4th of July and tired

Sorry it has taken me so long to post this next email. I'm really busy these days. Here's one of my favorite days in Japan. It was July 4th, the first time I have ever missed an American holiday because I was away in a far far away land.

Happy Independence Day all you Americans!

I can't believe that this is the first time in my life that I haven't celebrated a holiday. I'll miss the fireworks but how can I give up this wonderful experience in Japan? I keep forgetting that everyone is a day behind me here but by the time you get this it will be the 4th of July.

Ok well... Today. Today... hmmm where to begin.

Ohayoo (goodmorning pronounced like the state Ohio). It was a perfect morning. The first night that I slept the entire time without waking up in the middle of the night due to jet lag or really early in the morning due to birds. I had some wonderful vanilla yogurt for breakfast and while eating it the doorbell rang. Erin was already gone and Felix was in the shower. I opened the door and it was a package delivery man. He spoke in Japanese and tried to motion that I should sign for the package but I was clueless as to where. I said I didn't speak Japanese. He said "No Japanese" in English but then spoke in Japanese again. I motioned for just a second and yelled for Felix. It's really hard to function when you can't talk. The package was for Felix's computer help business. I felt bad because even for something as simple as a package delivery I couldn't do much.

After Felix was ready we both headed for the train station. He had to go setup a wireless network and I was going to Kobe (pronounced co-bay) to go hiking for the day up in the mountains. We had to pack into the train like sardines. I really had to suck in my stomach and turn sideways so my backpack didn't stick out the door of the train. Morning rush hour indeed.

Arriving at the Nishinomiya main train station, I got off to catch another train to Oji-something station. This is where the city of Kobe is, where I first went to go to church. When I got off I walked a few blocks and again found myself in another covered street mall area. There are so many of these covered street malls and they all look the same, which is why I thought I was in a place I was before but wasn't. They all have different stores and this one seemed to focus more on fruits. I just walked by all the little shops because I wanted to begin my hike before the hot sun came out and made it too unbearable to hike. I thought I would come back later to browse the stores if I had time.

I walked out of the covered street mall and started climbing the steep graded streets of Kobe that looked like a good place where I could find the cable cars that Erin talked about. Now when I say steep graded I don't mean just steep but a tad below nearly almost practically vertical. I'm not kidding and people walk this all the time because they have apartments up there. As I was walking I noticed that the places I saw looked familiar. Soon I found myself standing next to the Kobe Union Church. The door was open so I went in to fill up my water bottle. The pastor was there and a couple of other people. They remembered me from Sunday and gave me directions to the Maya Cable Car. I thanked them and also thanked them for the water. Then I set off.


(In the picture you can see Mt. Maya in the background and a canal that runs down the center of the street.)

Before I left I snuck into the chapel and took this picture.

Their directions were great I found the Maya Cable Car station after about a 15 minute walk up steep hills and after looking at many signs with Japanese characters trying to match them to what the pastor wrote down on a little note card.

I went up to the ticket booth and bought a pass to the very top of Mt. Maya. Then I sat down and waited for the train. It was there that I felt a sudden rush of "Oh No." My nalgene water bottle! I left it at the church!!! Oh well I thought. The cable car station had vending machines with water bottles. I purchased one because the day was already getting hot and I was sweating. I sat back down again and an older Japanese man said konnishiwa and I also said konnishwa (hi). Then he started talking in Japanese and I was bewildered. He caught on after awhile that I couldn't speak Japanese and then spoke in English. I was amazed and thankful. Not too many people speak fluent English and those that can are usually younger.

He said he was 76 years old and he goes up this mountain nearly every morning to go hiking and to enjoy the fresh smelling air. He asked if I would like to join him because he wanted to know what I was going to do up there and I just said I was going to hike around and try and find interesting things. He said that he knew of a beautiful lake that is his favorite place to visit and told me I had to see it.

