maiko-san

On the 31st of December, 2006 I took Hankyu Line from Juso. I was heading for Sannomiya where I was supposed to meet my wife. We were going to visit my father's cemetery in Tarumi. I was sitting reading a German textbook related with a Christmas-Child in Nuerunberg. From Nishinomiya station two blonde women got on the train. They spoke English. So, I gathered they were Americans. Then one decent blonde woman sat near me. All of a sudden I recalled reading the book "UnDuchables" which Ruth gave me. It reminded me of an article about on-board acttivities of the Dutch people. -Quote- "Select your reading material to impress whoever happens to sit near you. It is obligatory that the person(s) sitting near you spend a considerable part of the journey studying your reading matter. Depending on the mood, they may do this while holding up their newspaper as if they are reading it, by casually glancing up from their book or by just blatantly staring. It keeps them happy-the

In 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics was held. At that time I was working for a joint venture company, BP Amoco in Tokyo. From time to time I visited Amoco headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia for World Sales Meeting. During the meeting I got to know Ruth Anderson, a secretary for the head office. She was responsible not only for reconfirming our airline tickets but also for scheduling sports events and fun events. A sales person by the name of Ernie brought a moonshine bottle to the table where the Japanese were sitting. As I wanted to surprise Americans, I gulped it down. Ruth was married to a Dutch man, Arthur. She was happy when she told me about him They went to the Caribbean on a honeymoon trip. Furthermore she visited Holland to see Arthur's parents. It was nice of her to take us Japanese by a Toyota Tacoma from a resort hotel to the headquarters. Back to Tokyo, we sometimes exchanged emails. She was interested in a fancy Japanese gadget like the "Tamagotchi". Our Japanes