Irregular Revolutionary Day

Hi, friend! How have you been? Oh, it has already been October!! I have been working for the TOEIC, the Humorous Speech Contest, and other presentaions at the Toastmasters etc… I have TONS of stories to tell you! But before those, let me finish my SUMMER trip journal!!

On the morning of July 14th, you could hear this conversation betweem my hubby and I in a (small) hotel room in PARIS.
Keiko:"Common, honey! Wake up!! Today is our first day in Paris!!"
Tom:"Are you serious? We just came here from London yesterday…we need sleep more..."
K:"No way! Paris is a BIG city!! We have many many places to go to!!"
It was almost the same conversation at the first day of London!!

July 14th is a special day for France. On the same day in 1789, enraged citizens attacked the Bastile jail. The Bastile fell, and it meant, the French Revolution became successful! In France, the day is called Fête de la Fédération or just Quatorze Juillet (Jult 14th.)
But in Japan...it is famous as a French Revolutionary Day!!

Keiko:"Wake up! Today is the French Revolutionary Day, so we can see a splendid parade along Ave. des Champs Elysées(シャンゼリゼ大通）!!"
Tom:" We should? I don't like the crowd...OK! I'm going!!"

Thus, with a pleasant agreement(?,) we took the Metro to get to Arc de Triomphe(凱旋門）. The Metro was already crowded. Just following the bunches of people, we went throught the exit of the Metro. Shortly after, THE ONE jumped into our eyes...
THE ONE!! The Arc de Triomphe!! Hey, this is a significant architecture in Paris!!
However...Mmmmm...that was not the REGULAR Arc deTriomphe! The one with tanks & armies!!
"Of course this is why today is the French Revolutionary Day! It makes sense!" We muttered & started to walk again.

The parade was supposed to start at 10:00am. We arrived at the Ave. des Champs Elysées at 9:30am. Oh, crap! We were late to get good positons? Some children were held up by their fathers and kept in higher positions like "on the" telephone boxes!!
When we looked up, there were many spectators in the windows of the higher buildings along the street. From offices, apartments...not only along the street, but also "up the street," many people were looking forward to the parade!!
Then, we noticed...not all of them were "spectators." We saw several cops who leveled their guns to look for people like terrorists!! Can you see them(two cops between the trees) from the picture??
" Hey, it 's really serious!!" My hubby and I became tense. They had to do so... The new French president, Nicolas Sarkôzy, would participate in the parade, and he invited some international VIPs.
SO, that meant we could see Mr. Sarkôzy! That's exciting! We waited, waited, and waited....

At 10:30am, the parade didn't start. We mistook the time schedule? But the American couple next to us saw the time table, and it said " The parade starts at 10:00am!" Then, the roar of planes exploded, and people got excited. Wow!! The airshow started!!!
Several planes flew along the Ave. des Champs Elysées, and left the smoke like tricolor(red, blue, and white)!
"It's beautiful! It is the beautiful prologue of the French revolutionary parade!!"
However, the parade still didn't seem to start. My hubby finally gave up and left the crowd to find a seat, but Europeans were so patient!! They didn't complain (or I just didn't understand what they were talking about), and kept smiling & waiting!

Around 11:15am, the parade finally started!!

(By the way, in the right picture, can you see Zinedine Zidane, who is a French succor hero? He is SO popular in France that he appears in many advertisements!)
"Yeah! Come on, Mr. Sarkôzy! Where are you!??" I said to myself, but...several minutes later, the parade stopped.
The soldiers on the parade talked with each other, just looked relaxed. Actually, the parade was intermittent!! They started, stopped, and started again...
I, a Japanese girl, felt my limit of patience. Maybe French people might be so flexible...in a good meaning and a bad meaning...
"It's enough! I don't care about Sarkôzy! Let's get out of here!"
I took my hubby's arm, and left the crowded place.

"So, where should we go today?"
Because that day was the French Revolutionary Day, many things were so irregular!! Most shops and museums were closed on that day. We went to the Place de la Bastile because it was the most meaningful place for the Revolution, and there were shopping streets which opened at the day!
Here is the Place de la Bastile(the picture.) Around the place, there is Opéra Bastile which is the new opera theater.
It was almost the end of the opera season, so there were many French poeple who made a line to get tickets for the last show!
Then, a cavalcade started...
"Oh, it's good! This is also the French Revolutionary parade, but here,the Bastile is not so crowded!"

Then, my hubby whined his voice and said, "I'm hungry, Mom... I want to go to MAC's! MacDonald's!!"
"Seriously? There are many fashionable cafes and fine Japanese restaurants. We have plenty of MacDonald hamburger shops in America... OK! I'm going!!"
We saw the big sign of the Macdonald, and it was written "200M devant Prochain juin"
I knew the French word, "devant" was "ahead." "We are lucky! There is a MacDonald shop 200 meters ahead!!"
We walked, walked, and walked... But we couldn't find it! Finally, we went back and saw the sign again. I looked up the meaning of the next line, then we knew... "Prochain juin" meant "Next June!!" I should have studied French more...

However, my hubby has a special sense of smell. He said, " I can smell MacDonald's! Follow me!"
Five minutes later, we found a small MacDonald Restaurant inside an office building!! His sense of smell was amazing!
Can't he use it for more helpful things??

