Fish Tree Tales

Anyone who's ever lived in a foreign country knows what it's like to misunderstand the natives and their ways of doing things. Even if you've mastered the language, you're still a foreigner and some things are just. strange! Confusion is common, and we may find ourselves wondering more than we'd like to admit, "Why do they do it THAT way?" I spent time in several foreign countries, but by far my longest adventure overseas was in Japan. I lived there almost seven years. My first trip over, I only knew the words for colors and numbers in Japanese. And I could ask questions (but I had no idea what the answers people gave me were). Later on, I conducted nearly my whole life in Japanese. Even now, I know there is a lot I don't know, and I think I speak only "pidgin" Japanese. But friends humor me and tell me my Japanese is amazing. I'm easily humored. This collection of short stories mixes fact with fiction, which is something the foreigner may be unsure of anyway, in their non-native surroundings. Even after six years living in Japan, and having "amazing Japanese," many times when I'm there, I'm still not quite sure what's going on, so I simply go along. Understanding might not ever come anyway, and going along is just easier. Except for dealing with bankers, police officers, immigration officers, train officials, about 30% of taxi drivers, surly convenience store clerks, and the occasional stumble upon the local "mafia wanna-be's"-aside from dealings with these people, it is nearly always fun! The fiction stories have elements of truth in them, but are purely from my imagination, set in Japan and based on my own understanding of the culture during the various times I have called that place "home."