Originally posted 2009-09-11 at https://inpixels09.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/20/

Now, I have had a while to settle in to my family, house and location- the furthest you can get from the sea, dead center of honshu, the main island of Japan. I stepped off the train and noticed that the entire town is surrounded by jagged mountains, so any way i look, nature seranades me. they are beautiful. I am living in Toyoshina, Azumino-shi, a town in Nagano prefecture of about 100k- looking around, from any one point, on the other hand, you might think it was populated by about 200 people and twice that in rice fields. the Japanese system of ‘city planning’ is different. there is no downtown, just varying population densities. my house, for instance, is surrounded by rice fields, but a 5 minute bike ride takes me to a crowded as hell station. there are small veins of busy business districts runing here and there, with large patches of green inbetween, carrying on throughout the entire valley.

were you to climb to the top of a mountain and look down, i bet Azumino-shi would look like a miscolored diagram of human tissue- something you stare at in 9th grade biology class…

my family is fantastic. my sister, misaki, spent a year in stockton, california and has great japanafornian english slang. shes extremely bright and energetic, in… stark contrast to others. she is japanese girly. it makes the 40+ min journey to school fun.

my little brother, shun, is shy but sweet and tries pretty earnestly to speak in english with me. he seems like a pretty smart kid, and loves to throw around the football. good times.

my mom and dad are both great, as well. i still dont really understand what the dad does exactly,(checking wether or not animals are safe to eat?) but hes an eccentric insect-enthusiast who works in the rice fields in his free time and is a really nice guy. the mom is a secretary, but really does make an effort for her kids. they are adorable together…

so my name for six months, as of yesterday, when i wrote it on a chemistry test, is jiei maruyama. (pronounced [G]-[A]-[E] maruyama.)