Eastward, Ho!

With those additions, I can now go to the recent stuff.
I have arrived in Japan safe and sound, despite Northwest losing (ahem, "misplacing" as they call it) my luggage. It seems they just didn't load it on the airplane in Detroit. Ooopsie!

Idiots. Northwest has a habit of doing this. They lost my and VZs luggage in Ireland for days when we visited there, and I know many others who have had the same experience with them. You would think that they would figure it out by now, but, they seem to be happy screwing up. Yet another point of difference between Japan and the US. Northwest was rather cavalier when I dealt with them in 2003, but, Aer Lingus took our problem seriously, and really went out of their way to help us, even though we were not technically their customers. (Well, Northwest probably had to pay them to carry us, so I guess we were after all, but it is nice to know that they care.)
Back in Japan, I waited for my luggage. I had a premonition that something had happened, so it was no surprize to me to hear my name on the PA system at Kansai airport. Here, though, they were tripping over themselves to help me (and, quite literally, as the guy who helped me was really eager to make sure I was happy), and got the situation together very quickly. I now have my luggage and a $25 coupon to fly Northwest again! Whoopie.

So, as summer begins, let us issue the SECOND QUARTILE REPORT
Fellow investors,
This is our strongest Quarter ever!
Greg In Japan tm has once again attained great growth and attained security in its assests. Our plan to visit China was realized, as was our plan to collect more Japanese prints. The Language Department is stronger than ever, and will begin aquisistion of part two of the Beginners Class as of June 6, which should lead to an uninterrupted period of learning, to the year 2007.
In the Health and Wellness Department, Psyche reports a 100% gain in confidence and renewed sense of purpose. Body Reshaping Division reports a reduction of 30 pounds of useless fat, to be replaced shortly with muscle, upon aquisition of a bicycle.
And, the Happiness Division is pleased to report that all is going according to schedual.

Proposed tasks for the coming Quarter include:
*another visit to Tokyo at the end of June
*implementation of Project EBAY, starting with repro ukyio-e prints
*new living arraingements, looking for my own place, no roomates!
*a visit to Hokkaido in August
*a visit to Korea in September
*preliminary investigations of job change

Many of our goals of the last Quarter have been realized, and the Springfield/Baltimore trip was an unqualified success. Greg in Japan tm looks forward to the challenges of the next few months, and hopes to remain strongly competitive in the coming year. Kudos, to all involved!

Editorial Admissions

While reviewing my blog status, I noticed that two posts had inadvertantly gone to my older blog account. I have switched things around, so I donot make that same mistake again, but, for sake of completeness, here they are.

Thursday, May 25, 2006


It has been a fun filled week so far, having had been back in the US for a few days after a seven month absence. There are a lot of things that seem strange to me now, which I took for granted before leaving. Transportation is strange too, and I am spoiled by the ease of Japanese trains to have to cope with the US versions. What is different is both the idea of professionalism as well as where the trains run. In Japan, there is a greater willingness to give you service, and her in America it is not done as much. Also, Japanese trains run on routes unhampered by bridge sizes, or the traffic of cars or trucks, which can serve as a hindrance in America. A greater analysis would be a whole book's worth, but it is one small example of how you can be so well acclimated to a place, and yet not realize anything about it at all, untill you compare it to something very, very different.

I will be going back to the different in a few days, and I hope that it is still the same.

Saturday, May 13, 2006


Well, I leave for the US tomorrow, and fly into Newark at around 4pm, and leave for Springfield on Amtrak soon thereafter.
Then, in Massachusetts for ten days, then to Baltimore for three days. I will be, hopefully, at One World Cafe on the 24th, just hanging out. If any of you want to get together, just send me an email. I will not have much access to my mail, but I will respond as I can. As a result, this blog will not be updated for a while, but more adventures await me when I return. Stay genki until I see you.

Westward, HO!

I have been busy planning my return to the United States. My parents will host me from the 15th May to May 24, and then I will go to Baltimore for a few days of meeting people and getting things done. I hope to meet as many people, both in Springfield and Baltimore, as I can. I am very excited to come back, but I wonder, will I have any culture shock? I have adjusted to Japan and its quirks pretty well, so will I be able to cope back home?

This is something I was wondering, as I have been walking around Osaka in the last week. Now that it is nice out, I have been roaming around this fair city a lot more, and I was adventurous enough to walk from my apartment to work the other day. I walked by a lot of stuff, and going across town really put things into perspective for me, about where things are, and how the neighborhoods all look. Despite the overal homogeneity, there is some change, in the types of stores one area has versus another, and you can tell each area has its own style. The change is most apparent when you go into predominantly Korean areas, yet even here there is still a Japaneseness to it. Not one time did I feel like it was unsafe, or unwelcome to be in. This is quite a departure from walking around Baltimore, where you cannot really walk the city without getting a bad vibe in one or another place. Springfield can be that way too. I will need to try and be more attuned when I visit each to find out why.

