Greetings and salutations!

Quote Of The Week:
"Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you - if you don't play, you can't win."
-Robert Heinlein (1907-1988)

Riding The Rails...

Ok I need to take a moment to describe Nagoya's mass transit system. It consists of the following:

Subway Lines: Higashiyama Line, Meijo Line, Tsurumai Line, Sakuradori Line
Trains: JR Line (National), Shinkansen (Bullet Train), Meitetsu Line (Local), Kintetsu (Local)
Busses + Taxis

Only the subway system provides extensive English signage and is fairly easy to navigate. But line transfers, fare adjustment machines, erratic schedules, crowded vehicles, and so on add up to general chaos. This is compounded by the high price of transit in Japan. I know I spent 15$ on trains today. The system is a necessary evil, however, to navigate this massive city and get to all our classes. The trains themselves are fast and the safest on the planet. It's actually not all that bad once you get over the initial terror of having no idea what to do or where to go.

During training we're being given a crash course on the train systems. Thankfully all has worked out well. Eric and I made extensive use of the subway our first few days and are very comfortable with that system, the rest will come soon enough. Thank God all our work transit costs are reimbursed! Anyway I observed my first classes today, and the experience quickly laid many of my fears to rest. I'll tell you more about how classes work in the future. That's it for now, I want to close by posting a poem I received from a friend today. It can be read below the signature.

With Hope,
Joseph

a dream rose, unheeded
under the bold rashness
of youthful strength,
now I am old

a dream flew,
of lions and far-away seas,
a desert where life once was,
now fishless and scarred

a brilliant purple oasis,
a remembrance of life,
of the dream . . .
what is left
as I wait in the dark
for the lions,
rest against wood
I drift on a sea

The sea is shiftless
and wary,
my forehead, salted
with death
as the light fades
into remnants of dreams
to endure

Oh great strangeness!
A sea of blood;
floating, spaceless,
deathly grey . . .
reality now
has become my nightmare:
a skeleton
with a handsome tail