Dawley Online! Home Page

gasorine

gasorine2

One of the many unusual things I saw were signs in broken English. Some of them were humorous, some were confusing. This is one of the many that I saw. This Japanese vehicle was delivering fuel on base. I was starting one of my many road trips and happened to have my camera with me.

** - After showing this page to several people, I realized that people were not looking at the pictures close enough despite showing the close up. The English on this vehicle reads:

NO SMOKING WITHN 50FEET GASORINE

If you STILL do not see it, send me mail and I will explain further!

I will be adding more pictures as I scan them.

I spent several days at the Lake Towada National Park. We'd camp here during festivals and hang out (more like party) with the locals. I met a lot of friendly people here. My came up during a "day off" for Japanese kids. The schools were taking them on a field trip here. The further you got from the base, the more people you ran into who had little or no contact with Americans.
They were fascinated to see us. Many tested out there English with us. The teachers usually spoke English and would ask us questions and we would answer. She would translate back and forth. It was a lot fun.
This interaction came in handy on two occasions. I flew down to Tokyo and booked a tour of Mount Fuji on my way back stateside. When I got on the tour bus, I was assumed there would be other Americans. Instead, they were German, Israeli, French, Dutch, etc. Additionally, they had just arrived in Japan and I had been there for a year and a half.
When we got to Mount Fuji, several tour buses full of 7-8 year old Japanese boys and girls came streaming up to us once they saw us. They wanted to touch us. The other tourists were a little scared. I explained that they were just curious and friendly. We spoke with the teachers for a while and then they moved on.
One of my favorite places to visit was the Lake Towada National Park. It was about a 2 hour hour drive from Misawa, Japan. I made dozens of trips here during all times of the year. It is very beautiful. It reminds a lot of people of upstate New York. I'd say it has a little more rugged terrain.

Click on the above image to see a larger one.

Click on the above image to see a larger one.

This picture was taken in October of 1985 at the Nebuta Festival in Aomori, Japan. I attended this festival two times while I was in Japan. I spent four days in the area. I visited the aquarium at Ashmushi, Japan. Spent a night in a Japanese hotel. Camped out on Noheji Bay. Snorkeled during the day and partied in Aomori at night. It was one of the most enjoyable times I had in Japan.