Last Night Karaoke

So my last night here in Tokyo we went to dinner and Karaoke, i wasn't sure about this. Plus, all the people that I really enjoyed hanging out with had to still work or couldn't come tonight. But it turned out to be pretty fun. We went to this place close to my hotel. Now Karaoke is quite different than it is in the US. In the US it is in front of everyone on a stage or something, in Japan they put you in a room withyour group and you go at it. Now, I think that I would rather sing in front of a crowd rather than a few it seems strange. Like you are singing to them. One of the guys we went with is a pro at this type of thing... I was impressed actually. They ordered drinks and the festivities started. I sang a few duets and 1 song on my own. I realize that you really have to know the whole song for this activity to work, I know choruses, not the whole song. It was fun and I think that this would be something that would be so fun at Maggies Parties. We got Toshi to sing, actually he sang two songs, one was a duet. They were really happy that I came along and sang, apparently I am the first from GFT-Ada to do that. I have taken two videos, but none of me. I have to pack up my suitcases for my trip back. How does a woman pack 3 weeks of clothes and all the gifts to come home.

Meeting up with Yoko

I met up with Yoko this last saturday for a few hours. She had to work during the day until 3 so she met us out while we were shopping. We were only able to meet up for a couple of hours because we had dinner. She called us when she arrived at the train station, we waited for her to come down the stairs. I always wonder if I would recognize people when I first meet them but as soon as I saw her I knew it was her. It was either the shock in her eyes when she saw me or just from the pictures that I have seen. As I have said before, it is so fun to finally meet people that you have worked so long with, even when they aren't with the company. We went to this area of the town that has a temple and a row of shops just full of souveniors. It is overwhelming the amount of people that are around and the number of products that are for sale. I am so tired, that I have to go to bed....:-)

Supermodel

So, today it was raining in the morning. I was able to use my umbrella I purchased here for the first time. As I was walking to work I began to observe how much I stuck out, from everyone . I mean I have accepted the fact that I stand out because I am not Japanese, but I realized that my choice of umbrella was so "American." Everyone carries either a black, navy, cream, or clear umbrella. I had a green one. I found this rather amusing and so Japanese, no one wants to stand out, it is better to blend in. Anyways, as I was crossing the bridge that I love I noticed that a photo shoot of some sort was going on, intrigued I was watching and then I realized that the Green umbrella was a blessing and I would be noticed in the pictures... So I lingered longer in the background striking poses. Subtle action poses Yes, I did! I am not lying. I just hope that I didn't show the girls up. :-) Crazy American!

What I look for every morning

Every morning I walk to the office, It is about a 15 -20 minute walk. I head out of the hotel and take my normal path. Today I realized that I would only take this walk a couple more times before I head home. As I have said before the streets are rather busy in the mornings with people heading to work. I often wonder if I would recognize the same people going the same route as I do, I surprisingly don't. I make a stop at my convenience store to get my Soda. They don't care Diet Soda so I get Pepsi Next and a snack, just in case the food of the day is not to my liking. To pay for the items, I have to watch the monitor for the total because I do not understand what they are saying. The first week I would fumble in my change purse trying to find the correct change. Coins are used up to 1000 yen ($10) so I feel so awkward trying to find the correct amount of money for things, too many coins to sort through.. Also, I am finally confident in some of my Japanese phrases, so I can say them to people. "Arigatou Gozaimas" I say as I leave. I turn the corner to the street our office is on. I like this walk, I cross a bridge that has decorated Lamp posts, brick side walks. Actually the sidewalks here have so much character, they aren't just slabs of concrete we have in the US. As I am walking I pass another store which has a designated smoking area.

As I get closer to the office, everyday I pray that the window to the 12th floor is open, this means it is cooler in the office. Today it was, I took a picture. The open window is the black spot . Every morning there is a lady cleaning the steps out side the office on her hands and knees. The doorman says good morning in Japanese and does a slight bow. I smile and nod and say nothing, although this week I think that I shocked him when I mumbled the polite Japanese way of Saying hi "ohayou gozaimas" I am determined to say goodnight properly before I leave Japan. I take the elevator to the 12th floor. There are so many rules in Japan, You don't talk in elevators, you hit the "close door" button as you exit the elevator, you ride the escalator on the left, the right is for those that want to climb the stairs.

