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  05.19.02
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I haven't mentioned this yet, but Makis and
I have been talking a lot lately about going
into business together.
We don't really know exactly what we
would
do just yet, but we brain storm and
talk
about different options.
I always come up with these half-baked, highly
abstract schemes about working as middlemen
between companies in the West and distributors
in Japan. About creating multilingual, distributed
computer applications. About facilitating
business between mid-sized North American
manufacturers and large Japanese wholesalers,
that kind of thing.
Makis, on the other hand, is more down to
earth. He, basically, wants to import goods
and/or services from the West that he thinks
will be popular here in Japan. Essentially,
he wants to be a merchant.
Makis's ideas are probably a bit more realistic.
However, the problem is we really can't think
of anything from North America or Europe
that isn't already here and would be popular
if we imported it. It wouldn't necessarily
have to be a tangible good. It could be a
recipe or an idea for a type of clothing,
for example.
What do you think? Can you come up with anything?
If so, leave a comment.
 05.17.02
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Happy birthday to Karen, my wife.
You get more beautiful by the day.
I don't
tell you enough how lucky I feel.
-----------------------------------
Also, happy 'Day of Birth' to the little
baby girl of our friends Mhairi and Makis!
She was born, a wee bit earlier than expected,
this morning.
As far as I know, they haven't chosen
a name
yet.
We'll be visiting them in the maternity
clinic
soon, so I should have some pictures
for
you all by next week.
 05.14.02
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Last Sunday was Mother's day, and it was
wonderfully familial. Jack, despite being
only nine and a half months old, went out
and bought his mum a t-shirt. He left a note
in his diaper about where he hid it.
After the gift giving, along with Makis and
Mhairi, we went to the annual Thai food festival
in Yoyogi park. I was looking forward to
this all week -- I love Thai food.
We had perfect weather for the event, but
the downside to that is that the crowds were
truly of Japanese proportions -- Thick as
priests at a boy scout swim meet (Sorry,
Uncle Joe!). There were times when we couldn't
even move, and laneways we didn't even bother
to try to go down.
Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of
fun.
We're used to the crowds anyway.
One thing that struck me as unusual however
is how it made me feel to go out on the weekend
to see a 'foreign' culture. I thought to
myself, "What a nice break from boring
ole day-to-day life." For a moment I
forgot that I live in the middle of a foreign culture and that
all I have to do to see it is open up the
front door and stick my head out.
What this tells me is that I've been in Japan
for a long time. It's starting to feel like
home. Home in the way that you don't even
notice that you're at home because, well,
because it's just home and you never stop
to think about being there.
Japan is still a hugely incomprehensible
'foreign' nation to me, but after a while,
you just stop thinking about it and just
sort of coast. This is sad in some ways,
though inevitable I think.
05.12.02
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Happy Mother's day to the two best moms I
know: Geraldine, my mom, and Karen my wife,
Jack's mom.
Mother's day is supposed to remind us to
never take mothers for granted, which is
all too easy to do.
Thanks for everything you guys. It
means
a lot. In fact, it means everything.
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