How are you gentlemen?

Guten tag mis amigos, this is Greg. I don't have a whole lot to add to Andrea's post thus far (we're in the middle of a harried packing'n'moving frenzy) but I thought I should drop in to mention that I, too, have reasons for wanting to live in Japan that are as vague and imprecise as the Japanese language itself.

During our two-week stay in April 2008, I took so many photos that I swear I could feel my digital camera getting heavier as the trip progressed. In doing so, I found an image that I think expresses the real motivation for this upcoming odyssey of ours. More than the impressive natural beauty, fascinating history, technological marvels... more than any of that crap, the real reason I want to move to Japan is because I want to fully experience a culture that was capable of producing this:



What you see above is an arcade game in which you throw as many little plastic balls into an oversized novelty Cup of Noodles in 60 seconds. The lid-flap-thing curls up and down with an indescribably odd quivering motion. As you might imagine, American Skee-ball just doesn't compare.

And that, folks, is how juvenile I really am!