Since we woke up early to watch the French army parade, finally we could have seats and be relaxed in MacDnald's, a very American fast food restaurant. The American restaurant? But actually, that was different from the one in America...
Off course we could eat hamburgers, but most of the French ordered small hamburgers and big salads. In American MacDonald shops, most people have pops, like Coke or Sprite, and they are refillable. However, almost all Parisienne(women in Paris) ordered a small bottle of Evian! Water! Those small daily efforts affected their beautiful figures? My hubby and I looked at each other's big bottles of Cokes...

Anyway, we think we burned the calories of the hamburgers and Cokes because we kept walking even after lunch.
We looked through a flea market, some unique shop streets, and advanced toward Île de la Citê(シテ島.) While we were walking, I found many nice crêpe shops or pâtisseries... But we felt like "We need to do our mission! Do sightseeing as much as we can!!"
Therefore, we didn't have a break.

The closer we came to the Cathédral Notre Dame de Paris, the bigger the cowd became. Recently, I heard Île de la Citê was popular among young French people because there were many fashionable shops! When Napoléon Bonaparte had the coronation ceremony at the Cathédral Notre Dame de Paris in 1804, he must never have imagined this area would become such a youthful place!
However, in front of the Cathédral, so many tourists packed in to take pictures of the beautiful religious building. We also took pictures, trying to avoid the crowd.

At last, we took the Metro to get to the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower! The symbol of Paris!! When I saw the shape, I almost forgot my long-walking-fatigue.
"Look at this! Here it is ! We ARE in Paris!!"
In contrast to me, my hubby wasn't excited at all.
" What is the difference between the Eiffel Tower and the Tokyo Tower or Sapporo TV Tower?? All of them look the same to me!" "Shut up!! The difference is IT IS IN PARIS!! Girls just love Paris!!"

We intended to climb up the Eiffel Tower to see the Paris secenery. However, because that day was an IRREGULAR day... the Eiffel Tower closed much ealier than usual! They would have a big consert in front of the Eiffel Tower. Oh, that's the Champ de Mars （シャン・ド・マルス公園）was so crowded with people who tried to get nice seats!

We decided to come here again, and went to see the Hôtel des Invalides(アンヴァリッド）, a former hospital where Napoléon Bonaparte slept in a grave!! But the atmosphere around the Hôtel des Invalides looked IRREGULAR... We didin't know "the regular Invalides,"but it was obvious! Because there were many soldiers who stood by to do something around the place!!
Being a little bit afraid, we walked toward the Hôtel des Invalides. Then, we saw... the French Army Show!!
We saw some banners saying, "Armée de terre( Land of the Army.)" It sounds scarly, doesn't it?
There were many tanks,helicopters, etc, etc... The friendly soldiers let the children ride in them!
Look at the picture! Yeah, children? Yes, children and an unfamiliar? Asian...

Before the parade at the Ave. des Champs Elysées, soldiers did the same thing. They had taken pictures with children, and given rides in the tanks. Maybe it was to teach them the patriotic spirit. But I was scared! If many French children dreamed of being a soldier, and wanted to fight with other countries... Maybe I took it too seriously??
Beside serious me, my hubby said it loudly in Japanese.
"So, the French Revolutionary Day is "Look-at-us! We-are-so-strong" Day? I didn't know that!!"

The night of the French Revolutionary Day was also IRREGULAR.

Many eople enjoyed the concert in front of the Eiffel Tower, or danced all night long in the Place de la Bastile!! I want to say, "Oh, that was really exciting! I felt like I was une Parisienne!!" But in reality, we didn't have the night activities. We watched the TV program of the concert in our confined hotel room. I took the left picture from TV!!

We stayed two days more in Paris! What will happen next!??

Spectacular? Eurostar

Hi, boys and girls! It’s already at the end of September…but I have still been writing about my SUMMER trip!!

Two days in London had gone so quickly. But the next day, July 13th, my hubby and I had another excitement…taking the Eurostar to go to France!!
Eurostar is one of the most advanced trains in the world that runs throughout Europe. It whisks you from London to Paris, just in 2 hours and 30 minutes! There were not such big cost differences from the second class, so we booked the first class. It meant we were supposed to be served a meal in the train. How exciting it was!!
However, here was the fourth gap between our DREAM Europe trip and the REAL one. Do you remember? We had so many gaps between them…

DREAM=My friend, Virginia, said, “Oh, you will visit Europe with your husband! That would be great! The trip will be your SECOND HONEYMOON!! Enjoy it!!”
Yeah…it could be!! We will take the first class seats of the spectacular Eurostar. It would be really exciting when our train enters the Straits of Dover(the Channel)!! My hubby and I may hold hands to see the exciting moment because this would be our SECOND HONEYMOON!!

REAL=What…!? What is happening now!? The train is running backwards!! It makes us sick… I feel like…I am going to VOMIT!!!

