I write this note from out hotel room at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. We have a flight back to the United States tomorrow (8/8) at 6:55AM local time, scheduled to arrive in Bangor via Detroit at 10:21AM. We trust that Taro will be delighted to see us after our journey and adventure in Japan.

I have more to say and many photographs to post but expect that will have to wait until my return to Orono.

Keiko’s parents, sister and her family were at Mt. Fuji Station 5 to greet us on our decent. What relief to be on level ground!

We proceeded by car to a ryokan or very traditional Japanese hotel. The highlight of the evening and next morning were trips to the hot springs and baths. My body screamed “thank you” as I relaxed and soaked in the hot baths and then dove into the ice cold pools.

We then had lunch while cruising the town’s harbor and started back home to Keiko’s parent’s home. Her parent’s treated us to a wonderful authentic Chinese dinner that evening.

The mention of food however prompts me to mention the the absolutely fabulous Japanese peaches the family had purchased on Saturday. It was the first “real” food I had tasted in nearly 24 hours.

Sugoi, Subarashii …. Our expedition to the Mt. Fuji summit was an awesome experience, an extreme physical, mental and emotional challenge.  We did it!

Frankly, I am exhausted and have simply posted a few photos.  More to come later.

An emotional evening to remember –– 55 men and women who were responsible for the great success of Avaya’s 2002 FIFA World Cup project coming together after 10 years to share friendships and memories.

More than 70% of the team had left Avaya and had not seen each other in many years. Thanks to FaceBook and the efforts of everyone to reach out and spread the word about the event, it was a most successful and enjoyable gathering of the dedicated team that brought great honor to Japan and Avaya.

Thanks to all who attended and special thanks to Kase, Chiho, Yoshi, Nobuteru, and Keiko for attending to the place and details for the event.

More event photos will be posted to the FaceBook event page.

Your past support, continuing friendship and kind words were deeply appreciated.