I was happy to meet him and while on the cable car ride up the mountain we talked about lots of things. He said he visited San Francisco when he was my age and he went to school there. He also told me about a friend he has in Florida that works in cruising. I figured out later that he meant that his friend works on a cruise ship. He wants to go visit Florida someday so he said he wanted to talk to me to make his English better. He asked what my name was and I told him and he told me his name was Ichiro. Like Ichiro Suzuki the famous Japanese baseball player on the Seattle Mariners. He was really excited to talk about baseball and said that I should watch a Japanese baseball game in Kobe. He told me that Ichiro Suzuki actually lived in Kobe, Japan.

Now the cable car ride was amazing. Immediately the ground dropped off and we were high in the air above lush green forests and the city of Kobe was masked behind the morning fog. The ride took about 15 minutes to get to the very top of Mt. Maya, the tallest mountain in the area at 690 meters. Which if I remember my conversions right from chemistry, should be approximately 2200 ft.

Now for a 76 year old man he was extremely fit. Though I've noticed that all the older Japanese people get around very well here. I've even seen really old people riding around on their bicycles like they were still young kids.

We hiked the trails on Mt. Maya for a few kilometers. Then he went off of the main trail and said "follow me". We went down a long embankment and after pushing through dense jungle vines and trees we came to a clearing with a wonderful lake. It was great.

I asked if it was a natural lake or if it had a dam. He said that it was man made and that if I wanted to go see it. I said sure and so we headed off again on another unmarked trail and soon came to the dam. Then we went back to the main trail and he took me up to see a famous temple on the side of the mountain.

He said here it is, but all I could see though was thousands of marble steps.

We began climbing, step after step. Nearly halfway was a place to pray and ring a bell. Then step after step... finally we reached the top where the temple was.

The temple had many religious statues and they were all wearing red "eating aprons" as Ichiro described them as. I liked the frog and this giant impression of a two feet. Many of the statues were also places to pray and people would give offerings to them. Every single one of them were wearing these red aprons. I asked what their meaning was but Ichiro said he didn't know because he is not of this religion but said that a few days ago every statue was wearing white aprons.

After the temple, we hiked up Mt. Maya again. We came to a place that had a cable swing and rope pulley. I zoomed down it and Ichiro took a picture. Then we waited for the cable car to go down and went to an overlook area to view the city of Kobe. From the top of the mountain I could see Osaka and the airport that I flew into.

(It's passed midnight here and I'm tired so the following will be quick)

We took the cable car down. I told Ichiro I needed to get my waterbottle at the Kobe Church and he had me ride on a bus with him. We got off and he purchased an ice cream cone for me and I thanked him very much. Domo Arigoto. Then he said sayonara and wished me a wonderful stay in Japan. I thanked him for his kindness.

I walked tiredly up the steep streets to pick up my nalgene water bottle at the church and after that I finally went to the train station and rode home to Erin's apartment. There Felix had prepared a wonderful delicious soup that was so good that I will be dreaming of it tonight.

Then we went out to eat at a wonderful place that served Japanese style pancakes. These were amazing! Very delicious. They are a mixture of egg, cabbage and whatever else they put in there. Absolutely wonderful. And now I shall sleep.

Goodnight all.

Love,

Steven

Back from Japan

Konnisha wa!! Well...I'm back from Japan. I've been back for some time now but I haven't gotten over my terrible jet lag yet completely and didn't want to worry about posting. Now that I have semi-gotten under control my sense of what day and time it is I thought I would finally update the blog. Look for a post a week. I'm going to continue using the emails I sent everyone to base my posts off of. My blog posts might contain a few surprises here and there that I didnt' talk about in my emails and of course what you all want to see PICTURES!

Alrighty then on with the post...

Showers, Squid and the Sea of Steve Oh My!

Many of you wrote to me while I was in Japan asking why showering was interesting in Japan. Well... I don't know if this is true of all Japanese homes but in Erin's apartment she has an entire room devoted to just the shower and bath. This room is about 25 square feet. Now you first walk into the sink and laundry room. To the right of this room is the bath and shower. To enter the shower you have to step up about a foot and open a water tight door. Once inside you see the tub against the wall. This is a larger tub almost like a one person hot tub in the USA but not as big. The shower is actually a long hose with the shower head at the end.

