My boyfriend Darwin and I have decided to go to Tokyo for Thanksgiving. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to visit Asia and get a feel for what Eastern civilization is like.  Tokyo can’t really be held up as the bastion of a different world because it is a global city in so many ways.  For that reason I am looking forward to also visiting some smaller towns around Tokyo.  I am also very excited to visit my friend Saiko in Yokohama about an hour from Tokyo.  I lived in Sheffield, England where I attended University of Sheffield with Saiko.  She was always such a great friend that made me laugh.  I learned a few choice Japanese words from her while I lived there, like “kso” meaning “I kill you”.  I am so glad we got reconnected through the power of the internet.  Saiko found the Microsoft article about me on the Japanese version of my group at work’s web site.  Since she couldn’t figure out what my work address was she sent a postcard to my parent’s address (which I had given to her six years ago when we lived in Sheffield).  My mom then sent me the postcard from Saiko but somehow it ended up inside my sister’s nursing magazine (that had a really freaky cover photo of an old man having his eye pulled out).  My sister and I were laughing about the sheer nerve of the cover when Saiko’s postcard fell out.  Its divine I thought, Tokyo is the place to be!

So what should we do while we are in Japan?  I think I will have to go to several Zen Buddhist temples so I can stay relaxed while all of Tokyo buzzes around outside.  I know Darwin will want to be visiting a lot of the technology centers of Tokyo which will be awesome for me as well.  The more lights the better!  Maybe I’ll try my hand at pachinko the weird Japanese gambling game.  Hopefully I will do better than at blackjack in Las Vegas.  I also will have to go out to some techno club while I am in Tokyo.  I know they have some wild ones and it would be especially great to see how everyone dresses in Tokyo when they go out.  Hopefully I’ll see some crazy manga stuff.