A Japanese Christmas

They say that to really appreciate your own culture and customs, you must first step out of your box (ladies please don't be concerned - I mean your "comfort zone") and see the world from a different perspective -- like standing on a desk in Dead Poets Society ... and being able to stare down at crotches in the classroom from an aerial view instead of sideways glances in the shower. AHEM - woah, derailed there for a second.

Another way to shake up your paradigm (ladies, keep calm) is to have someone else come into your box and take a look around (OBGYNs are cultural pros!). In the metaphorical sense, having my Japanese friend in Lakeland, Florida, for 2 days during the Christmas holidays was a unique opportunity to take a good, hard look at my own box.

Here are Makoto's observations of an America VERY different from the Washington, DC he has become accustomed to:

-We put trees in houses and decorate them. It's like a bonsai that has decided to take over the house.

-There is an over-abundance of religious institutes, particularly those with schools conjoined.

-There is a shocking over-abundance of old people clogging traffic as they purposefully try to lower the nation's speed limit to approximately 25 mph.

-We spend a surprisingly large amount of money on gifts and exchange them, and then hug! Why do we hug each other?!? What's the point???

-Lights on houses are simply spellbinding. It's like a small scale Tokyo.

-Every meal is to be photographed from multiple angles.

-Gay bars must be photographed inside and out (lots of flashing *wink*)

I think my favorite part of the evening was when Makoto was completely surrounded by Americans hanging on his every word (sign), asking all kinds of questions about his home and heritage. And when asked by a little child "Do you like girls???", he turned the darkest red I've ever seen.

Gay, deaf, and Japanese? He's a one-stop shop, filling the diversity quota for any American gathering.

And in case you're wondering- no, he did not have any business to do in any literal boxes.