Springtime In Guam

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 06:56 PM

LOL! Sins, I was looking at the "pestilence ridden abomination" just yesterday. The fire didn't help it at all. It looks worse than ever. I'm not sure what to do about getting it ready for the trip. I haven't been wearing it here because it is too warm to wear in the tropics. But I guess I do need to clean it up, or get another one. I guess it is time to go shopping.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 19 Apr 05 - 06:58 PM

My life seems a little disjointed lately. Wakana's absence sure leaves a big hole in my life. I couldn't coordinate at all yesterday. Today is better.

She arrived safely in Japan, went to the hospital for her exam, saw her dentist about her lost filling, and went home to Nishinasuno. Her father, in his mid-70s, had injured his foot climbing Nasu mountain to take pictures. Her mother is preparing for a big art shaw in Tokyo. She has an amazing family.

I guess I have sold my truck. A fellow tried it out and got all excited. We haggled over the price and settled on a good number. He gave me some money to hold the truck and is pursuing his vehicle loan.

So life goes on. It's a rainy day so once more the lawn will not get mowed. I need to get some work done on the immigration paperwork, mail some Navy Biscuits off to my brother, and generally get through the day.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Apr 05 - 05:59 PM

Yesterday was Saturday and that means canoe day. We are still giving our classes and yesterday was to be the first day in the canoe on the water! And, as most things do, it went wrong from the get-go. I arrived and found that Larry and Gordon were late. Class members were milling around ondering what was going to happen. We didn't have the key to the gate so we couldn't move the boat down to the water. When they did arrive we found we didn't have any palm fronds (longen) to provide skids for sliding the boat over the stones of the beach. However, we had plenty of people to help get the boat in the water and Gordon and I ran off to cut longen. It took most of an hour to get the boat into the water. Sigh.

Once Quest was in the water and rigged they paddled out to the other side of the channel and anchored to teach the students how to get back into the canoe if they fell off. It was also a swwimming test to make sure they could tread water until the canoe could be turned around to pick them up. They had to tread water for 5 minutes and put on a life preserver while in the water.

Gordon had brought two sit-on-top kayaks so I took one and paddled out to where they were anchored. This was my first opportunity to explore the basin at Hagatna. I stayed with the canoe until I was sure I was not needed and then paddled over to examine a sailboat moored nearby. It has been in the same spot since well before I arrived here in June 2003. The jib is on a roller furling device but has blown free and is tattered to rags. All the woodwork is sun bleached and rotted but the fiberglass hull seems to be in good shape. Below the waterline the hull is a mass of seagrowth. She is moored tightly fore and aft and secure against the typhoons but I can see that some of the mooring lines are chaffing and weakened. The owner should be made to take care of her.

I noticed an odd looking structure sticking up out of the water and paddled over to look at it. I found another boat, capsized and on the bottom. The structure was one of its double keels. It is wide so I think it was a power boat but I couldn't be certain. Over at the canoe I noticed some of the swimmers standing on something. It turned out to be another sunken boat.

I had a great time on the kayak. I may need to get one of those things. I love to be out on the water. The seat was a little narrow and my legs too long for the footrests but I enjoyed it all the same. I need to remember to use sunblock though. I am sporting an unhealthy sunburn now.

A couple of days ago we went to the cemetary at Pigo to look at a breadfruit tree they had knocked down in the renovations there. Cemetaries here in Guam came in three types. The original cemetaries and those inland are just what you would expect, graves in the soil with headstones or memorials. Down by the water they use large stone or concrete tombs to encase the coffin. There are many stories of typhoons exhuming the dead from a conventional cemetery leaving the relatives to scrounge for the remains of their relatives among the typhoon debris. Then there is the storage bin idea. They build a honeycomb of casket sized holes and just seal the end of the storage bin with a cap that has the name and relevant information on it.

Anyway the tree is big, beautiful, and right out where we can see it. We wandered around it poking and prodding. Manny loved it right away. He figures we can get a keel out of it big enough to make a canoe bigger than Quest. Our only problem is moving and storing the big bastard. The log we need out of it will be 24 feet long and 1½ feet across at its SMALL end. I suggested a set of axles and a tow bar, let the log be the trailer.

Anyway, if we are going to keep working on logs I need to get a canthook. Does anyone out there have access to one? Can I send you some money to get me one and send it to me? I don't need the wooden bit, only the metal fittings. Let me know.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Apr 05 - 06:13 PM

By the way, if any of you want to participate in the building of a new canoe you can do so without leaving your home town. We need adzes. This is not so difficult as you might think. We are looking for either adze heads or, and this is the trick, heavy wide plane blades. The plane blade needs to be 1 1/2 inches or wider. You can find them at yard sales or flea markets. They SHOULD be cheap so be wary.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 01:56 AM

PICTURES AT LAST!!!

