The First Week

I'm sorry for not posting sooner, but this first week has been a very busy one. Let me begin by telling you about Cameron...

I met Cameron last night. He appeared out of nowhere - in my bathroom. I got home from my welcome party and he was just hanging out on the wall. I really wanted to kill Cameron because I make it a point not to invite cockroaches into my home. As soon as I flicked on the light and moved in to destroy him, he scurried away to places unknown and unreachable. Cameron was being a coward. So, last night, I went to bed knowing he was still in my apartment. Fortunately, I was inebriated to a point of not caring. However, about one hour ago, I came home from a night out in Shinjuku and Shibuya to find Cameron (or at least I hope it was Cameron) on the wall in the living room - that is, what you could call a living room. The audacity! I quickly ran down to the Mini Stop and bought some cockroach spray and, needless to say, Cameron is now dead and floating through the Tokyo sewer line. Cameron the Cowardly Cockroach. *It should be noted that Japanese cockroaches aren't small by any means.

Last night (before my encounter with Cameron) we had my welcome party at an izakaya - a traditional Japanese bar. It was nomihodai ("all you can drink") so we took full advantage of it. About twenty people showed up and it was a lot of fun. Many of my students were there and they loved hearing about America.

Tonight, we went to the premier restaurant in the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku. If you have ever seen Lost in Translation, you'll know what I'm talking about. It is, by far, the nicest, most expensive place I have ever been to. First, it's $20 to sit down. That's just to sit down. One glass of wine can cost anywhere from $20-40. The waiter brought an appetizer menu over and they had some tenderloins you could get for the cheap price of $110. My friend and I only sat in the bar area so I can't imagine the prices for actual meals. This place was unbelievable though. They were certainly puttin' on the ritz. The Park Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo is one of the hallmarks of sophistication and beauty in the world. One night in their cheapest room is around $750 per person. The view is great though because it looks over all of Tokyo and displays a beautifully lit skyline.

I uploaded a few photos to my Flickr account. You can view them here: http://flickr.com/photos/29247809@N06/