Dear ALE Members,
Greetings from a New Yorker. I. am from the state but not the city.
In Japan most people automatically assume I'm from the big city, but I have only been there twice in my life.
MY hometown is very near Buffalo, a blue collar city famous for it's professional sports teams .I spent countless Sunday afternoons cheering for the Buffalo Bills, an American football team only hometown fans could love.
Year after year I suffered through so many losing seasons with my heroes. But the motto "wait until next year" always gave me hope.
As fate would have it the year after I came to Japan, the Bills had a great year and it ended with a loss in the Super Bowl. I am still waiting to celebrate but the wait will make it, that more special.
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Not far from Buffalo is Niagara Falls. Visiting there and standing on the "hurricane deck" while the powerful rushing water falls just overhead is really "cool".
I have lived in Tokyo for the past fifteen years and have had many wonderful experiences. A couple of interesting ones were climbing to the top of Mt. Fuji twice and dressing as a samurai from the Kamakura Period and walking in a historical parade.
One thing I have not had the courage to do yet is drink "snake sake" from Okinawa. A friend of mine brought back a bottle as a souvenir from his trip and dared me to drink it and "kiss the snake". I promised to drink it this summer and will let you know how it tastes.
It is hard to explain what I like or don't like about Japan. The friends I have made and the relationships with so many interesting people. I have come in contact with through teaching English, all just make me feel like I am "home".
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