The days go fast here, which is nice, Training has been going well. depending on the person there are some language barriers. Most of the programs that I have been training them on are in Japanese , the team members are amazed that I know where everything is still. I love teaching them because they take notes, ask questions, make screen shots the attention to detail amazes me. No wonder they open so many accounts. They are so concerned about learning and doing it right. Maybe we should send Aussie Sales team here to be trained. (sorry, still reeling from the meeting today...................)

Most days Emily and I go to lunch together. Lunch is quick. My mom would not survive in the restaurants, they smoke like mad here. I get back to the office and sometimes I smell like I have been at a bar. UGH. That is one area the Japanese are not polite about. Afternoon is training and answering questions. This week they have been more on their own regarding performing their duties. I have been here to answer questions and make sure they understand. Also, this week I have been on my own for dinner, it has been nice, but I stick to the familiar and don't venture too far out. I am tired of trying to be brave with unknown foods. ha.

Things I am looking forward to when I get home

I can not wait to be home again. This trip has been a wonderful experience for me and I will never forget it, but there are many things I am looking forward to.

1. Getting off the plane and seeing Gerald waiting for me. This trip has been great for us, it made us realize how much we love each other and want to be together.
2. Being able to talk to my family whenever I want.
3. Having a full conversation in English without having to speak in simplified English.
4. My BED!!!!!
5. My Apartment
6. Hangin with Amie- can't wait till Sunday.
7. My TV.... or American TV anything besides CNN- I have been able to Watch the HILLS Online tonight. Brody SO LIKES Lauren... the last episode reminds me of me coming to Tokyo. Very Excited for her.
8. DIET PEPSI- there is no diet pop here just Pepsi Next or doo doo coke. Japanese love them some Coca-cola.
9. Cooking and the little cooker in training (Saniya)- I can't wait to bust a move in the kitchen again... I might have to add some more items to my repertoire after this trip.
10. My car being able to drive to where I want to go and know where I want to go.
11. Old Chicago Pizza-mmm Hawaiian Pizza, I can almost taste it now.
12. People laughing at my jokes because they are funny not because they don't understand what I saying.
13. My peeps at work- not so much the work itself..
14. A bigger work desk and a printer that prints more than 16 pages a minute. :-)
15. Not training for a little while it is exhuasting ...haha...
16. Not living out of my suit case
17. An iron that is in ENGLISH!
18. Mash Potatoes- Tianna, I understand why you like them so much...
19. Salt and Pepper
20. Shopping in "normal" clothes sizes. Not Japanese sizes
21. Coming home to a Clean Apartment- thanks Gerald!

I will think of more as the time gets closer to me coming home.

God sends American Angels to the Rescue

Saturday night, after I spent the day shopping, Emily and I met Moe and Joe for dinner. Emily and I met Moe in the lobby at 7:00 PM. He said he had to go to an ATM machine to get some cash, so we walk a couple blocks to where the front desk told him there was a ATM. We see the sign out side this building for CITI bank so we go to the entrance. As we get to the door two ladies walk out of the building and one of the ladies says in "Plain Midwestern English" ( that is Moe's description) Are you guys looking for the entrance? If you walk around to that side of the building there is the public entrance. Moe and I look at each other shocked at how perfectly she spoke those words, we laughed at how strange that seemed. So we head over to the other entrance. We go to level B1 as instructed by our hotel front desk. We get to the bottom of the escalator and we look around for Citi, the 3 of us spot a sign that says ATM, in unison we say, "ATM" and point to the sign then we discuss where it is, we can't tell which direction it is in an we are discussing this out loud. Out of the blue we hear someone say, "The ATM Machine is right their on the right." We turn around and there is the White American pointing to the ATM machine. Again, Moe and I look startled at the thought of two people in the same area speaking so much English? As we headed to the ATM machine Moe made comment how God was watching out for us, sending Americans our way to help, I agreed.

We went to meet Joe for dinner who was staying in a different hotel, we took a cab to meet him, then we headed out to find a restaurant, we wondered to this restaurant that served Japanese steak. It was really good, they cut and weighed your portion in front of you. It is amazing how much that fat ways. We joked about how we wanted to instruct the guy what parts to cut off the meat. The food was good, it ended up being a good night.

