As I’m currently in Tokyo, I decided to make a trip into downtown early on a Monday morning to watch the Super Bowl. That’s right, it was on a Monday morning here Japan time!

Here are some thoughts from watching it here in Japan

• I had to leave home at 6:40 AM and travel an hour and 10 minutes door to door to the place where I watched the game, Tokyo Sports Cafe.
• When I arrived, there was a line about 100 feet long of people lined up to go in! I was nearly last in line, arriving just before 8 AM.
• There was a handful of Japanese fans there who really got into the game! However one guy mixed up the team names and was cheering for the “Colts” even though he meant the Saints. He did this the whole game and never realized it.
• Totally weird to see game commentary and stats in Japanese! (the main commentary was in English, but switched over to Japanese during commercial breaks, which leads me to…)
• No commercials! NHK (Japan’s biggest TV network) syndicated the broadcast from NFL Network but decided not to have commercials. This was the most beautiful part. I hate commercials, Super Bowl or not.
• Crowd was probably 2/3 American and 1/3 Japanese. Not surprisingly, didn’t see any Europeans or Australians.
• Very few Colts fans. Probably 95% Saints fans at Tokyo Sports Cafe.
• Way too smoky. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke, but now it’s all over my clothes. I miss California’s no smoking laws.

There are some questions that don’t have an answer. Asking these questions is a waste of time. I am bad at this.

Never underestimate the power of “That’s all they know” (and “That’s all I know”). This goes a a long way in dispelling many situations.

Even if someone has a valuable piece of wisdom you need to hear, if their communication style and personality are different enough than yours, their point will never get across. Because of this one might miss some valuable advice from time to time. But it probably can’t be helped. You just have to pray there are enough wise people around who are on the same wavelength as you. Or for the ability to stomach those who are just different.

I almost never experience a language barrier, but do sometimes experience a culture barrier. You can learn language by studying, but culture much less so. You can ask someone a question about language, but it’s harder to ask a question about culture. Culture is so ingrained we never think about it, much less be able to explain it well to an outsider.

Some people are made to live far away from home. I think I am one of those people. I don’t get homesick.

If there ever was a such thing as destiny I am living mine out now. A story that began with learning Japanese and Mandarin in high school is unfolding to it’s completion, and isn’t done yet.

Which is more important, good looks or good personality? Or both? What proportion? (See point 1 above)

My grandparents and their parents grew up poor rural farmers with no running water or electricity, probably went to school until age 10 or so, didn’t know how to read and write, worked hard manual labor in the fields all day, and very rarely went more than a few miles from home. I wonder what they would think if they saw me? The world is changing too fast for anyone to predict or process.

Cultural biases can both work for you or against you. The fun part is finding the “for’s” and maximizing them.

People are suspicious if you are more interested in their culture than they are.

Learning the real in’s and out’s of a very different culture like Japan takes time, and there will be mistakes. Memories of past mistakes will never go away but will always remind you of what not to do as you go forward. There are so many things that are not like what anyone told you, and go against what you’ve learned. Those are the hardest ones.

“We are our father’s sons, but we are not their choices” – From “Knock Knock” by Daniel Beatty