This section is just like those old slide shows or endless pictures of the family vacation you used to watch. We hope these are a bit less boring.

Who we saw in London
We were surprised by the large number of people who came to visit us when we lived in London. The guests strated arriving only 9 days after we moved in. Having a place to stay cuts down the expense of visiting London, so many of our guests reserved the futon in our bed & breakfast! Others were staying elsewhere, but still stopped by to say 'hi'. We hope for a similar good turnout of guests visiting us in Tokyo.

Tim, Laurie & Jennie	New Year's 1996
Mark & Tara	New Year's 1996
Tim (again) & Linda	February 8 + ?, 1996
Chris, Winnie & Kay	April 20, 1996
John	April 27 and 28, 1996
Leslie	June 7, 1996
Kristen & Jeff	June 1 and 2, 1996
Gary & Carrie
Mike & Kimberly
Seth's Parents
Tim (again)
Greg & Julie
Darren
Mike (again)
Bob & Eileen
Tim (again)
Grace & Jeff
Mike (again)
Mike (again)
Jeff (again, alone this time)
Nancy
Wade
Leslie (again)
Mark (again)
Jeff (again, alone this time)
Grace (again, alone this time)
Lisa & her sister
Sophia
Markus

Visit Details

 

Tim's Sisters, Laurie & Jennie Arrive First

Tim's sisters, Laurie and Jennie, flew in from Ohio and Tim was very happy to join them at our place two days later for New Years. Good thing that Tim is a good friend of Seth's from high school!

Laurie and Jennie showed up at the bottom of our 5 flights of stairs (no elevator) with more luggage than when we brought when we moved over. Laurie's quest was to see the place where Virgina Woolf (who's afraid?) lived when she was in London. Since none of our furniture had arrived from America yet, they spent a few days on sleeping bags on the floor and then moved to the couches. Lauri & Jennie left to visit Tim for a week in Derby.

Everyone Comes Back to London & They NEVER Leave!!

This is Tim's normal expression (grimacing) when he's with his sisters. Tim was studying (drinking) in Derby and his sisters came to the U.K. to make his life miserable for a while. (They're actually great, but Tim always whines and moans).
There was a large snowstorm on the U.S. East coast, so Laurie & jennie's flight kept getting cancelled.
 

Mark and Tara Arrive Before Midnight

This is Mark and Tara (yes, his wife's name is the same as Tara's) celebrating New Year's with us at the Hoop and Toy (or Poop and Toy as Tim says) pub. By 6 p.m. we were worried that they might not arrive by midnight, since they were driving from Vicenza, Italy. But, they arrived in time! Hard to believe that Mark is a certified M.D. with the U.S Army, isn't it?
When we were walking home from the pub, we saw a little potted Christmas Tree who had been thrown out in the trash. We took him and put him in Mark's car for safe keeping and he became our "Mr. Christmas Tree" who lived on our balcony for the next 2.5 years. When we left, he got a good home with Sonia's friend.

Tim comes back to London with his current girlfriend, Linda

Tim really wanted Linda to visit him while he was working in Derby, England. They basically used our place in Central London as a place to crash near the airport instead of travelling from Derby to Heathrow in one day.
 

Tara, Chris, Winnie and Kay Picnicing on Meager Rations

Chris, Winnie & Kay were in from the Chicago office for work so we decided to go for a walk in the South Downs on Saturday. Our first stop was Lewes where we saw a castle with swordfighting. Then it was back on the train to our final destination of South Ease. The walk was fun. We visited with the Mad Cows. The only surprise when NOTHING was open for lunch. So we had to share one orange, one banana and some watermelon slices that Tara had brought along.
 

John in the Eastern Hemisphere and Seth in the Western Hemisphere

John was on a business trip to South Africa and decided to take a weekend stopover in London. John, Tara and Seth took the cruise down the Thames to Greenwich. Greenwich is a wonderful, but somewhat touristy, English town. The line that separates the Eastern and Western Hemisphere (ever heard of Greenwich mean time?) is there. You can stand on both sides of the line. We also went to see Pen & Teller. They were very entertaining.
 

Leslie in for business trip

Leslie, soon to be married to Chris, had lived in London before. She was over for a business trip and we got to spend one evening with her. We went to see the play Company with her. Afterwards we met up with another friend of hers from the States and lounged about in the luxury room of the Savoy hotel. Leslie's the second from the left in the picture.
Tara had never been to the Savoy hotel before. So, it was lots of fun to explore. Tara was pretending to be a guest from years gone by & ring for a servant using the ropes in the bathroom. Next thing you know, there's a knock at the door. We answer and, surprise!, it's the butler. When we tell him what happened, he says "well, I guess you won't be needing the maid then either!".
 

Jeff and Kristin Vacationing in England for their 5th wedding anniversary

We did the Seth and Tara walking tour around London with Jeff and Kristin. They were great to have over and real troupers when Tara just kept walking and walking and walking....

For a few more details go to the quickly done and not complete: Jeff and Kristin do London

Who we saw in Tokyo
We're not so sure that we're going to have as many visitors here as we did in London. We are now further away. But, we still hope to see lots of you. Our Japanese Inn was scheduled to open in mid-October 1998, when Mike planned to visit. However, due to a change in his plans, our Japanese Inn didn't open until April 1999, when Bob and Eileen visited.

Besides Bob and Eileen, we've only had two other overnight guests. Donne and Matt stopped by for two nights while they were on their world tour.

Mike has now scheduled two times when he wanted to come to see us, but it's ended up that both in October 1998 and for Christmas & New Year's 1999, he couldn't. Hopefully, the 3rd time will be the charm and he'll get to stop by before we move.

We hope to see our friend and reflexologist Sonia in the spring when she stops over for a few days to break up the long flight from London to Australia.