Countdown!

Yesterday, I arrived in Tokyo and spent the day in Ginza with Lisa. Today I visited Asakusa and Tokyo Tower with Yumi and Margaret. And tomorrow I'm off to Disney Sea but now...I'm exhausted.

The countdown has begun - internet is being installed on my apartment on Monday!! I can finally respond to all your e-mails!

How about you?

What do you do when someone asks about the difference between discrete and discreet? (Do YOU know?)

How do you explain what an `expression` is to someone who can barely speak English?

How can you convey the subtle sound difference, yet totally different meaning of tear and tear?

What do you do when the celebration lunch for the new teacher involves a salad of squid tenticles?

How do you help someone who`s been hit by a car, when you can`t speak Japanese?

How do you cook when you can`t read the packages in the grocery store?

How do you travel when you can`t read the signs (or even sound them out to ask for directions)

Amazingly, you learn to make do in all these situations. I did ;)

Ikkagetsu

The one month mark, since my arrival in Japan, has come and gone.
I still can`t say I`m settled in, but I`m finally starting to figure out my way around this crazy town.
I`ve started stopping by the Okazaki international center on Sundays, for their free language lessons. It`s a good opportunity for me to practice speaking (in a forgiving environment), ask lots of questions and meet people! Today, I met a guy from Isreal who`s here for a month studying Japanese.

Tomorrow, I`m off to visit a friend in Nagoya - then two weeks later a friend is coming to visit me in Okazaki - and the week after, I`m heading back to Tokyo where I`ll be linking up with, amazingly enough, my cousin who just happens to be in town that same weekend on business!

So...really, I`m busy and happy and TIRED. I never knew how hard it could be to teach children. It makes me want to go back to all my teachers and apologize...

:)