DInner on my own.

Tonight I ventured out on my own for dinner, it was rather fun, but I had to play it safe and eat something familar, Pizza! It was only ok. I went to this restaurant across the street from my hotel. It was filled with lots of men in business suits and a table with two ladies who appeared to have met up for dinner. I was worried that they wouldn't understand what I was requesting or that I would be able to read the menu, luckily it was in English and I could point to what I wanted to eat. I think that this is the first time that I have ever eaten at a restaurant alone before, normally if I want to eat out, I will order take-out. I figured that would be too hard to figure out here. I was looking at the menu and realized that only in Japan would a glass of beer cost less than a glass of pop or juice or anything other than water. So I felt that it was my duty to save the company money tonight. :-) While I was eating dinner, a man passed my table and he said something to me as he was passing, I just smiled and nodded, my normal response these days. I tried to imagine what an english speaking person might say with the same facial expressions and I think that he said either You fat cow your eating that whole pizza yourself, or he said, you can always count on pizza no matter where you go in the world. HAHA, I have no idea what he said but at least he was smiling.

IceCream

Today Toshi asked us if we wanted Ice Cream, we said sure. So we go into this little shop that is packed, as with everything in Japan, we can not read anything, but from what I could see it looked good. I saw a blueish purple- which I thought was Blueberry and Green, which I wasn't sure. Toshi ordered us a twist of these two colors, I asked Moe what flavore it was and he said, Green Tea and Sweet Potato. I said, are you serious? He chuckled and said ,yes, it is weird how taste buds differ. It was so good, it tasted like a cereal that I had before, but I don't know which one. It is still killing me to figure it out. Who would have thought of those combinations? I took a self portrait, but didn't realize that the purple wasn't really showing... We need this one in the US.

Is it Stairs or Sfairs?

This is a sign that I found in one of the temples.

Hase-Dera Temple- A temple of a view and flower

The last temple was really pretty, the landscaping was really neat. It had koi (spelling?) ponds on different levels, water flowing through bamboo creating waterfalls. You had to climb many stairs up to get to the temples, you couldn't take pictures of the statue, but it big and gold looking. I found a statue that had on knitted hat and shawl, I had to get a picture of this. There was a scenic overlook that looked over the Pacific ocean, Again, pictures do not do justice to this to this view.

"great buddha Kamakura"

We went into Kamakura and got something to eat. We ate Tempura, I had never had this, as with many things that I have tried in Japan. It was good, mine was just vegetables, I could eat this again.

The next place we went was of this huge buddha statue. It was enormous. This statue was created in 1252 AD but in 1498, a tidal wave swept it away the temple of the buddha, leaving only the foundation stones. They have since rebuilt it and made it earthquake resistance. Iida-san told us that you could pay 20 yen to go in to the center of the statue to see how big it was. We did, but it seemed much bigger on the inside, it was cramped and weird we didn't stay long. Now, I don't understand or really know what much about Buddhism but all the statues really look the same, I don't know if they are different or not.

Kamakura

Today, Iida-San took Muhammad and I to Kamakamura for the day. We rode the train for about 45 minutes to this area. I fell asleep. We did some sight-seeing and visited several temples. It was interesting to see this, the landscaping was beautiful and the buildings were ornate oriental designs, (go figure) Kamakura is the old capital of Japan, the scenery it pretty, the leaves are now changing colors. It seemed that everyone was amazed at the changing color of leaves. I assume these people were from the city and don't have a chance to see this often.

Dinner with AFT- Friday Night

Friday night after work we went to dinner with AFT. I have heard that they put on a great dinner, I can attest to that. It was such a cool experience. There were two cars waiting for us to take us to dinner, the Americans rode in one car and Toshi and Gotoh rode in the other car. We drive for about 20 minutes or so to this area of town seemed so Authentic Japanese. we were driving down roads that were like alleyways only one car would fit down at a time. We arrive at the restaurant and a bunch of men are waiting outside. We head up 3 flights of stairs to this room. The ladies are dressed in Kimonos and they ask us to take off our shoes. I immediately say a prayer that my feet don't stink and that my socks match my outfit and not white socks. They each come up and introduce themselves to us handing us their business cards and tell us where to sit. We sit on the floor, my legs barely fit under the table. Through out the whole dinner my legs would get cramped and I would have to shift positions. I don't know why they put themselves through the torture.