All Along the Watchtower

The 10000 Li Wall was originally intended to keep the Hoardes of Mongols/Huns out of the Middle Kingdom, and far, far away from Beijing. History, which is full of paradox because of our human greed, is full of irony, too: the Mongols were alowed to walk in and take over the place, after all.

There are thousands of stories about the construction of the Wall, and a great number of men died during construction, making it not only a fortress, but a grave.

One story we have is that parts of the wall violate feng shui, and that this was the reason for the eventual take-over. All of this aside, when you look at it, and see how it winds through the bones of the dragon, through the beautiful mountains outside of Beijing, you cannot help but feel as a part of history. As I looked out, and saw the stretch of rocks hewn from the ground to be put on top of mountains by men who could never dream how lasting would be their work, I knew then how the will of those with vision can make structure so durable that those who might seek to oppose it, then use it for their own purposes.
There will still be a ten thousand li wall ten thousand years from now, and probably a China, too. And, against the wall, I felt very small, but realized my heart was big for the Chinese people.

Red Square, Human Face

My sleep in China was very comfortable, owing to the fact that I slept in a large bed, dressed with satiny sheets. On my first day of arrival, I got out of bed later than I planned. I still needed to contact my friend, LZY, about meeting up for dinner and drinks. I had tried to call her the night before, but the fone numbers I had were a bust, for two reasons: first, because I had written her cell fone down incorrectly (rectified by a quick trip to the business centre on thursday morning) and next, because her home phone number, while the correct one, is actually her parent's number too. Linda asked me," did you try to call last night? My father said some foreigner called, and he couldn't understand what was going on." The foreigner was, indeed, me. So, after a brief conversation, she and I concluded that I should go to the Great Wall on Friday, and the Forbidden City and TiannMen that day. It was a good choice, and the weather cooperated.


I set out for the former Ming Palace in the northern Capitol of the middle Kingdom, which can only be described with understatement: huge. It is probably only bested in size by the Vatican, for being a world within a world. You can get lost for two days there, and not see it all. It has an outer and inner part, a separate garden (separate admission price, as well), and endless rooms for servants both civil and personal, wives, soldiers, concubines, and of course the Emperor himself. Having not had breakfast, I got some food to eat at the "food corner", which was not meant for foreigners, by any stretch, but for the Chinese toursts who want a good, filling cheap meal. I am accoustomed to "down home Chinese cooking", due to the fact that I know so many Chinese people in Baltimore, and have eaten their food. This meal was good and hearty, and only 25 yuan, which is about three dollars. The vendors were a little skeptical about serving it to me, but took my money nonetheless, and were about to try to show me how to use chopsticks, too. Once I had started eating without gagging they must have figured I was either totally nuts or totally attuned, so they left me alone after that. Then,I walked around for a long time, and saw the exibit there, which housed, in about ten rooms equalling the square footage of probably the ground floor of the Walters Museum in Baltimore, of only the smallest fraction of items owned by some of the Ming Emperors. It became bewildering after a while, jade after jade piece, rows of poetry written by the differenent emperors on large sheets, incredibly intricate pieces of wood, made into small boxes, and ceremonial objects and clothing. I had originally wanted to go to the Bejing Art Museum, but, what could compare after that? I was overwhelmed by the grandeur and beauty, and, don't forget, I am the guy who spent twelve hours in the Louvre, and still wanted more. After I had my fill of all this, I decided to go to Tian Men Square.


I have wanted to visit the Square for a long time, especially since the student uprising that was mercilessly squashed in 1989--on my birthday, June 3, to be precise. Now, the People's Army is omnipresent, as it is in the whole city. No matter where you go in Beijing, you cannot be three minutes without seeing a soldier or group of soldiers, standing or marching somewhere. Tianmen is huge, and very concretized. It is actually pretty boring to go to, as any vendors are scared away, and there is not much to do exept take fotos of the monuments, and try to get into the Mao mausoleum. Of that, my guidebook said that it was open to 5.30 pm, but, for some curious reason, they closed it around 3.45, which was just as I wanted to get in line. But, I did get an opportunity to see a very Chinese, well, human, really, thing. The plainclothes guard turned not just me away, but many others too. He started to shut down the cordon, and as soon as people saw this, they raced to get into line in a crush. I thought about doing this myself, but I stick out like a sore thumb there, and would have been pulled out and probably yelled at, but, the Chinese faces melted into one big mob, and until the guys had it shut off completely, you would not tell who was there legitimately or not. Well, that was my cue, I figured. I got into a cab, and went back to the hotel to rest up for the next day.





I wanted to get as much sleep as possible, because I would embark on my greatest dream: to climb the Great Wall of China!

Next: Steps to Success.