Читать книгу Japanese Lessons - Gail R. Benjamin - Страница 7

I want first to acknowledge my greatest debt for the writing of this book, the one I owe to my husband, Davis Bobrow, for supporting me during fieldwork and after our return from Japan. Only he knows in how many ways he has accomplished this. My children, Sam and Ellen, also bore burdens caused by this project and showed consideration and forbearance.

My colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh have listened apparently patiently to my stories about school in Japan and have heard the ideas presented here as they were developing. Paula L. W. Sabloff and Jeremy Sabloff as constant lunch companions probably bore the brunt of this, along with Steven J. C. Gaulin. Students in several classes at the University of Pittsburgh also listened to these stories and ideas, and their reactions were valuable to me.

My friend Judith Capen brought her intelligent insight to bear on my writing in progress, and her architect’s eye on the details of editing was invaluable. Her encouragement helped keep me going at several points.

In Japan the Graduate School for Policy Sciences at Saitama University, under the leadership of Dean Toru Yoshimura, gave me a helpful academic home. Our neighbors and colleagues at the graduate school, James and Kimie Rhodes, helped us with daily life and gave us relief from being always foreigners. The principal of Okubo Higashi Elementary School, Takeshi Kano, and the students and teachers there, especially Akemi Ohshima and Eiko Kuroda, welcomed our children, made them feel like real members of the school community, and enriched their lives forever.

Toshiaki and Sumiko Ohi and their children Kyo and Susumu offered us their friendship: help and concern as well as companionship. I miss them.