I'm at the Kunibiki Messe Building again, in the International Centre, using the Internet here. I'm also trying to get used to a different computer keyboard; it's mostly the same, but just different enough to screw me up. From the window here I'm looking at the Ohashi River, which flows south from the Sea of Japan to Lake Shinji of the fabled sunsets that I have yet to see. There is a flat, scrubby island in the middle of the river that has small vegetable gardens and rice paddies on it. The International Centre has this computer, places to sit and read, reference material on Japan and learning Japanese, English novels (thank God! I suddenly want to read a lot) and some tourist information as well.

I'm using a book at home to practice my hiragana, the basic phonetic alphabet of Japan. I'm starting to be able to pick the symbols out on road signs and ads. After I've sort of got that, I'll work on katakana (another phonetic alphabet, used to translate loan-words from other languages into Japanese syllables) and then start the daunting task of learning kanji (Chinese characters; the ancient writing of Japan). I know some kanji already; I was able to recognize "EXIT" at the airport from the symbols 'mountain beyond mountain', 'person' and 'mouth'. Japanese is very poetic. If I make it sound like I'll be reading Japanese next week, let me be clear that Neal, who has been here for two years, still has trouble with reading lots of things.

I had a strong bout of homesickness on Sunday and Monday. It was the first time I was left alone for any length of time, without someone I knew nearby. I don't do well all by myself; I like having people around. And on Tuesday, when I started work, learning all the preparation each class needed and trying to figure out where things were and how things operated in the office, I was frankly miserable and kept to myself. HOWEVER, everything changed when I watched Neal's classes. The students are lots of fun, and obviously very fond of him, as he is of them. The energy in the classes is very positive. I started to enjoy myself right away; I think that in the classroom I'll be very comfortable.

I've met more than half of the students now. They are all very different, from slumpy schoolgirls with bangs in their eyes and pink cellphones to office workers in suits and ties to housewives and a firefighter. Several of the women are learning English so they can teach it someday. I'll get to know most of them quite well. They took lots of pictures of themselves with Neal at the end of the their classes, to remember him. It was very sweet.

Tomorrow I'll teach on my own for the first time; two private lessons and a group lesson. I'll let you know how it goes.

I have a home address now. It is:

Feel free to write to me. I'll let you know when I have a phone number and the Internet at home. Meanwhile, I'll check in here every couple of days. Until later,