Oki-na Gaijin, Chisai-na Kuni (Big Foreigner, Small Country) #6

March 25 - Shibuya, Harajuku and Akihabara

After breakfast, Colleen and I headed to some intense shopping. I'm finding that my Japanese has come back quite a bit over the past few days and dealing with people in stores and restaurants has been great practice.



The first place we went to was Shibuya 109 - I think it's named that because there are 109 different little stores in it! It's a teen girl's shopping dream of both cheap and expensive clothes and accessories. Unfortunately for Colleen, she's gaijin-sized and so, didn't fit most of the the clothes.


Then, onto the busy streets of Shibuya. There are very fancy stores like Louis Vuitton, Prada, and more but Colleen was more interested in great deals.


We stopped at Wendy's as Colleen was missing North American food and ended up with a shrimp burger. Hmmm.

We then went to Takeshite Dori - and this was the kind of shopping that Colleen loved. Crowded, noisy, tons of stores - it was a great Tokyo experience! I even bought a couple things.

Unfortunately there were no dressed up girls at Harajuku Station when we got there but Colleen still enjoyed the experience immensely.


We headed towards the Meiji Shrine but, unfortunately, a bird shared a little joy with Colleen's head so after a quick wash of the hair, it was back on the train.

We headed for that bastion of consumer electronics, Akihabara. I thought I'd lost my subway ticket so I had to pay ¥160 but luckily I found it in my cell phone and was promptly reimbursed.


Akihabara was almost as good as last time and almost as crowded. We went to the Tokyo Anime Centre which was OK but the highlight (for Colleen) was the store.


We then had a nice coffee break where the people watching was excellent, a stop at Yodobashi Camera, and then back to the station.


I think the highlight was when we had our photo taken with some girls dressed up on the street.


Back at Kinshicho station, Yoichi and Keiko met us and we walked into Kinshicho park to look at the Sakura. This time of year is very special in Japan. The cherry blossoms, or sakura, are in bloom and the even of their blooming is called Hanami. Hanami means flower viewing.

We then headed to Yoichi's sister's house which was bitter-sweet. It was great to see his sister and her husband after so many years but is was sad because she has liver cancer. She was up today, though, and we had a very nice visit. Her husband's nick name is Ando-san which means Mr. Ando because when he speaks English, he always says "ando" between words.


We all then went the an Izakaya which is a traditional Japanese bar restaurant. The variety of food that I'd never had before was amazing! I really liked this Japanese version of what looked like a corn dog - it was made from pork and you dipped it in raw egg - oishi (delicious)! There was lots more oshinko (pickled stuff), too. To finish off, we had the biggest o-nigiri (rice ball) I've ever seen in my life! It was like a whole extra meal!

After saying goodbye to Yoichi's sister and Ando-san, we headed home. That was good for Colleen as the smoke in the bar - between the cooking and the fact that almost everyone was smoking in a small place - really bothered her eyes.

All in all, another great day.

Oki-na Gaijin, Chisai-na Kuni (Big Foreigner, Small Country) #5

March 24 - To Kyoto and Back

Today was an early day. I managed to get up by myself and left by 6:45 to catch the train for Tokyo station and, after that, the shinkansen or bullet train to Kyoto. The train to Tokyo station was very crowded - no men with white gloves pushing people into the trains, but getting there.

The Shinkansen is not cheap - ¥13 000 ($130) for a one way trip - but there aren’t a lot of other options for transportation to Kyoto (370 km or 230 miles) and it is fast and clean. It took about 2 and a half hours to get there.

Once I arrived I knew I was going to meet up with my daughter, Colleen. She had been on a one week exchange with a family in Miyoshi (near Hiroshima) along with eight other students from her Japanese class at school.


There were staying at the Kyoto Tower Hotel which, I was told, was across the street from the station. As luck would have it, I exited the wrong side and spent a half an hour finding my way around the station to the hotel! Kyoto station is big!

It was great to see Colleen! She looked good and happy and not the least bit homesick. The exchange had gone extremely well but she was looking forward to her trip to Tokyo.

After some shopping and a nice lunch, we said goodbye to her friends that were returning to Canada and took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo.

Colleen was a huge hit with everyone back at Kinshicho. Her Japanese was clear and her appetite was good - both essential for visiting!

We went to the Tempura restaurant round the corner and Colleen did very well. She did have some issues with the oshinko (pickled stuff), though.

After, we chatted at length in Yoichi’s apartment and then headed for bed - although the bed I was sleeping on and the futon Colleen was curled up beside me made the apartment fell a bit cramped!

