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Daily Journal
Sunday, November 12, 2000 The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. -Lao Tzu (570-490 BC) Chinese Philosopher There were ten of us on the flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco. Ten excited and a bit nervous teachers from Delaware, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania on the first leg of the trip to the other side of the world. We arrived on the west coast an hour earlier than expected.  After checking
in to
my room, I took a walk along a path by the bay. The afternoon was spent
listening to presentations by the organizers of the trip and previous
participants. We were warned about little things like watching out for
doors
opening automatically on a taxi. And then there are the glass doors on
buildings that won't open unless you touch them on a certain spot
that's
marked in Japanese. I now know that it's okay to add cold water to a steaming
hot bath during my stay with my host family. Do not say "do you speak
English" if you need help from a Japanese person. They will say no,
because
most Japanese people can read English, but cannot speak it. Instead we
should
say, "can you help me in English?" Then, their honor will not allow
them to
turn you down. You can write down the thing you need help with and they
will
be able to read it and help you. Here's a question for you- last week
I told
one of my classes that Japan time is 14 hours ahead of our time. We
just had
a speaker who told us that Japan is 17 hours ahead of our time. Who is
right?
(I'll answer in my next entry.)
Whatever the time difference is, I do know this..I better get some
sleep
before my long eleven hour flight to Tokyo tomorrow morning! Oyasuminasai! (goodnight in Japanese) 
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