The Sato-Veillon Family

On December 29th we went ice skating in downtown L.A. with a Eiko, Yumi, Yukiko, and Eli.  It was pretty fun, but most of all I was really impressed with how quickly Amelie learned how to skate.  We went round the wall two times and then started skating off the wall.  After about 20 minutes she was skating really well and we were basically just skating hand in hand around the rink.

Check out the photos and videos…

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This year’s company Christmas party took place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which made a nice setting.  The usual debauchery took place, and here are some photos, and even video to prove it.

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I try to find time to listen to a podcast that teaches English speakers how to speak Japanese.  It is the “Learn Japanese with Beb and Alex” podcast.  Occasionally they have a video podcast.  I watched this one today, although it was from last Friday (Fun Friday is what they refer to the Friday podcast, which is usually more liberal fun than a lesson) and thought it was funny, and educational to people who aren’t familiar with Onigiri.  Onigiri is one of Amelie’s favorite snacks, and can even serve as a meal in a pinch.  It is basically a ball (although in the shape of a triangle) of rice, filled with something, like salmon, bonita, etc., and wrapped in nori (dried seaweed) and when fresh is really yummy.  Onigiri is very popular in Japan, and really would be here if more people tried it.

Anyway, the video podcast is entitled “How to eat Onigiri”, and I though I would share it with you.  Enjoy.

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I didn’t read this article until after we started Amelie at a Waldorf school, but it does describe one of my biggest motivations for sending her there.  And I agree with this article whole-heartedly. 

Read “For Today’s School Kids, Pressure Starts Early - Newsweek Health - MSNBC.com”

We knew early on that we needed to start early and do a lot of research on which school to send Amelie to.  We did start early, by about 1 and a half to 2 years.  We asked the teachers at her preschool, other parents, and searched on the Internet for schools in our area.  We looked at sites that rated schools and let parents comment on them, etc.  We considered price, campus facilities, teacher to student ratios, high school test scores, percentage of the students who go on to college upon graduation, location, if they had before and after school care, and their reputation.

It might sound like Read the rest of this entry »

I have finally created the Gallery page for the family blog.  You can get to it from the “Pages” section on the lower left.  It also lists each photo album under it, so you can just go directly to the album you want to see.

As you can see, I have also finally uploaded the photo album from our recent trip to Japan. 

Did we have fun?  This picture says it all.

We’re still trying to get over the jet-lag, so updating the site has been taking a back seat since we got back Sunday.  I think last night might have been the final phase of it for me, so I’ll be spending some time over the next few days putting together the updates (photo albums and videos too).  By this weekend there should be plenty of material for your viewing entertainment. 

Well, we made it… after a 10.5 hour flight, which thankfully was pretty uneventful.  We flew Korean Airlines and coach didn’t have any power outlets… which we were hoping for so we could watch DVD’s and such on our laptops.  Oh well.  We managed one movie on one of the batteries and thought we’d save the others… just in case.

Anyway, we’ve been doing a LOT of walking… much of which Rika and I spent hunting down Internet access.  I really didn’t expect it to be this difficult to find access in the second largest city in Japan.  From what I hear so far it costs about $60US a month for broadband here too.  CHA! 

Interestingly, one of the things that struck me the most “different” was seeing the Japanese flag flying on some of the buildings.  Just so used to seeing the American flag, you know? 

Another thing is that there are SO many public employees!  There’s a person for everything!  And people go out of their way for you so much more frequently here too.  Very nice people. 

Well, gotta go eat sushi!  I’ll check in again soon!

Well, I’m finally going to see Rika’s home town.  It sure has been a long time coming.  Sometimes it takes less than perfect circumstances to get us motivated, but I’ll take it however it comes.  I can’t hide how excited I am!  I can’t wait!  We leave June 3rd and return on the 17th. 

I’m hoping Amelie doesn’t have too much of a problem with the 11 hour flight.  It’s a big plane, but the seats are still pretty cramped.  At least there will be individual LCD panels behind every seat.  Hopefully you can either chose what you want to watch, or they watch something she’s intersted in (not to mention appropriate).

I’m also hoping we can have pretty easy Internet access.  If so, I’ll post updates as often as I can.  It’ll save me from having to do it all when I get home.

While we’re there we’re going to get Rika’s dad a DVD player.  Yep, they’ve never had one, or even used one.  Hard to believe, I know, but….  Reason we want to do this is so that we can just send them the yearly (soon to be semi-annual) DVD’s of the home movies we take.  If we’re REALLY lucky we’ll be able to hook them up with a computer and the Internet so they can do email and video conference with us. 

Check it out!  We finally bought a piano! 

We deliberated over whether to get a digital piano or an acoustic… but as you can see, we decided on acoustic.  Couldn’t be happier!

It is a 1988 Kawai KS-2F and is in VERY nice condition.  It has a wonderfuly rich sound, partialy due to its size - 49″.  Plays very nice too.  Come over and try it! 

I guess I’ll have to learn to play now, huh?