it's not life that matters but the journey...

Anyone who has lived in Japan knows this product.  its non dairy creamer for your coffee.  But the name confounds me.  Masahiko said that perhaps its made by tea drinkers who named it for what they think of coffee drinkers.  could be . . . but they gotta get that spelling fixed . . .

Yesterday was a good day.  I went to visit my former Japanese teacher - took the train to a stop on the JR line called Kusanagi.  I visited her about two weeks ago, but ended up spending most of the afternoon shopping for dogs with her daugher Eriko.  So this was my chance to visit with Mrs. Ogawa.  She brought a friend of hers, a really sweet lady named Fumie, who could speak English really well.  We went to lunch at a Japanese restaurant (in Japan??) called Sato and I got a set lunch with sushi, soba (noodles made out of potatoes), tempura and other things.  It was good!  We followed it with dessert and coffee and talked for about three hours or more in the air conditioned restaurant.  Mrs. Ogawa has lots of connections and knows lots of people, and she has promised to help me find a part time teaching job in or around Shimizu which is about 20 minutes by train from Fuji where we live.  She told me that she feels like she is my Japanese mother, and wants to help me!  Let's hope something comes from it.  We  went to a big department store called Jusco where I got my sunglasses fixed and we looked at Japanese yukata, summer kimonos, which are very popular with younger people.  I actually have one that was made for me when I was living in Japan before, but I left it in the states.  Its hard to get a yukata that is long enough for me, though, since I'm taller than most girls.  Mrs. Ogawa said that if she finds a job for me, she'll buy me a yukata as a present! 

At the train station in Kusanagi, as I was waiting for the train to go back home, I was unbelievably fortunate to run into the American girl from Seattle who is now an ALT (teacher) where I used to teach.  I had met her last week when I went to the festival, but I hadn't thought to get her contact information.  So we exchanged email and numbers, and talked on the train ride back.  Its a great coincidence, because I was thinking that I would like to go and visit her, walk around the town where I lived for two years, and also have an American contact that lives nearby.   My other American friend, Bobbie, is trying to get me names and numbers of contacts for university teaching jobs -  its nice to have help!!

So, it seems that despite the fact that its getting hotter here, and I'm still without a job, things might be getting better.  I woke early this morning with a plan for the next chapter of my book, and I've got lots of other projects to keep me busy today (besides defrosting the refrigerator and cleaning clothes!!).  Now we're off to the library and the drug store.

I'm trying not to give up on the notion of ever receiving emails from people back home (besides my mom and my friend Sarah) - it would be nice to hear from people, so please drop a line or two . . .