This entire room has drains in the floor everywhere. The cool thing is actually on the tub itself. You turn it on like you would a television set to get hot water. Once you press the blue button (shown in this picture) a Japanese voice comes on and says something but I don't know what she says. On this dial you can set the temperature of the water, 30 to 40 degree Celsius is about right for a shower. Then you turn a knob to make the water come out of either the tub or the shower nozzle and you have a shower while standing on the floor of this large room. I always felt like I needed to lean over the tub though because I didn't want to get water all over the floor. I had to keep reminding myself that the whole room is a shower and I didn't have to do this.

Now what is most interesting about this tub contraption is when you make a bath. The tub actually sings to you as it is filling up with water. Since it is computerized the tub automatically knows when it is full of water and the Japanese lady comes on and says the "tub is done gushing" in Japanese (I had to ask what she said this time). Actually she says, "It is nearly done gushing" first so that you can prepare to come in and then a few moments later she comes on and says, "It is done gushing." According to Erin, Japanese first clean themselves by taking a shower and everyone in the family does so. Then they run the bath and each person takes a turn in the tub and they share the same water. It is a place to relax and become warm. Erin however told me that I could take a bath with soap if I wanted to. I just can't get over how amazing the tub is. It sings to you as it is filling up and automatically shuts off. So amazing. I think the best is being able to set the temperature of the water to your exact liking. Tomorrow I think I'll go for a 37 degree Celsius shower. But you know Wednesday it might be warmer outside so I think I'll have a colder shower of 32 degrees. In America you could never do this but here it is as simple as pressing a button.

Now on with today (Monday, July 3). Today I experienced life completely on my own in a foreign country. Erin had to go to work and Felix had to meet a client of his. In the morning Felix showed me how to get to and from the train station so that I was comfortable making that trip. He also showed me how to go to a supermarket and a 99 yen store. At the 99 yen store I bought a couple of sandwiches and those rice sandwiches (onijiri) that were really good for lunch. After that, Felix gave me a map, a cell phone (in case I did get lost) and he waved goodbye.

Then it was just me, a blonde headed, backpack wielding, sandal footed, no Japanese speaking, man meandering about. It was amazing! Now I truly know what it feels like to be alone and how hard everyday tasks are if you can't understand a language. It really has made me appreciate life so much more.

Now completely on my own, I headed for the train station because it seemed so easy when I went with Erin and Felix. However by myself it took a little more concentration of the map and trying to find where I was by matching the Japanese Kanji and Katakana characters. This really wasn't too difficult and I got off of the first train at Nishinomiya, the main station. Here written nicely in English but not every station was this kind.

I wanted to familiarize myself with the area around Nishinomiya station since it is a main station that I came to and it leads to almost every other station I would need.

I went out about on the streets making sure that I remembered each right and left turn I made so that I could go back. I tried to find a shop of some kind but mostly this area was residential. They did have a KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) that I walked by. I looked at the pictures on the menu and I really don't think that they serve that kind of stuff in Kentucky. After walking around there for awhile I went back to the train station and took the Omeda Express train.

Now they have many types of trains. Express trains go fast and skip a lot of in between stations and just go to major ones. Then they have local trains that stop at each station and some other trains that I haven't been on and probably won't ever go on because I might end up in Tokyo if I'm not careful and I don't want to do that.

Ok so I thought that Omeda was the place that I went to yesterday where I purchased a bunch of T-shirts at a covered street mall area but it turns out it was in the complete opposite direction. However, for me, Omeda looked just like this other place because it too had a covered street mall area just off of the train station. I wandered about this area trying to find the UniQlo store that I found all those 500 yen shirts at but I couldn't find it.

As I was walking down the covered street, I looked down a side street and saw some flashing lit up signs. This seemed like an interesting street to go check out so I headed off that way. As I was walking, I began to notice that these signs had Japanese woman on them in scantily clad clothing and seductive poses. I thought that hmm this is very strange maybe an advertisement of some sort. Then about in the middle of this street I came to a building that on the side was writing in English "Sexy Live Show." Oh my! I have found the dark side of Japan. Really though it wasn't that bad but I quickly made my way back to the covered street mall.