In Japan, we can change the direction of seats in trains. Even though the same train runs round trip, it almost never goes backwards!! However, in spectacular? Eurostar…we were going the opposite direction!
We thought, “Is everybody OK!?” Most passengers seemed to be fine… Some of them were reading books, and some were playing cards. However, I heard some Americans say, “ I can’t stand it! I will move!!” and they tried to find the seats in the right direction.
My hubby and I? We tried not to care. We were looking forward to seeing the scenery of London’s suburbs from the window…but we were going back, it made us sick!
My hubby finally gave up and said, “Before I VOMIT, I’m going to change my seat! Sorry!”
I stayed there, but closed my eyes not to see the scenery.
The moment of passing the channel? My hubby and I sat separately, and we closed our eyes and couldn’t eat lunch because of the motion sickness! We didn’t even notice where we entered the straits!! It was FAR FROM the “second honeymoon.” Sorry, Virginia…
Maybe, going backwards is common in Europe? This story was from London to Paris. When we came to London from Paris, it was OK!!

Finally we arrived at the Paris Nord Gare. Paris! I had been waiting for the moment!! I kept saying to my hubby, “ I want to go to Paris! Paris!” Why ? Well...maybe, girls just love Paris !!

To save our money, we took the Metro with big luggage to our hotel. In metro, we could enjoy the Paris scenery from the window. Then, one lady who looked like Indian and stood next to us, grabbed out something from her big cloth bag. It was…a Karaoke machine!
“What is she going to do!!??”
She started…singing and dancing!! The music sounded like her country’s traditional music. We were really surprised! But other passengers weren’t surprised. Later, we met many musicians who played music in metros or trains in Paris. My hubby was already tired at that time because of the backwards riding in the Eurostar. Thus, his energy was sapped by the VERY energetic Indian lady!

Taking two metros & walking a lot to transfer, at last we arrived at our hotel. It was located near the Eiffel Tower. We entered our room, then…we felt the same gap when we saw our hotel room in London. I mean…it was TOO SMALL!!!

The room’s design was modern. The bathroom was not so confined, but there was no bathtub. In addition, there was no shower curtain! There was a glass wall, but it was too small to cover everything. Therefore, we should wipe up the bathroom after taking a shower! There was a big king-sized bed in the middle of our room, and…that was it. The bed occupied most space of the room. When I sat in front of the desk, my hubby always said…”Excuse me! I can’t walk! Don’t use the very precious free space!!” Maybe I should have taken a picture of the room to show you what it was like… But you know, we didn’t want to remember it!!

To get out of the confined room, we went out to have dinner. We took the Metro toward Opera Garnier… Look at the picture! It’s magnificent, isn’t it?

We went there because we heard there were lots of Japanese restaurants & shops. Probably, we tend to seek our country’s food when we arrive at unfamiliar places. Actually, there were TONS of Japanese restaurants(like the Sapporo Ramen, the picture...) in Paris! Our impression, Yakitori is more popular than Sushi or Tempura in Paris.

Because Japanese food is so popular in Paris, sometimes we could see Koreans or Chinese run Japanese restaurants. Coincidentally, the one we chose was run by a Chinese family. They served us Japanese food in a French way… So, the order of serving was beer(beverage), miso soup, sushi(entrée?), Yakitori(main?), and rice(They couldn’t decide which category it was…I hope they didn’t think it was dessert…)

After the Japanese-French way dinner, we stopped by a Japanese bookstore.
We have it in Chicago, but the Paris one, which name was Junku-Dou, was quite big! It was three-storied building. There were numerous Japanese books! I felt I were in Japan…but when we went down the basement floor, we realized we were in France. Because many French boys & girls were seeking Japanese books seriously! What they got so into was Manga. Most of these French young people wore kinds of costumes which reminded us of Japanese animated cartoons. Later, when we went to a French bookstore, we also found many Mangas and Japanese fashion books.
Wow! Being a Japanese might be cool in France now??

What will be going on our “summer” trip in Paris!? We’ll see…and I really hope I can finish this trip journal within this year!!!

Harrods Craze

On July 12th, after a light sleep because of the "emergency evacuation drill" and jet lag, we woke up early to go sightseeing.
Correction; I made my hubby wake up because I wanted to go sightseeing!
"Common, baby! Today is the first and last day when we can fully use our day to go sightseeing in London!!"
"Seriously? We can sleep more..."
"No way! London is a BIG city!! We have many many places to go to!!"

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, my hubby guided me to Buckingham Palace. (Because basically, I have no sense of direction;)
During summer, the palace guards are changed every morning in a musical military ceremony. It is supposed to be one of the highlights of London's sightseeing!! We went there 30 minutes before the ceremony...but in fact, there were soooo many people(tourists!) I took pictures of marching guards, but actually, I didn't see them. I stretched my arms as much as I could, and took many pictures! This picture is even a successful one, you know...
Guards of the Buckingham Palace have protected the British Queen, Elizabeth Ⅱ. When she is in the palace, the British flag is displayed. When she is away, the Royal flag is shown. When we went there...here it was! The British flag! I was excited to see that because I watched the movie, "The Queen." I was impressed how Queen Elizabeth had influenced the British!! Oh, she is there! Your Majesty, here I am! I talked to the queen inside me.

While the majority of the tourists were going back to a station, we entered the Guards Museum. Correction: a souvenir shop of the museum.
We supposed the British people love guards! Look at those miniature guard dolls!!

