Tokyo...and BEYOND!!!! :)

Read through the blog and find out the big Baumann news at the end!!! (It does not involve having a baby.  Sorry.)

Every now and again, an international traveler will find themselves asking "Why does my culture do things like that?" and "Why on earth would they think to make this in this fashion?"  These questions may be provoked by even the smallest of events or sightings and can really create a fabulous new lens to look through the world.  It is through this lens that Christine and I most recently enjoyed our first ever American Thanksgiving Fried Rice :)

Thanksgiving here in Hong Kong was an event for the memory books.  With both of us teaching a bit in the middle school, we helped out with the middle school Thanksgiving lunch and supervised the buffet tables.  It was the COOLEST spread of food for Thanksgiving that I may ever have seen.

For the remainder of our Thanksgiving evening, we used those rusty trusty Disney passes and enjoyed an iced chocolate in 60 F temps, rode around on a flying elephant, and saved the galaxy a few times on Space Mountain.  Our T-day dinner was the yellow lentil meal at one of the restaurants and we relaxed to the fireworks show to conclude the day.

Buddhist Temple/Market

The next morning we flew to Tokyo, Japan to visit friends Wendy and John Rudd who had just relocated there a week earlier.  The city is absolutely beautiful and struck a resemblance in many ways to the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. (but mile after mile...:) While sporting a huge day time population of around 35 million people, most of the city clears out to the suburbs on weekends, evenings, and public holidays.  Our three day trip happened to land on all of those!  Wendy and John were fabulous hosts and took us to all sorts of tourist destinations and authentic, local experiences.  I would highly recommend a Wendy and John anywhere that you may travel :)

One of the high points (literally and figuratively) was a trip to the Park Hyatt Hotel.  At more than 50 stories at the top, it holds a stunning view of the city at night and was home to sizable chunk of the movie "Lost In Translation." It starred Bill Murray, Scarlett Johanssen, and the breathtaking views of the New York Bar on floor 54.  Whilst up on said floor 54, a 4.8 magnitude EARTHQUAKE struck Tokyo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Oddly enough, we barely felt it at our table, just enough to make one think "Am I on a boat?" The scariest part was Wendy making sure that she got our attention to let us know that this was a real, live earthquake:)  Tokyo is prone to regular earthquakes, so before any foundation can be built, it must first have in it's blueprints a double basement, complete with cement layer, large boulder layer, and then basement.  The rocks absorb all the shock and turn terror and panic into a "gentle sway."

Another great moment was our time in the authentic karaoke room.  According to friends, it can be pronounced "care-ee-okeey" as well as "car-a-okay" as it has been passed from Japan to America and now back to Japan.  Seven of us rented a karoke room for two hours and sang our hearts out to our favorites tunes, from yesterday and today.  They even included two tambourines.  It was EPIC!!! :)

Karaoke Room Screen

Imperial Gardens

Buddhist Temple

We also saw a Buddhist Temple and Shinto Shrine.   The Shinto Shrine was in a gorgeous wooded area just off a train stop and for a several moments one could forget that you were in the middle of one of the densest cities on earth.   There were two weddings there while we walked through and we were able to see the traditional kimono and formal wear.  It is very regal looking. We also visited the Imperial Gardens, just outside the Emperor's estate.  There are only two days in the year that anyone is allowed into the estate!   The trip was rounded with some time in the electronics and gaming district, known for every kind of electronic device you could imagine!

Young child in formal kimono

Exhibit A

One oddity was exceptionally noteworthy.  Japan, being a non-Christian based nation, does not celebrate the religious element of Christmas.  Culturally, it is a meant to be a commercial holiday celebrating love, like Valentine's Day in the US.  KFC (yes, fried chicken) decided to get in on the action and created an idea that all Americans eat KFC on Christmas.  So many people in the densely populated Japan now celebrate Christmas with a Christmas meal of KFC.  Ingenious! See Exhibit A.

And now for the big news:  Christine and I have recently been named Camp Directors of the International Music Camp in the International Peace Gardens between Manitoba and North Dakota.  The job is one of two full time positions offered by the camp and will require us to move to Minot, ND where the year round office is based.  While we are sad to be saying farewell to our Hong Kong family and the city itself, we are honored and ecstatic to be serving a place and people that mean so much to us.  Here is a link to the camp's website if you are interested: http://www.internationalmusiccamp.com.  It is a beautiful place that does such awesome things for young people and adults alike.  Heck, just look at us (exhibit B) :) :) :)  In all seriousness though, we are so honored.

Exhibit B :)

I'd like to close by sharing a few quotes with you.  These were given to me by 1st grade parents at a luncheon that they sponsored for the elementary school teachers.  The author, Dr. Suess, always seemed have deep wisdom and levity in his most simple of verses.  I hope that today they will inspire you to stop and think about life and our everyday moments.  Know that you are loved and thought of and please go out and do all the good you can for whoever you can in your life today.

"If things start happening, don't worry; just go along and you'll start happening too!"

"Don't cry because it is over; Smile because it happened."

"We are all a little weird and life is a little weird and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours we join up and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."

Tim and Christine