Category: Uncategorized

Oh No! Hanshin Tigers are in Last Place.

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The boys and I went to Koshien stadium again last weekend to watch the Hanshin Tigers host the Hiroshima Carp in the Japan professional baseball league We had a great time, however, the Tigers lost 2-7 and fell to 15-20 for the season, good for last place in the Central league standing, just below the Carp who improved their record to 16-18 with the win.It was a gorgeous day and a full crowd at Koshien stadium. and we had a lot of fun. The left field section was a sea of red Hiroshima supporters. Leading the way for the Carp was catcher Tsubasa Aizawa, who went 3-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Yuya Fukui pitched 7 innings and allowed only 1 run. Randy Messenger, the import pitcher for the Tigers, lost, allowing 5 runs in 6 innings of work. Particularly disappointing for the Tigers was Mauro Gomez, who struck out twice and weakly grounded to third twice with runners in scoring position. The bright spots for Hanshin was our man, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, who made several brilliant fielding plays at third base and had a clutch, two-out hit to drive in their first run. (He has the best individual player song.) Toritani, the shortstop also had a double and triple, and was robbed of another big hit by a spectacular catch by Carp centerfielder Yoshihiro Maru. Matt Murton, another import for the Tigers, did not play today, although during batting practice, he gave Oliver and Kenta rubber wrist bands and said hello. It made the boys day.

The Hanshin Tiger Fans are the most passionate in Japan

The passion the Tiger fans have for their team is incredible. Like in the US around some professional teams, people get dressed up to go to the game and make a full day out of the stadium experience. I enjoy going occasionally, but it is a serious time commitment. Considering the 1 hour drive to the stadium and 3-4 hour games, it does take up a day. I think it is fine once in a while, but I would never be a season ticket holder or go every weekend.

3B Nishioka with Matt Murton in the background

I taught the boys how to score a baseball game. They also got down to the field and watch the teams take infield practice and batting practice. One does not appreciate the skill and athleticism of professional baseball players on television. In person, you can see how every throw they make it perfect. I think they now like baseball and I hope to get them to play on a Japanese club in the neighborhood besides the school team. We shall see.

Happy Birthday Oliver

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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

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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

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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.

Macau: A Tale of Two Cities

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The Venetian Casino at Night

I spent an absorbing 5 days in Macau over the holiday, not only because of the International Baccalaureate education conference I attended, but also because of the city-state itself.

Let me explain the title of the blog post. The main part of Macau is a peninsula jutting out into the South China Sea. It is separated from mainland China by a river. I stayed on a hill that was a park amidst a sea of apartment buildings and traffic.I think the hotel was a former convent because its name, Posado de las Monjas (Lodging of the Nuns), which is today a hospitality and tourism university. The university runs a small hotel and nice restaurant, and I highly recommend both. I thought it funny that the Chinese taxi drivers only recognized it as Mung-ho and not the original Portuguese of monjas. Macau is the most densely populated country in the world and I really felt it, despite being in the middle of a park. As you can see from the view from the top of the hill, there is a lot of humanity packed into a small space. The peninsula is where most citizens live and it was generally run down, chaotic but people were friendly and no one bothered me. The historic center is quite nice, with typical Iberian main plaza, a cobblestone shopping street and beautiful facade of an old cathedral. The rest of the peninsula was old dingy apartment buildings and colonial buildings that have seen better days.

Macau also has two islands, now one island because of land reclamation. This is the casino tourism part of the city-state and totally different from the old city in the peninsula. I have not been to Las Vegas in 20 years but the size of the casinos and connected shopping malls, restaurants and night clubs reminded me of my time there. The size of the casinos are immense and it is hard to capture the scale. The conference was held at the Sheraton, the world’s biggest, and walking between the meeting and exhibition rooms took a long time. I went for a walk across the street via covered walkway and went into the Venetian casino’s shopping mall, which was a replica of Italy, with canals, gondolas and even St. Mark’s Square. There was also an events arena attached to the mall.

Tourists take a ride in the gondola in the mall

I sensed that the Chinese with their new found wealth really wanted to spend it. This part of Macau was a capitalism/consumerism amusement park. It had all of the brand name stores, Dolce & Gabbana, Rolex, etc. I didn’t see much of the reported slowdown of tourists, in fact, there were 4 massive construction projects. Thousands of workers and tens of huge cranes could be seen as I walked around the island between meetings. I don’t see the appeal of a casino vacation, and the idea of a family resort destination had not reached Macau yet. The vibe of the place is captured in this David Beckham ad for the Venetian casino. He does an incredible acting performance by the way!

