Germany Trip 2013

Barbara and I visited our son in Germany for thirteen days, leaving the U.S. on April 22 and returning May 4, 2013.

During the 13-day trip we visited Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Cologne (Köln), Würzburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Kattenhochstatt, Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles (near Füssen), Munich (München), Leipzig, Berlin and Hamburg (whew!).

Rhine Cruise 2007 via Manhattan

In 2007 we took a cruise on the Rhine and other rivers in the area of Frankfurt am Main (sometime referred to at "Mainhattan" because of its skyscrapers. The cruise embarked from the Frankfurt airport. We decided to spend a day or two in Manhattan (New York City) on our want to "Mainhattan"

New York City, September 5, 2007

Our hotel (the Red Roof Inn) was across the street from the Empire State Building, so we walked to  that building on our first evening in New York City.

Barbara in the first-floor foyer of the Empire State Building

Our 2005 Visit to England, the Netherlands, and France

Barbara and I visited our daughter in the UK in August 2005. After our visit, we rode the Chunnel to Brussels, then visited the Netherlands and France.

We visited Lakenheath, London, Bury St. Edmunds, Cambridge, and Bocking (Essex) in the UK. Then we took the Aerostar ("Chunnel") to the Continent and visited Amsterdam, the Hague, Versailles, and Paris.

RAF Lakenheath August 10

Our plane landed at London's Heathrow Airport on Wednesday, August 10, We managed to navigate the Metro across London, then took a train to Cambridge. While awaiting a train to Brandon, we took this photo of a taxi. (We briefly considered taking a cab to Lakenheath, but changed our minds.)

We considered taking a taxi, but changed our mind.

July-August 2001 Japan Trip

On Thursday, July 26, Barbara and I flew to Japan's Kansai Airport via Los Angeles. Crossing the International Date Line, we arrived at about 6:00 p.m. The Iwaki family met our flight and drove us to their home in Kawanishi in northwestern Kansai.

On the way they stopped at a restaurant named Gyōza no Ōshō (餃子の王将), where Barbara and I had yakisoba. (It was delicious!) We met the father Masaaki, Yasuko his wife, daughter Emi, 17-year-old son Shō, and 14-year-old son Kei. The family was extremely gracious to us.

Suffering from jet lag, we went directly to sleep on futons in the living room.

Osaka Castle, Osaka Aquarium, and Okamachi, July 28

After breakfast, Yasuko drove us to Osaka Castle, the Osaka Aquarium, and to the Okamachi Branch.

Masaaki and Yasuko Iwaki with Barbara and Weldon at Osaka Castle

IBM Trip to Tokyo Software Evaluation Lab, May 1989

On Friday, May 5, 1989 I flew from Minnesota to Tokyo for a three-week trip to work in IBM's Tokyo Software Evaluation Lab (TSEL).  Barbara joined me on Tuesday, May 16. We returned together on Sunday, May 28.

I stayed at Tokyo's Capitol Tokyu Hotel until May 16. During that time it was all work. On Saturday, May 13, I met Heisuke Wada (who with me had opened the Wakayama Branch in 1970). After we had some cheesecake at a restaurant, he left for the Narita Airport for an around-the-world business trip for Levis Japan. (His trip would take him to Las Vegas, Mississippi, and Stuttgart.)

On Sunday, May 14, I met Minoru Kamada. We went to Shibuya for lunch. It was good to see him again.

Barbara was tired and suffering from jet lag when she arrived on May 16. Thanks to our homework in finding maps and printed guides of Tokyo and Japan, she was able to make her way around Tokyo without getting lost while I worked at TSEL until the weekend.

On our first Saturday together (May 20), we took the Shinkansen to Kyoto and Nara.

In Nara and Kyoto we saw many beautiful Buddhist and Shinto temples. Here are a few photos:

Barbara and me at Southern Octagonal Hall of Kōfukuji (興福寺), Nara

IBM Trip to Fujisawa, Japan, December 1987

The week before Thanksgiving 1987, IBM asked me to go to Fujisawa, Japan, to help them set up IDSS (Integrated Development Support System). Gary Doerge went with me. We flew Northwest Airlines from Minneapolis to Tokyo, leaving Saturday, December 5, at 6:35 a.m., and arriving at Narita Airport the next day. IBMers in Japan work very late—often until 9:00 or 10:00 pm. They arrive at work at precisely the same time every morning (likely because the subways are so punctual in Tokyo?). We returned to Minnesota on Saturday, December 19.

On Saturday, December 12, Gary and I met Minoru Kamada (whom I first met in Wakayama in late 1970). In Tokyo, we visited the Ginza, the Akihabara electronics district, and Shibuya-ku. At the end of the day we took the Shinkansen back to Fujisawa.

My good friend Minoru Kamada (left) and me, in Tokyo, December 12, 1987

Japan, 1968-1971

On October 20, 1968, I set foot on Japanese soil, where I would serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (末日聖徒イエスキリスト教会) for nearly 2 1/2 years. I'll try to give a flavor of those years through photographs.

Kobe, October 20, 1968–March 22, 1969

Early Sunday morning, October 20, our plane from Honolulu landed at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. (The Narita Airport wasn't around at the time.) Our flight to the old Osaka Airport must have arrived by 9:00 or 9:30 a.m. The Okazakis met our plane and drove us to Kobe, where we attended church at the Kobe Branch. I knew no Japanese; it was hard to imagine that everyone all around me spoke another language ... and understood each other.

After church, we all boarded a city bus and rode to downtown Sannomiya. We got off at the Daiei Department store and rode the escalator to the top (7th?) floor—a large restaurant—for lunch. I had my first ramen. The smells were so strange. The sound of the slurping of soup was everywhere.

After lunch we went to the Rokko Mansion, the apartment where we would stay for a week of focused Japanese study. I think our apartment must have been on the 5th floor? The apartment was a block or two from the Rokko Station of the Hankyū Densha (Railroad). We learned our first hiragana that afternoon.

Before bed they took us to the neighborhood sentō (public bath). The Japanese public baths were segregated by gender: males in one side and females in the other. (As one first entered the sentō, it was possible to glance into the other side of the bath, but I got used to it.)

We slept on futons on tatami mats. When I awoke Monday morning, I took the following photo out the window:

Looking south from the mission home elders' quarters in Kobe, Japan, October 21, 1968