They created a meal for Joe and I that was different from the others, I was thankful because it was fish. Once everyone was seated one of the men from AFT stood up and welcomed us and told us that we would watch them cut the fish we were going to eat and we would have musical entertainment later. They present the butcher who will be cutting this fish. The fish is already lying on the table covered in white cloth, the hook and line that was used to catch it was lying next to it. They tell us that this fish will feed 30 people and it was caught this morning nearly 1000 miles away. They brought it in just for us. This was the largest fish I have ever seen in my life. When they removed the cloth the head was already separated from the body and the man went at it. As he cut he explained what part of the body it was, how they will cook it. It was amazing to watch it. I was surprised that I was able to watch him hacking away at the fish, but it was so interesting. I must say though it was more scary to watch him slice the meat for fear that he would slice his finger. While he was cutting the fish there are ladies knelt down on the ground and one lady is playing the drums. As he finishes each section he places it in a small wooden boat and hands it to a lady and takes it back to be cooked.

The meal was a 7 course meal. The have 3 people playing Japanese music during the first part of dinner. They were amazing, I have to research the instruments they used because I hadn't seen them before. The meal begins. The first two dishes were appetizers, mine was bamboo shoots and a mushroom onion salad. Both were really good, the onion was delicious it had been cooked for 3 hours so it was really tender and sweet. The bamboo shoots tasted like those baby corns. The 3rd dish was roasted Mallard Duck steamed with Grated Radish. I told Joe that I would try it if he tried it, he told me to go first. I took a bite of the radish, which was like a soup, then I took a piece of the duck meat. I put it all in my mouth, as I began chewing I became very aware of the rubbery texture. The piece of meat is too big to swallow whole and I dry heaved a little. I am trying not to think about what I am eating and I realize that Joe is watching my reactions, so I pulled a Kichiya and say mmm MMMM mmm. I finally am able to swallow this piece of meat. Joe takes his bite, and I can tell by the look on his face that he is not enjoying this either. I about lose it. I start laughing, but holding it in, but the tears just start flowing down my face. I couldn't look at him while he ate in order to stop laughing. The next dish was Tomato & Honey paste. This was served in a wine glass, it was a pale yellow jelly like substance with 3 tomatoes on top. It tasted like tomato juice, but jelly or runny jello texture. It wasn't bad it was different, something I never imagined. The main dish was a Beef Steak (tender loin of Oumi beef) & Seasonable vegetable and bread with Garlic Topping sauce. This was amazing. The steak was so tender like roast beef. Then they served Ochazuke (Pan stirred risotto with vegetable Soup) this was a soup with rice, veggie soup broth, and you add cucumbers. Finally, for desert they served Pear compote. This was good.

After dinner, they presented us each with a gift, it was a Table Runner with Japanese fabric. It was beautiful. I can't wait to put it on my table. Joe, Moe, and I headed back to our hotel, we laughed the whole way back talking about the food and the duck. It was such a fun experience I wish I was able to put it into words better.

Americans

Tonight Joe and Moe arrived in Tokyo. I went to dinner with them and Toshi tonight. I was looking forward to being able to speak English to people who really understood what I was saying without having to think of alternate ways to explain things. Not to say that I haven't enjoyed my company, but it is a lot of work to listen closely, it gets draining with the language barrier. We went to chinese, it was pretty good, better than my first experience with chinese here. I realized that the more americans we add to the table the more difficult it is to pick a place to eat. Moe can't eat Pork, I can't eat seafood, Joe, I don't know what he can't eat but he did have a hard time picking out food. Tomorrow we are going to dinner with AFT another one of the Referring Parties we work with and I am told that it is a big meals, many courses, and they do a show of some sort with knives and flames, I have no idea what this is about. I was warned that Moe will be eating weird foods? It should be interesting. I am looking forward to it.

Scary Taxi Ride

Tonight after work I went to Dinner with Ichiro and Kichiya, they took me to Akiba! This is what they told me about this city.

