July 26, 1999.

Dear Mom

I have so much stuff to say that I have not idea where to begin, so I will start with that I am at my desk at my new school and have been given time to learn how to use the computer.  I haven�ft had the opportunity to count, but I guess that there are about 50 desks in here.  Earlier, when I started handwriting a letter, there was a lot of commotion, which was translated to me as ``she writes like lightning!``, and ``the page is on its side!``  They are very curious about me.  I am curious too�cabout things like:  They lead the world in technology, so why is there no air conditioning in the school?  And wow is it ever HOT here!  I have learned a little Japanese already.  They greet each other these days with ``atsui, desu ne?``, which I can only determine translates into something like ``hell itself is a bit cooler than this room, and I hope you will not be terribly inconvenienced when I burst into flame directly.``  You see how compact the sentence is?  Very efficient language.

In the summer, everyone wears sandals, and they keep a pair at school for indoor use only.  The result is a man in a suit and tie with dress socks and sandals, not unlike the sandals worn by most older ladies in the US.  And everything is small in Japan, including the briefcases, so the result is that same man also has a small leather bag dangling from one hand.  You can imagine what went through my mind when I met the Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Tanaka, a very well-respected gentleman to whom I bowed politely and uttered many words of gratitude for his patience with me, all the while he�fs wearing ladies sandals and carrying a purse.  And when he reached in his bag for his inkan (a small wooden stamp in a case with personal characters on it, that is used instead of actually signing your name in Japan ? it�fs a very important thing here), it looks just like mine, and the case looks like a lipstick case.  Anyway, it was just really funny, and I�fm lucky that the Japanese giggle when they�fre nervous.  I wasn�ft nervous, but believe me they thought that I was! 

This morning was my first full day at work at my new school.  I drove myself to work and arrived early, (don�ft die of shock) and then made my way to the office and sat down, but quickly learned that this was not right and so I was escorted upstairs to the staff room and shown to my desk.  Then I was escorted all over the room meeting everyone, and I repeated their names, struggling with my Japanese.  Soon we reached the coffeepot and things started to calm down a little bit.  Coffee is very big in Japan.  In fact, it happens to be about 95 degrees (but since they don�ft use Fahrenheit, that would be CENTIGRADE, which when converted would be somewhere near 470.8 degrees with the heat index) in this room, and they are waiting in line for the hot coffee.  I was given half a cup, strong and black, and managed to gulp it all down in the heat anyway.  It was pretty good, and heated up my insides to the point that my outsides felt a little cooler.  HMMMMM�cThe driving here is kind of a strange and interesting ordeal.  The speed limit is 50 on the highway.  That�fs kilometers ? translates into about 31 mph ? ON THE HIGHWAY.  It�fs a good thing right now since I�fm getting used to driving on the RIGHT side of the front seat and on the LEFT side of the road.  I am doing okay with the driving although sometimes if I am not careful, I will try to signal to turn left and turn on the windshield wipers.  Hilarious.  Startling, but hilarious.  All the signs are different, but are pretty easy to follow, and some are even in English, even though we are three of only seven foreigners in Wadayama.  The people are really helpful, and try very hard to use English if they know some.  There are advertisements everywhere you look where its obvious that they want to use English in the ads.  One shop I saw on Saturday was having a BIG SAEL!  The shop next door declared ``THE WAY YOU NEED IS THE WAY WE ARE``  This one could be pretty scary.  I didn�ft go inside.  I guess it translates into ``we have what you need.``  But perhaps more baffling was on a spare tire cover on the back of the car in front of me this morning on the way to work.  There was a picture of a dancing bear, with the words, ``NATURE IS OUR LEISURE LAND.  BEAUTIFUL NATURE IS OUR PRECIOUS PROPERTIES`` next to a sticker that said ``KEEP US NICE YOU!``  It kind of makes me wonder about the kind of job we Americans do with the kanji in our advertising, on shampoo bottles and such, for our foreign guests.  You see it a lot in the PX, where there is a larger foreign population.  Perhaps what really is written in Hiragana on that Head and Shoulders bottle translates into something like ``5-yen size puddle on hand.  Creen hair long time yes!  Blue yellow shoe dog time!  Thank you drink Coke!`` 