After 10 minutes walk, the Westminster Abbey appeared in front of us. Wow! It's marvelous!! I was reminded of the movie, "The Da Vinci Code." Ah hah! This is the place where Teabing was caught!! We entered the Abbey. Correction;a souvenir shop of the Abbey...
As a traveler MISER Keiko, I should mention this. Before we flew to London, I made lists of places I would like to go & their entrance fees. The sum was...also, SKY-HIGH!! In each famous sightseeing place, we needed around　￡10- 15 to enter it. I calculated, then I found...We needed ￡64 per person if we entered EVERY place where I wanted to go!! It meant, we had to pay almost $300 dollars for the two of us!! It's ridiculous!!
Therefore, we decided not to enter them, but to enjoy their appearance & SOUVENIR shops... Oh, don't worry! We "entered" many famous places in Paris and Brussels☆

Our itinerary of the day was like the "standard London sightseeing tour." After we left the Westminster Abbey, we visited (I mean, we "saw") the House of Parliament. I looked up at the big building & famous Big Ben. Oh, are MPs(Members of Parliament) here right now? The very new prime minister, Mr. Gordon Brown is speaking here? It was fun to imagine that! Across the fence, we found many cars. Maybe...MPs' cars?
But... Hah! Most of them had old common cars...not gorgeous ones. Probably it's because of the high prices in London?? We guessed so...

We went across the River Thames by taking Westminster Bridge. Have you noticed something in London's pictures? Yes! It was really cloudy!! It is often said "in London, it is rare to have sunny days." It WAS true!! We felt chilly even though it was the middle of July. Actually, some Londoners wore winter coats! We regretted not having warmer clothes. However...later, we found it was REALLY hot in Paris!!

We walked around the gorgeous, Marriot Hotel. There are some places for street performers. We enjoyed watching them, and I also enjoyed watching British school boys& girls! In America, most schools don't have uniforms. But British students wore uniforms! They looked exclusive & cute to me.

Beside the Marriot Hotel, "London Eye", the big ferris wheels, were there. Each wheel of the London Eye was so huge that 25 people could ride in one compartment! We didn't ride in it because...it cost ￡25 for the two of us!! But the real reason was... we just watched the movie, "The Fantastic Four 2." In the movie, the big Ferris wheels were about to fall down!! We were acrophobes...

Finally, we took the tube (After Buckingham Palace, we had been walking!), and went to St. Paul's Cathedral, which is the wedding place of a former British princess, Diana!! When we exited the tube, we had no idea where we were. Then, I found a small nice church, so I asked a girl who coincidentally walked up to me.
"Excuse me! Is it St. Paul's Cathedral?" The girl frowned,
"What? No way!! St. Paul's Cathedral is over there! Turn right there, and walk for awhile. You'll find it!"
We did what she said, then... We found it! Oh my God! It's huge!! I understand why the girl said, "No way!" Diana's wedding place must not be such a small church!! The girl must have thought I was a stupid tourist...

After this "standard London sightseeing tour," I think we did the "custom-made tour!" because we went to a golf shop in Liverpool☆
The golf shop looked the same as American golf shops. But this is Great Britain, the motherland of golf!
We found some good products☆

Since we left our hotel, we hadn't had lunch!! It was about 2:00pm. I suggested, "How about having "afternoon tea" at the most gorgeous department store...Harrods!!" I planned it as a climax of our London tour indeed!!
Harrods is the (maybe) most popular & one of the LARGEST departments in the world. It has over one million square feet (six million square meters) of selling space in over 330 departments!! Harrods brand products like clothes, character goods, or even food, are sophisticated & elegant because this department had many honors from the British royal families!!
Many people all over the world love their products too, so even in Japan, even in my hometown Sapporo, there are some Harrods' shops!

We (maybe just me?) were excited to visit Harrods, and also nervous. Because they want to keep their "elegant" atmosphere, the doormen check the visitors' fashions, we heard. If the doormen judged the visitor is inappropriate for the department, they would deny the visitors to enter the store!!
In fact, we "saw" the actual "denial" scene.
There were a group of American( we can recognized them by their accents) tourists beside us. The group was from young boys to middle-aged women. They wore T-shirts, short pants, and had backpacks. When they were about to enter Harrods, a doorman stopped them.
Door man: "Sorry, but you can't enter."
Woman in the group:"What??"
Doorman: "I said, you can't enter."
Woman: "What!? Why!? "
Doorman: " TOURISTS can not enter our department. "
People in the group: "＃〇！＄★и☆？Φ..."
It was the first "quarrel of the American versus European..." Actually, we saw the other one in Paris!!
Anyway, looking at the screaming Americans out of the corner of our eyes, we slipped into Harrods. Sorry about that! We are also TOURISTS, but... We were allowed to enter? or the doorman was too busy to check us. Safe!!

Harrods was truly MAGNIFICENT!! The first area we saw was the famous food halls with gorgeous Edwardian tiles!!
I am sorry I didn't take pictures of the hall! I wanted to show you, but I heard some guards said something to tourists with cameras. I was a coward! But I took the food picture in a second☆

Slashing through the crowd, (There were soooo many people in Harrods!!) we took an elevator to go to the Georgian restaurant.
Finally we could have seats and have lunch.... Correction; afternoon tea. "Afternoon tea" means a light meal between breakfast and dinner.
In the 19th century, the British had just two meals a day. The British aristocrats enjoyed "afternoon tea" between two meals.
Now, this light meal is famous as a British speciality!! Look at the picture!!
The afternoon tea tray has three tiered plates. The lowest is sandwiches. The middle is scones with jam & butter. The upper is sweets! Also, of course we had veeery fine tea☆　　We were satisfied, but we made fun of the "price" again.
Hubby: "It cost ￡20 per person... So, how many yen is this?"
Keiko: "Probably... about ￥10,000??"
Hubby: "Correct! Tea for ￥10,000!! Enjoy the FINE tea☆"
Yeah, right...

