I'm Back from Japan

I've had such a good time so far that I've failed to mention a few things about Korea. This country isn't so much into the save the earth thing. The people are pretty clean. They don't have bad body odor. The streets and the air are pretty filthy though. With everyday being something new for me over here, I've been able to overlook some things like that.

Well, I went to Japan and it is georgeous. Clean air, blue skies and clean streets. It made me realize how dirty Korea is. I'm trying to explain the non-littering campaign Texas had (Don't Mess With Texas) to some of my Korean friends. It doesn't seem to be a big deal to them. On somedays, the smog blocks out the sun! I've got friends that are talking about coming to visit me later this year. This might change their minds. Most people wouldn't consider flying to the other side of the planet to visit a widely polluted country. I'll get out to a rural area soon. Maybe I'll be able to see the clean part of the country. I miss the stars a lot. But other than environmental and communication issues, I'm still enjoying this experience.

More about Japan. I landed there on Sunday when the earthquake occurred. There were over 200 aftershocks. They were very mild where I was. I was fortunate to be farther south than the center of the quakes. I went to the zoo and botanical gardens while I was there. It's a completely different experience when you are on the other side of the planet. My eyes stayed wide open. Great experience. My hotel room was a little bigger than a coffin. It had a comfortable bed though. The bathtub was 3 feet wide by 3 feet long by 3 feet deep. Use your imagination people! Then again don't. It was so ridiculous that I was laughing hard enough for my neighbors to hear. The airport security took my deodorant. I tried to explain to the poor girl, that it wouldn't be polite to the people of Japan to deprive me of my deodorant. She didn't understand me though. Moments later, I was frisked. It tickled a little, so I laughed. All they could say was, "domo." They finally realized that I wasn't a security threat. To make a long story shorter, I got my visa finally. So now I wait for my alien card. Then I'll be able to have things like a phone and my own internet connection. Until then, I'll keep on coming at you from the friendly confines of my Chunghak-dong Yeonsu-gu PC cafe. Later.