- 28 Jul 2005
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On Thursday, May 3rd, one day before the big JREF meet in Shiga , I got a mail from Mike Cash on my cellphone--he would be at the Akashina station at 4:10. On that same day, my neighborhood would be holding the annual 'ohanami' (cherry blossom viewing party) and I wanted to at least show my face there, so I went.
It was a slightly hazy day, with a fairly strong wind blowing. After sitting with the folks there for a while, and doing my best to keep them from pouring beer down my throat, I hopped in the car and drove on over to Akashina to pick up Mike Cash. The anticipation was strong. Then, coming through the ticket gate was a tall, southern gentleman in cowboy hat and sunglasses...it had to be the man! We made our way back to the picnic scene, talking about the trip up and the crowded trains.
The guys from the neighborhood were happy to meet Mike, and they soon started pouring out the shochu--the beer already finished. It was so typical as they at first started asking questions about Mike, through me--as it were--even he was himself speaking in Japanese. After a short while, it dawned on them that he was speaking Japanese, and then they asked him directly. I got the boys, and Mchan, and we went on back to the house before nightfall.
For dinner--and we weren't that hungry--we had white curry and sat around talking about a number of things, though I also spent some time making some last minute preparations for the next day. It was nice having the time to chat on the different levels--as having grown up in the southern USA, as ex-pats in Japan, as fathers, and of course as JREFers.
Mike Cash automatically became our official photographer, with his very nice cameras, and I'm sure he'll be posting some of the photos of the exciting moments of the next day, and the natural surroundings of my house place, and neighborhood.
With this, I'll post, and then go into the first part of the next day, splitting it up into seveal posts, as others who were there hopefully join in with their memorable moments and comments.
It was a slightly hazy day, with a fairly strong wind blowing. After sitting with the folks there for a while, and doing my best to keep them from pouring beer down my throat, I hopped in the car and drove on over to Akashina to pick up Mike Cash. The anticipation was strong. Then, coming through the ticket gate was a tall, southern gentleman in cowboy hat and sunglasses...it had to be the man! We made our way back to the picnic scene, talking about the trip up and the crowded trains.
The guys from the neighborhood were happy to meet Mike, and they soon started pouring out the shochu--the beer already finished. It was so typical as they at first started asking questions about Mike, through me--as it were--even he was himself speaking in Japanese. After a short while, it dawned on them that he was speaking Japanese, and then they asked him directly. I got the boys, and Mchan, and we went on back to the house before nightfall.
For dinner--and we weren't that hungry--we had white curry and sat around talking about a number of things, though I also spent some time making some last minute preparations for the next day. It was nice having the time to chat on the different levels--as having grown up in the southern USA, as ex-pats in Japan, as fathers, and of course as JREFers.
Mike Cash automatically became our official photographer, with his very nice cameras, and I'm sure he'll be posting some of the photos of the exciting moments of the next day, and the natural surroundings of my house place, and neighborhood.
With this, I'll post, and then go into the first part of the next day, splitting it up into seveal posts, as others who were there hopefully join in with their memorable moments and comments.