Oki-na Gaijin, Chisai-na Kuni (Big Foreigner, Small Country) #4

March 23 - Shibuya and Harajuku

Today started a little late. I didn’t really get up until nine and rang up Yoichi at 10.

Staying with someone certainly changes your travel experience. On one hand, you don’t have the freedom to just go whenever you want. On the flip side, there are opportunities that the average tourist would never have.

We hung out and drank coffee until about noon and then headed toward Kinshicho station. This transportation hub has changed quite a lot in 23 years. There is a new subway line going through the station as well as a couple of different train lines so it is very busy. Yoichi and I had a coffee while Keiko went to the Loto place and placed about 100 ¥100 bets. This is a common event on Sundays.


We eventually got on the subway (Hanzomon Line) and went to Omote Sando. . We had lunch at the Spiral Building, so named for its spiral staircase. After the queasiness of last night, the tomato and rice dish was very settling.


We then walked towards Harajuku. The big draw is the show of rebellious teens who dress up in a variety of costumes on the weekend. Some dress up in weird Bo-Peep costumes, others in frilly dresses, others as goths and other strange outfits. And yes, sometimes it’s boys dressing up in the frilly outfits.



There’s also a narrow, long shopping street called Takeshita-dori which was a sea of people - tourists, shoppers and costume play (Cos-Play) teens. Very festive and busy.


The most Cos-Plays on display were outside Harajuku train station and were quite happy to be photographed. Interestingly, there were a few gaijin dressed up in the mix.


We then walked towards Shibuya past all sorts of very fancy stores (Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc.) that I don’t really care about but are very popular in Japan. We ended up at a gigantic scramble crosswalk in Shibuya - I had to cross it twice - and then headed back for home.


Back in Kinshicho, Yoichi decided that his feet hurt so we all ended up at the massage clinic for a shiatsu body massage. After putting on little Japanese pajamas, the massage guy worked me over for an hour, asking (in Japanese) if I was OK after each excruciating move. But I always said that I did because it felt so good after.

Afterwards, we went to little restaurant near the station which had a nice variety of food. I had the chriasi sushi with is a bowl of rice with a bunch of fish and other stuff on top. It was very good but one of the oshinko - pickled vegetables - that I had - a daikon dyed yellow - was absolutely hideous. Luckily the two big beers I had helped eradicate the bad taste.

After a great dinner and the massage, we were all pretty tired. I watched Bull Durham in Yoichi’s apartment and then retired to bed for my best sleep thus far.

Oki-na Gaijin, Chisai-na Kuni (Big Foreigner, Small Country) #3

March 22 - First full day in Tokyo! Haircut, Good Eats, Electronics, and Karaoke


Started off with a hair cut as I remembered the excellent scalp and shoulder massages that you get from a Japanese hair stylist. Yoichi arranged a hair style for all of us so we went en masse to the stylist.

It started off with a wash and conditioning. The chair I sat in electronically reclined for the wash. Cool! Then off to another chair for the cut. The girl was very careful - almost examined each section of my head - as she cut my hair. Pretty impressive, considering I’m balding - about 5 or 6 times as long as I usually spend in the barber chair at home!

She then washed my hair again and did the massage. It was the most awesome head and neck massage that I've ever had. I was truly in heaven! I’ve no idea what it cost us as Yoichi insisted on paying.


Lunch was Yaki-Niku - Korean Barbecue! A very nice meal but I was quite full after we finished. I was glad that I had skipped breakfast.


The restaurant was at Kinshicho station which has really grown.

After lunch, we headed to the Electronics town at Akihabara. It was tricky buying the train tickets as the place names on the map where you buy tickets are in kanji - Chinese characters. Although Yoichi is no longer a fan of the trains or the subway, I think it is a great system. We only had to go three stops but it only cost a paltry ¥150.


As we left the station in Akihabara, many young women dressed as maids or girls of the future were hawking different stores or products. It was a real carnival atmosphere as there were bright neon lights, loud music, and people everywhere. For the first time since leaving the airport, I saw other gaijin!


After wandering around for awhile, we ended up in Yodobashi Camera store which carries a lot more besides cameras. There are seven floors of electronics including cameras, video, TVs, computers, and a whole lot more. While the prices don’t seem any cheaper than Canada - maybe a little more, actually - there is the latest technology factor. I ended up getting - receiving, actually, a video and still camera courtesy of Yoichi.

