"Hello" season

This week we continued our three-year-old tradition of welcoming at least one new staff-family to the CAJ area by having them over for a meal and, if they have kids, to a romp in the park.

We had the Erwin family over for dinner on Tuesday night. This is their first time in Japan, though they have lived in Asia before, most of their recent years they've lived in Texas. Their kids are somewhat similar in age to ours, so it was a fairly good mix. Then today, using the train, we took them to a long-term favourite park.

This is the other end of the "goodbyes" that happen in June. Not only do we say "hello" to old friend who return, but we say it to new friends too. It is good for us to see Japan through "newbies" eyes. We get so familiar with things that we forget how difficult it is for newcomers. It is easy for me to beat myself up about how little I know of the language, the culture, etc., but in reality, I know quite a bit (though what I know of this country and language is still a drop in the bucket of what there is to know).

As we straggled out the door this morning, though, I wondered if we were making a mistake. The temperature was already above 30 (actually it barely dips below that overnight in July and August) and the humidity was high. I felt like I was swimming through the air, and it was only 9.45. Thankfully, though, God sent us some rain that cooled the atmosphere just a bit and made it much more bearable.



Going back to an old favourite destination like this is also fun, it helps me to feel a part of this strange land of Japan, just a bit more. After all we have quite a history here now. Most of our marriage and child raising years have been spent here. We have so many memories buried all over the place.

But here's a question for you. If I say, "Erwin" with an Australian accent, Americans think I've said, "Owen".  Should I "put on" an American accent to say their name? I've had to change the way I say "Isaiah" and "Megan" for Americans with those names, so that they match the pronunciation they know, but "Erwin" requires an American "r" and I don't know if I'm comfortable with that . . .