July 22nd, 2007 About

Hey family and friends,

In an effort to stay better in touch with all of you, I’d like to try out this blogging thing. I’m hopeful this will provide a better way for me to keep all the people I love more up to date with the latest doings and happenings of our family. I’ll try to post some video clips and photos from time to time, or write short articles of any family news.

If you have your own blog, let me know, and I can include a link to it here. I’m new at this, and a bit overwhelmed at the possibilities, but lets give it a go. If you have any advice on blogging, especially with WordPress, I’m all ears!

Ok, let’s meet the family, shall we? Click on the image below to see a larger version of it

Here’s a nice family photo, taken last year during our trip to Gifu Prefecture. From left to right: Shinobu’s brother Takuya, Mr. Mase (her father), Mrs. Mase (her mom), Luke, Shinobu, and I. Can you find Max? Our daughter Max (inset) was inside her mother when this photo was taken!

Currently we live in a small town of about 20,000 people in central Toyama Prefecture called Yatsuo-machi. Shinobu was born and raised here. It’s a great location, right smack between the Japan Alps and Toyama City, the largest city in this prefecture (pop. 350,000). Toyama is an amazing place in general; the name literally means “rich with mountains.” We’re right on the Japan Sea coast, and it’s one of those rare places where you can go surfing and snowboarding on the same day if you wanted to.

As far as work goes, I’m still teaching English at the Toyama College of Foreign Languages. I’ve been here 10 years. Since I got my Masters in TESOL last year with Aston University (UK), I’ve been looking to move on to a university position either here or abroad. Got any job leads? I’m all ears!

Shinobu is still working as a public official for the town of Yatsuo. Until recently she was stationed at the Yatsuo Sports Arena, but since September 2007 she was transferred to the B&G Pool here in town. She works mostly in the main office there, taking care of financial matters and offering her vast sports expertise. Hopefully soon she’ll be able to get back into coaching… We shall see!

Anyway, there will be more to come on this basic story, that’s for sure. But that’s basically where we’re at these days. I hope you enjoy staying in touch with us through this blog. I know we’ll love hearing from you!

Jerry
July 29th, 2007