Welcome from the USA

To all my fans: Hello from the USA! I made it safe and sound to Tampa, Florida. Unfortunately, my parents' computer is all but dead, so this will be the only post I put up while in the USA. Don't worry; when I'm back in Japan, I'll write all about my adventures. Take care, guys.

"Konnichiwa... oh, my bad, I meant, whazzzup???"

Tomorrow afternoon, I'll be flying to the U.S. for the first time since I moved to Japan. I'm gonna visit my parents' new home in Tampa, Florida for a week before meeting up with the GF up the road in Orlando and spending another week at Walt Disney World. I'm kind of nervous; after all, it has been two and a half years. The last time I was in the States, George W. Bush was saying "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. Colin Powell was still the Secretary of State. SARS was the big fear instead of the bird flu. Destiny's Child and N.E.R.D. were still together. Anyway, if I have access to a computer, I'll try to keep you all updated on my adventures. The Nihon Chronicles will become The Florida Chronicles for a couple of weeks.

That depends on what you mean by "Where"...

Every now and then in Japan, this kind of conversation takes place:

Somebody: Where are you from?
Herman: America.
Somebody: Where in America are you from?
Herman: Well... you see... uh... that is...

Okay, you're wondering, "How hard of a question can it be?" Man, you just don't know. Let me break it down simply for you.

• I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and lived there until the end of my elementary school years.
• My family moved to Atlanta before I started middle school.
• Before my sophomore year of high school, we moved to Honolulu, Hawaii.
• After I graduated high school, we moved back to Birmingham, and not long after that, I went to college at the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa).
• While I was still in college, my family moved up to Vancouver, Washington. After graduating, I lived there a total of 9 months before I moved to Japan.

Confusing, huh? I tell people in Japan that I'm from Washington state, to make things simpler. After all, that was where I moved to Japan from. But is that true? Am I lying to people? I don't have a good answer for that. Should I say I'm from Alabama? I spent about half of my life so far in that state. Plus, I was born there, and my grandparents and many family members live there. But my most recent memories of the U.S. are of Washington state, a place where I felt at home and had good times. What do you think? I wanna hear your comments on this one.