Murray Ceff's Blog

My current work schedule is a bit crazy (two jobs and my own business ensure that) so I don't always have a handle on what is happening at home. This morning (Sunday morning) Margot was about to leave to attend Pt Cook Ward, which started at 9.00am (she is in the Stake Relief Society Presidency).  "Lets have family prayer before you go. Is Miriam awake?" I asked as I started walking towards our daughters room. "She is on Young Women's camp this weekend", Margot reminded me. I had earlier sent a text message to the Bishopric excusing myself from attending the Ward Priesthood Executive Meeting at 8.00am, as I would need to bring Miriam to Church with me later. So I felt a bit absent minded when Margot told me that Miriam was not home and I could have gone to the meeting that I was meant to be at, and actually enjoy being at! Which brings me to the point of why I write this blog. I don't really write it for anybody else's benefit than my own. But ...

Learning to like a city of 36 million inhabitants is pretty easy actually. Easier than one would expect. When I say I like Tokyo, it does not mean I would like to live there, but I would certainly like to visit there again. The reason I would like to visit there again is simply the Kamota family. As I mentioned in my previous post, Uichi Kamota, the patriarch of the Kamota family, met us at the airport and drove us to his home, two and a half hours across the world's biggest city. We stayed the next three nights in the Kamota's home and enjoyed true Japanese hospitality. Margot originally got to know the Kamota family when they lived in Sydney many years ago while Uichi was working in Australia for Komatsu. While they lived in Sydney they employed Margot to be an English tutor for their second son Keisuke, who was only about five years old at the time. They developed a close bond with Margot and they have kept in touch with each other over the years. A few years ago they ca...