In response to a diminishing number of requests I have finally posted some pictures on a website. Just click on the blicky above. I will add more pictures as soon as I regain my patience with this machine.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Donuel
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 12:23 PM

Super pics

In #2 I am glad to see you and Wakana are getting plenty of ketchup.
They say it has plenty of mellowing agents in it.

I'd like to see the mountain pictures you took with no film in the camera.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 01:12 PM

Great pics! I especially like the symbolism of the butterfly kite: Rebirth, New life!

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Amos
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 01:39 PM

Ah, Naemanson, what a different smile is on your face than when we last met!!! You certainly have struck a vein of much-deserved good luck!! Blessings on you both!


A

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: CarolC
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 02:01 PM

Thanks for the pictures, Brett!

Wakana looks like the best of all possible worlds... beautiful, and she looks like a very intelligent and interesting person. Way to go! And you're looking great yourself. Your lifestyle must be agreeing with you.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 08:08 PM

Brett-

You've opened a nice window into your world with your digital images. There are times when I wondered if it was all in your imagination!

Well, actually you did send me a splendid image of yourself and Wakana earlier.

So send us some more shots of the sailing craft.

There are rumors of a major snow storm in northern Maine tonight. You may want to e-mail home and see if there are any survivors.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 08:09 PM

I'm getting a stipend from the Ketchup Advisory Board for that picture, Donuel. Those mountain pictures seem to take a long time in developing. I turned the non-film into a non-printing shop and now have to wait on their non-schedule.

Wakana seems to be a perfectly normal woman in that she doesn't see herself as either beautiful, intelligent, or interesting. Fortunately I do see the truth and appreciate it.

I talked with her last night. She is bored. It looks like she will probably come home the week after next.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: masato sakurai
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 10:20 PM

Brett, thanks for the photos.

~Not so "celebrated" Masato

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 10:30 PM

Oh my gosh, she is beautiful! How wonderful to see such a tiny little lady keeping our gentle giant under control.

Masato is exactly as I pictured him - handsome, wise, and slightly inscrutable,

Thanks, Brett. I needed alift tonight. We are counting the days 'til we see you again and get to welcome Wakana to Maine.

Mary

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Amos
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 10:37 PM

Masato:

You underestimate the value you have contributed to this community over the years you have been a member. While the Mudcat is not a huge community, you are certainly celebrated within it!

A

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: CarolC
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 11:40 PM

I'm so glad you spoke up, Masato. I didn't read the captions, so I didn't realize I was seeing your picture. It's wonderful to now have an image to connect to your gracious and generous writing here in the Mudcat.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 24 Apr 05 - 11:54 PM

More Pictures!

I posted some more photos. The uplink is working well today.

Masato, there are certain members of the Mudcat who have made it a special place. We each have a list of particular members who we think of when we consider what is bright and beautiful about this site. You, my dear friend, are one of those people for me. Your contributions are what this place was supposed to be bck when Max had his brainstorm for the Mudcat.

So I stand by my word "celebrated".

Tut, tut, Carol, I write the caption so people will know who and what they are looking at. I even included little Bruce/Clarenc/Mikey. I hope you noticed him.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Apr 05 - 12:00 AM

Whuh? The other photos I accessed easily- they were thumbnails and then went into slide show format. This time it asks for Member ID. ??

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: CarolC
Date: 25 Apr 05 - 12:32 AM

I know, Brett. I'm sorry. I only had time earlier today to take a quick look at the pictures. On my second look, this evening, I did read the captions, and I did notice Bruce/Clarenc/Mikey. I'm glad you included a picture of him.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Amos
Date: 25 Apr 05 - 12:46 AM

BRett:

Check that link -- it points to an account name and password that does not work when coming in through the front.


A

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: CarolC
Date: 25 Apr 05 - 12:49 AM

You can look at the new pictures in the link Brett provided earlier in his 24 Apr 05 - 01:56 AM post.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 25 Apr 05 - 07:42 PM

Sorry about that. I know what I did wrong. When I update the photo album I have to email myself an invitation to view it. I then paste the link here. That time I just copied the address at the top of the browser and used it. Below is the right link.

http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=naemanson&password=72911936

I spent a lot of time last night looking for a book. It was hot in the library. The air does not circulate well in this house. The air conditioner is in the living room and blows cool air down the hall towards the bedrooms but it cannot make it into the rooms. We have a fan stationed in the hall to push the air further.

