Halloween

Here's a photo of my Halloween costume for the dorm party. Hopefully, it's pretty clear who I was.....

Okay-- evidently it is not as clear who I was as I thought it would be! So to my father and anyone else who might have it wrong-- I was MARILYN MONROE! *Not* Anna Nicole Smith!!!

My weekend in Iowa

Here are photos from my weekend visiting Christine and Bill in Iowa. Christine is Robert's sister for those who might not know that. Bill is her husband and a grad student at the University of Iowa.

These are photos of Christine's renovated guest bathroom. She tiled the floor, painted, and replaced the vanity and sink. It looks great!
Christine and Bill in the living/dining room.
Christine and Bill were repairing the siding on the house.

Photos of Christine's Coffee Shop!

I was excited to make a trip to Christine's (Rob's sister) coffee shop that is opening at the end of the month. Here's the street view of Christine's coffee shop "Grounds for Dessert." It's a great location near the main commercial/pedestrian area of Iowa City. For those who know Iowa City, it's just down the street from the Sheraton, next door to a large parking structure. Christine has done lots of work on the shop! Painting (love the colors), ordering equipment and furniture, tiling the floors, etc. It's really a great space-- I was surprised by how large it is.
This is the coffee, waffles, register, etc. area of the coffee shop. And there's Maddie in the right corner.
The blue area is the bakery section where Nate will be making cakes and other desserts-- for the coffee shop and for special order.
Christine did all the tile herself, so I had to take photos to show everyone what an amazing job she did! That had to have been so much work! That's a lot of surface area to cover! These are Nate's baking supplies inside the baking area.

Christine and Bill are standing in the "office" section of the shop.




This is the men's bathroom. The mirror still has to go up.
And this vibrant blue bathroom is the women's bathroom. Christine did a super job painting.
Here's the view from the back of the cafe to the front. Lots of great natural light from all the windows.
And this is the view from the front of the cafe to the back. The blue wall is where the bakery will be, and the green area to the left is where the coffee and register and everything else will be.

October 14, 2006: Day trip to Otaru, Japan

Yesterday, I went to a small port town called Otaru. I went with Nick and Josh -- two friends that I have met since I arrived here. Nick is from England and Josh is from my school (Lewis and Clark).
Anyway, we began our day at the Sapporo train station at about 9am(-ish). We got on a local train, which cost each of us about $6 one way for a 45min ride. It was a quiet ride -- not much to say about it... We arrived in Otaru and went off to a rustic coffee shop/bar that had a bunch of old things inside (lanterns/photos/boat decor/etc.). We hung out and had a snack and coffee for about an hour and then we started our exploration.
We didn't ever really find a whole lot worth mentioning. It was an industrial town with a lot of shopping areas as well. Kinda boring, I think. Anyway, we all just kicked around and took photos of randomness, and then found a decent -- fairly priced -- place to have a late lunch. After that, we went for more coffee. This coffee place was in an old wooden building that was dark, spacious, and comfy. The room lighting was done entirely by kerosene lantern (chandeliers and all). It was pretty relaxing (I will post pics later).
After coffee, we nearly decided to head back to Sapporo because we were out of things/places to explore. We managed to find a nifty little park which had a huge buoy-anchor on display. So, we all climbed atop and sat around for an hour or so. That was the highlight of our day up to that point. From there we could see half of the town that we hadn't been to... so we wandered again. There we found Hokkaido's largest factory-outlet mall -- Yippie! Outside of it was a large ferris-wheel. We each paid about $4 and got to go 'round twice (thanks to Josh, because he asked the attendant for another spin)! That was pretty fun because none of us had been on a ferris-wheel in a very long time.... We all took many snapshots -- those are coming too.
After our ride, we walked through the mall and Josh bought a birthday gift (a liter of the local beer) for his host-father -- which he greatly appreciated.
Josh and I each bought a $3 waffle cone ice cream, and then we started off towards the train station to go back to Sapporo.
We caught an express train back to Sapporo that shaved off 20mins from the trip... They have a variety of trains available here -- they range from fast to slow, or expensive to cheap. They really have an effiecient/reliable mass transit system here -- something that Americans would drool over considering gas prices these days...
Anyway, we got back to Sapporo and went walking around looking for a bar that Josh and I found one night. That was about a month ago and we haven't managed to ever find it again. The bar district here is a maze, and is overwhelming in fact. So, we ended up going to our latest favorite joint -- only I cannot think of it's name... It's a British-style pub, so Nick really fancies it. I think it's a bit pricy, but I don't really fixate on money so much... It's a watering whole where we feel comfortable, and that's good enough.
We all stayed there for about 2 drinks, and then we all went home. I think that I got home at about midnight, but I wasn't really paying much attention....
In sum, the day wasn't all that exciting. We just chose to go somewhere that was cheap and close -- and Otaru fit the bill. I took a lot of pics (which will be added later), and enjoyed hanging out with my friends. What more can a guy ask for? Oh yeah, a Gretchen travel buddie!

I'll try to be better at updating this blog... But I am usually busy, so please be patient...

Next weekend we are all (most of the exchange students and a bunch of Japanese students) going on a weekend trip, so I should have plenty to post in a week or so...
Until then,
Bye!
Robert

Fall Colors in Evanston

We've been having such lovely weather in Evanston the past few days that yesterday I thought I would take my camera out with me and take some photos. The leaves are just beginning to change... even today I'm seeing even more oranges and reds. I think I'll take more photos tomorrow or Wed. I was also taking photos to show how much Evanston has grown in the past two years. We never used to have any tall buildings and now we're also getting a lot of commerical real estate. This huge building in the background is a new condo building and parking lot with lots of shops on the main floor. There is a huge Barnes & Noble, Pier 1, Red Door Salon, LA Fitness etc, etc. It takes up one entire city block.
More photos of the modern buildings we're now getting in Evanston.
This is the street where the Residential College is where I work. It's really pretty right now.
Here's another photo of Willard Residential College.
And another one...
And the last photo is a butterfly I managed to get a photo of as it was camouflaged amidst a bunch of leaves on the ground.

Robert's Trip to a Puppet Show

This is Bunraku -- a traditional Japanese theater (puppetry). My school took a bunch of the exchange students to experience this old-style theater. It lasted for about three hours and I couldn't understand a word... I don't feel too bad about not understanding much, however. It was an interesting experience anyway. The men on stage did nothing but animate the puppet. They did not perform or say anything at all. All of the music and dialogue came from a separate crew who sat at the side of the stage. They sang and played instruments while the stage-hands moved the puppets. The men in the hoods moved the body of the puppet, while the unmasked men controlled the puppets head. Together, they were so very well syncronized and choreographed that the puppets moved like real people. Their eyebrows moved up and down as well as their mouths, and all of their mannerisms were so fluid that after a while you forgot that all of the stagehands were even there. Cool!






These were the narrators and musicians. Even though I could not understand them, their performances were so impassioned that words were not important. I actually enjoyed watching these guys more than the actual show...



I have some short movie clips of the show... Hopefully I can figure out how to upload them some time.