First Full Day in Tokyo...WOW

I woke up after a 10 hour sleep. I felt rested but disoriented. Didn't I have something to do? Something big. Where was Bentley? Under the bed? Then I remembered: I was on a futon. I was in Japan. I was here. How was Bentley? I skyped with Chris. It was afternoon in LA! Bentley was fine. He had waited and waited for me to come home last night...but he was fine. He is fine.

Taught my first 2 classes today! I feel I have known Wakako, Koda San, Nao and Kawabata San for a long time. Koda San gave me a starbucks travel mug and instant starbucks coffee packets (JOY) and Kawabata San left sweet cakes on my desk. The day went very fast and when the day was done (at 7pm) I was taken out for my welcome dinner. Should have taken a picture at the table but I have just been in a dream, really...I wore the medallion Grandmom gave to me a long time ago with a black turtleneck. At dinner, I told my co-workers about how my grandparents had traveled to Japan a lot in the 40's and 50's and how, when I was little, I was used to seeing ikebana and japanese dolls in their house...so perhaps that's where my curiosity with the culture started. Koda San complimented me on the medallion not long after I had been talking about them... We all studied it and they wanted to know where it was from...that it was reminiscent of dragons. I said for all I knew, it was from here.

My Japanese is like that old sweater you forgot you had and take out of the moth ball box. It fits and has come back and style...and the smell of mothballs is not so much overpowering as nostalgic. It is better than I expected. I still understand women better than men, but I also realized that when I focus on the energy of what is being said, the meaning is much clearer, somehow. The words I don't know stand out but I'm still able to retain the gist of what is being said. Wakako is an amazing translator.

A lot of small amazing things have been happening but something that brought tears to my eyes happened tonight at dinner. I was telling the story of the earthquake, and how I came to have 5 host families during my time here as an exchange student, one in particular -- in Kamakura. I told them how I wanted to reunite with this one couple, the Suzuki's, who had taken me in. I have such fond memories of my month long stay with them and had sent them a Christmas card in hopes of reconnecting -- but hadn't heard from them. Somehow, I mentioned their children's names...and ZIP ZAP ZUP -- Wakako thinks she knows their son, Ken. We keep putting the pieces together, isn't his name "Kenichiro," and did he go to Kyoto Daigaku...I remembered that detail and the more we compared notes, she was positive she went to high school with him. So then I took out my i-touch to show her the address, which also had their number transcribed from many moons ago...and she calls them! Before I know it, she is on the phone with Yumi Suzuki, who remembers Wakako -- but cannot believe that Wakako is sitting next to "Regina Taufen," the exchange student they once hosted. Wakako handed me the phone and Yumi and I chatted. It's been 15 years! She is excited for me to come visit, and since Wakako is from a nearby town we are going to make the journey together. We all sat there, marveling at the small world. Wakako said something in Japanese that I had a hard time fully getting, but the gist of it is something like this: "It's a small world so be mindful of what you do and say, because chances are it will come back to you through the people you meet -- and it will make all the difference."

Lots of other great stuff going on...I may be on a Japanese TV show (Kawabata san knows a lot of people in the entertainment industry and asked if I was interested today). Me? Interested in being on TV? I don't know...I think they may need to twist my arm.

24 hours in Japan and so far so good. Truly. So far, so good.