Greetings from the Land of No Sun

They tell me Japan is in the rainy season, and I believe them. The humidity here is stifling, and the air is thick - not from polution, but from regular old mugginess. It's hard to know what to wear because within minutes you start to perspire. Then when you get into a/c, you begin to be chilly. This is probably why I'm sitting here with a scratchy throat. That, plus being in a closed airplane for a long time, is a sure perscription for catching a cold. I'm mainlining tea, Musinex and advil in hopes of defeating it. Keep your fingers crossed.

After lounging a bit this morning before going to the office, it went pretty much full tilt today. Our colleagues told us the exact sushi restaurant to have lunch, and they were right - it was delicious, and cheap: only 9000 yen for 15 pieces. I believe that roughly translates to $9.00, but I'm no math whiz, so don't quote me on it.

Here's my lunch:



Prepared by these guys:



Luckily, we didn't eat here:



Prepared by this guy:



Starting to get the hang of Tokyo, where the secret to getting along is bowing, bowing and more bowing. Seriously, these folks couldn't be nicer or more accommodating. The hotel is chock full of people whose jobs are to make guests happy. There's the young woman in a kimono standing at the elevator bank merely to hold out her hand to the elevator that opens. I think I threw her for a loop tonight when I asked if she ever went home. She glanced at her watch nervously, but did whisper: "I go home in 20 minutes." So, for a moment, I saw the real person, I think. But there are young people in uniforms everywhere pointing the way, or eager to help in any way possible, continuously bowing, averting their eyes and holding their arms out to show you the way. It's interesting, but I'm not sure I like it all that much. I tend to enjoy people with a bit more rebel to them. In Japan it appears that you're not allowed to outwardly show your true self. This, of course, is a bit of a generalization, but I can only base it on the 30 or so hours I've been here.

Tonight, my colleague and I went to a Chinese restaurant - how's that for odd? It was delicious. So far, the food has been surprisingly good. So I can't really complain about much of anything.

But I'm exhausted, so I'll sign off for now. More to come tomorrow on the ongoing travelogue. Love to all back in the US of A.