Princess with her toy
I took an overnight bus from Tokyo to Aomori City and met up with Judy who gave me her Shih Tsu dog, Princess. Continue reading »
 November 30th, 2009 November 29, 2009: While hitchhiking to town I noticed a lady walking toward me from a distance with what appeared to be her car parked by the side of the road behind her. I correctly assumed she was going to offer me a ride. She had another lady friend with her who was the driver. They seemed a bit overly impressed to meet me which caused me to become suspicious. I asked them, “Do you want to sell me something?” “No!” “Are you folks into some kind of religion?” “No!” They asked me if I had eaten lunch yet and invited me to a restaurant to talk. I accepted the invitation because I wasn’t in any hurry and knew it would give me an opportunity to share my faith with them. In the restaurant I offered to give them two Activated magazines. As soon as I pulled them out of my briefcase, they turned them down. The only kind of Japanese who refuses to accept literature from me are people into some type of religion, and sure enough, these two ladies turned out to be Nichiren Buddhist people, and their intent was to try to convert me! Most Buddhists are very tolerant of other religions, and they have no problem toward Christians in general. The Nichiren sect is the notifiable exception. They will flatly tell you to forsake Jesus Christ and pray to their idol using their chant instead. Every time they chanted that horrible chant to me, I started to pray the “Our Father” prayer and told them that prayer works for me. To their credit, they did listen when I told them why Jesus died on the cross, and for what reason, to save all of mankind from sin. Normally when a Japanese person invites me to a restaurant or coffee bar, they will pick up my tab. I fully expected this to happen but to my embarrassment I walked halfway out of the restaurant and was told I hadn’t paid my bill yet! Next time I’ll be more wary when a person seems overly interested in talking to me even though we just met. Either they want to convert you or sell you on some network marketing type of product. Category: Events, Hitchhiking Adventures | Leave a comment |
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May 11th, 2009 I was so happy to receive messages via classmates.com from long lost friends I knew in high school! One of them was from Debbie Olson Chancey who I used to call “The Hot Dog Queen” because she worked at her father’s Vienna Hotdog where I used to hang out at. The other two where from my old buddy, Jimmy Novak with whom I used to hang around with, and Donna Wright Krieps, one of my classmates in George Washington High School in Chicago. The graduating class of 1969 is having a reunion on June 27. Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend — no money for air travel. ;-( March 9th, 2009 A dear friend in Norway sent me this photo of candle wax dripping on a plate under the candle:  Candle wax on a plate Absolutely awesome! I believe it to be a sign from Heaven! Or a coincidence? You decide. Click on the image once, and then one more time to see a closer view. February 15th, 2009  Nobuo, Miwako and friends Weeks earlier Nobuo asked me to do a speech at the wedding party so I had much time to prepare. Nevertheless I dreaded having to do it. Talking to large groups of people is something I don’t particularly relish doing but I knew God would give me the grace for it. It would have been hard enough to give a speech in English, but I had to give it in Japanese! The ladies at my table asked me if I was nervous to give the speech, and I replied I was. Nevertheless I gave it with everything in me and even ad-libbed adding things I didn’t even have written down on the paper I was holding. The audience just loved it! The ladies at the table said that I made everybody happy. I told them that was exactly my intention. Nobuo commented, “A perfect speech!” Please check out the photos I took at the wedding party. The wedding was traditional Japanese Shinto style. It was an absolute honor for me to actually attend the ceremony not only because I was the only foreigner in attendance, but also because I am only a friend and such ceremonies traditionally are open only to close family members of the bride and groom. Play the youtube video below and you will hear some of the highly unusual music I heard during the ceremony. January 24th, 2009  Shirone Ladies The fruit of my hitch-hiking adventure on January 15th was being invited to a new year’s party in Shirone, a town now incorporated into Niigata city, by the former deputy mayor of the town, Mr. Tsubokawa. I met his friends, mostly ladies, and one gentleman by the name of Mr. Makiguchi. Two of the ladies are Christians who attend the local Lutheran church. All were former English students who like foreigners and especially Americans. Mr. Tsubokawa invited me visit Poland with him and his friends after he learned that my grandparents are Polish! I told him I have no money whatsoever to travel. He said he and his friends would foot all expenses in return for being their interpreter! Let’s see if it happens.  Mr. Makiguchi I also met Mr. Makiguchi who is the director of an agricultural firm that turns vegetables into bio-ethanol. He seemed quite interested in what I had to say about politics in the USA. |
Some of the kind people who picked me up while hitchhiking
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