I was looking in the boxes of books in the closet. I may have too many books. Look for me on Ebay. I wll have to reduce the collection.

I did NOT find my book.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 28 Apr 05 - 05:58 PM

Yesterday at the laundromat I was reading the paper when I saw an item saying that Northwest Airlines was offering a very restricted flight to Japan for $150! I got excited. After all, Wakana is bored and stuck there for a while. This was my opportunity to go visit for a couple of weeks. My truck was sold earlier that day and I had no other pressing need to stay in Guam.

When I got home I tried to call Wakana but she wasn't home from Tokyo yet. I fretted for the rest of the day and then she called me back. I wanted to be sure my plans didn't conflict with hers. She got excited when I told her of the flight. After I hung up I called the number given in the paper.

Northwest Airlines had no idea what I was talking about. A round trip flight to Japan is $400+ and that is that. I cannot find anything on the internet. I am so disappointed. Wakana will be disappointed. But I am not done yet. Later this morning I will call a travel agent and see what she knows. And I'll call the local Northwest office. I am not done yet.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 28 Apr 05 - 08:48 PM

Got it! I had to call a travel agent who looked in places I don't know about (Don't ask, don't tell) to find the deal. The flights are loaded with restrictions but I am going to Japan for a grand total of $190 for a round trip flight. I can stay two weeks.

Yippee!

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 01 May 05 - 01:51 AM

Yesterday they moved the canoe down to Inarajan for the Saint Joseph Fiesta. Today we re-enacted the arrival of the statue. We got the canoe into the water and loaded the statue aboard. A power boat was there to tow Quest out to the harbor entrance and then the crew paddled to shore. As they came the church choir sang hymns in Chamorro. The priest was there in his robes and several alter boys with incense burners. The deacon read the history of the statue, quoting eyewitnesses of the miracle that broguht the saint to Inarajan. Then 4 young men went out to where the Quest lay next to the shore and they brought the saint in. They set him in a wooden carrier and then the procession went off to return him to the church. It was a very pretty ceremony and the weather cooperated wonderfully. Overhead there were no clouds. The breeze kept things cool. The young men and women were dressed in their best Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. It was a lovely day.

The rest of the day is given to celebrations and a carnival. there are food booths and crafts for sale. There is a stage where dancers and singers perform. The site is lovely too. Gef Pago is a make believe village with small huts built of bamboo and coconut fronds. The bay is long and narrow with high ground on either side so the breeze is channeled right through the trees and around the booths.

I couldn't stay. I had to come home to pack and prepare for my trip tomorrow. I have to get up at 3:00 AM to be at the airport in time for my trip. In Japan Wakana will be getting up at her 3:00 AM to get to the airport to meet me.

If anyone would like to have a Traditional Seafarer's T-shirt please contact me. We just printed new shirts. The front has a sketch of the bow of the canoe and four sets of the navigator's dolphins. The back has the star chart with the Chamorro constellations and the canoe in the middle. The sirts are $15.00 plus shipping.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 May 05 - 12:17 PM

Have a happy flight!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 02 May 05 - 07:26 AM

I have arrived safely. Got up this morning at 3:00 to catch the flight and nearly missed it anyway. It is a special flight and they did not make allowances for the usual crowds in the airport at that time. Nearly got lost in security.

When I checked in the woman at the desk offered me a seat by the door. I thought I would have some great leg room. When I got to the plan there was leg room to spare but the guy in the seat next to mine looked like he was 4 feet wide. And the door had a huge bulge on the inside, I guess for the emergency chute. If I had stayed there I'd have had no leg room or shoulder room. Fortunately the cabin attendant saw the difficulty and moved me to another seat.

The meal will forever stand out in my mind as the epitome of how airlines get it wrong. The entre was some kind of rice, meatball, and shrimp thing and was too hot to eat. There was a pasta and vegetable salad that still had ice crystals on it. No one in their right mind would ever expect a gourmet meal from either airlines or hospitals but they could at least try. The food was tasteless and the textures were all wrong.

We rode the shinkansen (bullet train) home and were welcomed with open arms but the Tsuksni clan. I handed over my presents, which were a surprise and apparently perfect, we shared a small meal, and then I headed off for a nap. I'm feeling much better but could use a full night's sleep.

