Monday, December 6, 2010

The Importance of Learning a Foreign Language

Shalom to all.

I changed some US dollars into yen a few weeks back. I wanted to go to the supermarket out in town. The locals here do not speak English. My Japanese is limited, to say the least. Here, the labels on the packaging are in Japanese. There is no English, or any other language. One of two things happened. Hopefully, I purchased tea. The other possibility is that Japanese society is way more liberal than I imagined and I am going to have an awful time at the airport.

Some weeks back, I wrote an entry to this blog about my first long bicycle ride. I took that ride again this past weekend. I would like to state that I am in better shape now. The weather was much cooler. I have some feel for the streets now. The headwind on the way out was not awful. Any tailwind is welcome. The entire ride was a delight.

I took another ride last night just up and down the main drag right off the base. I have to tell you - it was fascinating to see. It was a Sunday evening, between 7:00 and 8:00 PM. The streets were mobbed. The stores and restaurants were mobbed. It was precisely the time I would have imagined the opposite.

No comments:

Post a Comment