Here I found a shoe store that was selling these really interesting wooden sandals. I bought two pairs of these as gifts for other people because they look so cool. A block of sanded down wood molded to a shape for your foot. Very very cool. Erin said she loves them too.

After that, I headed back to the train station because it was nearly lunch time and I wanted to eat my sandwiches. Once back at the Omeda station I couldn't find the Express train back to Nishonimiya. I waited and waited at the place that I was sure that I got off of but no train ever said Express Nishonimiya. Now I started to get a little concerned because I thought I had become disoriented especially after going through that "Sexy street." I finally followed my gut instinct and just took a local train in the direction that I was sure that I came from because I didn't want to get on an Express train and then be really far away if I was wrong.

I made the right choice. However because I took the local train it meant that I had to stop at all the local stations in between Omeda and Nishonimiya. I got off at one of these in between stations and decided that I would find a park to eat my sandwiches at. This became an adventure because I didn't know where a park was located at and I didn't know how to ask directions to a park. Heck I can only say Konnisha wa (Hello), domo arigato (thank you), ohayo (good morning), sumi masen (excuse me), hai (yes), and iee (no) but you never so no in Japanese because it just isn't polite. If someone asks you if you like something and you really don't like it, you say things like "maybe next time" or "I'm not sure" but you never say no. Anyway that was a long way to say that I couldn't ask directions to a park.

Ok so I just walked in a straight line and hoped that I would run into something... anything that resembled a park. I walked and I walked. I walked some more. Japanese people walked by and smiled and bowed their heads at me. I continued to walk by apartments and stores and canals. No parks. Finally I saw an area of trees ahead of me. I thought large trees must equal a large area of some sort maybe even a park so I went over to it. It turns out this was some kind of school yard. They had a large area to play soccer on but it wasn't grass but dirt. They did have a bench so I sat there and ate my sandwiches.

Then I headed back to Erin's apartment. Felix called and said that he was back there and I needed a little nap because I woke up at 3am (due to jet lag) and couldn't sleep for about an hour and the birds woke me up early after I went to sleep again at about 5am. I'm a light sleeper. Once I got to the apartment though I wasn't tired so Felix and I went to the post office because he had to pay bills. Then we went to the market and bought some dinner for tonight. He got some fish that looked like a zebra and this weird looking package with some sort of yellowish white thing in it that I had no idea what it was.

Back at the apartment I started writing this email and he prepared the fish and this yellowish white thing that turned out to be a vegetable but I still didn't know what it was. Then Erin came home and we had this small dinner. It was very good and the yellowish white thing turned out to be very delicious. Erin said it might be translated to English as a pickled radish. I love it soo much. Mmm very good and very tasty.

After this dinner I began typing away at this email and then decided that I would take a nap finally. I had Erin show me how to run a bath first. This is how I knew that it sings to you and was very relaxing. Then I took a long nap until about 8pm.

At eight, we decided to go to a sushi restaurant. Now this was quite an experience. The sushi goes around on a moving track and you pick off little colored plates of what sushi you want. The colored plates determine the price that you pay. A gold colored plate is the most expensive and yellow was the least amount. The prices arranged from 600 yen plates to 100 yen plates. Felix and Erin picked out many dishes for me to sample and they were all good. The raw tuna was really good. It melts in your mouth. I also had raw squid. Yes raw rubbery slimy squid. Ha! It wasn't too bad. Just like rubber. Quite an experience. I had to give it a go.

Sunday in Kobe

The next morning was Sunday and I awoke to pouring rain. Maybe pouring isn't the correct term however because it dumped. We went out in the rain with umbrellas to go to a church service. Erin and Felix go to an amazing church here called Kobe Union Church. The service is in English so I could understand. The pastor is actually from Hawaii. I met a French guy at church. He was extremely excited parler to me and he is from Nice, France.

