Setting and Characters for Chasing the Sun!

The Setting for Chasing the Sun
Chasing the Sun is a fictional account of my year as an exchange student in Japan, way back in 1984. Here is some background information that may, or may not, come in handy as things develop.
Kyushu College Kyushu College is a fictional institution in Isahaya, Japan. The school is based, loosely, on a school I attended as an exchange student in 1984-1985. Needless to say, none of the people at the school are presented here. These characters are all made up! Kyushu College, formerly Kyushu Women's College, has a student body of 120 women, and 15 men. The school has a women's dorm, but men have to take apartments in town. They have just initiated an exchange program with a handful of schools around the world, hoping to us native English speakers as a draw to get more Japanese students, especially men. Kyushu College has a faculty of 12, mostly men, and has two slots for exchange teachers.	Isahaya-City, Nagasaki-Prefecture, Japan Isahaya is a small city about 30 miles north of Nagasaki. It is a bedroom community for the city--people who work in the city commute back and forth on a daily basis. Let me tell you that the nicest people in Japan live in Isahaya. Nagasaki is one of the oldest ports in Japan, and for centuries, was the only way foreign trade entered Japan. The Dutch lived in a settlement on a fan shaped island called Dejima. Some of those Dutch-built homes can still be seen, even the island has been absorbed into the city. World War II came to an end in Nagasaki, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city. Nagasaki's Peace Park is a wonderful monument to those who lost their lives on that terrible day. Nagasaki Prefecture is on the Northeast coast of Kyushu Island. Nagasaki is at 32 degrees North latitude, about the same as Dallas.
The Time: The 1980s No cell phones, no computers, not a single modern luxury. Like Robinson Carusoe, as primitive as can be. But there was rock 'n' roll, hair bands, and MTV!
The Cast of Chasing the Sun
Ray Harper Student from San Angelo, Texas	Lydia Ontiveroz Student from Los Angeles, California
Natalie Parker Student from Atlanta, Georgia	Richard Maas Teacher - New York, New York
Sharon Maas Teacher - Arlington, Virginia	Professor Tadashi Mori Chairman of the Exchange Program
Atsuko Yoshida Ray's neighbor	Kaori Watanabe The School's receptionist and Office Lady
Aiko Yamamoto First year student at Kyushu College	Yoshiko "Yoshi" Masuzawa First year student at Kyushu College