You call this a vacation? My time here has been insane since my arrival Monday evening. I stayed up till about 2am the first night talking to the host family and I haven't slowed down since. The jet lag really can kill you, but for the most part I have been able to operate on Japan time since arriving. I can definitely see how a fatigued George Bush might slide under the table and vomit after a few too many high-powered dinners on this side of the world.

Aside from a one-day trip out to Gunma, there hasn't been much new from the tourist perspective. With only one week in Japan, I basically only have enough time to meet with everyone I know and also fit in a little karaoke and shopping. I haven't even had time to fit in the capsule hotel that I was planning to visit. No bike rides either. Just meeting after meeting from morning till night.

Good conversation is what this trip is about, I guess. Many of my friends are starting new jobs, or new schools, or facing some change in life that makes this a particularly interesting time to chat. Of course, I ask them all for advice on my own worklife back home. However, after weighing the alternative of working here in Tokyo, my job back home doesn't look too bad. I should be grateful for the chance to travel like this, especially after less than one year of work.

Overall and despite the hectic schedule, the time in Tokyo has been quite comfortable. My family here just welcomed me back with the customary "welcome home" which comes at the end of any day at school or at the office. I seldom travel to the same place twice, but it is truly satisfying to whiz around in a familiar area and know that everything is cool. I can do some shopping in Ueno, go to a fashion show on Omote Sando, meet for Karaoke somewhere else, and still make it back home for dinner, or at least desert. My social life here is definitely more exciting than things back in Chicago, which makes the scary prospect of work in Tokyo almost seem attractive. But quickly the week is up and I have to move on. Such was my week back in Japan.