Monday, June 06, 2005

Busy, busy, busy...

What a day it has been so far. I have met the directors of the International Affairs Division, the Public Safety Division, the Military Base Division, and the head of the Planning and Coordination Department. I haven't been practicing my formal Japanese recently, so I've been a little choked up when introducing myself, but we've exchanged meishi (business cards), a few words, and smiles, so I think all is going well.

I received my schedule for the summer and it looks like I'll be bouncing around several divisions within City Hall this summer. I will post this schedule when I have more time to write. I am going to my new temporary home in a few minutes, which I hear is VERY nice. Unfortunately, they are using the room I'm staying in later this summer for another visitor, so I will have to move after the first week of July. I guess I can't fully unpack, because I brought all my stuff with me for the next 7 months, so I really don't want to go through the whole packing procedure 3 or 4 times this summer.

While Takahashi-san was explaining something to me earlier today, I went to rest my elbow on the desk and accidentally bumped my scalding-hot cup of coffee and spilled a little on my left elbow. What a great day to wear a white shirt! Good thing I wore a suit today, so I can throw the jacket on to cover it up. It's a little warm in the office, though, so this is not the most comfortable arrangement.

The security settings on the computers in city hall won't let me check my e-mail, so if you try to reach me that way, I may not be able to respond for a few days. I will try to find an internet cafe to go to 3 or 4 times a week so I can put longer posts up, do my banking, and check my e-mail, but please be patient until then. For all my friends in other parts of Japan, I will also post my phone number here in Japan in the next couple of days. Since I'll be moving around, I will get a pre-paid cell phone tomorrow, so I have one number that stays the same. And if you feel like calling me internationally, incoming calls to cell phones are free here, so go right ahead! Just do me one favor: check the time difference first!

Check my photo galleries later this week. I'll try to get something up by the weekend.

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