Impressions Having never been to Japan before, many things were immediately new to me. While I've spent the last few days talking about the major changes I've been going through, there are many small ones that are what makes Japan so much fun. So today, I'm going to talk about some of those little things. Of course, Japan (and even Tokyo) is very diverse and I'm sure each thing I say will be somewhat contradictory. The first thing I have to mention because it is raining today - clear umbrellas are  soo  popular. I had seen maybe one before arriving in Japan and on my commute to work this morning I have already seen about 500. I would say they are more popular among young people with an alarmingly many among men. I saw some on sale at Don  Quiote  on my way in for ￥398, so I might have to pick one up on my way home... Another thing I was taken aback by was the amount of technology is cars. For the most part, the same vehicle could be found in the U.S. from the

My Host Family During my year in Japan, I stay with at least 2 different  long term  hosts as well as the potential for many  short term  hosts when I take business trips to different locations or visit different cities or go on an exchange. However, for at least 2 of those families, I have the potential to become a more indepth family member. The family I am currently staying with is the Katsuki family in Koto-ku (near the bay on the Eastside of Tokyo). My family members include my dad, mom (hippo nickname, Jasmine), host brother (Hideyuki, hippo nickname Gamon), and host sister Sena (she does not live in the home and I have not yet met her). My host father works for the Asahi Beer Company (no, it does not mean free beer). He works a lot! Most nights he doesn't get home until after 10 pm. All of last week, he was on a business trip to Thailand and Vietnam. My host mother does not have a traditional job, but she does a lot! Not only does she take care of the family and most

Food I made one rule for myself when coming to Japan. I would try everything at least once no matter how bad I thought it would be. However, I've already come to modify that rule to I'll try  almost  everything at least once (I'm not so brave when it comes to fish with their heads on). The largest problem was that I really hadn't had much Japanese food before arriving in Japan. So, when everyone asked me exactly what I liked or didn't like, I couldn't tell them anything. This meant that I told them I was willing to try, which led to almost a challenge to find things for me to eat. Within two hours from being off the plane, I had one of the members in my hippo club running to find something special. He bought natto, which is a fermented soybean product. I was already feeling a little nauseous from being on a plane for so long and here I was asked to eat something even Japanese have a hard time eating. In the end, I did not like it, but I did promise my fa

Arrival In Japan What an experience! I'm Michael Gobin. I will be the 2009-2010 LEX Intern in the Tokyo Office. LEX America has been telling you a lot about me, so I won't take a lot of space on introductions. I will be contributing to this blog a couple times a month over the next year. However, my mentor here in the office is gone on a multi-country adventure for the next week, so I will be spending those days contributing more often. I'll try to paint a picture of what my first few days in Japan have been like. Even though I spent 14 hours on a plane headed to Japan. It wasn't until I took those first steps off the plane that it hit me like I walked through a curtain that I was in Japan. First of all, it was immediately warmer. Kana went from being an equal language in places where it mattered, to everywhere with English only as a back-up in the important areas. Most importantly though, I became completely illiterate and that's when I knew the adventure h