The Land of the Rising Sun

And that's exactly what I saw on Saturday morning after walking around with my friend Keigo in the business district in Tokyo. Earlier that evening, we had a big party with former students from the Economics Institute and CU Boulder--some relationships spanned over 8 years ago. We ate in a very nice restaurant in the Roppongi district, where Bush and the Emporer had dinner several years ago. We had a great time catching up, and just having fun. Next to our table was the famed go-kon (a get together for couples, kind of like Speed Date), and I was able to get a picture with that group, just to say I did. My last day in Tokyo, Sunday, I spent with a good friend Yuichi. He showed me around the Meiji Shrine, Harijuku, and Yamamoto Park.

I'm now back in Colorado, and I must say I truly miss Japan. You know how some places speak to you? They call to you? I felt Tokyo was this way. I watched Lost in Translation this morning, and I reminisced about all the things I experienced while I was in Japan: ate delicious yakatori and sushi, toured the amazing sites of Shibuya & Shinjuku, and observed the culture that is the Japanese. I could totally relate to Bob Harris' (played by Bill Murray's) series of dissonance both culturally and linguistically.

My main purpose was to see all of my former students, colleagues and friends there, and I felt such a connection with them. Several of my former students I saw in 2000 in Boulder. They were wearing t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops. On Wednesday I met them for drinks and in walked two men wearing dark blue suits. They were now the famed 'salaryman' of Japan, working for an investment company. How much people changed. And don't think they didn't think I hadn't changed. You know you need to lose some weight when seven Japanese call you some derivative of being overweight. An example, when I taught a group in the summer of 2002, they all said I looked like Tom Cruise from Cocktail. Now one of them said, pointing to my belly, "Fat Cruise." Yes, it's all in fun, I take it all in, but it's amazing to me how much time flies and we all change. Oh, and don't think I'm not writing a whole set for stand-up on this experience.

I hope to get back to Japan soon, perhaps do a USO tour or do some acting gigs out there. Who knows, maybe I can do a Suntori commercial, like Bill Murray did in Lost and Translation. If they don't mind filming a 'Fat Cruise.'