The first photo was taken on a very snowy day, looking down into the hotel’s garden.

The other three were taken at sunrise early in the morning our last day in Tokyo, January 24th, just before catching our ride to the airport.

Our tour guide and narrator, one Mr. Sato, was quite the humorous one–I especially loved his commentary on the size of the Police Headquarters: Tokyo is so safe that there’s no need for police on the streets…so they just built a big building for them all to sit in and watch TV. (Just try getting away with a crack like that, all you tour guides in China.)

And the educational angle: In case you’ve been wondering how to say “bus” or “light” in Chinese, listen carefully. You’ll hear my then four-year old daughter ask (and get the answers from) my Wife in the middle of this.

Two of these photos were taken from our tour bus window, one from our tour boat window, and one (with the Statue of Liberty) at a Shopping Complex…which was a trip in and of itself: I know she was tired and jet-lagged, but right in the middle of a crowded shopping mall in Tokyo is where our then 3-year old discovered her ability to throw herself to the ground and scream bloody murder.

Sorry, no pictures of that to share….

When we flew into Japan the day before, it was clear, with no trace of snow anywhere.

But when we woke up the next morning and looked outside, it felt first like “Snow Day! No School!”

But then I remembered we were just starting our extended vacation in Asia…so we got up and had at it.

Here are some pictures and video from our stop at Meiji Shrine that day, hacked together just to illustrate “Lots of Snow.” (It’s too long, but sorry, I’m not going to take the time to redo it.) My favorite part, though: to clear the snow off the walkways, they were using firehoses. New snow, you can get some traction with that. Frozen firehose water, not so much….

Again probably more interesting to just our friends and relatives, here are a few more pictures from our time in Tokyo, January 20-24. (Well, except for the clouds; those were taken somewhere between Tokyo and Xiamen at an altitude of 28,000 feet or so).

On our first morning in Tokyo, January 20th, we woke to find the city “enjoying” its first major snowfall of the year.

Here are some pictures we took out and about sightseeing in the city that day. The first one is looking down from our hotel room at the Hotel New Otani, and I _think_ the next four are at Meiji Temple and Shrine, but don’t quote me on that. I’ll have to dig the tour brochure out to be sure.

A decade ago, during winter break from a teaching job in South Korea, I was taking some private Chinese language courses at Xiamen University–partly to take advantage of the relatively inexpensive boarding rates in Xiamen–and the future Mrs. was working in Xiamen for an international trading company.

On the morning of the 24th, we met at the Xiamen University main gate, took a taxi to the marriage bureau office (after previously completing all the bureaucratic paperwork, medical exams, background security checks and so on), waited our turn, signed the final paperwork, and there, beneath of picture of Chairman Mao, officially became husband and wife.

Fast-forward ten years to this morning.

We woke up at 4 A.M. in our hotel room at the Hotel New Otani in Tokyo after some days sightseeing, got ourselves and daughters, ages 2 and 4, ready, and caught a taxi to Narita International Airport. Unfortunately, we had to set out earlier than the airport limousine buses were in operation, and so the taxi fare was, well, astronomical.

Ten years ago today, a taxi in Xiamen to take us to get married cost us just under $2 U.S. dollars.

This morning, a taxi in Tokyo to take us to the airport to return to Xiamen to begin our extended visit back in China set me back over $200 U.S. dollars.

A decade can bring lots of changes and differences, but here’s hoping they won’t all be quite this expensive.