The town of Kobe, where the church is located, is very mountainous. It reminded me of Alaska with all the green and mountains.

After church Erin and I went to a supermarket to just give me the experience of what they are like.

Erin recommended that I try an onijiri. It is a seaweed wrapped rice sandwich. The sandwiches come in different things like fish, fruit, meats and vegetable. Very good. I also had some Japanese chocolate called Meiji. American chocolate just does not compare at all This had a much more heavier taste of chocolate and just a hint of maybe cherry but not really a cherry flavor. It was amazing. Then Felix met us in a church driven vehicle to take us closer to a train station.

In Japan they drive on the opposite side of the road and thus the driver is on the right. It takes some getting used to especially when crossing the street because you have to look the other way first before crossing.

The trains are very fast and interesting because they go everywhere.

We stopped at an outdoor street mall. However Erin tells me that it's not really a mall but just a street which happens to have a huge collection of stores. I found an amazing store called UniQlo. They had a sale on T-shirts for 500 yen which amounts to around 5 dollars US. I bought a lot because they were very cool and I found one that Eric will love but I won't describe it because it will be a surprise for your birthday. Mom I got you a beautiful Yakuta and I also bought one too. Though the male versions aren't as vibrant as the females.

Then we went to a China town and I bought a Jackie Chan style shirt. I also had some Taiwanese ice-cream. Absolutely amazing. The man mixed the ice-cream with a large spoon and it was like taffy because it stretched out as he lifted it up.

I don't even know where to began to describe its flavor. All I can say is that it was delicious and a welcome cool treat.

Though the heat isn't too bad here. Erin tells me that since it's been raining it hasn't been extremely hot yet. The humidity is not bad either. I little humid and wet feeling most of the day. I would compare it to Seattle with maybe a little more humidity and instead of misty rain, it pours here.

Oh oh OH!!!! Coming home we went to a supermarket to pick up some food for tonight and they had watermelon pop-cicles. Shaped like a watermelon slice and with a unique flavor. The black seeds of the watermelon were actually little pieces of chocolate. I wish I could send the flavor to you all.

Two cousins enjoying the watermelon pops

I did sooo much today that I missed talking about like eating at Mos Burger and about taking a shower. They were all good and interesting. I'll have more tales to tell everyone once I get back.

Flying to the land of the rising sun

I can't hardly believe it....I'm in Japan!

(The following is a glorified version of my emails with pictures and more descriptions. If you aren't receiving my emails from Japan and would like to then please leave a comment with your address and I'll add you to my ever growing list)

My cousin Erin took this picture on her phone. We're on a bus from Osaka, Japan to her apartment in Nishinomiya, Japan! This is after my long loooooong flight and after worshipping being on the ground!

(left to right) Felix, Steven and Erin

My flights were great. There is nothing like flying. Everytime I go I get one of those warm fuzzy feelings the first time we take off. Here's a picture of my United Airlines plane that I took from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles at 6am in the morning.

I landed in Los Angeles at 6:48am due to a time change. Nearly an hour flight. Then I had a seven hour layover until my flight to Japan. Seven hours is a long time. I thought about going to the beach but the Los Angeles airport was such a zoo and I worried that I wouldn't be able to find my way back if I took a bus to the beach. I decided instead to take a free shuttle ride to the hotel Marriott and to just rest in their nice air conditioned lobby.

Once I arrived at the Marriott I walked around the building and somehow found a way to their swimming pool and outdoor commons area. This was perfect! They had lounge chairs that folded down flat and I just slept their most of the day in preparation for my 15 hour time change difference in Japan.

I took the free shuttle back to the zoo I mean airport with three hours to get my boarding pass and go past security. Luckily I needed every second because when I arrived I saw this.

Now multiply this by a quadrupleton and that's how many people were in front of me. This picture is towards the end once I could actually see the electronic signs for Japan Airlines that reassured me I hadn't stood in that line in haste for some other company.
Standing in line to receive my boarding pass took nearly two hours.

Then going through security took another 45 minutes. Finally I arrived at my gate to see the giant Japanese Airline plane that I would be sitting on for over 12 hours. Oh yeah double decker baby!

