Back Home

I just got back from my 10th trip to Japan in the last 12 months. Given my bet with Seppo, I was worried that the land of fried foods and beer would put a significant dent in my progress, but lo! I weighed myself after I got back and it turns out I had lost about a pound and a half while in Japan, *despite* drinking beer and shochu just about every night. Ladies and gentlemen, I think I have discovered a new diet!

In all seriousness, I think it was the fact that in Japan, you just do so much walking all the time. Probably average about 1-2 miles of walking every day, most of which is done carrying about 10-12 lbs of stuff slung over my shoulder. While I didn't have much choice in the kinds of food I ate, I did try to control the amount, which seems to have made all the difference. Thank god.

Was an interesting trip, though nothing spectacularly odd happened this time 'round (see previous entries for reference). Spent some time with a coworker that I had only really chatted with on occasion around the office... turns out we had a lot more in common than we realized. Since it was her first time at headquarters in Japan (though she had been to Tokyo several times before), she was a bit out of her element. I took her around and introduced her to various people at the company and we had dinner with a few groups of people that I'm relatively close to. Again, nothing absurd, but just good, all around fun. I think in total, however, we did about 9 hours of karaoke for the week. And by "week" I mean "over a period of 2 days."

Grandma is doing well, though she is starting to slow down. Given that she's 83, it's more than understandable. She has a hard time carrying heavy groceries and whatnot, but well, what can you expect? She still cleans her house (2 stories!) by herself, cooks every day, and goes to church every weekend. She even goes out to have dinner with friends regularly and attends concerts and whatnot. Considering that I see a lot of 80-somethings that have trouble even walking, I'm more than happy to see how she's doing. I'm glad I get a chance to check up on her just about every month, but I feel bad that it also means that I have to all but ignore my other grandma. Truth of the matter is that I am closer with my Japanese grandma than my American one, simply because I used to spend my childhood summers in Japan. My father wasn't close with his parents, and they lived on the East Coast (which we visited once when I was a child), so I suppose it's sort of understandable. Doesn't make me feel any better about it, though.

Here's a random question: why do some women feel the need to talk about their breasts to complete strangers? I mean, it's not like a man will just start talking about his wang to every woman he comes across (no pun intended). So, I sat next to this attractive girl on the plane on the way to Japan, and we started talking. Halfway through the conversation, *she* switches the conversation to her rather... um... ample "assets." Being half-Chinese (but looking nearly full) and having spent a year in Shanghai, she just started talking about how everyone would stare at her chest as they talked. Or how one time in London, some 10 year old kid just ran up to her and grabbed a full two handfuls before taking off down the street. What is the proper response to that sort of subject? Do I look and say, "Yeah, I can see why"? Or do I just nod thoughtfully and stare off into space, pretending that I'm pondering man's existence? Either way, it was entertaining company on an otherwise dull trip (god, I hate United international), but it simply made me think.