• It is one of the most complicated towns in Asia.
  Every weekend it is filled with many people who are not only Japanese but also foreigners.
  There are many shops selling not only electronics but also clothes,
  If showing your passport you can enjoy shopping at tax free price.
  But we will just see them, not purchase today.
  and go for dinner around there.
  
  I wish you will like the town.

After work we got in the taxi and headed over to this part of town. It wasn't a far ride from work. All the areas are beginning to look a like to me. They are just full of lights and Japanese people. We go to a couple of the duty free stores and I finally understand what my mom meant when she said when we were kids that when she goes to a store she feels like a mama duck with the little chicks following behind her. Shopping with men is so much different than shopping with woman. Men don't know what to do. I know that they were only going to these stores to appease me but it was difficult to really look when you know someone is waiting for you.

They asked me where I wanted to eat for dinner. What kind of question is that, I am thinking? I mean really, I don't know the area, I don't know the names of any of the places I have eaten thus far. We decide on Curry again. I am actually excited to eat the bread. This restaurant had an English menu. OH MY GOODNESS- This is the first time that I was able to read a menu since I have been here. It was delightful to know exactly what I was ordering.

After dinner we did a little more browsing, we looked at washing machines because Kichiya is moving and he will need to make a purchase. Do they have washing machines in the US that also dry the clothes in the same machine? I have never seen such a thing, but again, I haven't really every shopped for a washing machine before. When we finished shopping, Kichiya escorted me to my hotel. We took a taxi. The Taxi ride was great. The driver had candies in the basket so Kichiya had to read to me what flavor they were. Who makes vinegar flavored candy? This has to be a translation issue? I stuck with the basic citrus flavored.

Kichiya is a trip, if you ask him a question, he will always answer yes with a smile, even if he means no. While we are riding in the taxi, we are talking about the traffic fines, as the taxi driver is making a right hand turn, I see through the window behind Kichiya that our car is getting closer and closer to another care also trying to turn. I don't know if I had a funny look on my face or if the car honked the horn, but Kichiya turned his head to look out the window. He immediately sees the car and jumps to the middle of the seat. I really thought that we were going side swipe the other car. The taxi driver seemed oblivious to what had happened. Kichiya and I kinda look at each other and laugh. Then we make a Left hand turn and we hear more honking. Again, the driver is oblivious to this 2nd car. Kichiya looks at me with his eyes as big as they can get and says, "I sink that he is wrong," pointing to our taxi driver. "I sink this is dangerous." I start crying I am laughing so hard, I am laughing because of the expression that Kichiya makes, because we are talking about the taxi driver right in front of him. I am, also, laughing because I am doing what I think that people who speak other languages in front of you are doing, TALKING ABOUT YOU. I don't know if the driver spoke English, he seemed to be in his own world. I am writing this blog so it is safe to say, we made it back safely.

Indian Curry

Yesterday, I got to go eat Indian Curry, this is the first time that I have had indian curry. Now, for those of you that know me, I like to have my days planned out. I like to plan ahead, know what I am going to be doing in advance. During this trip I have had to learn how to live not being so independent and how to live with out knowing what to do in advance. Most days, I do not know what I am doing for lunch until I am told who I am going with. The same for dinner, Toshi will tell me about an hour or so before hand who I will be going to dinner with. So yesterday, Toshi comes to get me for lunch. Me, Toshi, Kichiya, and the new guy that started that day go to lunch. I am told we will have Indian Curry. It is raining outside and I didn't bring my umbrella to work because it was sunny outside when I left the hotel. Toshi, as usual, is leading the pack, I chuckle as I watch the new guy try to keep up with Toshi as we are walking. I am walking with Kichiya. We get outside, Kichiya shares his umbrella with me. Kichiya, as I have mentioned before comes to about my shoulders maybe my chin, but he is literally walking with his arm fully extended up to hold the umbrella above me. It seemed so awkward that I wanted to grab the umbrella and hold it for him, but then I worried that it might emasculate him so I let him be. He obviously noticed because he made a comment about him being so short and I countered saying I was tall. Of course he noticed the blood was draining from his hand from holding the umbrella for me. We made it to the Indian restaurant, the workers are indian and I immediately wonder how indian people sound in Japanese. Do they have an accent like they do when they speak English? Imagine Foreign accent Fridays with that one? The food was good, it came with this bread, they pronounce as nun. Now is this an indian term, english term, or is this the japanese translation for the name of the bread, I don't know I am so confused.
As you all can imagine, I carry on the conversation at lunch. They probably normally eat in silence and I force them to talk. HA. The food was good, and I loved the bread, oh there is a surprise. Not only does Toshi walk fast, he eats fast so I wasn't able to finish all the bread, I could have eaten it all but he commented on how Kichiya ate everything, so I held back. We headed back to the office and Kichiya held the umbrella again, arm fully extended. Bless his heart.