The flight was interesting. On the back of the seats was an LCD screen that you could play games on and view cameras from outside the plane and also see your flight progress including outside air temperature.

I had a window seat. There were three seats on the edges and 5 in the middle of the plane.

We flew up the coast of the western US

around the Aleutian Islands of Alaska,

then over the ocean, and down the coast of Japan until we landed in Osaka, Japan.

They fed me very well on the plane. Three main course meals and the bread was amazing! It was sweet and different from US bread because the texture was more chewy. All the bread in Japan is more chewy and wow I love it sooo much.



I sat next to an older Korean guy that was very talkative. However, I couldn't understand a thing that he said but somehow we both managed by gesturing a lot. I taught him how to play solitaire on the little LCD screen on the back of the airline seats. They had a remote control that also functioned as a game controller. Somehow by pointing and by playing a game on my screen he figured out that red goes on black and visa versa and that king, queen, etc comes next. The game made this more easier to learn because obviously it wouldn't allow you to put a card where it didn't belong. Then he showed me how to eat and what to do with all the sauces and things that you pour on the noodles and salads.

I slept periodically on the flight but I wanted to make sure that I didn't sleep through passing over the International Date Line. Once I passed over it I did a little cheer and took a picture.

I was the only person to give a little wOOt and I think everyone else must either travel over it a lot or were sleeping so they didn't care. I however thought it was fun to pass into the future like that. In so doing though, I effectively lost a day of my life. In some sense I lost two days of my life because flying all day from 6am to 2pm on Friday and then after crossing the line it became Saturday at about 2pm. So about 12 hours of my life are gone. I'll never experience those until I regain those hours coming back the opposite way.

My first view of Japan.

I landed in Japan at about 6pm and then Erin and Felix met me there after I went through customs and foreign passport inspection. The flight was long. 12 hours with little leg room.

Then we took a long bus ride to Nishinomiya station. I dropped off all my luggage at her lovely apartment and then we went to a little Japanese restaurant around the corner. I had some ginger-pork and a little croquette which is actually French. Also miso soup and a salad. Then I fell asleep. I don't have jet lag too bad because I slept during my 7 hour layover in Los Angeles.

The sun sets in the land of the rising sun.

Kon-nishi-wa I'm going to Japan

Remember last summer when I wanted to go somewhere, anywhere in the world besides Mexica and Canada? Well... now that dream, that desire, that yearning of mine is no longer because now it is complete tangible reality!

That's right, I'm going to Japan!

I can't quite believe it myself. I just purchased tickets and I will leave the country on June 30th.

So why Japan, some of you may ask? Well... I had originally planned to go to Russia to visit my friend Andrey who was a foreign exchange student at my college. He kindly asked me to come visit him in his mother country. So before school was out for the summer I put in a request to get my passport and got information ready to send in a VISA. The kind courthouse clerk assured me I would recieve my passport in four to six weeks. Then I waited. Waited. Still w-a-i-t-e-d. I checked the mailbox everyday but nothing was addressed to me but credit card applications. Six weeks passed, still no passport. I was getting extremely worried becuase they had my original birth certificate. What if it's lost?

Then a bombshell hit. I was watching the five o'clock news. "Breaking news! Severe thunderstorms and wind gusts wreck havok on Interstate 80. We'll now go live to the scene." The camera pans across the road showing multiple tractor trailers off the road and many of them were overturned but there was one in particular the camera decided to zoom in on. It was a United States Postal Service truck, overturned on its belly and ripped open. Mail and packages were spewn about, covered in mud or blowing away. I thought for sure that my birth certificate and passport were among the victims fleeing the scene or drowning in a puddle of rain and mud. I even convinced myself that one paper in particular was my birth certificate.

Fortunately, my passport arrived addressed to me clear of mud and rain about half-a-week later. Thank goodness for the slogan, "Neither rain, nor snow, nor heat, nor gloom of night" shall keep Steven's birth certificate and passport away from him. Now I have it. It was time to tell Andrey and then apply for my VISA.