The Japanese system of gift giving is pretty wild. In anticipation, I had brought over a number of presents because I knew that Yoichi would buy gifts and pay for things as I spent time with him. The art of trying to pay for even simple things like subway tickets is very tricky.

After a short nap in the early evening, it was time to step out into Tokyo’s entertainment - the night club - but first we had sushi. This was real sushi - no California rolls or Dynamite rolls - just fish, fresh and raw on wonderful rice. There was sushi that I recognized like tuna, salmon and egg but there were lots or fish I didn’t recognize as well as some spices or flavours that were quite odd. As usual, Yoichi just ordered dish after dish and I was absolutely stuffed at the end of dinner. We then met up with a bunch of Yoichi’ friends and headed to the Star Karaoke bar.

As with many Karaoke bars this one was small - think someone’s bigger living room - with lots of low seating, six or seven tables, two flat screens to see the lyrics, snacks, booze and six Filipino women to meet your needs such as talking, lighting cigarettes, offering food, mixing drinks and even dancing. It’s all pretty innocent and quite common in many countries.

In a karaoke bar, customers sing along to music with the assistance of lyrics on a screen, usually with some arty videos in the background. Lots of English songs are now available to sing in stark contrast to when I first visited when there were only 6 songs (Country Roads, Love Me Tender, and a few more).

I sang quite a few songs and was very well received but I’m not sure if it was because of my singing or the fact that I was someone kind of different. All of the singers were excellent and I even enjoyed the traditional Japanese songs (enka).

Unfortunately, one of the strange sushi pieces I ate disagreed with me during the first part of being in the bar. I sang and slowly sipped my chu-hi (Japanese vodka and fruit juice) until my stomach settled. I was probably a little jet lagged as well but was thrilled to be in such god company. By the time we left (about 2:30 AM) I was more than ready to pack it in. Overall, an excellent day!

Oki-na Gaijin, Chisai-na Kuni (Big Foreigner, Small Country) #2

March 21, 2008 - Arrival in Tokyo


After a very windy landing (and much applause to thank the pilot for not killing us) we disembarked. Things moved well until we got to immigration and - like every other time I’ve arrived in Japan- the foreigner line-up was huge! Interestingly, you now have to give your fingerprints and have a photo taken of yourself before you enter the country.

After I picked up my bags, my friend Yoichi and his wife Keiko met me at the airport. After greetings we did not take a train into Tokyo but, instead, had his driver take us! Unbelievable! It probably took the same amount of time as a train but was much more relaxing.


As we entered my old neighbourhood of Tai Hei, near Kinshicho station, it was strange being back. There were many different buildings and business but the feeling was the same as I remember. In some ways, it felt as if hardly any time had passed at all.

I was still feeling perky so after a beer, we went out to a tiny Tempura restaurant around the corner. The tempura was the best that I’ve ever had. There was minimal batter with a host of wonderful seasonal fish and vegetables. The bottomless glass of sake probably didn’t hurt either!

I found, as we talked, that my ability to at least understand Japanese is improving dramatically.

We headed back to the apartment where I had a chu-hi and that slept very peacefully.

Oki-na Gaijin, Chisai-na Kuni (Big Foreigner, Small Country) #1

Introduction

I just returned from a wonderful trip to Tokyo, Japan. Instead of the usual scooter related journal entries, I thought that I’d share my actual journal I kept of my trip. It will be a few days behind but I intend to present the entries daily over the next seven or eight days.

Why Japan? I taught in Tokyo for a year, 23 years ago, and it was time to go back. Also, my youngest daughter was there for a home stay and it seemed like a great opportunity to go back and visit. Finally, my good friend, Yoichi, had visited Canada five years ago so it was my turn.


March 20, 2008

Vancouver International Airport was pretty quiet, considering that this is the start of the Easter Weekend.

My wife, eldest daughter and friend were waiting for me a the airport by the large green native canoe statue. They had returned from Prince George after a visit to UNBC as they might attend university there. Caitlin’s friend looked a bit like a drug addict after taking Gravol for the plane. I hope she didn't barf in our car on the way home.

After a brief visit, lunch and goodbyes, I checked in, made so easy by using the web check-in the night before. The departure lounge was great - tons of stores and very comfortable chairs, not at all like those moulded plastic chairs of old.


One of the things I’d been dreading is the plane. Whenever I’ve taken Westjet or Air Transat I’ve really felt poured into the seat. This time I went Air Canada on a Boeing 767 and the room was OK - I didn't feel squashed as both width and length were fine. I luckily was sitting beside a small Japanese woman. She did have more room than I did due to her small size but we didn't invade each other’s space.

