Part III: Life on the Other Side

I can buy magazines anywhere, I don’t have to go to a special store.

I can read menus and actually choose what I want to eat - I don’t just have to point to pictures!

People here voluntarily engage in conversation. I don’t have to pull it out of anyone.

Everyone speaks English!

I now understand what the obesity epidemic that I’ve heard about means. I’ve seen some OBESE people. It’s ridiculous. How do these people find clothes that fit?

I don’t wear shoes in the house anymore.

After sleeping on futons for over a year my soft mattress felt like a waterbed. Seriously.

Did I mention that everyone speaks English? It’s pretty cool.

Mexican food!!!

Twix and skittles! Apple pie!

My American cellphone can’t do as much as my Japanese cellphone. There’s no copy and paste function. There’s no colored, blinking light that tells me when I’m getting a message/call or when I have a message or a missed call. Comparable functions (like the internet) cost more in America. And the graphics/animations are woefully inadequate as tools to enhance my text messages.

My Japanese microwave was better too. It had a sensor and calibrated the cooking time to whatever was in the microwave. Here I actually have to enter the time in. It feels so tedious.

Navigating the video store is much easier - new releases are displayed so you can see the front; not just the spine.

I really miss my friends in Tokyo!

I miss 7-11 too, and the ABC boutique at the foot of Mitaka station.

I keep forgetting to change the time on my watch, but all I have to do is subtract an hour when I look at it.

I don’t look different. I don’t speak differently; but I feel different.