A Japanese Piaget employee poses next to a six-meter (20 feet) high Christmas tree covered in the Swiss luxury watch and jewelery maker's products, including a 154 million yen (US$1.23 million) watch studded with 44.13 carat diamonds, Saturday, December 7, 2002, during a weekend special sale for selected, by-invitation-only customers in Tokyo. Piaget claimed the tree, decorated with watches and precious stones with a total value of over 1.35 billion yen (US$10.8 million), to be the world's most expensive Christmas tree, soon to be verified by the Guinness Book of World Records. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)




Click here for the music and lyrics of the famous song "Happy Xmas"
and message of peace by John and Yoko from 30 years ago !!

Click here for a Season's Greeting from Ashland University

Click here to read some inspiring Words of Wisdom from an 83-year-old
to help brighten your Holiday Spirit !!








Ok, well I admit the following is a BIT off the subject, but if you have time, why don't you check out a couple of the more interesting modeling jobs I had this past year, by clicking on the thumbnails below:

Gary Joe Wolff

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.
Unbelievably, I've been here for over 11 years 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 more surprising things I 
discovered after moving here is 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 indeed 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:

--------------------PHOTO GALLERY--------------------
(over 400 images)
Take me straight to the Photo Gallery
Exciting Japan Photos

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


--------------------FUN STUFF--------------------

 The Industrious Clock
(added Dec. 10, 2002)

 An absolutely HILARIOUS cartoon of George W. Bush.....
you just GOTTA check this one out !!

(added Dec. 8, 2002)

 Lady Liberty Fireworks
(added Dec. 8, 2002)

 You Don't Know Jack Schitt
(added Dec. 8, 2002)

 If there was ever any question as to which brand of soy sauce you should use,
here's your answer.

(added Dec. 8, 2002)

 For the first time ever, a camera mounted to the Atlantis space shuttle's External Tank
offered a view of the ride to orbit on Oct. 7, 2002

(added Dec. 8, 2002)

 Some New Features you may need on your Computer
(added Dec. 8, 2002)

 Groovin' Granny
(added Dec. 8, 2002)

  Earth Lights from Space 

The Bush-Gore Dance
(It may be over, but the dancing never ends!)

The Dancing U.S. Presidents

The Parade of Stars

Fireworks over Tokyo Bay

3D Rotating Clock

Las Vegas Striptease Girl

Risque Jokes, Photos, and Cartoons

Springtime Flowers in Texas
(a virtual slide show)

The History and Lyrics of the Song, "The Yellow Rose of Texas"

Smiles to Help Brighten Your Day

George Carlin's Latest Theory on Life

The Paradox of Our Time
by George Carlin

-------------------FEEL GOOD-------------------
STUFF

 The very moving and inspirational "Interview with God" presentation
(The words to the poem can be viewed here) 
(added Dec. 8, 2002)

 Do not be discouraged. There is hope for us all.....right now.
(added Dec. 8, 2002)

 I Believe
(added Dec. 8, 2002)

 Click here to see an appeal for PEACE,
issued over 30 years ago by John Lennon.

Rocks
(Set your priorities. Take care of your rocks first.)

What is the Meaning of Life?

Inspiration and Hope  
(updated Dec. 8, 2002)

Love Poems

Tips for Success

Everyone's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
by Baz Luhrmann

Going to College

Life's Many Little Lessons

Affirmation of Faith in an Apocalyptic Age
by the Reverend John Donald Craig
(Jan. 3, 1915 - Nov. 1, 2002)

I've Learned....

A Vanished Friend

The Most Beautiful Flower

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)

Phil Collins in Concert -- "Do You Remember?"

Listen to One of my Favorite Songs Here --
"Open Arms" by Journey

--------------------JAPAN STUFF--------------------

 Click here to see some spectacular fall scenery
from the Northern Japan Alps

Cherry Blossoms in Japan

Live Concert Schedules for Some of My Favorite Tokyo Musicians:

Charlie Fukami
Alan Patton
Bottleneck Blues Band
Marble Tears  
Aki Sasaki

Red*Thread
Donna Burke & Bill Benfield

Miya Ishida
Edelweiss Kapelle

More Tokyo Concert Info
Tokyo Live Music

Just How Crowded IS it on Toyko Trains, Anyways?

Gary's Tokyo-Houston News Beacon

What's Newsworthy in Japan These Days?

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)

Photo Japan
(fine photographic images of Japan)

More Japan Links

More Tokyo Links

-----------------A TRIBUTE TO DAD-----------------

The Home Page of Walter Wolff
-- take a tour through the almost 50-year career of one of the
best fast-pitch softball pitchers who ever lived on this planet --


--------------------BORING STUFF--------------------

Web Site Bookmarks

Resume

Gary's Past Life in the States

Opinion Page
(oops, up on my soapbox AGAIN)


Previous Versions of this Welcome Page:

Fall 2002  
Summer 2002
Christmas 2001
Fall 2001
Spring 2001

Email to President George W. Bush
New Year's 2001
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


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, complaints,
or would just like to yell at me,
you can send email here:

garywolf@gol.com
email

Congratulations!
You are person number
65 million
to visit this site so far today!
Ha Ha Ha !

Come back and visit real soon, ok ??!!

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The last time I fiddled with this site was December 22, 2002.

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