Suggestion for a new GFT policy to implement

I have a suggestion for a new policy at GFT, when comes into work sick they must wear a face mask to protect others from being infected with the sickness. This is very common here in Japan. At first when I was walking the streets I was a little taken a back by this. It seem so extreme and almost plague like. I wanted to make sure that I avoided these people because it seem so serious to have their whole faces covered. Then one morning one of the sales guys came into the office with a mask on, I immediately wondered if I should have gotten all my shots before I came to Japan. I have gotten comfortable enough to ask Emily why they are wearing this and she informed me they have a cold...Now that I know that these people just have the common cold, I love this idea and I am less afraid. I want to thank them for being considerate not to pass their germs on to me. But I don't' know that right words in Japanese to say this. Think of how many times we have passed around sickness just within the CS department and got behind on work because people have been out sick. Some people can't afford to take off time, so they come into work and sneeze all over the paperwork infecting everyone that touches it. UGh... had they worn a mask, this could have been avoided. Something to think about, Gary, if you are reading this. You could put the GFT logo on it... Give them an occurrence for not wearing it or better, an occurrence for every person they infect. Hahaha. I love it.

Common pose for pictures in Japan

This is a common pose here in Japan, I noticed that everyone who got their picture taken posed with the peace sign. I don't know why, but EVERYONE does this when a picture is taken. It was amusing to me to see the little kids do this too.

More Pictures from Disney Sea

Disney Sea Experience

Wow, what an experience, we arrived at the park, I am not prepared for this as far as what to expect. The park is completely decorated for Christmas, it is funny that this is the only time of year that I have been to Disney. As in the United States, everylittle detail is thought out, I forgot how much this amazes me. The first ride that we go to is the Tower of Terror, I have ridden this ride once before with some of the 'stutz crew when I went before in the US. I have to admit that the first time I rode the ride was scarier than this time, but I think that it was the fear that my grandfather, who was sitting next to me, was going to have a heart attack when the elevator dropped rather than the ride itself. For those that have been to Disney and ridden the ride before, you will remember how they prepare you for the ride, they tell you how the story came about. I was caught off guard when I realized it was in Japanese and I didn't understand anything. I have no idea why I didn't anticipate this.





The workers are just as friendly as ever. Characters are weird to see, Cinderella is Japanese, but with Blonde hair, and Little Mermaid is Japanese, but with red hair. The shows are in Japanese, so Mickey, Minnie, Donald all speak Japanese. Now, Mickey has never been a manly mouse to me, nor has his munchkin voice, but imagine that voice in japanese, it doesn't flow so well.





As I mentioned the park was decorated with Christmas decorations, I was actually suprised that they were playing Christian Christmas songs through out the park. I was suprised because only a VERY small percentage in Japan practice Christianity so I would have figured that this would be banned. I enjoyed it and happily hummed the songs as we walked through the park wondering if the people knew the words to these songs. Anything familiar I relish.





I love how Disney is able to market their products so that they are so cool while you are visiting, but I find that a lot of products you won't use after you leave. For example, they are selling character ears as barrets. and furry character hats, I could not believe the number of people that had these hats or ears on. Even Men wore Mickey ears?!

Another difference in Japan and in the US. In Japan the girls wore skirts, dresses, heel, boots with heels. Who does this? SERIOUSLY? I wore tennis shoes and my feet ached, I can only imagine pain they were in, Emily wore tennis shoes but she did wear a skirt.

