7/30/01
Trying to squeez in a bit of what has been going on in the small time that my purse will permit me to write - considering the price per minute here in Kinkos at Sinjiku. I can:t seem to find the apostrophe key either. Anyway, the flight here was pretty good. There were these cool personal televisions, will rolling movies, video games and music - it was fun. The food was okay. Um...I missed everyone at home though. I wish I could expereince Japan with you guys. Hopefully this web page will help.
So, today I was at orientation all day. Except the morning - I got to check out the pool at the Keio Plaza Hotel, and visit with Reiko obasan and Mom. There are so many of us - I feel a bit drowned out. But I:m sure that will be solved when I get to my home school where I will be the only one. There are a lot of people - I hope I can make an impact. I see this as an adventure. My motto for this adventure, the guiding tool is as follows: Live as if heaven were on earth. I want to walk, talk, eat, sleep, teach as if heaven were around and within me. Hopefully that will help realize it here. As for objectives, I want to learn the heart of Japan through examining its language, it arts, its people. I want to connect to my family lineage through building relations with my relatives. I want to discover my capacity through challenges during this year. And there was one more, but I forgot what it was. The president of CLAIR, some kind of exchange ministry here in Japan, was really a pleasant old man, told us he feels we are relative from other countries that have come to visit him. I hope I can make a lasting impression.It feels weird being surrounding by people who look like me but are not like me. Everyone , actually now really everyone, there are the people with brown, blond or even silver hair, but they look like me - they look Japanese. However, the way I speak, the way I act, the way I feel, I think is different. We:ll see how many bridges we can build during this time.
So, here I go - on this grand adventure. I:ve been brainwashed with all this JET stuff - gotta go do something other than think about it - I think I:ll go read. Take care all
This is hanako signing out..
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