The first visitors were our friends Michael and Yuki, with their 10 year old son Tiger, from British Columbia, Canada. We met them in July 2015 when we first visited BC and rented their Airbnb apartment (Shameless plug. Seriously, stay at their place, you'll love it and them.). We hit it off immediately and spent a good amount of time with them and kept in touch afterward. Michael is a wonderful conversationalist, an avid reader and he challenges my mind in ways no one else does.
Last year we returned to BC and once more stayed with them and invited them to come visit us in Osaka. One of the many things I love about them is their adventurous spirit. Michael home schooled his older son, John, and traveled all over the world as part of his education. A couple of years ago, they spent a year in Spain and also traveled all over and in late 2017 they escaped the Canadian winter and traveled through Asia. That's living!
We celebrated Thanksgiving the Sunday after at our local Peruvian restaurant and enjoyed a feast full of laughter and Spanish! We also went to the Osaka castle grounds and walked around the very quirky Shinsekai neighborhood. After a few days, they left to visit Yuki's parents in northern Japan and from there went to Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia.
 |
| Lucky Michael! |
A couple of weeks later, our friends Eva and Andy from Oregon joined as us part of an extended vacation through Osaka and Tokyo. With them we visited the nearby city of Nara, famous for a park full of free roaming, very aggressive and always hungry deer.
There are also some very old temples and shrines and a festival was going on.
But most of what we did with Eva and Andy was eat. Good grief did we eat! Then after, we ate some more.
We also had Christmas dinner together, Andy and the kids attacked a gingerbread house and went to a German Christmas market held every year at the Umeda Sky Building in one of the several downtown areas of Osaka.
It was great spending Christmas with these dear friends that brought so much laughter, joy and Cheetos. Did I mention they brought six large bags of assorted cheesy snacks? I believe there is a law in Osaka that says when visiting it is required to bring Cheetos. Both families brought this required item.
The following week my wife received a special late Christmas gift. Since we married almost 15 years ago, it's been my desire to bring her and both her brothers together. Unfortunately, finances and other logistical issues have prevented us from accomplishing that goal, but this past New Year's week it all came together for her. There were tears of joy when our kids finally met their uncles. I couldn't hold back the emotions seeing my wife smile, look at them, talk and cook for them. We didn't do anything spectacular, the weather was cold and somewhat miserable, but they spent three days at our home and it was a wonderful time.
Finally, right on time for my birthday, Michael, Yuki and Tiger returned to Osaka for a longer visit and more hanging out with us! They treated our family to a wonderful yakiniku dinner in Osaka's Koreatown. And once again the night before they returned home. I made a point of wearing my Canada shirts in honor of my friend.
Needless to say, this entire holiday season was memorable. We have always cherished all of our friends and having a few of them come see us so far away was very uplifting. I hope more make the sacrifice and come to this wonderful city we are growing to love more and more each day.
You are all welcome in our home! See you soon!
You are all welcome in our home! See you soon!
