Enter: Texas

Well, who knew?! Yep, I live in Texas - again! See the horsies?

And, I teach at Texas A & M in the English Language Institute! This is one of the old buildings on campus. The univ. opened in 1876! It is a huge campus too! It is the 7th largest university in the states...more than 49,000 students!

This is my mom helping me move in! HUGE help! The kitchen is bigger than I have had for years, but, it is older...I miss some things about my kitchen in Japan..and actually many great features of my Japanese apartment...more on that sometime.

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And finally, this is a picture of my pool and complex. It is really an old place and not maintained well, but, it is GREAT to have a pool just a 2-minute walk away!

So, life( in Texas?/in America?) is very different. I have been in the U.S. for about a month, yet I don't feel like I belong here yet. I wonder if I ever will. I really feel like a foreigner in many ways. And, I have SO MANY opinions....it is strange looking at my own country after being gone for so many years.

The positives:

I am happy to be back to some things I missed so much. Central air-conditioning is my #1 favorite thing!! And closet space! Also, the working hours are great! My department gets upset if we have a meeting that might go past 5 p.m.! Even the boss is ready to leave right at 5:00. So, everyone works hard during working hours and we can get home to our personal lives asap! In Japan, I witnessed lots of inefficiency in the workplace and I always disagreed with sacrificing personal and family time for one's career.

The mixed:

There are the things that are a mixed bag (good/bad) such as - it is great how cheap food is! but, it isn't as tasty as Japanese foods or as healthy. The selection here is huge! but, things are not as fresh and it isn't as convenient to go to stores (riding my bike one block was so much easier!)

The negatives:

Sadly, I have many negative opinions about the U.S. as well. I wish I had a way of sharing the great things I experienced abroad so that America would change some of their ways. But, I am not a great communicator or teacher...What am I talking about? Like practical things in the home (huge, easy to clean showers and sinks, sanitary metal counter tops in kitchens) , about recycling (people throw everything away and no one seems to care here! and people are SO wasteful! - however, rumor has it that some things Japanese have been told is being recycled, is actually only going into dumps?), about customer service (I am blown away at the service I get in America - it is AWFUL on so many levels! How I wish companies and customers knew what they were missing so changes would be made in America! At least once in every day that I go shopping, I have to hear about some workers personal dramas or I have to wait for them to finish whatever they are doing so I can spend money in their shop...just unbelievable that I have to be polite to them as they tell the negatives stories about their lives or they don't respect my spending power), about efficiency (why not standardize more things so things are simple and people quickly know how to process or work things?), about hygiene in public places (no wet napkins to wipe our hands at the tables, no sinks at the doors for washing before entering), no concern about skin cancer! (they totally worship the sun and tanning here!), about tipping (employees should just do a good job and not expect extra pay), and conservation overall.

There are more things in all categories, but maybe you can get a feel of it. So, life is more comfortable in ways, but also frustrating in other ways.

Driving-I really don't like it but waiting for buses, getting to a bus stop, or even biking would just take forever here. I don't have time to go anywhere yet, but I really dread the day I need to leave town...just don't like it anymore.

And the heat!! It is so hot and humid! Today was actually cooler at 93F/34C degrees and 78% humidity! The hikes to classes are so hot in my opinion, but the buildings are so comfortable! Yes, my Japanese friends would hate it! :-) and the scare of tornadoes has already come about...we had to go into the basement of our building one day at work due to the threat of tornadoes!

Well, that is a quick overview. I need to get to bed. I haven't slept much since here and this weekend will not be the exception - the next TOEIC book is in the works and the deadlines are approaching with the author Yosuke Ishii and the publisher....not to mention class prep time...

Oh! I haven't talked about work! GREAT co-workers overall it seems! I am not sure how many are in my department...no time to stop and count...maybe 13 full-time in the office and 3 part-timers?? We are all always coming and going, so I have hardly spoken to several of them! And my students - surprisingly, most of them are Iraqis. I may have gotten the job in part because of my Islamic encounters in the Maldives. Next in size are the Koreans, then Saudis, then a small mix of Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai, and S. Americans.

More on teaching and the cultural experiences later. My bed is calling....