The airplane had quite a few technological advances including a power plug for laptops, a USB charging port for iPods and a touch screen with a large number of videos and TV shows on demand.

Partway through the flight I had a strange, drug-induced experience. My doctor had given me a prescription for Ativan (which I had never taken before) so I could sleep. I took one half-strength pill even though it usually takes me a lot to be sedated (e.g. for a medical treatment). I’m glad I was conservative as after about 10 minutes I had broken into a sweat. Then I felt nauseous. I fought the nausea successfully (although I had a barf bag close by) and after awhile I started to doze.

Wet, Grey Ride to Vancouver

If I were an artist - and I’m not - and I had to paint the colours of today’s ride, I’d only need black, white and maybe a bit of grey.

It was time for another servicing so today I rode into Vancouver. I take my Vespa in every 2000 km or about 4 months to get an oil change and to be checked over. It’s certainly more often than suggested but I l only really want to ride my scooter, not tinker with it, so this has worked well for me.

My youngest daughter is in Japan - I head there on Thursday - so she has my camera. The photos I have posted today were taken with my video camera so I apologize for the lack of quality.



I meant to take some photos on the way but the rain, which was not bad when I was still, completely soaked me while riding. Luckily I have good gloves, waterproof clothes, and I was even wearing my gortex overbooties!


After dropping off the Vespa, I headed into Kitsilano - a trendy section of Vancouver where Vespa Vancouver is located. There’s lots of good restaurants., cool stores and loads of interesting people.


I stopped at Kits Coffee for an early lunch (panini) and a latté while I read a couple guidebooks on Japan. Between the library and the Book Warehouse, I’ve accumulated a number of books about Tokyo - you’d think I hadn’t lived there before - sheesh!


I saw this interesting mutant bicycle - looks like some sort of Harley - Peugeot hybrid. It caused a few people to stop and look.

While talking to my favourite Vespa dealer, Bob, I found out that, much to my surprise, Vespa Vancouver was not rebranding but, in fact, now had a competitor. A couple weeks ago, I was at the Green Living Show in Vancouver and saw a display for Vespa Metro. I assumed that this was a new name for the old store, especially since I vaguely recognized one of the people at the display.


No, Vespa Inc. has decided to open another Vespa retailer in Vancouver, near (but not in) the area known as Little Italy (Vespa Metro is pictured above). Bob is not particularly happy as people think that the two stores are owned by the same people. He’s also a bit worried about a price war which could be good for the consumer if prices drop and could be bad for the consumer if they both go broke. For the time being, I’m very happy with Bob and the service at Vespa Vancouver so I’ll stick with them.


Vespa Metro does have a cool mural in progress, though.


I left with my serviced Vespa and headed home, stopping at Coquitlam Centre to pick up some Chinese groceries at T and T market. Lo and behold, when I left the mall, the sun was almost breaking through the clouds. It was definitely worth a photo.

So now, I am getting ready for my upcoming trip to Tokyo. I will hopefully be reunited with my still camera (or might even get another one in Tokyo) and have some interesting photos for this blog. Until then, sayonara!

Report Cards - Done!

Finally.

Report cards are done for another term.

As a teacher, there are many different parts to my job. There’s being a teacher, an advisor, a mentor, a coach, a cheerleader, a policeman, an IT guy, and a secretary. I love all those different roles. Marking, planning, meeting with cranky parents - those are necessary parts of the job that I don’t like quite as much. Then there’s report cards.

Nothing sucks the time away or makes me procrastinate more than report cards. They are an important part of the job but I still have a heckuva time motivation myself to do them.

And now they’re done!

At 30 a term, with three terms a year, I’ve only got about 930 to do before I retire! Yippee!

Rolllin’ Along

It’s that busy time of year. The students at school are working pretty hard, report cards are looming ahead so there’s lots of assessment and projects to mark, and the home front is pretty busy as number one daughter readies herself for graduation from high school and university next year.

Another thing I’ve been involved with is called Humanoes for Hope. It’s a project that our school district is getting involved in which brings wells , food, schools etc. to Malawi. My part has been to make the video for the project. Every spare moment that the computer is free, I’m busy burning DVDs - I’ll need a couple hundred before next month.

Anyway, I’ve been busy doing all these school related things that I haven’t really had or made time for long scooter rides during the past month. The weather’s been variable - some snowy or icy days and other days where the sun actually makes an all-to-brief appearance.

But I have been riding a lot. Most days to school or to Vancouver or to New Westminster - just not anywhere particularly new and exciting.