After the rest, we (maybe, just "I" ) was absorbed in looking at MAGNIFICENT Harrods products: sport goods, interior goods, clothes, shoes, stationary, food, cosmetic, brand name goods... Everything looked interesting to me!
At the book store, I found the former Princess Diana's magazine. Coincidentally , it was the 10th commemoration year of Diana's death.
I suddenly remembered the relationship between Diana and Harrods. When she died in a car crash, she was with Dodi Al Fayed, the son of the Harrods' owner. Diana and Dodi were romantically related at that time. After the accident, the British royal family honors for Harrods were rescinded. Can you see the picture of the Harrods' appearance? Ten years ago, they displayed many "royal flags." However, after the tragedy,this long standing store hasn't been allowed to do that.
Hmmmm... I was excited about Harrods like a "craze." But the elegant store has such a long history in London!! I understood.

After we looked at all floors, I came to myself. Wow! It's already 7:00pm!! We spent 5 hours to look around the department store!!
I said, "Well, it's good! If we came here in a tour, we couldn't have had enough time to look everything!!"
But my hubby said, " I guess you may need a tour guide who can manage time... I couldn't stop you!!"
Uh-oh. Maybe I was so excited that I didn't notice my honey was exhausted!!

Oh, my God! Because we took too much time to look around a golf shop & mostly Harrods, we forgot to visit the London Tower & London Bridge which are the highlight sightseeing spots in London!!
"Maybe, on the next trip?" When I asked him, he drooped, "NO WAY!!!"

Gosh! My writing is getting longer & longer! I can imagine as I write each day in my travel journal, it will become longer!!
Somebody stops me!!!

Japanese Londoners

Hi, there! How is your summer? FINALLY, it is time to write about my summer trip to Europe!!
I LOVE visiting Europe! I have been to Italy, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. However...wow! It's been eight years since I went there! I like Japan and America, but the European culture has been still attractive to me!!I
So, I was REALLY looking forward to this trip...going to Paris, London, and Brussels. Take a look at the picture! I got Japanese guidebooks and English ones. I enjoyed reading those before the trip!! I didn't want to spend much money for this trip, so I searched & searched a lot. Then I found cheap fares and booked all the hotels under $150 per one night even though our trip was at peak of the tourism season. I was quite satisfied with the results!
However...eventually, our trip was a kind of combination of good memories and bad?? memories. I mean, I experienced the gaps between"the Dream Europe" and "the REAL Europe." It will be a loooooong story...let's begin!!

On July 10th, my hubby and I were in the Chicago O'Hare Airport. We started to wait in a line for checking into the Virgin Atlantic flights. As you know, this airline is one of the biggest British airlines. We used it for the first time because they provided us VERY good fares($1,500 round trips, for the two of us!!) However...while we were waiting, my hubby showed me an anxious expression and said, " Where are we going to? Israel or somewhere?" You know what? Almost all the staff who worked for the Virgin Atlantic Airways at the O'Hare Airport looked as if they were from the Middle Eastern area (even though it was a British company.) Surprisingly, almost all of them!! We had no idea why...but later, we would see why.

London is five hours ahead of the Central time in the U.S. After an eight-hour-flight, we arrived at the London Heathrow Airport! Yeah!
Even though it was early morning (8:00am,) I was VERY excited!! Then, we noticed the gap between the DREAM Europe and REAL Europe...ALREADY.
Here was the first gap; DREAM= We are about to enjoy a gorgeous trip in Europe! Yeah!!
REAL= What!? What is this HIGH exchange rate!!?? One British pound is two dollars and twenty cents!? It's ridiculous!! Everything costs over double!!
It was the middle of July. Tourism was at it's peak, and coincidentally, the rate of the British pound (and unfortunately, Euro also was...) WAS sky-high!! In the airport, we looked for the way to get to the nearest station. Then we found that... we could take the Heathrow Express (train... the picture!) that takes 15minutes to the Paddington, the nearest station, but it cost ￡15.5 per person. It meant, we had to pay $64 just to get to the NEAREST station!!
OK, calm down, don't be upset, our enjoyable journey has just started... We tried not to visibly frown because of anxiety...

In London, the "tubes (subways)" get through all over the city. It is very convenient for Londoners and tourists. We got on the very crowded tube with our BIG luggage, but there were many tourists like us! Some of them had much bigger luggage than us & babies!! We talked, "If we had had a child, we couldn't have done that.." Oh, they did it!! Probably, because tourists knew the high prices in London, they avoided using taxis as possible as they could. That was our understanding.
While we were taking the tubes, we noticed there were...many people who were from the Middle-East!! Also, many of them wore their traditional clothes which looked obviously Islamic. In the United States, we also have many Islamic people...but most of them don't wear their traditional clothes regularly. Actually, our hotel clerks looked Islamic, and many shop owners around the Paddington area were similar.
Then, we recognized the staff of the Virgin Atlantic Airways were not special. In London, there just were many Islamic people!!
Now, America is sometimes called "racial salad"(not "melting pot" anymore) because people of many different races live together in the same country. However, we noticed England is the same thing...or, could be more obvious.

