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FROM THE BANKS OF TAMAGAWA RIVER
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by Mary Lou Rebelo
I lived all my childhood and teenager years near the beach, or better, beaches. Plenty of them and of all sorts. My social life, then, was centered in the beach, where I used to go everyday to meet my friends. We would decide where to go in the evening, or who was going to throw a party in the coming Saturday, which movie to see, what kind of books to read, etc. We had golden skin and healthy bodies, just like any of Sun worshipers. I used to think then that I could never live without going to the beach every single day and when I was sick in bed, I felt ostracized... Sometimes even in a rainy day I would go to the seaside and take a look to see if somebody else was there, too.
After those "sunny" days, I've moved to other places and lived many years -- and still live now -- far from the sea and had to center my social life in other circles, like clubs, associations or workplaces. But none of them had the appeal the beach used to play in my life. One day, not long ago, I finally found an almost perfect substitute for the beach: computer conferencing! My social life now is centered in that, it seems. Parties, meetings, get-togethers, short trips, cruises, etc. are discussed and decided online. The information we get about what's on in Tokyo, which movies are worth seeing, which are the best modems, what books to read, places to go, etc. are just some of the possibilities this medium can offer to us.
Tokyo has a very lively BBS-dom, even for the ones who don't have abilities in Japanese language. There are plenty of English-based BBSes and computer networks. The majority of those BBS are owned by international schools, like American School of Japan (ASIJ-BBS-0422-33- 0381), St. Mary's International School (SMBBS-03-709-3463), Nishimachi International School (NIS-BBS-003-798-2462) and St.Joseph's International School (INN -045-671-9727). In all those places we can find plenty of students eager to talk and exchange their computerese and other knowledge... They also login on TFA ("The First Amendment" BBS-03- 813-1169), one of the craziest and funniest BBS in Tokyo, where almost everyone use a pseudonym, though usually everybody knows who are behind the most creative handles. The founder and sysop of TFA is an Australian engineer who loves science and space and has special boards for these topics. In a way, TFA is much more educational than all the school boards, with people learning new things without even noticing...
Another popular BBS is POLYGLOT (03-464-0537), run by a Spaniard, born and raised in Salamanca and transplanted to Tokyo, where he teaches Spanish and earns his living as a translator. POLYGLOT specializes in discussing words, expressions and translation related topics. Though only few Japanese login there their contributions often are the highlights of the ongoing discussions. POLYGLOT has international access using KDD-Venus P and occasionally receives "visits" of people signing from abroad.
My main system, or my favorite "beach", if you want, is TWICS, where I feel "at home". In TWICS I can not only use English, but also my own language, Portuguese, as well as Spanish or French in the various conferences we have for and in those languages. In those three language topics ("PORTUGUES", "ESPANOL" and "FRANCAIS") membership is small and for some time I was kind of talking to myself. I felt like a person who sends a message inside a bottle in the sea without knowing if someone will ever find it or respond to it. Usually, however, there are people logging in from abroad and who like to talk in their native tongues. Other members like the possibility of using a foreign language to communicate with people. We can learn and teach at the same time and try to help the ones who are not that fluent in English -- or Japanese -- to get acquainted with the system.
We had some good experiences like when a Brazilian logged from Curitiba, southern Brazil, some time ago. He was planning to come to Tokyo to study Japanese and with the help of TWICS members, not only found a place to stay in Tokyo for two months but also a language school to attend and many friends to meet f-t-f... Another one, an engineer working for the Brazilian State owned telecom company, was trying links to Japan but found also time to exchange information on other topics as well. As for "ESPANOL" we used to have Mexicans online, logging in from Mexico City and an American who lives in San Francisco, who used to teach good Spanish to Odd de Presno, coming all the way from Norway! Exciting new small world.
What I like best is that without leaving my room in Tokyo I can travel all around the world and communicate with people who live far apart, and paying only local calls. I'm always planning to login on a regular basis to a Brazilian BBS, though the high international telephone rates kind of scares me. BBS in Rio, Brazil, is quite active too, but people there are more interested in exchanging notes on computers or softwares. For the moment I just exchange messages with some Brazilian friends via university networking systems. I do hope the future will see many other possibilities of communication in a global basis.