This is one place I could never live. The opportunity for outdoor pursuits, like biking or jogging were extremely limited. There were some pathways along the water front and in the parks, but only short distances. I also was intrigued by the pollution. Although my app said the air quality of the city was fine, I never did see the sun or blue sky. It was a constant haze as seen from the window of the taxi I took across one of the three bridges to the casino island.

It will be interesting to see how Macau develops as the Chinese economy matures and takes over the city-state in 2049. I am also curious now to visit Hong Kong, and compare and contrast it to Macau. I talked to a taxi driver from Macau and he didn’t care about being taken over by China. He didn’t like the government trying to control the number of mainland tourists who were coming to the city, but he argued that the city was already Chinese and he was just concerned about making a living and providing for his two children.

The historical center of Macau

It would take an extremely generous salary and benefit package for me to work in China. I’ll wait to visit Shanghai and Beijing before making a firm judgment, but I was relieved leave Macau and come back to the quiet and refined system of Japan.

Arrival to Macau

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We got in pretty late so not much time to get a feel for the place. Initial impressions are a lot of people packed in a small area. The photos are from the Parque de Mong Hu (Las Monjas – The Nuns) on the peninsula part of Macau. We are staying in the older part of the city, near the Chinese border. I am looking forward to seeing the place in the day.

I had a discussion this morning with my children. Is Macau a country or not? The stakes were somewhat high because we keep track of the number of countries we visit, so if we determine Macau to be a country, then it would add to my total. In favor of being a country were that Macau has its own currency, FIFA world cup soccer team, flag and most importantly, Chinese citizens need to have their passports stamped upon entry. Not in favor is that it is basically a Chinese port city. 95% of Macau’s population is ethnic Chinese, as the majority of its citizens have been throughout its history, even with a small cadre of Portuguese sailors and managers running the colony for 450 years. 2/3 of the 31.5 million visitor arrivals in 2014 were “mainlanders” or Chinese. So, basically it is a Chinese city, but until 2049, when it loses its “Special Administrative Region” status, it is regarded as its own country.

The most interesting thing about Macau is that it is Las Vegas on steroids! It is the gambling capital of the world, thanks to the fact that Chinese love casinos and gambling. In 2013 the gambling industry took in 45 billion dollars compared to the 6.5 billion of Las Vegas. I am looking forward to seeing the size of the casinos, although I am not a big gambler and do not see the appeal of gambling as a holiday destination. Macau’s gambling revenue has dropped recently due to the crackdown on corruption and money laundering by the Chinese leader, Xi Jingping. Rich mainlanders use yuan to buy chips and cash out in other currency. It is a good way of getting money out of the country. The Chinese government is making it harder for mainlanders to get visas and is going after casinos to control these “high rollers”. They also prohibited smoking, which is even a greater love to the Chinese than gambling. Other countries are moving in like Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia offering perks to these rich Chinese gamblers. I am curious to see if the casinos are empty.

The other interesting statistic is that Macau is the most densely populated country in the world. The 600,000 people are squeezed in a small peninsula and two former islands that are now connected through reclaiming the sea. I have been to number 7 and 8 on the list, Malta and Bahrain, so I will see if it feels crowded.

The city is named after the Chinese goddess Ma – tsu, the goddess of seafarers, because of a temple dedicated to her that is located there. Legend has it that as a young girl in the 900s, she saved her father and brothers who were at sea in a storm through the powers of her mind in a dream. Her mother is said to have woken her which caused the death of her father or a brother, it depends on who is telling the story. As with all pre-history historical figures, details are sketchy. The Portuguese took over the port around 1550 and used it as a trading port for Chinese silk, tea and porcelain. I read that in circa 1600 census, there were 2000 Portuguese, 20,000 Chinese, and 5,000 African slaves. The slaves must have been treated well as they repelled the Dutch when they tried to take it over. Amazing to think today that countries like Portugal and the Netherlands could take and run an port in such a big country as China. In World War II, the allies bombed it because despite its neutral status, they sold fuel to the Japanese. The Portuguese held it until it went to China in 1999 and eventually in 2049 it will become fully a part of China. I wonder why they drive on the left side, while mainland China is on the right and so is Portugal? There are few remnants of Portugal’s long control of the city-state, some buildings, including the ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which burned down in 1835, some DNA and language bits which will soon be washed out by the demographics of China.

I love to discover new places and see how other people live. I always ask myself, could I live there?