Our hotel was near the Paddington station. I booked it because it might be convenient. It was! However, again, here was the second gap;
DREAM= Our hotel was not gorgeous, but comfortable enough because it's not very cheap!
REAL= Is this our room!!?? TOO SMALL!! We can't open the bathroom door fully because of its small size!!
I suppose the culprit was the exchange rate. A $150-per-night hotel room is not so bad in the U.S. But because of the poor exchange rate, every value became half! Maybe, our hotel was like a $65-per-night hotel room in NY. If we think about that...it must not be so good!!

Anyway, we left the hotel early to try to forget the trapped feeling. Which place did you think we visited first in London?
The London Tower? Buckingham Palace? or, the British Museum??
Actually, we went to...お好み焼き（Okonomiyaki=Japanese pancake) restaurant! We had been taking a looong flight(even though it was much shorter when we go to Japan..), so we needed our favorite & plain food!! My hubby is from the Western area in Japan, and the Japanese pancake is famous as the area's speciality. "Abeno" is the restaurant's name, and here is the Okomomiyaki! It was good, but actually too small for hungry us... But It was a pretty good sum for lunch... Please don't think I am a miser because I have been talking about money in this article!! I just want to show you the differences. The sum was ￡50, which was almost $100! One hundred dollars for Okonomiyaki lunch!!

We went to the British Museum after the lunch. The British Museum was good because the entrance fee was free...OK I know, I AM A MISER!!
As we heard, it was very crowded. We especially enjoyed watching Ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Greek works. This Rosetta Stone is very famous! Do you understand the hieroglyphics in 196 BC?? Impossible!! But many people tried to understand what was written on the stone...it made me smile.

After that, we walked in the Soho area which is one of the busiest areas in London. What did we find? Actually...many Japanese restaurants & shops!! Of course there were various shops, but we just cared for our mother country ones. Here are photos: the casual "Taro" restaurant, the ordinary "Manga" cafe, the "SPAR" convenience store, the "UNIQLO" retail shop, the "MUJI(無印良品）"variety shop, etc, etc... Then I remembered I heard London has the second largest Japanese population in a non-Japanese city. The first one is L.A, if my memory is correct. Well, it's good! If London has also a "racial salad" like U.S. cities, there must be many Japanese! Not only Islamic people!! Go! Go!! Japanese-Londoners!!!
My hubby and I went to the Japan Center, which is a combination of a Japanese book store and supermarket. We checked what kinds of Japanese food they had(the photo)... What!? We should visit Japan instead of Europe? Don't say that...

Oh, here is the THIRD gap between "the Dream Europe" and the "Real Europe."
DREAM = In London, the official Language is English! We can speak English, so we have no problem at all!!
REAL = What!? What are they talking about !? We can't understand the British accents!!
At night, we went to a British Pub. We ordered fish & chips as many tourists did so. A girl brought the dish to our table. We said, "Thank you." then she said, "Poperon."
.....??? My hubby and I looked at each other confused.
He said," What does it mean "Poperon?" It didn't sound like "You're welcome" at all...Isn't that a kind of code or something???"
I said,"She may have said," Macaroon..." Oh, never mind, that is a French sweet's name!"
Later, I asked an American girl who lived in London. She laughed at our guess, and answered, "I'm sure the girl said, "No problem!" British people pronounced it like that. " REALLY!?? She didn't sound like that...
When we went to a convenience store, a clerk often said, "Espresso! Espresso!!"
...We were sure he said,"Next person! Next person!" because he said it to a person who was in a checkout line.
But we couldn't ....understand their English!!!!!!

Exhausted from the time difference, the price difference, the language difference, and a long walk, we went to beds around 9:00pm.
But about 10:00pm...the EMERGENCY BELL rang loudly!! First, we had no idea what it was. We opened the door to figure out what was going on. Then we heard someone screaming, "Fire! There is a fire!!!"
"Fire!?? Let's evacuate!!" We raced out our room. However, because of the London hotels' characteristics??, our hotel (and another hotel we stayed in later also) had many doors in the corridors and stairs!! Even though our room was on the second floor (in the British way, "the ground floor,") it was like a MAZE!! We had to get through many doors & stairs... "Where was the exit??" Our room was very small, but it took time to get out of there!!

Finally, we could get to the exit. We went to the lobby, and asked, "What happened?" to a receptionist.
She smiled," Don't worry, it's nothing! Someone smoked in a non-smoking room. That's it! You can go back to your room!!"
....Hah...???? Then I remembered, I heard the same emergency bell several times from another hotel which was across the road.
I was wondering, "What is it?" But I was so tired that I went asleep...
Later, I heard from the American girl who lived in London, " In London, it is very strict for smokers! If you smoke in a non-smoking area, the emergency bell rings soon. I often heard it in my apartment. " I see...I didn't know that!!

But you know what? Because it was not very late at night, most people who evacuated wore regular clothes. We went asleep deeply at that time! My hubby had curls on his hair because of his deep sleep. I was too relaxed, so my pajama pants were untidy!
I tried not to lose my pants while I was running... Also, what did I have at that time? I was so upset that I just grabbed "something" when I evacuated. Actually I grabbed, ①a Belgium guidebook ②ear plugs ③an eye mask.... They are not "emergency needs" at all!!
My hubby was very calm, and said,"It's fine! It was not a real fire, so far, so good!! We can think it was emergency evacuation practice."
Then he looked at what I had, and said, "....Probably you needed to do that."
Ladies and gentlemen... It is better for you always to be prepared for "emergency!!!"
However, how come some people screamed, "Fire! There is a fire!"??? It was just a prank?or they tried to break into some rooms??
Anyway, we should be careful especially when we are in big cities!!