Then another bombshell hit.
Andrey informed me that he is going to get married this summer. He had told me he was going to get married before but he didn't think he would be getting married until the fall or even later. Now he is getting married in the summer. However, he still told me to come to Russia. So I kept Russia hopes alive until I visited the Russian VISA application page. Almost seven weeks to get a passport and now I will have to wait to get a VISA and it requires so much information. I emailed him back and told him that I wouldn't be able to go until July or August. Then he wrote back and said that August is his wedding date and July wouldn't be so great because he is taking summer college classes and is busy most of the day. It was then that I thought that maybe I should think of going somewhere else.

The sun rises in the East.
Japan! The thought came to me. My cousin Erin is teaching English there and lives near Osaka, Japan with her new husband Felix. During her wedding last summer she urged everyone to come visit them while they will still be living there during her two year English teaching stint. This was my one and only chance if there ever was one to visit Japan.

I quickly emailed her and called my Uncle David and Aunt Brenda (her parents) about traveling to Japan. Everyone thought it would be great and I didn't need a VISA just a passport. My cousin Erin thought it would be wonderful too but she said to come during the first part of July because in August both Erin and Felix will be coming back here to visit family and friends and because Felix's younger brother, James who happens to be my age, will also be visiting them during that time. That would allow me to meet him and to have a traveling partner, although he doesn't speak Japanese either (that I know of). I think it will be fun to have a Chinese and an American wandering around Japan while neither of us can speak the language.

All this happened two days ago and yesterday I purchased the plane tickets. It was a quick decision but one that I have been wanting to make for a long time.

I am going to Japan! Whoo hoo!

Notes:

Felix married my cousin Erin. He and his family are from Hong Kong but Felix now lives in Japan with my cousin Erin. Felix is his American name. I'm not sure of his Chinese name.

Kon-nishi-wa means Hello in Japanese

My two cents on the quarter

First let me apologize to the readers of my blog for not posting in over a month and I know it's been over 4 weeks but I'm still working on the surprise so Hakuna Matata. Until then here is a post for you to devour. So now without further ado.....

Edit: Surprise!!! Brand spankin' new, awesome and incredible design for your viewing pleasure. Hakuna Matata no longer.

CHEYENNE -- Gov. Dave Freudenthal unveiled the final design for Wyoming's state quarter Friday, and the initial reaction from some residents was a resounding, “duh.”
“Did anybody think we were going to do something different than the bucking horse?” asked Cheyenne resident Eileen Calhoon after viewing a picture of the design.

The quarter will feature a silhouette of the state's trademark bucking horse and rider beside the words, “The Equality State.”

The state's name arches over the top of the coin, along with the year it entered the union, 1890. The bottom edge bears the coin production year -- 2007 -- and the Latin expression, "E Pluribus Unum." Read the entire article here

Duh? I frankly was not one who had a resounding duh! My resounding came in the form of, "What the _____!

“Did anybody think we were going to do something different than the bucking horse?”

Om yeah, ME... ME ME ME ME!

Oh I just can't believe it! Wyoming's state quarter is going to be so boring.

Just look at other state quarters. One of the first state quarters that came out is still one of my favorites. Connecticut's quarter is so beautiful and I can get lost in all those intricut tree limbs...Wow.

But from what I have just read, Wyoming's state quarter will look something like this.

The most insipid design ever, wouldn't you agree? Come on Wyoming let's be serious. There is already a state with a horse and rider on their quarter. Delaware was the first state and their design of a horse and rider has much more depth than just a silhouette and they had less time to come up with a design. We've had more than seven years and the University of Wyoming logo is all we could come up with!!!

Please I could throw something together in less than ten minutes that would represent Wyoming better. The majestic Grand Tetons are something to behold by all people. I am especially fond of the mountains and so here is what I envision Wyoming's State quarter to be engraved as.
But Wyoming is dumb and the residents spoke with a resounding, "Duh" that they want to see the bucking horse and rider. Well, well "Duh" Wyoming residents, why not be honest and show true aspects of your great "Equality State?"