I haven’t bothered to take a camera lately but I am still enjoying the ride. Sometimes I underestimate and get a bit chilled or overestimate and end up stuffing my pet carrier with sweaters. But I still get that fresh feeling of excitement every time I hop on the scooter, whether it’s the hour long trek in Vancouver or the ten minute ride to school. It’s all good.

As the weather continues to warm and the load from school continues to lessen, I look forward to spending a day here and there just cruising. Until then, though, I will rollin’ along, with a smile on my face.

Gung Hey Fat Choi!

Happy New Year!

Chinese, that is....

Thursday marked the beginning of the newest lunar new year, the year of the rat, and I was lucky enough to have two opportunities to celebrate.

First, on Thursday, I took my class down to to Chinatown in Vancouver for a field trip. It is a great trip that is a real eye opener for many of my students.

The city where I live has around 8% visible minorities in the population, much less that Vancouver (where I grew up). The kids just aren't used to anything but "North American"or western culture. When they go to Chinatown, it's like a whole new world is opened up to them. And all of the comments from the kids are really positive.

We took Skytrain from New Westminster to get to Chinatown. Skytrain is an elevated rapid transit system which some of the kids have not taken before. It's quite a slick system and could accommodate all of us very easily.

After arriving in Chinatown, the students had a scavenger hunt to fill out which involved observing and taking to people in the different stores there. When we talked about that part the next day, all of the students had only good things to say about the merchants in Chinatown. Afterwards, we had dim sum in a large restaurant and then headed back to the school.

Today was the parade for Chinese New Year. My family and I headed down and got there just before it started. Because it was year of the rat, there were lots of Chinese Mickey Mouse hangings - and I'm sure that Disney In. received 0% in royalties!

The parade started off with the God of Prosperity - a very archetypical Chinese figure - and guys throwing lots of packs of firecrackers on the ground. My eldest daughter commented on how there were so many sound bites in the parade - firecrackers, music, bands, the crowd, the stores, drums - that really added to the parade.

After came the bands and then the politicians and other VIPs. Now, Vancouver is a very West Coast kind of place so instead of all the famous people sitting in fancy cars (which would cause a lot of pollution) they all were walking (The one exception, of course, was Mayor Sam Sullivan who was zipping along in his wheelchair)! It seemed a very open, green, and responsible thing to do.

After a few more marching groups such as the scouts or different Chinese societies, along came all of our favourite - the dragons! The dragons had at least two people in the costume. They ran and deked and spun around in a sort of dance. They are nothing short of spectacular to watch. One dragon had about ten people controlling it. Very cool!

There was a good mix of Chinese people and gwai loh - non-Chinese - and a very festive atmosphere. I think that it's great that people can be Canadian and live in a country yet still retain their cultural heritage.

As for scootering - two things since my last post. Number one, I didn't win the contest. There were literally hundreds of entries including people who kayaked every day, snow shoed, and a host of other remarkable commutes. Even thought I didn't win, I was glad for the chance to write down how I felt about my commute.

Number two, the weather here, after a fair bit of snow two weeks ago (including two snow days - Hurray!) has become decidedly warmer. The temperature has hovered around 8 or 9 degrees Celsius (close to 50° F.) and has been especially great for zipping around town. I'm looking forward to making some longer trips very soon!

Let me wish everyone gung hey fat choi (which means congratulations and prosperity) and may the new year be a great one!

The following is an entry I sent into CBC Radio's Ultimate Canadian Commute Contest:

While I'm not sure if my commute is the ultimate Canadian Commute, I enjoy my ride to work so much that it's my ultimate West Coast Commute.

I live and work in Maple Ridge, a suburb of Vancouver. As an elementary school teacher, I have tried over the years to show, by example, how to do things in a green and environmentally friendly way.

Several years ago, I started commuting on my bicycle. There's nothing like grinding up a hill or zooming along with the wind in your face to relieve the stress and tension that can sometimes be part of the job.

As time passed, however, I found I was taking the family car a little more often - to pick up something on the way home or to grab a latté on the way to school or just because I felt I couldn't park the bike anywhere because it might get stolen. Sometimes, I just didn't feel like getting up early on a dark, wintry morning.

And then, about a year and a half ago, I got my Vespa! With 50 CCs of raw power, 100 miles per gallon and a tiny environmental footprint, I found the perfect complement to my bike. WIth the mild West Coast's climate, I can scoot, rain or shine, grab a latté on the way to work, and pick up a couple of bags of groceries (and even a bottle of wine) on the way home. If it's a nice sunny day or if I'm feeling a bit guilty about that extra dessert, I can ride my bike.

