nipponDAZE

Postmark: Beppu August 24, 1989

Today I taught my first class and it went well. My work schedule has been pretty light. I’ve been at school only about three hours each morning. However, when the regular school terms starts on September 1st, it’ll be a typical 9-5 workday.

Tomorrow is payday and on Saturday I’m going to Oita City, the capital city of Oita-ken, to do some shopping. Prices are about the same [as in America] on most things. If you shop around, some things are incredibly cheap. On the other hand, if you buy food at the gourmet shops or if you buy American products or dairy products, they seem expensive. But Japan has its discount stores, just like K-MART, so you can find bargains. I haven’t done much souvenir shopping. Right now I’m just looking, comparing prices, quality, and local crafts.

Enclosed is a photo showing the inside of our apartment. We have two tatami rooms like the one shown. The closets behind JQS are about 3 feet deep and hold our futons and all our junk. So it’s pretty easy to keep things neat. The room from which I’m taking the photos has my desk, a metal cabinet, a book shelf, and our brand new 20″ Hitachi bilingual color TV. The school ordered it for us because they wanted us to stay informed of world events. So while one room remains uncluttered and Japanese, the other is becoming Army-surplus American. I’ve put up some photos and the apartment is starting to feel like home.