A Grand Adventure: No barriers

    After our day out, we decided to spend day 3 relaxing at the resort. While I can't help but notice that we seem to be the only Americans at the Hilton pools, the kids don't let it phase them and make friends with anyone around, whether they speak English or not. They spent the morning playing with a little girl about 4 years old named Kylie and helping with her 2-year-old little sister. The parents (from Japan) were so appreciative and complimented me on how kind and helpful the 3 kids were with her little girls. The mom, Takaei, spoke good English and her husband, Marcus, did, too, but with an Australian accent. Turns out she learned English in the States, where she had spent a year as an exchange student (in Seattle, I believe) and he was from Australia and of Chinese descent. She is a flight attendant for Continental, flying the route from Tokyo to Guam, and they come to Guam on vacation every year. They run a Pacific Rim restaurant in Tokyo where he is the chef. Fascinating! I started asking lots of questions about their business and Japan.
    They were able to give us recommendations on where to ski in Japan (Niesko or Furama on the island of Hokkado) and when to come, where to stay, and an idea of prices. I learned that Niesko is more developed while Furama is more in the countryside. They told us about a neat winter festival during the first week of February called the Sopporo Snow Festival. People build castles out of snow and make ice sculptures. They said we could enjoy watching the folks prepare for the snow festival on the days leading up to it and enjoy tubing on the slopes in the town and then head up the mountain to ski when the festival opens and the crowds descend on the town. Marcus said the skiing is cheap ($30-40) lift tickets but fabulous--that Europeans from the Alps were coming there to ski as were folks used to skiing at Whistler and on the best slopes in the US. I learned that 10,000 Yen=$120, very helpful when looking at travel websites that only list prices in Yen. They said there is a hotel there in Niesko Village (the old Hilton) that has a lift coming right into the lobby. How cool is that?! They said we could get great deals at a Bed and Breakfast within 10 minutes walk of the slopes. However, I think he mentioned something about sleeping on Tatami mats on the floor--not so sure I could handle that. And I guess breakfast would be miso soup, fish, tofu, rice, and salad. Apparently, the tsunami was nowhere near this area and the radiation wouldn't be there either. In his opinion, the radiation is higher in Hong Kong than in Tokyo and the surrounding area.
   They invited us to come eat in their restaurant and told us about a neat place for kids in Tokyo called Kidszania, where the kids dress up as chefs, fire fighters, police, etc., and pretend to do the different jobs. But they go a step further and the chefs actually make food while the firefighters put out a real fire. They said it is really well-done. They told me about a neat zoo in Asahikawa.
   Since they run a restaurant and vacation in Guam annually, I figured they'd be good ones to ask for restaurant recommendations. They suggested Jamaican Grill--great food, reasonable prices, and huge (split it between 2-3 people) portions. They also liked the Dim Sum lunch buffet at the Marriott on Wednesdays and Fortune Cookie for Thai food, saying you could get most anything there prepared mild for the children.   And she suggested JoinUs for Japanese Teppanyaki. We must have chatted for over an hour, and I finally got a piece of paper and pen to write it all down so I wouldn't forget. I can't wait to hit the slopes and visit this neat family!