On a postscript, in reading The Macau Post Daily Independent, the headlines showed the arrest of 36 “kingpins” of a gang of “pimps”. The young men, ranging in ages from 16-27, arranged prostitutes to visit clients in their hotel rooms. The article got into the economics of the system, the girl only got 50% of the money, the gang member who found the client got 30%, and 20% went to the “kingpin”. The girls also only got paid when they returned to the mainland. So sad that they need to do this to earn a decent living. The men are facing up to 8 years in prison, including the 16 year old, and if found part of organized crime gang, the prison term increases to 15 years. The Macau police department office has both Chinese and Portuguese signs in the background. Other news were as follows:
• the arrest of thief from the mainland who is accused of stealing valuables from 14 cars – he drove around in a scooter looking for potential targets and sold or pawned the mobile phones, tablet computers using the victims’ ID cards – he came to Macau illegally by boat and lost all him money gambling, hence the crime spree on a stolen scooter
• Wynn Resort’s chairman, Steve Wynn is fighting his ex-wife in court over voting control of her 9.4% shares in the company. She is trying to stay on the board, but at the last board meeting, members wanted her out because of a conflict of interest and for creating a negative atmosphere and hurting the board’s effectiveness. Wynn has a large casino in Macau.
• The smoking ban will be increased to include all areas of the casino, including the VIP rooms. A PSA on the front page reminded people of the smoking ban in massage parlors that started this year.
• The governing body of Macau, the “Legislative Assembly” is discussing education law in Macau and is reaffirming the freedom of teachers to deal with sensitive Chinese history topics like the Cultural Revolution and the June 4 protests in Hong Kong. They are also trying to create a mandatory minimum wage bill within 3 years for all sectors of Macau, including doormen and janitors. They are proposing 30 patacas (a little over $3). It is the only jurisdiction in China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, that does not have a minimum wage law.
• There a page of articles describing Chinese control of Macau, including one government official making a statement control of the number of tourist visas, another denying the movie Selma was banned in Macau and the LA would seek more input from civic associations, professional groups and individuals when making decisions.

Life in Japan: School Uniforms

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Boys leaving the train station in their school uniforms.

Last Saturday upon dropping off Owen at the train station for his trip to Kobe for soccer, I ran into a large group of students. They were on their way to school. Many Japanese students do go to school for a half day on Saturdays. This may be to do some special test preparation for university or high school entrance exams or special lessons in civics or community service that are not covered during the regular school week.

Prussian military officer in uniform circa 1912 (courtesy of Worldwar1.com)

The boys’ school uniforms are distinct. They are called ga-ku-ra-n, which translates to “gaku-school/student” and “ran-Netherlands”. Historically in Japan, the “west” or all Europeans, were referred to coming from the Netherlands because at the time, they were the most common traders in the few ports that were opened to foreigners. The school uniforms first were designed in the late 1800s and modeled after western military styles. I read where uniforms for boys were modeled after either French or Prussian soldiers. I wonder why they haven’t changed since? Is it the Japanese respect for tradition and uncomfortableness with change for certain things?

I think it is a good look, however, in putting myself in a young person’s shoes, it must be a bit uncomfortable to where these to school, especially the hats and buttoned jackets. As you can see from the photo above, they do look like soldiers or policemen directing traffic.

Girls uniforms are modeled after naval uniforms. I’ll get some photos later. Some uniforms are more in the British style classic school girl uniform with plaid skirt, tie, and vest. You can see this in the photo below. The girls wanted a photo with my son Oliver and nephew Seby when we were visiting Kyoto this fall.

At the private international school I teach at, uniforms are not required. Some girls however, where the British school girl outfit as a fashion statement. Some want us to adopt them as the school uniform, I think because they have been featured in pop culture in television, movies and graphic novels.

Hinamatsuri (Girls’ Day)

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The hinamatsuri display in our school’s library.

March 3 is hinamatsuri or girls day in Japan. It is traditional to display the doll set above and it is a day for praying for young girls’ health and happiness. The custom of displaying the dolls comes from the Heian Period which was from around 800 AD to 1,100 AD. Heian means “Kyoto” and this was the period when Kyoto was the capital, the imperial court was at its height and ideas from China (Buddhism, Taosim, etc.) were most popular. It is not a national holiday.

The librarian Chieko showed Ocean and I how to make hinamatsuri dolls.

The display above is the traditional 7-tier and red carpet. The platforms are as follows, moving from top (1) to bottom (7):

  1. Emperor & Empress
  2. Three court ladies holding sake equipment
  3. Five court musicians
  4. Two ministers, and old and young man; tables with bowls and food
  5. Cherry tree and Peach tree enclosing three samurai
  6. Items used within the palace
  7. Items used outside of the palace (ex- palanquin)

My favorite doll is one of the samurai with the grumpy look on his face.

I would like to thank the librarian staff for putting up the display and for Chieko for spending some time with Ocean and I and making it a special day. I will spend some extra time with Ocean tomorrow in honor of the celebration.