front of Hauptstraße 155, 10827 Berlin
Close to our Air BNB apartment in Berlin is the apartment where David Bowie lived in the late 1970s. This was a hard time for Bowie, he was fighting an addiction to cocaine while living in Los Angeles. He moved to Berlin to get away from the drugs and he was also seeking anonymity. Bowie was also going through a divorce from his wife Angela. In his four years living in Berlin, he beat his coke addiction, divorced his wife and recorded three albums. All were pretty good commercial successes and included Low (1977), Heroes (1977) and Lodger (1979). In 1980 he moved to New York to begin another stage in his life. That is one of the things I admire about Bowie is how he continually redefined his music and his stage characters.
His apartment building is marked by a plaque. Dedicated fans left flowers and candles and it has become somewhat of a shrine. When he died in early 2016, many people left flowers and mementos. He shared the apartment with Iggy Pop.
Bowie’s music is always on our Spotify rotation and one of our favorite musicians.
On our way back, we found a store selling American candy and bought some Hubba Bubba gum and the boys ate their first Twinkie.
I got to explore a bit of Berlin before my conference began and enjoyed getting to know this vibrant, global city. Berlin is the largest city in continental Europe and only London is larger in the wider region. The greater metropolitan area has a population of almost six million people. It is the capital of Germany since it became unified in 1990 and is truly a world-class city, with a high standard of living, incredible fine arts and cultural opportunities and a huge service and IT and business sector.
The city started on the banks for the Spree River and has been an important part of the various German/Prussian kingdoms for over 1000 years. In reading a bit of the city’s history, I learned that the Germanic tribes ousted Slavic tribes in the 7th century AD. 20th-century history is more on display in the city of course, with Berlin serving as the capital of Hitler’s Third Reich. Berlin was destroyed in World War II and not much is left, thankfully, of the Nazis here. Germany does acknowledge publicly the horrors of WWII, much more than in Japan.
Oliver in Pariser Platz in front of the Brandenburg Gate
My biggest interest in the city was considering the Berlin Wall, which divided the city during the Cold War. It started being built suddenly in 1961 to stop the flow of defectors leaving East Germany and didn’t come down until 1989.
Checkpoint Charlie
Two of the major icons of Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag were not used during this era because they were in the “no-man’s land” near the border between east and west. The path of the former wall is marked on the sidewalks near the area. Today it is a really well done public space along the river and huge parks and plazas surrounding them. The Reichstag was renovated in the 90s and a glass dome was added to the roof and is a huge tourist draw. The tour was fully booked during the time we were in the city.
A classic Berlin “currywurst” (pork sausage, ketchup, curry powder, Worschester sauce
The highlight for me was seeing the remnants of the wall near the train station of Nordbahnhof station and Checkpoint Charlie. We read many poignant stories of people successfully escaping the Iron Curtain and also, tragically, stories of many lives lost because of the wall. People were so desperate to get out that they tried all sorts of risky methods of leaving including homemade hot air balloon, makeshift zip lines, and hidden compartments in cars. It was so sad to hear how families were separated from each other in the division of the city. I highly recommend spending time in the Mauer Museum at Checkpoint Charlie.
The Bundestag on the banks of the Spree River
I have not been in Europe since leaving Belgrade in 2014 and it was so nice to feel the vibes of life in a European city. It is so different from life in Japan. The wide streets lined with thousands of huge trees and the old, but well-kempt, solid apartment blocks, make it a very different cityscape than Japan. I sampled the famous Berlin currywurst on the Pariser Platz. I noticed thousands of tourists from all over the world, not as diverse as New York City, but still, tourism is a big business here and the city receives more tourists than Rome.
The Reichstag
This was the most time I’ve spent in Germany, with my previous visits to Frankfurt and Munich, were either short business trips or overnight stays during transport. The Germans certainly are big, both men and women, and it was in stark contrast to the diminutive Japanese I am used to. I didn’t notice a large immigrant population here. Our taxi driver was from Somalia and there were Middle Eastern commuters on the trains. I was curious to see the impact of immigration. I read articles that the right was growing in strength in German politics, somewhat based on the fears of large immigration.
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