It's nice to be back.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 May 05 - 08:32 AM

For the price you paid for the flight, you're lucky you didn't find yourself on a C-47 along with some goats and pigs. On your flight back, bring some take-out.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 03 May 05 - 08:14 AM

What a difference a couple of months makes. When I left here at the beginning of March the trees and bushes were dry twigs and branches, the fields were brown dirt, and the mountains were white. Now the trees and bushes are green, and many of them bear brightly colored flowers. The little trees that line the road outside the house now are covered with white flowers. The house garden has blossomed with pick, white, and purple flowers. The air is flower scented but that isn't all. There are frogs calling all around the flooded rice fields. They sound a little like diesel engines idling nearby.

The brown fields that I last saw in March are now reflecting ponds. Many have been planted with rice so the reflections are stitched with little green shoots. Others wait for the tractors to wade through.

We went for a walk today. Considering that we only went around the block it is amazing that it took us over three hours. But there was so much to see. Up at the corner is a farm. I had walked by the bare shrubs in February looking through them at farm machinery and greenhouses. Now those shrubs form a green wall broken with the bright hues and lovely perfume of flowers. Wakana had talked to the farmer and wanted to visit him so I could see his operation. We went into his dooryard and found him in the machine shed. He happily took us around the little farm and showed us the greenhouses and machinery. He plants rice but also has a little nursery business doing some landscaping on the side.

The process is fascinating. The rice shoots are grown in trays in the plastic greenhouses. When they get to be about six inches tall the trays are set in the planter which then sets the little plants in the mud in neat rows. The floor of the greenhouses are carpeted with thick green mats. Mr. Masubuchi has nearly finished his planting, there are only trays covering half of the floor in one greenhouse. .He showed us the combine used for harvesting the rice. Unlike the huge machines that harvest wheat in the Midwestern United States this machine is about the size of a mini van. It cats four rows at a time, separating the heads from the stems, grinding up the stems and spewing them back into the field. The heads are taken to the farm where they are winnowed and packaged for sale to the big rice producers. He says he can get seventy to ninety kilograms from one small field.   I still need to work out the area of one of those fields.

We wandered on stopping at a convenience store for something to drink. Wakana bought something she called a "Jumbo". It turned out to be an ice cream sandwich except that the outer covering was made from the same material as is used in an ice cream cone. It had a waffle design making it easy to break into pieces for sharing. It was very tasty, totemo oishi!

We headed down towards the grade school. We were going to cross the grounds to get to the main road. There had been a baseball game and the teams of girls were playing while the adults picked up the equipment and loaded the cars. When the visiting team was ready to leave they lined up on one side of the field and, bowing to the other team, shouted some for of farewell. The other team had lined up to receive their farewell and they bowed shouting their own farewell. It was a very civilized way to end a game.

We were walking by a house made of dressed stone and greeted the owners where they were working in their garden. It was a little old couple, the woman bent nearly in half from osteoporosis. They invited us in to view their garden and we wandered around making polite noises and talking with them about the neighborhood. Wakana learned that a house we had admired earlier was owned by a family she knows. She and the old lady talked while I looked at the poor sad garden and tried to traumatize their granddaughter. The kid was in junior high school and refused to try out her English. The garden was in sad shape. There were bonsai trees that had split their pots and were growing too large to be considered bonsai. I counted three stone lanterns that had fallen over. There was a dry pond with a little stone bridge. And in the middle of the garden, buried in dirt up to its hubs, was an old blue van. The poor rusty thing had a stick holding its side door closed.

We wandered on. Down near the main drag I noticed a car lot but we couldn't figure out if the cars were for sale or rent. Coming around the corner we realized it was parking for a huge open house. There is a house shop down there. On a small patch of land, a former rice field, several house companies have built model homes. There are ten or twelve of them in there and they were having an open house. Wakana and I went in to look at the houses.

They are beautiful. They are modern and open and clean and full of wood – floors, doors, wainscoting, timbers, etc. There were wood stoves and modern kitchens. They tended to look very modern but the tatami rooms looked very traditional. One room had a charcoal fire pit complete with hanging iron kettle. The rooms were large as were the windows. Many rooms included glass doors that opened to let the outside in. There were some sliding glass doors but most opened like folding shutters. There were balconies and gardens too. Stairs were invariably wide and trimmed with wood. One house had lots of brushed aluminum and plexiglass but still boasted plenty of wood also.

We were escorted through every house we visited. The sales persons made a point of giving us gifts as well as brochures. We needed a wheelbarrow to get home. We got flowers mostly but also a plastic and metal clock. Wakana had to fill out a form at each place and, of course, she gave them her parents' address. I think my in-laws will be getting lots of phone calls and visitors in the near future.

