I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving as well!

I’m doing fine here in Afghanistan.

I attached a photo of me, everyone in my team is growing mustaches as a joke/contest to see who can grow the best one.

I am happy to report that I passed my Japanese DLPT (Defense Language Proficiency Test) that I have been studying for over the last couple of months with a score of 2+ for reading and 2 for listening. I have been studying at NACOS for about 3 months. Before taking lessons I had studied a little Japanese on my own, but I was having a hard time making any progress. After the first month of classes I noticed that my Japanese had improved greatly. Thank you to Michiko Sensei and Shujo Sensei for helping me to reach my language learning goals!

Do you believe in superstitions? When I was young, I tended to believe in superstitions, or at least I observed them, just in case they might be true. Now I just find them amusing. Some examples of superstitions that I have heard:
If you break a mirror you will have bad luck for 7 years. It’s bad luck to open an umbrella indoors. Black cats are bad luck. Do not walk under a ladder (actually that one should be observed for safety reasons!). Friday is a bad luck day. 13 is a bad luck number. Therefore Friday the 13th is the most unlucky day of the year. I’m not sure how these superstitions originated.

Superstitions are also popular in Korea. Some that I heard were that it is bad luck to write someone’s name in red ink. If you like free stuff too much you will go bald. If you dream about a pig, buy a lottery ticket, because a pig is the symbol of money. When making dumplings, if you make them well you will have a pretty daughter, but if you make them poorly your daughter will be ugly. Throughout Asia the number four is bad luck, and many buildings have no fourth floor, or list it as “F” on the elevator. Superstitions can be interesting as long as it is just for fun and doesn’t cause a person undue worry.

17 March. Saint Patrick’s Day is almost here! This day is important to me for a variety of reasons. One reason is that I’m named after Saint Patrick, and another is because I’m an Irish-American.

Perhaps a brief history of Saint Patrick is in order. Saint Patrick lived in the 4th century. Actually St. Patrick was not Irish, but from a Christian family of England. He was captured by Irish pirates when he was 16. They brought him to Ireland and sold him as a slave. At this time Ireland was not a Christian land. For 6 years Patrick worked as a slave in Ireland, but never lost hope. Finally he escaped back to his family. However in his dreams Patrick saw the people of Ireland calling him to return. He studied in the European continent and was ordained a priest and made a bishop. He returned to Ireland and successfully converted nearly the entire populace to the Christian religion over a period of 40 years.

St. Patrick’s day is a feast day to commemorate his heroic example, although it has become in recent times for many just an excuse to get drunk. Of course a feast day is meant to be enjoyed, but we mustn’t forget the reason we are celebrating!

The final reason why St. Patrick’s day is important to me is that it is my wife’s birthday! What a happy coincidence! I’ll never forget her birthday!

Gentlemen, have you made all of the preparations for “White Day”? White Day is on the 14th of March and can be thought of as a second valentines day. Perhaps you are thinking “Why have a second Valentine’s Day?” I’ll explain. In the west usually a man is expected to give a present like chocolate to his girlfriend or wife on Valentine’s Day. In Japan it is done a little differently. Women give chocolates to men on Valentines day. White Day is the day when the man returns the favor by buying candy or another gift for the woman who gave him chocolates on Valentine’s day. Actually I prefer the Japanese way, it’s more fair to men. Equal rights for men and women!

The custom of White Day has also spread to Korea, but there they have added one more “day” on the 14th of April, called “Black Day”. Black Day is the day for the lonely singles, who recieved neither chocolates or candies on Valentines Day or White Day. On Black Day the lonely hearts go with their other single friends to eat jajangmyun, which is a kind of noodle dish with black sauce of Korean style Chinese Cooking, also people go to drink “black” coffee on this day. There is a logical reason for this custom. Those men and women who are single can meet each other on black day, and become friends, and if they’re lucky next year they’ll recieive chocolate or candy! That’s a great custom, don’t you think so?

 Here’s a wikipedia article about Black Day: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%83%87%E3%83%BC

When I was in elementary school I loved playing video games. Across the street from my school was an arcade. Everyday after school I would stop in there to play games on my way home. My favorite game was called “Shinobi”, naturally, it was about ninjas. I used to spend all of my coins on that game! If I didn’t have any money then I would watch others play. At the arcade they sold snacks and soft drinks. There were also pool tables. There was another arcade within walking distance of my house which was inside of a department store building. During the summer I’d often play video games there. In that store the arcade is in a room that’s seperate from the rest of the store. When I went to leave the store was locked! They must have closed the store early that day. I stood at the front door until somebody walked by and I yelled “help! I’m locked in!” that person told a policeman I was locked in. The police called somebody to open the door and I was set free. I was propably in 3rd grade at that time. I’ve included below, the opening screen of Shinobi for your consideration.

Today after my Japanese lesson, I went out to eat with my family. We went to Tong Yang Inn Korean restraunt in Wahiawa. One of the specialties there is “Meat Jun”. Meat jun is made of thin slices of beef fried in a batter made of flour and eggs. Actually I don’t think I ever this sort of jun when I livd in Korea. I think it is a local style of Korean food and can only be found here in Hawaii. Anyways, if you’ve never tried it I recommend it!

My daughter Clare had her 4th birthday and we celebrated with a party. The theme of the party was “Hello Kitty.” Clare’s favorite color is pink and it was very easy to find a pink cake because her birthday is so close to St. Valentine’s Day. She received from us a bicycle and a playmobil set depicting a beach scene. She also got several gifts mailed to her from her aunts and uncles. In fact we ended up with too many presents so we saved a couple to give to her on May 5th, which is Children’s Day in both Korea and Japan. All in all, the day was a great success!

One of the aspects of Japanese culture that I appreciate is the fact that tipping is not required. I’m under the impression that this is because in Japan a worker is expected to always do their best at their job and that one should not have to be paid extra to do their job with pride. Instead of tips they receive an hourly rate from their employee. It shouldn’t be the customers burden to determine the pay of the workers in the restaurant! The same thing goes for bartenders. If I buy a bottle of beer, why should I pay extra because the bartender opened it and poured it in a glass? My dislike of tipping isn’t because I’m a cheapskate. In fact an average meal in Japan, even without the tip, will probably cost more than in the US. The reason I don’t like tipping is because I don’t like having to spend my meal, haircut, or taxi ride trying to figure out how much extra I have to give this guy to avoid hurting his feelings. Please just tell me how much to pay and I’ll pay you that much. Employers, pay your workers sufficiently so that they don’t have to resort to this type of begging!

On the subject of food, I don’t really have any strong opinions but I like to think that there is nothing I can’t eat. I will try any food once. I’ve tried snake meat, dog meat, grasshoppers, silkworm larvae, frog legs, snails, and other strange things. My favorite kind of food is spicy food. I like Mexican food, Korean, and Thai food because it is usually spicy. I dislike bland food. I also love sea food. All types of sushi, sashimi are good and I also love squid, clams, shrimp and oysters. Once a week I abstain from meat and eat seafood or a vegetarian meal. Like many Americans, I am addicted to fast food. Everytime I drive past Mcdonalds I’m tempted to pull in to the drive-thru for a snack. When it comes to dessert I really love sweet things. Chocolate is my favorite sweet. I love the taste, color, texture, and smell of chocolate. When I lived in Germany the chocolate there was quite delicious. I’ve heard that the people in Okinawa live the longest and that this is due to their lifestyle and genes, and also eating habits. The food is low in fat and high in nutrition and leads to long lives. Here’s hoping for a long life!