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Should've Listened

As I was leaving the house yesterday my mother-in-law told me I should probably take a jacket. I was just sporting a polo shirt for traveling and I packed a short-sleeve dress shirt for my work day. I pointed to the sky and said it's fine. I even checked the weather report. A jacket will just be extra weight in my bag.

This morning I walked from my Osaka Airport hotel to Shibahara-handaimae Station, and it was surprisingly delightful - hilly, scenic, quiet (with the passing sounds of old guys speaking in their Kansai dialect), and at two kilometers the perfect distance to get rolling with what was going to be a long and tiring day. A nice cool morning walk. No jacket needed. I even got a bit warm walking up those hills.


A cool, cloudless morning walk through Osaka backstreets made it very hard for me to not be nostalgic about my time living here. It's a crazy city, but when it's at its best Osaka and the whole Kansai area is a wonderful place to live. Eri and I spent our first three years of married life here. Kenzo went to his first nursery school here. Eri still keeps in touch with friends she made here (even though she was sure she wouldn't be able to make friends with Osaka people) and they even trade care packages for our kids.

I rode the Osaka monorail out to a school in the suburbs that I've been to many times over the years. It was like a reunion when I walked in the gate. The last time I was here was three years ago. Their program has grown and they are thriving. My friend and teammate David and I spent the entire day with them, and including dinner we were with them for twelve hours. We saw their morning kindergarten classes, had multiple meetings including with the principal, saw the afternoon elementary school classes, more meetings to discuss what issues they're having, and topped it all off with dinner at Eggs 'n Things where everyone chowed down. I had kalua pork nachos and beer and I couldn't have been more satisfied with a job well done. So much great conversation and big laughs.

After dinner as I was getting on the monorail and walking back to my hotel I was kinda shivery. How did it get so cold? And windy. My mother-in-law was right. I should've worn a jacket.

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