Now, I will conclude the first article of the summer trip... Have you noticed?? This is just about "the first day" of our trip. This trip lasted 9days.
I think now you can easily understand my hubby often says to me,"So...what!? Tell me just your MAIN POINTS!!"
Sorry, but I'd like to write more!! Can you follow me? You don't have to...but please do!!

Summer Kimono

Before summer is gone... This is the script of my 8th Toastmasters speech. The project theme was "Get Comfortable with Visual Aids." I wore my Yukata(a summer kimono, in the photo!) and showed some visual aids by the power point. Let's begin!!

Good evening, fellow Toastmasters. Today, I am wearing Japanese traditional clothes. Do you know what it is called? Yes, it looks like a Kimono, but actually, it is not. This is a Yukata, a Japanese summer Kimono. I will talk about the differences between Kimonos and Yukatas, and how Yukatas are popular in Japan.

In the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha, the actressed wore gorgeous Kimonos. The costume designer of this movie took the Academy costume design award.

A Kimono(着物) means a thing to wear outside. Kimonos are made from silk and brocade, which has a pattern of gold and silver threads. That is why they are expensive. A long time ago, Japanese aristocrats used to wear Kimonos as daily clothes, but now, we wear them just for special events like weddings because it is difficult to wear them. Kimonos have many layers and heavy materials, so we have to ask a person who has the skill of putting on Kimonos when we decide to wear them.

On the other hand, they are (Look at photos! All of them are Yukatas☆) Yukatas(浴衣). They look very similar to a Kimono, but originally, it was a bathrobe. A Yukata is made from 100% cotton and has one layer, which makes them cheaper and cooler than Kimonos. Also, even though they are not very easy to put on, we can wear them by ourselves if we do some practice.

Therefore, Yukatas are very popular as special clothes especially for summer events like seeing fireworks.

By the way, these fashionable Yukatas are like public Yukatas. We have two kinds of Yukatas. Public ones and private ones. Private Yukatas are like pajamas, bathrobes, as the original meaning. If you stay at a hotel in Japan, a private Yukata is prepared in your room like this one.

Actually, the Yukata is getting well known among American people. I saw Phoebe, who is a character in the famous TV sitcom Friends, wearing a bathrobe which has a Yukata print. However, I felt weird because our tradition is to wear the Yukata with the top side to the right like I am doing. Kimonos are also worn with the top side to the right.

But Phoebe wore it with the top side to the left, opposite. But in the Japanese tradition, we do this when we die! When a family member dies, we let him or her wear the Yukata or Kimono with the top side to the left. I know western people don’t mind which side is the top, but Phoebe’s bathrobe looked like a Yukata, so it was weird for me.

Let’s go back to the living people’s interest. In the modern Japanese society, public Yukatas are very popular clothes for summer dates among young girls because they know Yukatas make Japanese girls more attractive. It is almost impossible to wear Kimonos on casual dates, but Yukatas look like Kimonos, beautiful traditional Japanese clothes. Even though you are a very active and aggressive girl, a Yukata makes you look like a quiet, humble, and traditional Japanese girl. You have to walk quietly with very short strides like this because the Yukata’s bottom around the ankles is very tight. This movement reminds us of Japanese culture.

However, people say, “Boys, don’t touch your girlfriends while they are wearing Yukatas even though they look attractive!” because if you hold her shoulder, the Yukata’s collars come loose. If you put your arm around her waist, the Yukata’s belt becomes untidy. It is always hard to keep traditions.

What do I want to say in this speech?

First, if you have traditional clothes from your country, let’s enjoy wearing them if you can. The traditional clothes have a sense of traditional beauty.

Second, ladies, when you can wear special clothes, don’t miss the opportunities. Enjoy being ladies!

Gentlemen, when your girlfriends or wives wear special clothes, please pay more attention to her than usual. She is supposed to have taken time and effort to wear this kind of outfit.

While I am speaking…I know my Yukata has already become untidy. So I am going to finish my speech. Mr. Toastmaster.

Well...have you made some "summer" memories with your special "summer" clothes?

It's never too late! Summer is not over! Good luck☆

Good job, boys!!

I wrote about my favorite athlete's WINNING in the last article. However, here, I have to write about another favorite athletes' (a team) LOSING. It made me feel..."Oh my God, my summer is over!!"

I explained what the Japanese Summer Koushien was in this article, http://keikobanquet.blogspot.com/2006/08/summer-koushien-in-2006.html

Summer Koushien is The National High School Baseball Tournament. In each prefecture, sooooo many high school baseball teams competed in pre-tournaments. Forty-nine winning teams became representatives of their own prefectures. (Two big prefectures, Tokyo and Hokkaido, have two representatives)

My hometown area representative team, Komadai-Tomakomai（駒大苫小牧) is famous nationwide because the team won this National Tournament for two years in a row, 2004 and 2005. Last year, they lost the final game, but it was quite on the edge. The two teams were tied in the final game, so they had the "second final game" the next day. Many people were really impressed by the two teams' guts, so even now, people talk about the unforgettable games.