By then we were hungry so we headed to Douton Bori to eat okinomyaki and yakisoba. It was nice to sit for a while. The waitress was the same kid we had talked to on our last visit. We ended up inviting her to visit us in Guam and that excited her. She is the kid who plays Okinawan folk music and jazz on the piano.

All in all we had a very nice day. It was great to walk the same routes I had used earlier but not to need a coat or hat. Actually I needed a hat. I think I got sunburned today.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 04 May 05 - 07:25 AM

I didn't mention that this is Golden Week in Japan. April 29 was the last emperor's birthday, now celebrated as Greenery Day. It is an official holiday. May 3 was Law Day, celebrating the legal system. May 5 is Children's Day, specifically boys. The girls had a day back in March. With the three holidays happening so close together the Governemnt includes the day between Law Day and Children's Day as a holiday. Japan is on vacation this week.

Children's Day is celebrated by flying large carp shaped banners, koinobori, at every house that has a son. Inside there are displays of samurai armor or dolls of famous samurai. Here we have a lovely miniature samurai helmet on a laquer armor box, They put it out in my honor. Gawrsh!

Today we went out to shop for a video camera for our trip. We also wanted to get a tour book in Japanese and I needed a watch. Then we headd over to Genghis Khan for lunch. We headed there but never made it. We ran into a line of traffic that stretched for miles. At one point I got out of the car and walked, passing many cars that sat ahead of us. I saw a group of very fancy tricked out vans so walked back for the camera and then back up to take pictures of them. This was serious gridlock!

We gave up and headed back into town to go to a little restaurant we discovered last time. The name of the place is, and I am not making this up, Home Relax Dining. After a very nice meal we went over to Aunt Sachiko's house. She had a wedding gift for us.

Aunt Sachiko is an amazing person. I am sure I've mentioned her before. That woman has more talent, skill, and energy in her little finger than I could have in two bodies. One of her more recent forays into the art world is etched glassware. She gave us a set of little glasses etched with a vine and flower design that she had created. There is also a little serving dish with the same design. She showed us two designs that she is working on, one a lovely caligaraphy motiff and another is a larger version of a design she made for a glass she gave to me. It is a tavern scene (exterior) that starts with a traveler on a horse getting a stirrup cup from a woman, then there is a large tree and a heart shaped carriage with its door open, then a couple walking hand in hand. There are birds in the air. The larger version is on a thick red glass vase. She intends to reverse the image so the background is etched and the picture is clear.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: GUEST,sandra in sydney
Date: 04 May 05 - 09:24 AM

you have a very talented family, Brett

the postcard of the canoe arrived today, thanks for sending it. When I get it laminated tomorrow I'll put it on the wall next to the pastcard from Mary in Kentucky -

sandra

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Leadfingers
Date: 04 May 05 - 11:02 AM

Brett - Canoe postcard arrived in west London this morning - Looks like a fun boat ! And this HAS to be my favourite Mudcat thread !!

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 05 May 05 - 08:49 AM

We made it to the farm today. Genghis Kahn BBQ is only a small part of their operation. But it's also the only part I've seen until today. We arrived about 10:00 after a lovely drive using country lanes to avoid the traffic jams of the day before.

The roads we traveled are very narrow. I could hear Wakana suck in her breath every time we met another car. There are deep ditches on either side excpet where the rice fields run up to the concrete walls that support the roads. If you run a wheel off the pavement in some places you have a short drop into the mud of a rice paddy.

But the trees are in full leaf and the shades of green are not to be believed. And there are flowers everywhere. One farm has purple, red, and white ground cover running all along the driveway. At one point we went through a stretch where the trees had red leaves.

The BBQ is a part of a large farm complex open to the public and providing entertainment and exercise space. There is a petting zoo of farm animals and a place to ride horses. There is a crazy bungie jump thing with trampolines allowing children to jump many feet into the ari. Greenhouse full of straberries are ready to be picked. Bicycles can be rented for the 4 kilometer bike trail. There are hiking trails, There are buildings for people to participate in arts and crafts. In one children were painting ceramics which would then be fired and presented to them. In another families were making ice cream.

I finally had the answer to a question that has been bothering me since I got here. Every once in a while we would drive by a row of small logs, a couple of feet long and about three to four inches in diameter. These were leaned up against a horizontal pole. I thought they were firewood but the storage system made no sense. At the farm there was an are of hundreds of square feet covered with these mysteries. They are for growing mushrooms! They use oak and sprinkle the spores on them and leave them in the shade to grow. They come along and cut the mushrooms when they reach a certain size. We saw a pile of mushrooms that had been discarded because they were too big.

