A Grand Welcome

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I know it has only been four days since the first
edition, but things are going to happen fast and
furiously for a while. I am sure that once I get into
the steady routine of teaching five days a week, I
will have less "new" experiences, but for now
everything I do, even such things as opening a bank
account, is completely new. For instance, whereas in
the U.S., you would sign your name on an application,
here they have the "inkan" or stamp. My inkan has my
name which here has morphed in Frido. Instead of
signing my name, I simply open up my inkan, dip into
red ink and stamp it on the paper. It's amazing how
many simple things are different. I am finally
getting accustomed to using chopsticks, but I still
struggle with soba (noodles) When I enter my house or
a school, I take off my shoes and put on slippers. In
many places, meals are served on a table about one
foot high and one kneels throughout the meal. I am
positive it is going to kill my knees.
As for the reason why I was anxious to write this
e-mail, it was of course my welcome party which turned
out to be quite an interesting experience. For the
occasion, I wore a suit and was taken by taxi to the
Tamagawa golf course, the highlight of this town of
under 4,000. All the vice principals and principals
of the schools I will work at and many of the Board of
Education members were there, and of course the mayor
of the town. I guess it is a pretty big deal that the
population of the town is now 3,957 Japanese and 1
foreigner. To celebrate the occasion, there was a
huge banner, proclaiming "Scott Fried Welcome to
Tamagawatown. Toshi, my immediate supervisor, took
photos for the town newsletter. My arrival will be
the principal article. My speech went pretty well,
but I accidentally started it with Good Morning
because I was so nervous. I think it was a good
icebreaker; several people came up to tell me that
Good Evening would have been a more appropriate
greeting. Then I spoke in Japanese about my interest
in Japan and what I hope to accomplish here, namely
travelling, learning more about Japanese culture, and
improving my Japanese language ability which improves
daily. It can not help but do so when most people's
knowledge of English falls off somewhere after Japan
and nice to meet you. The English of the English
teacher whom I will be working with is mediocre at
best. As for the welcome dinner, I got a little
scared when the first course was sashimi or raw fish.
I tried a piece of something and could have sworn that
it was crawling up my mouth. Luckily, then came
recognizable foods like salad and something
suspiciously similar to fried chicken. As for
drinking, I told them I didn't like beer so they gave
me wine. I think that every person there wanted the
honor of pouring for me. As soon as I took a sip,
there would be someone asking if I would like a little
bit more. The key to having them stop is to keep your
glass full. I spent the dinner trying to convince
people that I don't live in NYC. Japanese people, for
some reason, assume all Americans are from NY and from
NYC. At least the first part is true. Also, every
single person there gave me his or her business card.
I think I have about a dozen of them now in my wallet.
Everyone has a business card here.
I don't think I will ever stop finding stuff to
write about, but now I must be off to Hagi city for
some business or another. I will respond to all
e-mails but it will probably take a while. Sayoonara.

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