Top 5 Things I learned about Japan

A couple of weeks ago, Brian had some visitors in town from Japan! They were visiting the USA as part of an exchange program with UAB School of Dentistry. The Japanese students were here for ten days, and the American students were able to show them many things around Birmingham and Atlanta. I was able to join in on a few of the festivities. It was quite a challenge to talk with the Japanese students. There was a definite language barrier, but with a few iphone translators and lots and lots of hand gestures, we were able to communicate! Here are a few things I learned from the Japanese!

The American and Japanese students were paired together and this was Brian's partner: Hisataka.

Japanese Fact #1: They love Coca-Cola! I'm sure they have Coke in Japan, but perhaps ours tastes different.......we probably have more sugar in our flavors if I had to guess. They visited the Coke Factory in Atlanta and Hisataka had a blast! He was always holding a can of Coke!

Japanese Fact #2: We learned how they type in Japanese characters online. Have you ever wondered how to type in Japanese symbols? See below! A Japanese computer!

Japanese Fact #3: I learned how to write my name in Japanese characters and I learned what my name means. Brian's name is on the left and my name is on the right. I can definitely make out what I like to think of is the "E-Y" in my name, but Brian's??? Yeah, no clue on that one!

Brian = Samuri Thunder Tactics

Calley = Beautiful Ideal

Japanese Fact #4: They love to give a thumbs up!

And a peace sign in any and all pictures taken!

We caught on to this trend rather quickly!

Japanese Fact #5: Japanese women wear kimonos and men wear jinbeis. These are their traditional Japanese outfits worn at festivals.

I must get a kimono! How cute are those GIANT bows on the back!?!??

Finally the final and most important thing we learned from the Japanese students: They are just like you and me! Even though they live on the other side of the world, the boys are still boys and the girls are still girls. Even though there was difficulty in communicating, the students still managed to have a fun time and explore the USA. Brian will get to go to Japan next spring for his portion of the exchange program. I couldn't be happier for him to get this once in a lifetime experience!

Wrigley

To close out our summer vatcationing adventures, I leave you with one last post from Chicago. Once our dad arrived in Chicago, we had a day of baseball planned at the historic Wrigley Field. It was a sight to see and tons-o-fun! Dad got really into the game and the history of it all. I knew he loved baseball, but we actually got to see him in true action keeping stats in his program!! He was in baseball heaven! (Sorry Dad! I had to write this so we can all read this again one day in the future and remember that moment!)
We saw the Cubs play the White Sox....city rivals! We also witnessed Ernie Banks, "Mr. Cub" lead the entire crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame!" We didn't know he would be attending this day, but that was certainly a cherished moment for all in the stadium to see such a legend enjoying America's favorite pasttime!



A view of the outfield in Wrigley. These are the Wrigley Rooftops which are actually on the rooftops of buildings across the street from the field. Great view, huh?!



Me and Brian at Wrigley!



Wrigleyville, as the locals call the area around the baseball field, is full of pubs, little diners, and restaurants. It is like one giant block party! One of those surrounding restaurants is The Houndstooth Saloon. It is the official Univerisity of AL Alumni Bar in Chicago. They show all the Alabama games! It made us feel right at home!



Ladies, espcially Bama ladies.........doesn't this room give you inspiration to create your own "Bama" room? I love, love LOVE the crimson tin panels on the ceiling and that houndstooth wallpaper! Precious! I say we take over our husbands plans of creating a room full of Daniel Moore prints and recreate this instead!



Me, Whitney, and Mom at The Houndstooh Saloon. I am loving this mother/daughters pic!


Ok. Talking about Alabama is really getting me ready for football!! It's almost here!

Chicago in Review

I've finally figured out how to make my pictures easier to upload in Picasa!! I know you, as the reader, probably do not care as much as I do. But hopefully it will enhance my blog and make it more enjoyable to read! :)

Chicago.....where do I begin? My sister moved to Chicago this past month. She is no longer in Alabama and is officially in a BIG city! I'm very proud of her and excited for her for making the move, but sad that she has left Birmingham. However, we can now go visit Chicago as often as we like and visit her! Win! Win! Brian and I decided to make the 10 hour drive to help with the moving. We were promised sightseeing time in the city since Brian had never been to Chicago. We of course have tons and tons of pictures from our trip, but I'll try to capture the highlights here.

We started our sightseeing adventure by taking a train into the city. Whitney lives in a suburb called Lombard, which is about a 45 minute drive into downtown Chicago. We had a weekend pass for the train which is certainly the way to travel! It was $7/person.....all weekend.....unlimited rides!

As soon as we got into the city, we hopped on a water taxi. This is also the best way to see the city if the weather is nice. The river flows right through the middle of downtown, which led to great photo opportunities while cruising down the river.

Chicago view from the water taxi.

Michigan Ave.....shopping in Chicago.....Yes! Please!

Once off the water taxi, we walked in the scorching heat down to Millennium Park. We were headed for the Taste of Chicago, but made a quick stop at the BEAN again!

I just love this bean!

We finally made it to the Taste of Chicago. This is the biggest food festival in the United States. Read more about it here.

Oh, you don't believe that it was that crowded? See below!! People as far as you can see down the street! And we weren't even at the end of the food vendors! You could taste just about any type cuisine you wanted. What were we there for? The Chicago deep dish pizza of course!

Brian was able to taste his first piece of true Chicago Pizza from Lou Malnati's Pizza. It was delicious!

In the middle of the "Taste" (as the locals call it) we saw Buckingham Fountain. Chicago has the best parks!

After filling up on more pizza at Pizzeria Due, (Yes, we went and ate and entire pizza pie after that one slice tempted us!) we took a cab down to Navy Pier.

One of the main things I love about Chicago: You've got the city feel, then you've got the beach! All in one!

Chicago Skyline

After Navy Pier, we made our final sightseeing stop of the day, Sears Willis Tower.

A great view from the top of the tower!

At Willis Tower, they've added these new window ledges where you can literally walk out onto glass and look straight down some 1,507,235,678 feet! It is very safe, but yet very scary!! I only had one problem with the ledges......they let as many people as they wanted step out on that thing! A little too crowded for glass in my opinion!

Standing on the ledge!!

We certainly had a busy sightseeing day. We had one more day to explore in Chicago once my dad arrived. There was only one place left to see.......Wrigley Field! More to come soon!