And the finest part of the farm, when your feet are tired and you need a break, they had a hot spring foot bath! We stopped, pulled off shoes and socks, rolled up the pant legs and dipped our feet into the steaming water. There were rounded rocks cemented into the bottom for foot massage. Very nice.

We stopped at an electronics shop on the way home to look into buying a converter for our trip to England in August. They offered us two different kinds of plugs. Which one should we get? I assume my English brethren and sistren will be able쳌@to describe their plugs to me.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Lana
Date: 05 May 05 - 09:46 PM

Do you need the plug adapter itself or an actual electrical adapter?

If all you need is the plug part, then you might as well wait til you get here and just pick one up, they sell them in most appliance type stores and they are cheap. I have one for my laptop.

love
kelli

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 06 May 05 - 03:40 AM

Travel adaptors: most airport shops sell them (well, maybe not Guam!).
For 13 amp we have 3 pin (flat thick prongs)plugs and for smaller appliances (lamps etc) some houses still have small 2 round pin sockets. I've got an adaptor that had multiple settings, OK for US, Greece, NZ which all have differing styles of sockets.
Shaver sockets here are usually dual voltage so "foreign" shavers work OK.
RtS

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 06 May 05 - 07:06 AM

We are bringing a digital camera as the only thing we need to plug in. Japanese current is 100 volts, 12 amps, I think. The adapter is sold separately from the plugs and they sell both kinds of plug.

Today we took the train down to Utsonomiya to meet Wakana's best friend for lunch. We also wanted to visit the electronics shop and a bookstore. I have been in the market for a tool to use in interviewing people and today settled on an IC recorder with separate microphone and extra large memory chip. Wakana and I have an idea to write a book about beachcombers in the Pacific islands. One day she mentioned a "famous" beachcomber and the idea took off.

In the same store we found a little "toy" accordion. (I can see CarolC sitting up and taking notice!) I was kidding around when I suggested Wakana buy it to play but we brought it home with us. It turns out she had tried to play the accordion in high school but it was too heavy so she settled on piano instead. She likes this one. It only has 17 keys so the range is limited but she picked it out of the box, strapped it on, and played a tune! I love surprises like this! She is very happy with it.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 06 May 05 - 11:07 PM

I forgot to mention what we saw in the Utsonomiya shopping mall. As we were leaving for the train we walked by a lingerie shop. I started laughing. The name of the shop was Amos Shop! I wanted to take a picture ut Wakana said we couldn't take photos in the mall.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 10 May 05 - 09:38 PM

Home again, home again. We rose at 3:00 AM yesterday morning for a 3 hour bus ride to the airport. While waiting for the bus in the pre-dawn light we heard running footsteps and saw two young men jump a hedge and run off into a parking lot. Right after that a police car zoomed up and began patroling the area. It was joined by a second car. Obviously we had witnessed the end of an exciting time.

The trip was largely uneventful. Wakana and I couldn't get seats next to one another. She sat with a pair of women on their way to Guam for the first time and they chattered away happily the whole trip. My companions were an older man and younger woman. She looked to be about my daughter's age. He had a lot of gray hair. She was excited about the trip and kept looking out the window. He split his time between napping and fondling her under the blanket they shared. He was asleep when we landed and she was so excited she couldn't sit still. At one point as we came in to land she looked at me, pointed out the window, and fluttered her hand over her chest as if to say her heart was pounding with the excitement of being there.

We got home to find the house baking hot. The AC was not running. There was nothing wrong with it and it started right up but it took a long time to cool the house down. These concrete buildings are heat sinks. It takes a while to get them comfortable. Between the early rising and the heat we didn't have enough energy to unpack.

Now, with a good night's sleep and the sun shining we are ready to take on the world. We are home again and all is good. We've been for a walk, got our paper, read the story about Kim Chee Warehouse Grocery Stores closing and the police displaying the burglarized contents they captured and made our plans for the day. It's good to be home.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: CarolC
Date: 10 May 05 - 10:47 PM

That's great news about the accordion, even if it is a "toy". I find my accordion to be too heavy for me also, so I play sitting down with my accordion resting on my legs. If she ever thinks about getting a bigger one, she might want to try playing it that way.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 11 May 05 - 03:40 AM

Lou Berryman is also a small woman who plays a big accordion. She has a detachable pole that hold the weight of the instrument. All she has to do is balance it. She plays standing.

