Japan 2017

We got up at 5am for an 8:50am flight from Tampa to Houston. Brendan was a great sport to get up and take us. We left about 10 minutes late on takeoff and were a bit concerned as we had a tight connection. Ha. There was "weather" in Houston followed by an absent flight crew. We ended up leaving almost 3.5 hours later than scheduled. So, instead of getting to Kat and Bryan's for dinner, we didn't get into Everett, WA til just before 8pm. We told them we'd see them in the morning. The weather was nice when we landed, but by the time we got to Everett we had cold rainy weather. Hoping to get in a nice day for a hike before the next plane adventures! NOTE: July 2018 date on post is republish date, not date of the event. To republish the blog in chronological order, the URL might change. The original URL was https://jodyjapanblog.blogspot.com/2017/03/march-29-first-travel-day-not-so-great.html

PLEASE NOTE : I have not had the chance to watermark all of my photos, and it will take me a great deal of time, as I published this and my other blogs between 2010-2017. I ask you to respect my property. Feel free to use them as long as you credit me as follows:  Photo by Jody McBrien, learningtheworld.org . Thank you. This morning we went with Kat and Bryan to a hike in Snohomish, Explorer Falls. It was a beautiful, crisp morning, just perfect for a hike. There were a number of obstacles in the way of the paths, and we kept laughing as we went around them, suggesting that perhaps there was some attempt to warn hikers about something terrible around a bend. Of course, there was not. It was an easy hike (we figure about 4 miles), pretty waterfall, and lots of lovely signs of spring beginning to break out. After the hike, we got cleaned up and met Stan and Sandy, Bryan's mom and step-dad for dinner at Lombardi's,  on the waterfront. Great day,

PLEASE NOTE : I have not had the chance to watermark all of my photos, and it will take me a great deal of time, as I published this and my other blogs between 2010-2017. I ask you to respect my property. Feel free to use them as long as you credit me as follows:  Photo by Jody McBrien, learningtheworld.org . Thank you. Long day! We left our Everett hotel at 11 - good thing, since we got on I-5 going the wrong direction... So, no time to relax, but we were on time. Asiana Airlines is one I'll recommend - lots of leg room (I was completely comfortable in the middle seat!). I originally thought it was a 17 hour flight, so we were both pleased to learn it was "only" eleven We arrived into Incheon around 5:30pm and easily found our way through customs and to the free shuttle to the Hotel Hu, where I booked us a night for some sleep before getting up early tomorrow for our flight to Narita and our making way to Soka. With little energy left, I'll add my two photos o

PLEASE NOTE : I have not had the chance to watermark all of my photos, and it will take me a great deal of time, as I published this and my other blogs between 2010-2017. I ask you to respect my property. Feel free to use them as long as you credit me as follows: Photo by Jody McBrien, learningtheworld.org . Thank you. April 3 – From Seoul to Narita to Hachioji After falling asleep at 8:30 last night, it was no problem to awaken at 4:30, so we were on the first shuttle bus to Incheon at 5:30 for a flight leaving at 9am. I was glad I invested in a Chase travel card that includes entrance to all the exec airport lounges around the world. We tucked ourselves into the Asiana lounge for a comfortable and quiet couple hours with free breakfast. Asiana really   knows how to set up the interior of a plane! Lots of space and leg room for another smooth flight to Narita. We traveled over some beautiful snow-capped mountains. Looks like the Misty Mountains from LO

PLEASE NOTE : I have not had the chance to watermark all of my photos, and it will take me a great deal of time, as I published this and my other blogs between 2010-2017. I ask you to respect my property. Feel free to use them as long as you credit me as follows:  Photo by Jody McBrien, learningtheworld.org . Thank you. This morning I went with Mitsuhiko to open my bank account. A while later, I had a quick meeting with Kanako, then two other professors, including Victor, who has been my connection for the past year on email. He is so friendly! And almost sounds like an American with his English! Walking back to our guest house, I heard English, so asked the two people where they were from. Carey was from Jamaica and Cameron from London (though here for the past 10 years). They both teach English at Soka. Cameron's office is also in the C Building, so I hope to meet up with both of them again. The walkway where I met Carey & Cameron It was a beautiful warm,

PLEASE NOTE : I have not had the chance to watermark all of my photos, and it will take me a great deal of time, as I published this and my other blogs between 2010-2017. I ask you to respect my property. Feel free to use them as long as you credit me as follows:  Photo by Jody McBrien, learningtheworld.org . Thank you. I spent most of the past two days on my butt trying to catch up my work. I caught up the journal issue I'm guest editing, edited my syllabus for my Soka course, wrote to all my refugee contacts in Tokyo, and spent nearly all of today dealing with USF's *^#!!#*!# IRB for my research proposal. I have never seen such an obscene IRB as we have at USF. I looked at Soka's and laughed - if I can get the clunker monster I have to write through USF, Soka's is a breeze. After that I graded a few more papers remaining from my USF spring courses. I have five to go - will finish tomorrow. Yesterday would have been my Da's 83rd birthday. What a wonderful man