WAAtsu! GAIJIN DA!!! Sei ga TAKAI Desu ne!

Those are the words I heard the most during my stay in Japan. Now, my ultimate dream is to hang around the airport until a flight comes in from Japan and then hide behind a bush, waiting for an unsuspecting Japanese fellow to come around the corner whereupon I will emerge from behind the bush and yell "Yahh! Its a Foreigner!! Damn you're short!" Then I will dust him off, help him back onto his feet, and send him on his way. Oh for the simple pleasures of life.

Anyway, as you know, I am minored in Japanese at the University of Utah. One of the marvelous things about this is that because I am already fluent, I can CLEP out of 25 credits. Thus I only needed to take four classes for my minor. Now isn't that nifty?

Soushite, Moshi kore wo wakareba, zehi tegami wo kudasai ne. Salt Lake-shi dewa nihongo wo shaberu hito ga skunai kara sukoshi demo hanasu kikai ga areba kansha shiorundesu. Yoroshiku o-negai shimasu.

I lived in Japan for two years (April 1991 - June 1993). I spent most of my time in the inaka of the island Shikoku where there were as many local dialects (hougen) as there were jinja and otera. In my opinion I was fortunate in that I was able to enjoy some of the most beautiful and picturesque parts of the country.(Stay tuned for pictures.) The people in the countryside (inaka) were much more friendly and interesting than the city folk but the older they got the harder it was to understand them.

During my stay, I spent time in Ube, Izumo, Takamatsu, Kochi, Yawatahama, Yanai, and Nangoku. My favorite city Yawatahama, was a small fishing village in Ehime Prefecture. It filled a small canyon about one and a half miles long and less than a half mile wide. The only roads in or out traveled north and south along the winding coastline or through a 3 km long sooty tunnel towards the inland villages. One of the local specialities is fugu which is a suprisingly delicious yet highly poisonous puffer fish. If prepared incorrectly, fugu can kill in hours and results in about 50 deaths per year in Japan! I had a friend who was a chef and was kind enough to give me some fugu once. It was indeed the BEST sushi I have ever eaten. A treat not to be missed. At an average price of $250.00 per plate though, it can be a pinch to the old wallet.