This year, the Komadai- Tomakomai team became the representative team again! It was fantastic!! Nowadays, the Japanese high school baseball world is really competitive. Actually, even the last year's winner, the Waseda-Jitugyo（早稲田実業） team couldn't become the representative this year. I imagined it would be hard for Komadai-Tomakomai...but I believed they got through it!

However, unfortunately, they lost the first game. They almost won, but in the last inning, some fielders made mistakes, and the competitor's team got 3 scores in the inning. I know, the players must have been really depressed and they did their best...but I was very sad.
My hometown island, Hokkaido, is a very cold area. Therefore, people said, "Northern boys can't beat anyone in the humid hot field, Koushien!" It was true. Most northern teams lost the first games. However, Komadai-Tomakomai had been like a "northern whirlwind" in Koushien. They were on the "away" ground, but they played like it was their "home" ground and they became No.1!!! People were astonished about what they did.

It may be rude for the top athlete boys, but actually, I reflected myself on their fantastic accomplishment. When they won the first time in 2004, it was my first summer in the U.S. I, a northern Japanese girl, was struggling with assimilating into American culture and their language, English. Then, I saw what they did. They had been working hard on their field, and were successful on another field. Can I be successful like them? I thought it (Being successful in another field... I mean, in the U.S.) was almost impossible, they they did what people thought was "impossible!"

I thought the first summer in U.S. (2004) was special for me because of their accomplishment. However, they had been really strong for three years in a row! It means, since I came here, I had been STUCK in front of PC (to see the flash news of the games' result in Japan) every summer because of them!!

Not only me, but also many northern Japanese were encouraged by them. I think players of Komadai-Tomakomai also were encouraged by the majority support, but sometimes, it made them really stressful. The director, Mr. Koda, felt it the most. Therefore, unfortunately, he resigned the manager's job. I understand his decison.

However, I really appreciate them. In past three years, they had given me "courage". This year, maybe I can encourage them.
"Listen to me! There is nobody who can always win!! Life is long, so sometimes we win, but sometimes we lose. Don't be discouraged!! When we lose, we can learn MORE than when we win. Whatever you choose in your life, the most important thing is "continuation." The REAL winner is someone who grabbed what YOU need from what you have been doing. It could be sport, study, or job...you can choose it. Live YOUR life! and, never give up!!"

...But probably, I don't have to encourage them...don't you think so? They are supposed to learn that by themselves through severe trainings & crucial competitions!!

I'm sure they don't want to listen to my words, from such a lazy girl!

So I am just going to say, "Good job!!" to them. Thank you very much for making my summer exciting for a long time!!☆☆☆

Congratulations, Natalie!!

Two weeks ago, 24-year-old professional golfer, Natalie Gulbis grabbed her first LPGA victory at the Evian Masters in France!!! This was fabulous news for us!! Natalie Gulbis is not just "a golfer." She is beautiful, charming, sexy, funny, and VERY friendly!! Every year, her "swim-suit" (not "golf wear") calenders are issued and many people (not only golf lovers) are interested in getting it! She is a fashion model for a fashion brand, sports magazines, a hotel, etc. She was even an ex-(not "current")girlfriend of Peyton Manning, one of the most popular American football players!! But, I think many people are attracted to not only her beautiful appearance, but also her sincere &friendly character. We can recognize she really appreciates her fans. Whenever I saw her on LPGA tours, she always smiled at everybody, didn't refuse writing her autograph, even agreed to photographs!! Basically, fans shouldn't bring cameras to LPGA (of course, PGA also) games. But we know she is really generous, so many people ask her to have photos taken with her... Actually, my hubby also had a picture taken with her!!
In winter, my hubby and I enjoyed watching her seasonal reality TV show, "The Natalie Gulbis Show." We were happy to know she had very supportive family & friends, and was popular as a beautiful athlete icon.

Anyway, even though she has been such a popular golfer for six years, she had never won any LPGA tour. Last year, she "almost" won...but lost in the sudden-death play off. Some people compared her with a beautiful American golfer who was active a few decades ago. I forgot her name, but she also didn't ever win . They said, "Probably beautiful golfers can never win because they are busy as fashion icons." However...Natalie did at one of the most biggest tours, Evian Masters!!

After she beat Jeong Jang in the breathtaking playoff, she stammered, "Finally!" Yeah, Natalie, finally you made it, and it's huge!! Not only did you get the first your professional victory trophy & honor, but also $450,000, which is almost double the amount of regular LPGA tours!!
I admire her persistence & perseverance. She just came back from her back injury. She is always smiling whenever her play is good or bad.
However, she must have been working hard for her first win!!

Also, my hubby and I could easily imagine what made her delighted the most after the win. It must be her father!! Her father is a sweet dad, but he doesn't look like Natalie's father...because his hair is awfully long!! He determined, " I will never have my hair cut before Natalie wins!!" But you know, Natalie hadn't won for SIX YEARS, so his looks had been getting dirtier & dirtier... We were worried that her father might not be able to cut his hair FOR EVER!!! However, the father's wish came true! Congratulations, Natalie!! We are really relieved that we don't have to look at your shaggy (sorry!) father ever again at the Natalie Gulbis Show!!