I have sent this letter from Yangon for we haven't met for a long time. It usually rains non-stop day after day when June is near every year. Sometimes it rains cats and dogs. The city usually becomes clean after the rain for it washes away dirt and dust on leaves and roads.

The walking style of Myanmar people

If you go around Yangon leisurely, you will see that the Myanmars are rather like the Japanese. Immigrants from Bangladesh and India are not like the Myanmars. In the book "Kawaga tei" which is about South East Asia expressed nationals separately as Indians and Myanmars. Most mixed Chinese people are fat. The rich use cars to go out in such a hot country. They do not go out on foot. It is not so convenient for fat people to put on Longyi.

Most of Myanmar youths are slim. Only the part of buttock is full. They tug their Longyi tight round the full buttock. So, it is not convenient for the Japanese who do not have full buttock to put on Longyi. When I see Japanese woman who puts on bright colour Longyi, I feel something is wrong with her. To be exact she is not like Myanmar. I think it is very good looking to see both Myanmar men women when they are walking. They walk with the toes turned out. They tug their Longyi tight when they go up stairs. It will be difficult if they don't lift their Longyi with his free hand. It is very difficult for me to go up stairs conveniently without lifting my Longyi.

Strange way of writing

Myanmar characters are written side to side. As I thought before their way of writing has rather changed. Actually, when I first saw I felt worried about it. When the Japanese write sentences body moves from left to right and they go parallel.

But the Myanmars write with the notebook inclined by 45-90 degree to the left. And they write starting from in front of the stomach outside. In other words, they write downward to upward. The Japanese leave wide margin beside a note. But when I asked a Myanmar friend of mine, he told me that he was not used to writing that way.

A Myanmar student who was on a study tour in Japan said it was a little difficult for him to write first. But later he realized that it was parallel writing.

Position of hands

When they do their cooking in the kitchen, their way of holding things is different from ours.

For a right-handed Japanese, he takes a potato with his left hand. He peels the potato with his right hand in normal position. But people here peel potatoes with the left hand holding potato starting from in front of the hand outside. That is like the way they write. It is quite different from Japanese.

By the way, the potatoes here have lost their shape as soon as they are cooked. They become shapeless after cooking for about an hour.

Another different thing is that children stand with their legs apart, their hands crossed at their chest when they meet teachers, parents and elders. This is the behaviour of paying respect. But from Japanese point of view, if especially young girls behave like that it is behavior of arrogance. So the student who was on a study tour in Japan seemed to have changed his behavior.

Curry powder, sauce, various kinds of noodles, Soya-bean sauce and etc were available recently in Yangon.

Are there any bald headed persons?

In summer, it is always about 40 degree C every day.

After living in Yangon for about two years, I saw my friend's bald headed father. He is the first bald man I have seen in this country. It is very rare to see bald headed men. If you have a careful look, you will notice a few people whose hair turned gray. All the fat men, bald headed men; gray haired men seem to succeed DNA, which became better than normal.

Those who help with housework in Myanmar families are about 70% of the entire population. Although he is 47, most of his hair is still dark and his teeth are also in good condition.