Rock n Roll

The ginkgo leaves are beautiful right now. Just had to say that.

We went rollerskating on Saturday. I've been wanting to do that for ages. There is a community sports center near us, and once a month, they have a rollerskating day. We met a bunch of kids from school there, and had a blast. D was very unsteady in his wheels at first, and fell a lot, but instead of getting frustrated, he persevered and was soon skating like a champ.

Now, it wasn't like when I went skating back in tha day. We had the Roller Palace, a disco-on-wheels with flashing lights, loud music (Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" comes to mind), and a snack bar. No helmets or pads; the only required equipment was a comb in the back pocket. And none of this rollerblade nonsense. Proper skates, which I found are called "quads" now.














I have a pair, back in Seattle, and my weak ankles like them much better. But whatever. We had a lot of fun and the kids are already bugging me to go again next month.



































































The only other adult in the party was Hamza's mom, who only speaks Turkish and Japanese with a smattering of English, and who I thought didn't like me much. But we got along great and even went out to lunch after.

Sunday was the community Christmas party at the local elementary school. I was better prepared this year, despite the fact that a pack of neighborhood kids came to our door before we were quite ready to go. One of them had a slip of paper from which she read "We are going to the school at 9:45. Will you join us?" So cute. Now I know how the Japanese feel when I try out my Japanese.

Jeff was impressed by all the kids sitting in their orderly rows, awaiting instructions.















It was the same as last year, with games and a craft activity. And I remembered to have slippers for everyone this time, because they cannot manage to heat a gymnasium and it was freezing. The kids complained the whole time and wanted to leave early (they knew what was waiting at home), until they won big at Bingo.















What was waiting at home was the Davis Pre-Christmas, to go with the spirit of the day.















We didn't want to lug the wrapped presents to Cleveland, and thought the kids' gifts would come in handy there. D got a digital camera and M got an iPod Nano.















When I was a bit older than they are, maybe 12, I got such items as gifts, too. But my camera was a Polaroid (10 pictures per pack of film),
















and I had a Walkman (big chunky thing that played one cassette tape at a time).



















They don't realize how lucky they are to have such advanced technology. They also got the Little Rascals mega-pack: 88 episodes on 11 DVDs! We love it. Damn, those kids were cute, and so clever. I watched them a lot on TV when I was a kid, and I decided that my kids needed to see them, too. It's amazing how timeless they are.
















And a sweet electronic keyboard, since they are both displaying interest in making music. They are already jointly composing horror movie soundtracks. I'd put a movie of it right here, but I really don't have time to mess with that, sorry. Too much to do. Jeff got me a lovely flask in which to carry my Maker's Mark on cold evenings, and $100 to spend at bookstores in Ohio. Jeff knows me well. He got a new turntable with USB hookup.

Later that night, we went to go see Kota's new band Golden in Shinjuku. I love a man who can rock a mandolin.















Jeff had to keep reminding me that there were other band members.





























Ja-ane met us there, with her husband Daisuke. After that show, we went to a cool bar where the DJ was a guy Jeff met through Jane the other weekend. His name is Hiroshi, and he thought Jeff was cool because he came from Cleveland. It's nice to have someone realize that at last.




















Here is Daisuke enjoying a Cannabis beer. I don't know what they actually put in it, but it had a scratch-n-sniff label that sure smelled authentic.




















On the way back home, we saw this guy:















Not that weird, you see poor unfortunates all the time standing in the road wielding their mini light sabers, directing traffic, but this one was animatronic! Hard to tell the difference.

The next update will be from Cleveland, Ohio, where I will be reporting on the reverse culture shock. Since the kids and I haven't been in the states in a year and a half, it will almost be like visiting a foreign country. I have been told by family that it is snowing like mad right now, so it looks like we'll have a White Christmas.