disclaimer
the following stories are all true accounts of my life in Japan during 2001 and 2002. during this time i lived in a small town called Hanno, in Saitama, Japan (see #17) while working for the semiconductor company Shindengen.
first off, i feel the need to apologize for the inherently egocentric nature of these writings. during this time, i spoke little to no english. my japanese was all the while improving wonderfully, but not to the extent to which i could communicate my deeper thoughts and emotions. these newsletters, then, were my outlet. i thank all the original recipients for humoring me in my attempt to send them humor.
next, although i generally do not generalize, being a foreigner in a very different land causes one to constantly notice idiosyncrasies, small differences, and otherwise make generalizations. in other words, one learns. i hope that my subjective observations do not cause any of my non-Japanese readers to make erronious assumptions about the Japanese culture, nor offend any of the Japanese readers.
in other words, no, of course not all japanese people drive the same car or buy corn soup from vending machines and eat KFC on christmas eve. you can find crazy and interesting aspects of any country, its people and culture, if you observe it from the eyes of a foreigner. this skill is particularly useful when thinking about one's own culture and day to day life, which is, i believe, one of the main benefits for living in a foreign country.
that said, these stories are not objective. i encourage you to visit Japan for yourself to form your own opinions. until you can go yourself, however, i hope you find my accounts of this wonderful, crazy, and interesting land entertaining. enjoy!