I have had the occasional scary ride (on both the bike and the scooter) where I've had to carefully negotiate some slush or gingerly putt down an icy road. But the thrill never fades - the feeling that every metre is like a restorative for my soul.

Often I take detours - down country roads past horse stables and farms or up into Golden Ears Park to see the mountains and the trees. I sometimes do this on my bike, but it's easier to do on my Vespa and I find that I have more time to do other things after I get home.

Am I saving the environment with my commute? Maybe, I sure want to make a difference with the choices I make, but the important thing is I'm having fun... on two wheels.

Cool Ride

Although I ride the Vespa most days to school these days, I haven’t gone on a longer trip the last couple of weeks. Today, I had an appointment in New Westminster after school so I took advantage of the sunshine and went for a ride.

I was able to sneak away a few minutes early from school - I was worried about being late - and took the most direct route. Unfortunately, that meant taking the Mary Hill Bypass. And that meant riding amongst numerous buses, trucks and other large vehicles. Thanks to the early start, though, I was able to make good time as the sun warmed me up.

I arrived a half an hour early so I headed to the local Blenz coffee shop for a latté. I believe Blenz is a Canadian coffee company and this one is four stores down from a Starbucks. The Starbucks is a smaller store and is always quite crowded while the Blenz store is quite a lot bigger and not quite as busy. The actual latté is different in both places but both are tasty. The latté was enhanced with an Espresso Chocolate biscotti!

After my appointment, I thought I’d head down to the Casino to spend my obligatory $5. Imagine my shock when the parking lot no longer offered the first hour free! Majorly ticked off, I decided to take my money and go home.

The ride home was a lot cooler. Most of the roads were now in shade as the sun was beginning to set. I was wearing my balaclava, down vest, fleece sweater, several more layers, jeans and shoes. Most of the way I was fine, but because I didn’t put rain pants on (to block the wind), my knees were cold. Also, as I was just wearing regular shoes, my toes were a bit cold, too. Additionally, I had cold fingers and my core got a bit chilled on the downhill parts. On the bright side, I was able to take the longer, less busy route which had a lot fewer trucks. Overall, a good ride.

Tokyo Bound

So my daughter, who is in French Immersion in Grade 10, is also in her second year of Japanese. I think she has an affinity for languages - her spelling certainly improves with each language learned!

As part of her course, she has the option of going to Japan during Spring Break with her school on a one week exchange. Well, we thought, great experience, make it so. She’ll be heading to Miyoshi, a city near Osaka.

Now, I worked for a year in Japan in an English language school in Tokyo way back in 1985. In fact, it’s where I met my future wife. Unfortunately, my daughter’s group is not going that far north.

Ah, but then (I think), I have my good friend who lives in Tokyo. We met while I lived there and have kept in petty good contact since (he visited out here a few years ago). And, I haven’t been to Japan in, oh, 23 years.

So the upshot is that I will be going to Tokyo while my daughter is travelling with her school, meet up with her at the end of her trip, take her back to Tokyo, and then show her around Tokyo. Also, a good chance to check out the scooter situation there. Maybe even see Kuni of the Vechs blog!

Yep, I’m Tokyo bound - subarashi!

It's a Happy New Year!

Well, the first week’s done and dusted. The kids are all back at school and actually seem pretty happy to be there!

The highlight of the holiday was a ski trip to Sun Peaks ski resort, near Kamloops. We went up there with two other families and had a great time skiing, visiting and having the occasional glass of wine. The photos in this entry are from the trip and the red toqued skier is me.


I have been continuing my commute on the Vespa. The past week was good for teaching but not for weather. Rain, slush and cold have been the order of the day, but I still get that great feeling when I zip on down the road.

One bump on the road - there’s construction on my route to school and a couple of times I’ve cleared the flag ladies only to find myself heading onto big steel sheets that cover the road for 20 or 30 metres. They scare the pants off of me! Although I’m going slow, I don’t think that there’s hardly any traction on a metal sheet. Could be yet another near death experience!

Today, happily, was great day. It was sunny, clear and cool and I was happy to buzz around town for a couple of hours on the Vespa. My gloves are really working out well as my hands were nice and warm, and my down vest is becoming a stand-by, not only on my scooter, but when I am watching my daughter’s soccer game or walking the dog, etc.

I unfortunately forgot my camera but I am still smiling inside from the good feeling that sunshine and scooting create.