Japan

My flight to Japan from Durham was a run-of-the-mill two and a half hour hop up to Minneapolis followed by a thirteen hour endurance session. By the end of it, my sinuses felt like they had been breathing in thumbtacks for most of the flight, but I was in Japan!

And Japan is very cool. It's a wonderful mixture of cultures. They drive on the left like England, but the outlet plugs are American (although the voltage is slightly lower--a mere 100V to our 110V.) Restaurants run the gamut, and I've seen Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, as well as the old standbys McDonalds, Starbucks, and KFC.

However, this is an Asian country that is 99% ethnically Japanese, which means I stand out like a sore thumb where ever I go. In one section of town I shopped for about an hour and never ran across anyone who wasn't a local. That can be good-no one expects me to know the customs, but it also makes interaction problematic, since very few Japanese know conversational English. Of course, shopkeepers are generally easy to work with in these days where all they have to do is point to the number the cash register is showing to get me to pay the right amount.

Also, I found that in the area of Tokyo where my hotel is (Akasaka) there are enough foreigners staying at the hotels that there are English menus advertised. I found a great sushi place without even trying that hard. I seemed to have received a chef in training--every so often he would ask another chef something, receive some sad words, and make quick changes to the sushi sampler I had ordered. In the end, though, the food was great, and the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly.