Things that make me glad I live in Japan

500-yen ramen in flavors like tomato, curry, lemon shio and kimchi. Onsen. Words like "虫めがね" (magnifying glass, literally "bug glasses") and "爆発" (explosion). Tiny green frogs. Shiba inu. 100-yen stores. Bento boxes. Cell phone straps. Stumbling upon stone gods in hidden shrines. My students' faces. Yoneyama. Freshly planted rice fields reflecting the snow-covered mountains like mirrors. Ginkgo trees in the fall. Kotatsu. Nabe. Vending machines. Unsweetened iced green and jasmine tea. The ladies in my English conversation group. The moment of silence right after finishing a taiko song. Salmon onigiri, bibimbap onigiri, and yaki onigiri. The coast between Naoetsu and Nadachi. Tea ceremony. Trees right out of a Miyazaki film. Morning glories. Hydrangeas in colors I never even imagined. Crepe paper flowers on posters at school. The goofy pictures on city and ward signs. Sports day. Chorus festival. Military-style school uniforms. My apartment. Cheap tofu. The gnarled black branches of persimmon trees blooming with startling orange fruit. Pineapple chu-hi. Summer storms.

A summer morning in Japan

7:12 AM: Save tiny green frog from certain death on the spokes of your bike wheel. Bike 4 miles past rice fields to train station.

8:21 AM: Listen to earworm-y ring tone from a ten-year-old kid's keitai on the train. Spend the next 5 minutes trying to figure out what videogame it's from before realizing it's Gershwin.

8:35 AM: Stand in line at train station conbini and wonder whether "THE OOLONG-CHA" is a misuse of the definite article or a redundant, accentless use of the French "thé."

8:52 AM: Work Blog posts.