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My oldest is 14 and we were quite concerned about jr high school but most of our worries turned out not to be problems at all. There have been a couple of occasions where my wife and I have suggested to the teacher/principal that the school was making decisions and rules (after school club stuff) for our son that we felt were decisions the parents should make. We had no problems discussing this with the school and the school had no problem accommodating our requests and in one recent case even relaxing their rules for all of the students. We have found the schools to be quite receptive -

Both our kids have been very happy in Japanese schools - even happier since we moved away from Tokyo. We have friends that have put their kids in international schools and think we are doing our kids a disservice. My kids have Japanese and Canadian passports - our thinking was that they should be as exposed and immersed in both cultures as possible - international schools would remove them from Japanese culture and put them in a transient 'rich' kid environment. It would also be harder for them to make friends in the neighbourhood as so many Japanese activities are centered around the s

The old small town fighting over every yen/dollar/shilling game. I've been through it in the ski-pub business in Austria when the locals all laughed and said we wouldn't survive the first winter and then became jealous after we opened 3 more pubs in the surrounding area in the next 3 years. I've been through it in Canada too. The success of our business in Austria brought more people to the resort as it became better known and in a short time it even reached the 'world famous' class of success. The locals slowly began to realize that if they focussed on making their own businesses b

15 years ago my gf said 'I'm pregnant'. I said 'wow'. That was about it.

Here is an ipod reliability study - some look like they are more reliable than others. We have 4 in our house - including the original 5 gig scroll wheel that is still going strong. I put my shuffle through the wash and the battery died - the rest of it is still working. http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/ipodfailures.html

My boat is lonely this summer so far- I've been really busy and it needs 2 days of work before it can go out this year. Sept through Dec is the best time of year so I hope its ready to go then.

I have had hours of air time on skis. In my dreams. But its one dream I like to have even if the scenery is a repeat. I've had ski flying dreams since my first 'real' GS race when I was 15.

I skied there in summers from 1976 to 1979 when I was ski bumming in Austria. First trip to Tibet was in 1986 - just when it first opened for travelers - was pretty wild territory then. Is 48 an oldie? Careful - you'll get here sooner than you think!

3,250m on skiis in Hintertux, Austria - have skiied there in the 70's and was back last April. The glacier is much smaller - but there are many more lifts now. I wasn't on skiis but the highest (altitude wise) I have been is 5,000 plus meters in Tibet in 1987 - very near the Everest base camp staging area. Weather moved in and we could not get to the first camp but at that altitude, walking, breathing and everything else was a challenge so it was a relief to head back to Lhasa. The most amazing scenery I have ever encountered.

I think it is a Japan thing - when I sit down to eat with my wife and kids, I expect (from my upbringing) that it is the time of day to get caught up with each other and talk. In Japanese families I have been with, meal time is all about the eating unless its a special occasion. My wife often tells the kids (and me) to shut up and eat and I have to remind her that it is the only time we have to talk to each other. This comes up often.

When I ran a live house on weekends in Tokyo (about a million years ago) we were visited by the local yaks who wanted a cut to 'keep the police away'. The dancing license was mentioned but, amazingly enough, the young Japanese manager of the place we were renting told us that the live house actually had one. When the boys came back again to to collect, we said we already had a license and they got really frustrated and left. A few months later, I moved to a house in the neighbourhood which happened to be right across the street from a big yak - since we became neighbors, we never had a problem

under/over 30 is a big difference - as far as I know, you need to pay extra (lots) for drivers under 30.

When I drive through Tokyo I find open wireless connections almost everywhere. The only problem using them is you can't control them - if your neighbours suddenly secure it or turn it off, you are out of luck. Until then, enjoy...

Quote: Originally posted by misorano: And then the conversation goes like this: Her: "What do you want for dinner?" Me: "Anything is fine" Her: "Don't say that" Me: "OK then, How about Okonomiyaki?" Her: "Okonomiyaki------" (Said in a dissaproving tone Me: " Argh-------------------" Miso - this can only mean one thing - we are married to the same woman!

If you are sharing a computer, it might be best to set up separate accounts so you don't have to share files and settings.

Quote: Originally posted by firedog23: China, India have 2 billion+ people each and their industry/autos probably have something to do with the global warming. Whoa! Fact Check! CIA estimates for 2006: Pop of China: 1,313,973,713 Pop of India: 1,095,351,995 Not 2 billion each! (Pop of USA: 298,444,215) Iran, one of the leaders of oil have a state produced vehicle that gets apporx 8 miles per gallon. The USA, one of the leaders of oil have a GM produced vehicle that gets apporx 8 miles per gallon. See the tests on the Hummer H3: http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2

It's the dreaded windows time bomb virus. Your computer is doomed.

Quote: Originally posted by me jane: No. Tarzan's mum is catholic but neither of us are particularly religious. Just trying to decide a name is hard enough! From our experience, Japanese names for girls are easy - there are many nice choices. Naming boys is much harder if you want something creative and pronounceable for the folks at home. Good luck with names - I ended up with 2 boys...

Quote: Originally posted by tsondaboy: The most annoying thing is not the navi itself, but having the lady next to you arguing about why you are not following what the navi says. I had that problem for a while - but now my wife is beginning to think its not always right. The other useless feature is the ETA - it is so far off, it would be better if they just left it off. The first time I set it to go to Hakuba on the highway, it said it would take 13 hours.

My Navi works best when its off - the damn thing takes the longest routes to everywhere. A waste of 150,000 yen...

I think some of what Soubriquet is alluding to is an 'only in Japan' issue that makes it worse when you are being manipulated by a Japanese woman and you are the foreign father. A foreign father has no rights as far as the kids go and the woman can do as she pleases. There are so many horror stories out there when relationships go bad - and if they start out badly all the more to worry about. Griller needs to be aware of what he might be getting himself into. There is no support for him and his kid (if it is his) in the Japanese legal or social system.

Quote: Originally posted by oblivion: What makes a Vaio a "spyware, adware and virus magnet"? Well running windows on it for one - and the Viao comes with so many pop-up ad windows and 'buy me' software trials it's a nightmare. Sony has just admitted to installing spyware on Viaos so we can hope that this is no longer a problem - at least in the US.

Uuuuuggggh - its a Viao and it runs XP/Vista. Looks like a small and efficient spyware, adware and virus magnet. No thanks.

You will also need to have an ISP (internet Service Provider) like ATT Spinnet (not all ISPs support Air-H connections). So there is an additional monthly charge (usually about 2,000/month for basic internet access. The Wilcom charges are only for the data transfer between your provider and your computer. I think all of the cards available now are at least 4X. Mine is 4X and works well most of the time for web access and email depending on where I am. I was able to check email once at a restaurant half way up Happo. Being able to do that allowed me an extra day of skiing instead of spend

Quote: Originally posted by Creek Boy: [QB] sweet, Id like a G4 preeaazzee! You are soooooo 2004, CB - G5's are already old and the new Intel Macs are blowing them away - and the new Macbook is an awesome deal at 135,000 yen.