That's right. I think this quarter represents Wyoming perfectly. Now this quarter is something I would be mighty proud to flash off as I buy some chewin' tobaccey along with my fellow Wyominites because our great state gave women the right to vote before the 19th Amendment. Because of this our state became known as "The Equality State." Or was that really how we got our nickname? Could it be....?

Mmmmm.... Wouldn't you just love to fondle that quarter? Hey it even has a cowboy on it. No wait two of them. *Drools* That's more than what we get with the approved design of the bucking horse and one rider logo. "Duh" that is so cool.

Ahh ok ok, now that I have gotten this off of my chest I decided to exercise my civic right. I contacted Governor Freudenthal right away to let him know what I thought of the design he approved.

Governor Freudenthal,

I recently read an article in my local newspaper that you have approved the design for the Wyoming state quarter. I have to say that though the bucking horse and cowboy is an image that represents Wyoming culture well, I was a little disappointed that the design doesn't have any interesting qualities. Frankly it is flat out boring and rather dull compared to other state's quarters. Personally, I would like to have our quarter be something that others pick up and say, "Wow that's amazing!" but with the current design I believe others including myself will just pass it off as nothing exciting.

My suggestions to improve the quarter now would be to give it more depth. I would start by giving full detail to the horse and cowboy and to add a background. An engraving of the majestic Teton Mountains, Old Faithful or of Devils Tower behind the bucking horse and cowboy would add a richness and fullness to the design, not to mention being a place to freely advertise these great features of our state to tourists. This will surely give the Wyoming quarter more life and I hope that you will consider it.

Sincerely,

Steven Held

I sent that email on Monday and two days later I received a reply.

Dear Steven Held,

I received your email about the state quarter design. I want to thank you for contacting me and I appreciate your concerns. Unfortunately I have already approved the design in question and it is now with the U.S. Treasury for final approval.

My offices sponsored a state quarter design drive and most of the Wyoming residents sent in ideas centered around the bucking horse and rider with only a few recommendations of such landmarks like the Grand Tetons and Old Faithful. With such overwhelming support I decided to make the bucking horse and rider a part of our state quarter.

However, you have brought up a good argument to combine those elements of Wyoming. I might be able to take your ideas to the U.S. Treasury before their artists strike the final proof. The U.S. Treasury is still awaiting special approval to use the bucking horse and rider logo since it is a state trademark and University of Wyoming logo and the image can't be used on the quarter without express written consent by these institutions.

Steven, I'll see what I can do but I must also keep the other residents of Wyoming in mind and they want to see the bucking horse and rider logo.

Sincerely,

Governor Dave Freudenthal

Residents who said, "Duh" wouldn't you rather have this be your state quarter?


I hope so.

Gesundheit

What’s so special about a sneeze?

The other day, I sneezed and someone said, "God bless you!" And I thought why do we say that? Why do we say God bless you, Gesundheit or salud only for a sneeze and not a thing for other involuntary activities such as coughing or burping?

A long time ago, people thought that when someone sneezed, they might accidentally sneeze their soul out of their nose. To keep the soul in the body people would bless them. I think that it would be nice if we said, "God bless you!" all the time, not just when we sneezed. How about when someone does anything wrong or out of the ordinary. Like that time I broke the window as a kid or just a few hours ago when a blue car cut me off, I could've said "God bless you!" instead of honking at him. I mean seriously, the guy could've lost his soul by the way he was driving.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this other than the fact that I'm delaying studying for my finals and for the fact that I haven't posted in almost a month. Anyway, it is still nice to bless someone when they sneeze. It's especially uplifting when walking down the street and a total stranger will sneeze and I will automatically say, "God bless you." They usually smile and say, "Thank you".

Even strangers appreciate someone who is concerned about their souls. Ah-chooooooooooooo!

Side note:
Look for the Sea of Steve to change a few things in the upcoming weeks, maybe two weeks, hopefully not three and if I go to four then assume that I will not be doing it. What is it? Here is a tiny bitty peak.