Boo

Boo
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

I believe i have set a record. I have no way of confirming this record, but i think i paid the most for a pumkin that any America has (to date). I have paid 2000yen ($17) for a large pumpkin. I'm not sure what the going rate is at your local pumpkin patch, but here they are hard to find. In fact, this pumpkin wasnt even for sale. I was biking around and saw a floral shop. They had the pumpkin as decoration. They little old lady was quite confused when I told her that I wanted to buy her pumpkin and not a bunch of roses.

Yuning and I carved it and placed it next to a small fake pumpkin outside my door. Now I just look out my window and laugh as my Japanese neighbors walk buy a bit conused. Happy Halloween.

Trips!

Next month Yuning and I are going down to Hiroshima to visit some of her friends. We will spend 3 days touring the city and the surrounding areas. Pics to follow. THEN. The BIG trip. I just booked a ticket to go to China for 3 weeks. CHINA! The catch is that I will be meeting Yuning's family. No one in their family speaks English. So I have frantically been learning Chinese to try to communicate with them. Cute enough though, her Grandma is learning English so she can talk to me. We will be circling the country. Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Macao and what ever is in between. We will be flying from place to place. (it's cheap and hopefully safe to fly in China).

Then funny thing (sorta) is that her mom used to work for the military as a nuclear bomb scientist. Combine that with her Grandfather who has passed away, but apparently he was quite big in the military ranks. When her Grandfather was ill, he had two soldiers guarding his house and one full-time cook. Now with a call from her mom and with the grandfather's connections, a military escort will pick us in each city and drive us where ever we want for no cost. He will act as a drive and tour guide. (Sounds a bit odd if you ask me.) And in case I am searched, I will leave my military ID from the US Army at home so I don't get in some kind of trouble. I will be leaving on the 22nd of December.

Still no word from any of the Minnesota Twins coming to Osaka (big surprise) but they still might call the day before the game (when its their day off) so i'll keep you posted!

J-Halloween

J-Halloween
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

I'm not really sure what is going on in this picture. What i do know is that Halloween is gearing up in Japan and no one born in Japan has a clue what Halloween is or how it is celebrated in the U.S.......but they all take their best shot at it and try. Its funny to see religious holidays (especially Christmas) in a place that attaches no religous meaning to a holiday. Instead they just have another sale and put odd devil faces on a stuffed santa.

Twins in Osaka!

Twins in Osaka!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Who writes letters to professional sports players asking to meet them? Little kids with high hopes right? Well, also add a 25 year old ex-pat living in Japan to that list.

In November, a new team of Major League Baseball All-Stars will be coming to Japan to play the Japanese All-Stars. This will be a 5 game series. It's held in Japan every 2 years. What makes this interesting is that it is League vs. League. (Not American vs. Japanese). What I mean is that Japanese players (as well as Venezualans, Mexicans, Dominican Republicans etc) playing in the MLB will take on members of the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) which has Americans as well as Japanese.

If you click on the title of this post, you will go to the Japanese site with the major names coming ot Japan. More names are added as the season wraps up.

But Joe Mauer, Johan Santana and Joe Nathan are coming to Osaka!!!! So, dorky staffa found the address for players off Twins player Pat Neshek's blog and wrote to the 3 Twins coming to Osaka. They have the day off before coming to Osaka from Tokyo so I thought maybe (just maybe) i could say hi to them!

I will keep you posted if i hear from them!

Oh and i did buy tickets, i will be in the 4th row directly in front of the 1st baseline!