By the by, on this trip to Japan I managed to avoid all the low doorways except... As we were loading the car at 3:30 AM yesterday I hit my head on the top of the garden gate. I was carrying two heavy suitcases and concentrating on not wiping out the flower beds. I rattled the whole structure. I still have quite a lump on my head today.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 14 May 05 - 11:32 PM

Yesterday at the canoe some people were talking about going to the Mermaid Tavern to hear one of the new members singing. Apparently he performs there. Wakana and I decided to go. We got there early, the show didn't start until 8:00 and we got there around 7:00. The waitress brought us menus. The Mermaid Tavern is the only microbrewery on the island. Everywhere else serves either Miller or Bud or a smattering of other bottled brews. The Mermaid has their own brewery and a selection of seven beers. I had the feeling they could find a dusty bottle of Bud if you asked for one.

I requested the sampler. With that you get seven beer glasses, each with three ounces in it. You pay the same price as for a regular beer but you get twenty one ounces of beer! What a deal. I started at one end and enjoyed my way through to the other end. By the time I got to the fifth glass other people began to show up.

The waitress, a cute kid who looks a lot like a high school kid I knew back home, kept worrying about us because we sat there with our drinks and did nothing and ordered nothing more. We had already eaten and we were waiting for the rest of the crew and the musicians. We told her we were waiting for a few more people.

Chris came in and began to set up his stuff and tune his instrument. He plays an eight string ukulele, larger than the small ones you usually see but not as large as a small guitar. I asked him how long he'd been on the island. This is a common question for a haolie to hear.

He came to the island about twenty years ago as the bass player for a rock band that was falling apart. They were on a DOD contract tour, visiting military bases around the world. Guam was their last stop. After the concert he quit the band and stayed. Now he runs a boat taking tourists diving and he teaches scuba diving. In the evenings he plays music and enjoys his family. He says he has not picked up anything but his uke in a long time.

Around 8:00 I ordered an eggplant and Portobello pizza. It arrived at the same time as the first of the canoe crowd. The waitress had little to worry about. By the time we were all there we numbered about twenty people. She was a very busy lady.

We put tables together and conversation and laughter flowed. I was a little disappointed in this as I thought we were there to hear Chris. But on reflection I decided that it takes a very unique crowd to gather just to listen. Folkies will do that but most other people treat music as background fill.

At the break I talked to Jeff, the guitar player. He says he has been on the island for about thirty years. He also drives a boat taking parties fishing. I told him I had enjoyed his solo on Ohio and apologized for the noise but he said that most Saturdays there were few people there and he'd rather play to laughter than to an empty room. Can't say as I blame him.

One of our number was a young Japanese woman, a friend of Wakana's and Kayoko쳌fs. She has expressed an interest in Steve, another new member, but she is too Japanese to do anything about it. Wakana and Kayoko were playing matchmaker, pushing her into a chair across the table from him and giving her every opportunity to talk with him. It was just like watching teenagers. He was trying not to look interested but still trying to include her and she was doing the same. It쳌fs funny how humans work. She has a PhD and he is an officer in the military yet when it comes to simple human interaction we are all the same and all training and education is for naught.

Wakana had a great time. She was laughing and chatting in two languages and enjoying the music and Kiko쳌fs drum. Kiko, another member, had brought a drum with him. He is part of a drum circle that meets on Fridays. He thought he might be able to jam with the musicians. He talked about it with Chris at the break and Chris liked the idea so Kiko added a rhythm section to the room. I had brought my bones to show to Kiko. During the break I passed around the sets of bones and gave a brief lesson on playing. In the second half Chris started Jambalaya and asked me to play the bones on it. We had a pretty good time.

By the way, that is a drum circle without a bohdran! Kiko has never even heard of one!

We broke up around 11:00 after they turned the lights out over the bar. The bartender and waitress were standing back there obviously waiting for us to get out. We쳌fd had a great time, a little like the evenings I used to love back home. And like evenings I hope to have on the Big Trip.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 17 May 05 - 10:09 PM

They say the Innuit have 300 words for snow. I am surprised the islanders don't have a similar vocabulary for the sea. On Monday Wakana and I drove to Hagatna. When we reached the light at the bottom of the hill we could see the ocean and it looked like a sea of diamonds. It was almost flat calm. You could barely make out the reef, there was no surf on it. The sun shone down on the water and broke into millions of sparkles. It was absolutely lovely.