I just know that they think I am an idiot, and for now I suppose that I am.  Its wild, though, when I actually do get the right word, that they literally trip over one another to help me or to praise me or to thank me.  I am not worthy.  Sometimes, however, this is not such a good thing.  For instance, when I arrived at my desk and looked inside, there was a lot of paper stuff left by my predecessor Travis, who is just as organized as I am, so to the untrained eye it looked like a lot of trash.  I am a trained professional, so I could tell with one glance that he had left a lot of teaching materials and such there for me, and I smiled a little with relief.  My coworkers thought that my smile meant I acknowledged my need to clean the desk and set about doing the task for me to welcome me.  Three ladies started hauling out my materials and another man held an open trash bag and then carried it all away.  I kept waving my hands, saying ``Iie, Iie! (No no!), and ``Suimasen`` (sorry), and ``onegai shimasu`` (please), but this translated into something like ``you don�ft have to do this for me although I am sick with gratitude for your fine effort on my behalf.  I don�ft deserve to live.``  So I had to let them throw away my teaching materials.  I followed the man with the trash bag, saying that I wanted to know where to dump the trash, and then went back a short while later and secretly put the bag into the trunk of my car.  I had to sort through it during lunch.  Afterward I had a meeting with the administrative staff about my contract hours, etc�cjust like any American first day.  My go-between is so helpful, but in front of these people she gets worried about her English skill.  She is a first year teacher, and they are all male, and so I guess she feels a bit under the gun sometimes.  Because we were so well prepared by JET, I could anticipate what she would say.  The result was that my colleague appeared quite competent and I appeared to be learning quickly.  Overall a successful encounter with the superiors.  Just after the meeting, I went to my locker, and my shoes were gone.  Earlier, one teacher had told me which to use, and then a different person brought a name tag for my cubby.  This person cleaned out the cubby to welcome me and didn�ft know that the shoes were mine.  So I made a second trip to the same dumpster to retrieve my shoes.  I guess that whenever I am in need of anything, I just need to come to this dumpster for important stuff like teaching materials and personal belongings.  Maybe it should be known as the lost and found for the school.  I have made an important discovery.  Mondays occur in Japan also.

We were convinced that it would be very difficult to adjust to Japan.  Our place is smaller, but it will soon feel like home because we are there together.  We are lucky to be here together, because most of the JETs are single, which means homesickness is an easy thing to fall into because there`s nobody to talk to at home.  For us, adjustments are pretty easy.  I mean, I bought a milk-bottle shaped bottle with a cow on it, and gave it to Jessica for her cereal.  It was yogurt.  That was a weird morning.  I thought the gas prices were reasonable until I realized it was for LITERS and not gallons.  I cook now and have to convert milliliters to cups, and ounces to grams.  However, kilometers to miles is getting to be as easy as dollars to yen.  I am having considerable trouble with Fahrenheit to Celsius, though. I will say, for the record, that I am thrilled to be able to say that I now only need to lose 12 more kilograms to reach my goal.  Somehow this seems a bit more attainable.   So there are a lot of differences that I have to get used to, and I won`t even get started on the shoe thing.  I will let you in on all that when I talk to you personally.  These are all very minor, because I have met the most wonderful people in Japan, both native to Japan and in the JET programme.  I don�ft have to tell you that Ken and I have had a blast with the other JETs, and Jessica is making some fast friends of a few of them.  She and our friend Chan have hit it off wonderfully.  When the pix come out I`ll send some your way.

Despite the different adjustments, life is really really good here, and I look forward to getting into some of the club activities at the school, like maybe Kendo and tea ceremony, to get a deeper understanding of Japan while I am here.  Most of the time, I really am surprised at how we are all so similar to one another, and the more I talk to people in the staff room, the more I understand that the only thing that separates us is an ocean, and that sometimes that`s not much at all.  I can`t wait for you to see this place!  The Kansai airport is the closest, I think.  We`ll get it worked out.  YOU GOTTA SEE THIS PLACE!  Okay, Sayonara for now, I miss you terribly.  We send love from all to all.