Last few days of freedom

I apologize for cluttering this blog. I have broadband in my room and a weekend to kill before registration and classes start.

Typhoon No. 9 just grazed Nagoya, giving us some rain and wind. Tokyo got the brunt of it, messing up travel for a lot of people there. It's still hot and humid here, and I look forward for the heat to break.

I have spent one week in Japan and a half a week at the Suzuki household, although it feels longer (in a good way). My host family, a retired couple in their 60s, is great. The father, who is constantly joking, spends a good deal of his time making and selling pottery – "his hobby" – while the mother volunteers at local schools to talk about drug prevention. They have three children out of their house, all married and in their thirties.

I'm constantly amazed by how much Japanese was lurking in my head! I can carry long conversations with my host parents, although it’s a little draining and takes some time. We’ve talked some about North Korea, Iraq, and all the different international people in the area (I might write more on that later). I found that after a few days here, I can understand quite a bit if people speak a little slowly. It aggravates me, however, when people speak to me like I'm dumb. Now I know how some people in America feel.

I do get stared at from time to time – young children don’t try to hide it. When the group of us exchange students was walking to Inuyama Castle, a kid passing by saw us and exclaimed "nan da kore wa?", which translates to something like "what the hell is this?" That was pretty amusing.

Orientation has been going on at Nanzan for the past few days, and from day one I had to figure out the commute on my own (gulp). It's a short bike ride, followed by two train rides and a short walk – a little more than an hour in total. That sounds long, but it’s quite normal by Japanese standards. I've been spending most of the ride in Berlin, 1943 by reading Bonhoeffer’s letters from prison, which are quite moving, especially the correspondence with Eberhard Bethge.

For Mom and Dad: I found out last night that the Suzukis are big fans of Agatha Christie, both Miss Marple and Poirot. I think the books and television programs are quite popular here. I wish I had read/seen more of them.

And for Allie: I thought you might appreciate the book I bought from the Nanzan bookstore. I’m going to make a stab at reading it.


Mata ne.