Then, yesterday we had a day of rain. Wakana and I were driving down Marine Drive. The sea was still calm though there was more surf on the reef. But the clouds overhead were heavy with rain and the sun was hard to find. Off to the east the clouds appeared to be thinner and the light stronger. The water was steel gray, dark to the left and right of the area under the break in the clouds. But under that break the water was bright silver. The surf wasn't white. It formed a dark line down the length of the reef. The whole scene was somewhat surreal and lost. I'd never seen the ocean with that look in her eye. It was beautiful

Wakana is headed back to Japan again. Yesterday she finally got her immigration visa interview appointment. She has to be at the embassy on Monday morning at 9:30. After that she will be legal. I guess you could say we are making an honest woman out of her. We went to the embassy for her visa because we thought it would be cheaper. A friend of hers paid a lawyer to do all the work and it cost her $2,000. Our direct expenses have been less but theincidental expenses of airfare and hotels and restaurants have totaled up to about the same thing. Still, we enjoyed the collateral circumstances of being in Japan so that must count for something.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: GUEST,Charley Noble
Date: 18 May 05 - 09:11 AM

Glad to hear that the paper work is working out. Wouldn't want to hear that your flight back here had been shunted to Bangor for inspection and interrogation.

On the lighter side, you will be surprised to hear that last evening in Richmond I shared the music stage with two Japanese traditional musicans from northern Japan. It seems their town has a sister/sister relationship with our neighboring town of Bath, dating back to the 1870's when a Bath ship piled into a reef off their harbor. They managed to save four sailors and have been doing periodic visits ever since. Bet there's even a song to commemorate the event.

The two musicians were both playing what I'd describe as 3-string fretless banjos, picking some of the notes off the strings high on the neck with the left fingers while strumming with the right hand with a large tortoise shell pick. They also sang a few songs and one of their wives danced. They were all traditionally attired.

I sang two Southern Appalachian ballads and the "West Indies Blues." There was also a 10-year old local fiddlers who did a great job, and I sat down with him later swapping contradance tunes.

I gave one of the Japanese musicans one of my CD's.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: GUEST,sandra in sydney walking thru the backdoor
Date: 18 May 05 - 09:53 AM

hooray, & congratulations, too

sandra

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: CarolC
Date: 18 May 05 - 12:40 PM

Is the visa the same thing as the green card for Wakana, or will you guys still have to go through the green card process?

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 19 May 05 - 08:12 PM

Carol, Visa = Green Card

Charley they were playing the Samisen. There are groups in Japan that play what I can only call a high energy modern samisen, kind of like Bela Fleck on the banjo. It's pretty good stuff. Did you get their names?

Sinsull, you need not worry about the "pestilence ridden abomination" anymore. Last Tuesday I received a replacement from Quaker Marine, new and clean and ready to be seen in public.

I have started to work this journal into something for publication. I'm thinking of leaving it in its current format and including some of the comments from the readers. Basically it would be a blog published in the form of a book, complete with pictures and my added commentary. I will add paragraphs to it but leave the entries alone except for editing and corrections. To do that I would like to get permission from you, the readers and commenters, to use your additions. I would edit them for readability and correct spelling but essentially leave them as written. I also want to include the Mudcat names of the writers. Please provide feedback on this idea and permission to use your entries. Some of them are very good. This is a book WE have written.

As I see it the blog in general is a new form of literature. I want to try to publish this one and maybe be the first to make it into the bookstores.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 19 May 05 - 08:30 PM

Brett-

You know you're welcome to use all my scathing comments and, yes, ascribe them to Charley Noble or his evil twin.

I'm going to do some follow-up on the Japanense group. One of my good friends here was acting as translator and if he doesn't know the details he'll know who does. I bet they composed a song to commemorate the rescue of the four sailors. I did restrain myself from singing my song about the cow that sank the Japanese trawler. It was painful but sometimes restraint is merited.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: JudyB
Date: 19 May 05 - 09:26 PM

Brett -

I haven't had a lot to say, but you're welcome to use anything I wrote (I think - maybe I'd better reread some things first...). I do want to have an opportunity to buy this book when it comes out - you are planning to have some distributors in the winter hemisphere, aren't you?

All the best!
JudyB

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 May 05 - 09:49 PM

Anything I have said, you are welcome to.

I'm excited about your book. The best of luck to ya. (But don't stop the thread, OK?)

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: bbc
Date: 19 May 05 - 09:52 PM

Again, I haven't said much, but you are welcome to anything that is useful. I enjoy following your life.

love,

Barbara

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Amos
Date: 19 May 05 - 10:06 PM

Damn...if I'd 'a known that, Brett, I'd a written ten times more!! Of course you're welcome to it, no let, no hindrance, you buy the next dinner!

Amos