This is a compilation of some of the high spots of 2000, the ultimate* pre-Millennial year. Also take a look at our Seasons Greetings with photos or click on the Seasons Greetings link at our homepage. Some of the links below (which are not in the printed version) are to pictures; use your browser's "Back" button, or the keyboard shortcut ‹Alt›-‹Left Arrow› to get back to this page after viewing them.
If you'd like to view any or all of the pictures we took this year, PhotoWorks has them available online. Using this link, you just click on the roll or rolls that interest you (and wait for them to download).
Kiyomi's annual Teachers International Exchange (TIE)-sponsored Seventh Conference on Educational Technology (CET) was held at Stanford University 23 - 25 March. It was well-attended and got teachers from Japan and the U.S. together to share their experiences. CET 2001 is tentatively scheduled for Japan. CET is one of Kiyomi's favorite activities, as it gives her a sense of accomplishment to get teachers together to interact and learn from each other. It is her payback to the educational community.
Stan and Kiyomi celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary with a Renaissance cruise to Turkey and Greece, including Istanbul, Kusadasi, Ephesus, Didyma, Rhodes, Santorini, and Athens. It was very enjoyable, and we got a new perspective on "new" and "old". It was also interesting to see the places we read about in history books. If you're interested in a full report, click this link.
Kiyomi's Teachers International Exchange (TIE) sponsors the 7th Japan and U.S.A. Conference on Educational Technology (CET) July 21 - 24 at Mukogawa Women's University, Nishinomiya (near Osaka), Japan. Kiyomi co-sponsored the CET and gave a workshop.
Click the link for a full report. There are also pictures online, if you're interested. While we were in Florida, we stopped by Key West, Stan's high school alma mater. Things were certainly different than he remembers! But the Key Lime Pie and Conch Chowder were as expected. The weather was warm and humid, as remembered.
Stan is webmaster not only for the family home page, but also for Kiyomi's business CrossTech, and her nonprofit organization, Teachers International Exchange. In addition, he is webmaster for the Stanford-Palo Alto User Group (SPAUG) for PC's, and hosts a Web Page Creation and Maintenance Special Interest Group (SIG).
Stan flew down to San Diego several times to visit his parents, and Kiyomi went once with him. Southwest Airlines offered prices he couldn’t refuse, and the visits at non-holiday times allowed him to have a nice time socializing and advising on computer-related matters, eating cherry pie and other favorites, getting a haircut, and bringing back macadamia nuts and oranges. His parents learned everything they wanted to know about computers but were afraid to ask—and probably a lot more than they actually wanted to know.
Aya expects to finish her undergraduate college education in June 2001. She will receive her degree with a major in finance and a minor in Japanese. Her Winter courses will include International Finance, a religion course, Japanese, and a business ethics class. Hopefully she will still have time to continue her golf lessons and cardio kickboxing in her newly built gym/garage!
To earn money, Aya has been an employee of Joan & David since she was in high school. Unfortunately, that relationship will soon end as Joan & David goes out of business. Aya will roll over her 401k, however, and is fully vested. She also used a fair part of her earnings to invest in a wardrobe of clothes and shoes. She also works at NOLA (for New Orleans, LA), a Cajun-style restaurant that attracts the younger crowd. It's a fun job, and in addition, she gets paid.
Kiyomi has been to Japan several times this year, including her CET trip. One visit was for a sad occasion - her stepmother in Kobe got an infection, and passed away in July. Fortunately, Kiyomi had already gotten tickets for her and Aya to visit, because very few flights were available when the news came that her stepmother had but a short time to live. Kiyomi and Aya spent most of July and August helping out and settling the estate. Aya was a big help to her grandfather, cheering him up and keeping his mind occupied. Kiyomi continues to pursue other business contacts and opportunities in Japan.
Alan has continued pursuing an AA degree at Foothill College while working at Cambridge Sound Works in Palo Alto. He has developed the sideline at Cambridge Sound Works of installing the equipment he sells, as a value-added service (for a fee). He is the proud owner of a black Nissan Xterra. He got tired of the unreliability of the GMC. He has already installed an awesome sound system.
*1999 was the penultimate—last but one, one before the last. The ultimate pre-Millennial year is 2000; the next millennium starts 1 Jan 2001. I had to get that in; it’s a standing joke in the family: all the talk about the next Millennium starting 1 Jan 2000 gets a comment from Stan that the Millennium doesn’t start until 1 Jan 2001 (because they started numbering from one instead of zero).
If you have comments or suggestions, or just want to chat,