A Quick Q & A

Thanks again for the questions. I will quickly try and answer some before I leave for the Junior High School in Hiramachi.

Are Electronics Cheaper?
I am not sure I haven't been down to the electronics district in Tokyo yet. However, based on other experiences, I would say that it would be similar. Also, certain things are regionalized, like DVD players. What this means is that if you purchase a DVD player in Japan it may only play DVDs with that same region code. I will look some more and see if I notice any differences.

10,000 Yen Bill
The 10,000 Yen bill is the largest I have seen. Possibly there are higher denominations, but the US only has a bill up to $100 in circulation.

McDonalds
McDonalds tastes very similar to me. The menu is a little different, but I had a bacon and lettuce hamburger and it tasted good. I have heard from some of my group mates that the Big Mac was the same. Some of the different menus items that I can remember are a shrimp burger, bacon potato pie, and a teriyaki burger.

Flame of Hiroshima
There was a question about the Hiroshima Flame. The flame is hooked up to a gas to keep it going. The relevance is that it has been a continuous flame.

Tuition
Is tuition for school higher than in the US? I would say that outside of the special fee for new students that it is close to most public universities in ND. We pay per credit hour and they pay for a year, but it would be similar.

Translation
A question was asked about the seminars I have attended and if they are done in English or Japanese. It has been both ways since I have been here. In Tokyo almost all of our seminars were conducted in English. Outside of Tokyo, they have all been in Japanese. We travel with two separate translators, one of which is our group coordinator. Speaking with a translator can be tedious. We are used to speaking much faster than that. When I gave my speech, I had to wait after every sentence for translation.

Economy
A great question was asked about the economy. We visited with economists and legislators around the time of the bailout. They are extremely concerned that this tactic didn't work because it directly effects the Japanese economy. The value of the Yen is dropping in the worldwide market too. It is certainly effecting their daily life and it will continue to for the near future. As a side note, I noticed on the bullet train that gas was equivalent to $6.00 per gallon.

As I said in an earlier post, I will try and post some pictures after the Junior High visit, or at least after the elementary visit.