Highlight Reel

Here are a few highlights from the last couple of days:

-getting to go see a sumo tournament in Tokyo...and then taking pictures with them outside

-being a kid again at Disney Sea, where it's cool for grown men to wear Mickey Mouse ears (or Minnie) and hang big pink buckets of popcorn from their neck...and having my glasses cleaned by the rollercoaster misting water at me at high speeds

-trying on Gucci sunglasses in the Ginza store without shame

-wearing a $9000 kimono... and then taking it off the same time as Heather to reveal to everyone in that high-class place we already felt awkward in our matching t-shirts that say in bright kiddie lettering "Love Tokyo Tower" right on the front

-hearing my neighbor chant and seeing my breath in my apartment (just kidding about this one...)

-discovering the Japanese version of crepes...though we haven't found any as good as the first one we had in Shibuya

-receiving scented toilet paper that teaches you Japanese (or English), not once but twice. Right now I'm working on learning about sea life... the picture of the sea otter (rakku) is my favorite so far. Soon I'll graduate and move on to something else like classroom supplies or vegetables.

-discovering what it's like to laugh with your whole body again

-eating a parfait as big as your head...with your mouth open

-drinking tea and stretching in the morning

-getting filmed by a tv crew in Tokyo while I was listening to rocks (some relaxation thing they invented during the Edo period about 300 years ago)...and then not even a week later getting photographed by the Odate newspaper when we were looking at the Hena Doll (Girls' Day) display