Alumni News

Letters from Former NTT International Researchers

from Henrich Heitmann:

At the end of last year, I finished a two-year stay at NTT. Now I have a one-year position as a visiting scientist in the VIRGO project, a French-Italian collaboration to build a giant (3x3km) laser interferometer for the detection of gravitational waves, which are generated in stellar catastrophes like supernova explosions. Similar projects are under way in various places on the world. Apart from the mere proof of existence, one expects to learn a lot about fundamental astrophysical processes.

My lab is located in Orsay, some 30 km south of Paris, so I have access to all the various facilities like museums, crèperies, Eiffel tower etc., but I have also the possibility of escaping into nature without getting stuck in traffic jams. For me, France is not as exotic as Japan, but still there are many new things to learn. The Kanji are much simpler here, so I can even read a newspaper. The menus in the restaurants however are simpler in Japan, even with Kanji. Prices are the same, as well as bureaucracy. At present, I (a citizen of the E.C.) possess a document stating that I am entitled to receive at some future date a document certifying that I have applied for a foreign resident's card. Fortunately this does not prevent me from working in the meantime, so it doesn't matter.

There are many things I miss about Japan. Food is not bad here, but sometimes I would really like some sushi or soba for lunch. Also, Japanese theatre is very rare. Just Butoh is en vogue at present.

My address is:
Bat. 208 Lab. de l'Accélérateur Linéaire
Université Paris Sud F-91405 Orsay Cedex FRANCE

from Peter Drummond:

After leaving NTT Basic Research Laboratories in January 1992, I returned to the University of Queensland (Australia) and further research into quantum soliton physics. I've been able to keep up e-mail correspondence with my NTT colleagues. This has resulted in the journal Nature recently accepting a review article on the joint work. In fact, there are four research groups now involved: at NTT, Queensland, IBM Research Labs, and Stanford. This will be the first Nature review on quantum solitons. It should help to publicize the work, and hopefully allow the general scientist outside physics to understand what it is all about.

My stay in Japan was all too short, but very rewarding. My children, who stayed just one month, were fascinated. They would like to return some day. The language was not a real problem, although they could have communicated better with more Nihongo. I'm sure the memories of "the best holiday they ever had" will stay with them. They even remember now, to remove their shoes inside.

To be honest, I was surprised to find how well everything was organized for my visit. It couldn't really have been better. Unfortunately for me, I am slow to learn new languages, and only have studied European languages before. I have a lot to learn about Nihongo, although I haven't given up yet. Can anyone out there recommend any self-learning computer software, preferably WITHOUT romanization. I find romanization is too much of a crutch; it slows down the essential learning of kana and kanji.

Good luck to the NTT Basic Research scientists moving to Atsugi. Somehow, I doubt that it will have the atmosphere of the good old engine factory in Musashino (or, at least, that's what I was told). I hope to see some of you again, either in Japan or Australia.

My address is:
Department of Physics
The University of Queensland
St. Lucia, Queensland AUSTRALIA 4067

from Ken DeLong: Reverse Culture Shock

I had a very strange experience with reverse culture shock. When I left NTT, I didn't have a job so I spent 4 months living at home with my parents, in rural Pennsylvania. After I got back to the US, many of my friends asked me about reverse culture shock. But I was not experiencing it at all! The summer felt like a vacation, and I had no problems at all.

However, when I moved to California, where I now live and work, I experienced a very strong case of reverse culture shock. Once I was out on my own again, dealing with American society every day (to rent a house, buy a car, go to work, etc.), I suddenly realized that I was not in Japan anymore! Even now I still feel the symptoms, and it is 10 months since I left Japan.

My symptoms were that I thought about Japan constantly, often with great nostalgia. I re-membered the izakaya, the yakisoba vendors, the matsuri at the local park. "Natsukashii, na!" I missed hearing the Japanese language around me. I missed the safety of Japan. I often found myself thinking "In Japan, we did it like this," or "a Japanese person would NEVER do that!"

While I was in Japan, I learned to look at life from a totally different point of view. I found this to be very valuable. In conversations with my friends in the U.S., I try to offer this point of view. However, people soon get mad - they don't care how it's done in Japan!

Now I find that I am not satisfied with U.S. or Japanese society. I want to combine the best points of both countries. I have little patience for

people who cannot solve a problem because they cannot accept that another country may have found a good solution.

Living in Japan was very difficult. Even every-day tasks, like mailing a box at the post office, were minor triumphs. But, with lots of effort, life got easier. It was hard to leave, and give up the lifestyle that took so much effort to build.

But now, my memories are fading. I want to hold on to my experience in Japan, I don't want to forget. But as time goes by, the memories get deeper. I find myself forgetting my Japanese. In Japan, I studied for an hour every day, but now I find it hard to motivate myself to study at all.

My experience in Japan will always be a part of me. Even when I'm not thinking about it, it's there, subconsciously affecting me. Living in Japan gave a new perspective, new experience, broader horizons and a new way of thinking. These are things I never want to lose. If I am lucky, some day I will be able to return, to live there again.

My address is:
Orig. 8354, Sandia National Labs,
Livermore, California 94550 U.S.A.