Icing on the crane
The year's coldest weather
coats a statue
in Tokyo's Hibiya Park with ice.
Happy 2001 !!
Happy 21st Century
!!
Happy 3rd Millennium !!
Hello from Japan
!!
Icing on the crane
The year's coldest weather
coats a statue
in Tokyo's Hibiya Park with ice.
(click on
photo for larger image)
Excuse me, but are you lost? Are
you sure you're in the right place?
Oh well, regardless of whether you
stumbled here by accident,
came on your own free will, or were ordered here
at gunpoint,
why don't you take a load off and stay awhile.
By the way,
"Howdy" (as they say back home in Texas) !!
Welcome to my home
page.
I live in Tokyo, Japan,
an
exciting 24-hour-a-day metropolis inhabited by only 30 million folks,
where
I am currently working in the English education
business.
I've been here for almost a decade now,
and my main job is with
a large Japanese construction company.
I have had the pleasure of
teaching
over 4,000 students
at over 60 companies, schools, and
agencies.
I have also worked for a company licensed by Disney,
a job
which has taken me to 44 of Japan's 47 prefectures,
singing and dancing for
young children
in an English education stage show.
Yes, I started my entertainment career quite young by forming a rock band
at the age of
only 4 --
I'm the one in the photo wearing the shades.
(Ha Ha -- Just a
joke !!)
My tenure in Japan has been a lot of
fun, but I really do miss my family,
Tex-Mex food,
and my mom and
dad's home cooking,
especially my dad's Texas barbeque.
Japan
is indeed a very beautiful country
-- it's about 70% mountains
--
and I have found the people to be especially warm and
kind.
One of the most surprising things for
me
was to discover after moving here that
Tokyo is not a city,
but in fact, a prefecture,
the equivalent of a U.S. state.
It
is a massive expanse of real estate
-- with a land area of 2135 sq. km. --
consisting of 23 wards, 27 cities, 6 towns, 8 villages,
as well as the
Izu 7 Islands,
and the beautiful, remote Ogasawara Islands
-- some 1200
km. south of the metropolis --
which include Iwo Jima,
the famous WW II
battle site.
And despite living in what is probably
the world's
most populous metropolitan area,
one can be hiking in the
mountains in a national park with a less-than-two-hour train ride
or be
surfing in the Pacific Ocean with a less-than-one-hour train ride.
The
culture here is absolutely fascinating.
Japan is a very interesting country
and it has been a pleasure living here.
By the way, I used to have a bunch of
boring stuff on this page about my past life in the States,
including my
background, hometown, interests, etc., but it seemed
to be in the way, so
I decided to cut and paste it here.
So in case
you haven't dozed off by now,
I hope you will have time to visit
the rest
of this site.
Enjoy !!
Navigating
this site:--------------------PHOTOS--------------------
(over 400)
Take me straight to the Photo
Gallery
Exciting Japan
Photos
(updated Feb. 18,
2001)
Exciting Texas
Photos
Exciting Mountain
Photos
Exciting Disney Kid
Photos
Exciting Halloween
Photos
Exciting
Friend and Family Photos
More
Exciting Friend and Family Photos, Page 2
More
Exciting Friend and Family Photos, Page 3
(updated Feb. 13, 2001)
--------------------FUN
STUFF--------------------
The Bush-Gore Dance 
(It may be over, but the dancing never
ends!)
(added Feb. 5, 2001)
The History and Lyrics of
the Song, "The Yellow Rose of Texas"
-------------------FEEL
GOOD-------------------
STUFF
Rocks
(Set your priorities. Take care of
your rocks first.)
(added Feb. 5,
2001)
Inspiration and
Hope
(updated Feb. 7,
2001)
Tips for Success
(added Feb. 7, 2001)
Affirmation of Faith in an
Apocalyptic Age
by the Reverend John D. Craig
The Summer of
'99 is Over, but the Memories Linger On........
(a short slide
show)
A Place in the
Sun
(an awesome, breathtaking sunset with background
music)
Almost Full Moon
Fever
(with "Everything
I Do... I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams)
Listen to One of my Favorite
Songs Here --
"Open Arms" by Journey
--------------------JAPAN STUFF--------------------
Live Concert Schedules for Some of My
Favorite Tokyo Musicians:
Helen
Northeast
Red*Thread
Donna
Burke & Bill Benfield
Miya Ishida
David Walker
Edelweiss
Kapelle
More
Tokyo Concert Info
Tokyo Live
Music
A
Live Minicam View of Mt. Fuji
(Japan Time = GMT + 9
hours)
Rob's Japan FAQ: Know Before You
Go
(Visiting or relocating
to Japan? Get your questions answered here)
Rob's Japan Photo
Gallery
(a
comprehensive photo compilation of interesting Japanese culture)
-----------------A TRIBUTE TO DAD-----------------
--------------------BORING
STUFF--------------------
Previous Versions of this Welcome
Page:
Christmas
2000
Fall 2000
Summer 2000
Spring 2000
New Year's 2000 (Geisha
Gary)
Fall '99 (Ricky
Martin theme)
Summer
'99
Spring
'99
Christmas
'98
'98 Nagano Winter
Olympics
Original Home Page
Published January 27, 1997
----------YEAR 2000----------
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Well, this one will go down in
history.
For an insightful explanation to the craziness that just transpired
in Florida,
click
here for an excellent editorial piece by Richard Rodriguez,
editor at the
Pacific News Service, that ran in the
Sunday, November 26, 2000 L.A.
Times.
Sayonara
Well, I guess that's all for now.
Thanks for visiting.
I sincerely hope this web site has been a culturally
rewarding experience for you (joke).
The site has grown considerably
since it was first launched in Jan. '97 and
it is unlikely you will be able
to see everything in only 1 visit.
So please bookmark this site and come
back when you can stay longer
-- or as they say in Texas
--
"Y'all come back now, ya heah?"
Happy
surfing !!
And don't forget to drop me a line if
you have time.
If you have any comments, suggestions,
or would
just like to yell at me,
you can send email
here:
Congratulations!
You are person
number
to visit this
site so far today!
Ha Ha Ha !
Come back and visit real soon !!
The last time I fiddled with this site was February 18, 2001
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