26 January 2006

Donald and Me

Donald Duck's a great guy. He just quacks me up with those jokes of his. Posted by Picasa

Get in my belly!

Now, Pluto is cool and all... but does my head look like a bone? Posted by Picasa

The Leaning Dome of Pisa

Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Posted by Picasa

Honey, them gators are back!


Alligators in your backyard again, eating the dog, scaring the children? Call the State Alligator Trapper at 1-800-555-GATOR. Nobody captures gators better than we do. Again, that's 1-800-555-GATOR. Call now and receive coupons for a free alligator meat dinner! Posted by Picasa

The Trip Home

As you may know, for a little over two weeks in December and January I went home to the U.S. for the first time in 2 1/2 years. It was a good trip. (In the next few days, I'll be posting up some pics from the trip, so look for that.)

A lot of the expats here in Japan say that when you go back home to visit, everything seems like a dream. They weren't kidding. I think the biggest thing that affected me was the sheer size of the spaces in America. Front lawns. 10-lane highways. Buildings that stretch sideways instead of up. Supermarkets located 5 miles away from home. After living in claustrophobic Japan so long, I felt disoriented many a time. Strangely enough, I felt like I didn't have a good grasp of my surroundings until I got back to Japan. But being in a place I had never lived before - Tampa and Orlando, Florida - might have had a lot to do with that.

Anyway, other than that, the trip was good. The nine days with my parents was very nice. My grandmother, my aunt and cousin also came down for Christmas. I didn't see my brother, though. He was busy with work and all. (Do you even check your email, boy? If not, get yo derriere to yo computer - I know you have one.) The rest of my time there was spent in Orlando with the GF, who came to Florida several days after I did. We went to Disney World and Universal Orlando. Overall, great stuff, man.