Trip to Disney Sea

Oh what a day! I have been looking forward to this day since I planned it several weeks before I came to Tokyo. Emily met me in the hotel lobby at 7:30 AM. We had to take the JR (Japanese Rail) to get there. We left from Tokyo Station which is across the street from my hotel. We got our train tickets and headed for the train. The underground subways are huge we walked quite a ways to our platform, as we are walking we see many children who are apparently heading for the same destination, you could just see the excitement on there face. It is amazing how one little place can cause such joy in so many people. As we are heading down the stairs, I see a train already at the platform. I asked Emily if this was our train and she tells me yes. I hurry down the steps and tell her, that we should hurry to catch the train. I jump on the train and I hear Emily squeal. I turn around to tell Emily that was a close one and I see that the train door is closed and she is still standing on the platform. The look of shock and panic on her face could only match what I had on my face, I am certain. This replays in my mind like a scene in a movie, we are touching the windows on each side of the train and I mouth the words, "I will wait for you." while thinking, where am I going to wait for you at, I don't even know what stop I need to take to get to Disney? As the train pulls away leaving Emily behind, I remember the kids in the station and search the car for them. I spot a couple lil tykes and I pray that they are going to Disney. As the train approaches the next station, I realize that I can get off and wait for the next train that Emily is on. I know, country girls first time on the subway. We meet up again with much laughter and tears, we still can not talk about this experience with out laughing hysterically.

Lunch with Saza Investment

Friday, I got to go to lunch with Saza Investment. Saza is one of our Referring Parties in Japan. They were told I was coming into Tokyo and they wanted to take me out to dinner. The morning of the lunch they called into the office and spoke with Emily giving her the address to their office. Telling her that I should be there at about 11:40. At that time we thought that Toshi was going to go with me, but he had another meeting and was out of the office. Apparently, Toshi arranged for Emily and I to go, but forgot to mention this to her. She was a little apprehensive about going, but I assured her it would be ok. I need a chaperone or I wouldn't know how to get there. We take the train to their office, the area that their office is in, is quite different than GFTs. Their office seems to be in an alley way, where as GFT is in the Financial District. We had trouble locating and walked around for a while.

When we arrive, we are greated by Fumio Kofu. He is the President of the company. I have met him a couple of times when he has come to our office, but it was always brief meetings. The majority of the contact that I have with this office is via email, so it was really nice to be able to put faces to the names that I have seen for the last couple of years. They take us into this small conference room. One of the things that they do in Japan is they have a formal introduction of all the employees. Each of the employees come into the room with a business card and they hand it to you. The card has english on one side and Japanese on the other. It was a little awkward because I didn't have anything to give to them, but I get a kick out of the formalities that they have in this country. After the introductions Emily and I are left with two of the new girls and we have casual converstation about my trip to Japan.

They take me to this Korean BBQ restuarant in Shimbuya where Emily and I went Thursday night. Lunch was with Fumio Kofu (the guy in the picture with just me), Masako Watanabe (lady in orange jacket next to me) , Miho Yoshimura( the lady with the bangs on my other side), and Yukio Ikeda (guy next to Fumio) and Emily (in the blue jacket on the end). Watanabe-san sat next to me and when the food came out and placed in front of me, she leaned over and told me that if I didn't like something I didn't have to eat it. I was relieved with this. I tried everything that they brought out, most of it was good. Every dish that came out, they had to explain to me what it was, when I tried something new, they would watch me for a reaction. It is very nerve racking being watched so closely while eating. When they brought out the meat to cook on the grill I was the only one who didn't have seafood. I think that everyone in Japan is aware of my "Seafood Allergy." They wouldn't let me cook my own food, Watanbe-san took on the mother role and made sure that I always had a piece of meat or vegetable ready when I finished what I was eating. I am so independent and like to do everything for myself that it is hard for me to let people take care of me so well and everyone here wants to "Serve me."

Everytime I am nervous about going into a situation, it has turned out much better than I have anticipated. I am very grateful for this experience.

Intersection of Shibuya

Emily and I took a break from shopping and sat in a Starbucks that overlooked this intersection. I was amazed at all the people and this isn't even the busiest intersection in Tokyo. I had to get a clip of this for Gerald and those who loves crowds, expecially when shopping. Let's just say that Black Friday has nothing on this. This was just one pass, this was like this on every pass. Ha. I, also, took a picture of "Slick Rick"in the red care who didn't clear the intersection. I wonder how worried he was of someone touching his car.