Tonchan
Oh, I�d just like to add that last night I went to dinner with my neighbor (who I met by chance at the Tokyo Ginza Apple store and will henceforth be referred to as Apple Guy) and his wife. Apple Guy�s wife, who you may remember me mentioning before, is named Midori� and I really, really DIG that name because it translates directly to �Green.� So that�s what I�ll call her.

Anyway, we three went to some place nearly literally across the street from my house that I never would have known existed had they not regaled its cheap goodness. True to their word, the little hold in the wall was cheapngood in a surprising way. I thought it was going to be a Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) place because of the shop name, Tonchan, but since it doesn�t even serve Tonkatsu, I can only guess that Ton-chan might be the owner's nickname.

Green was phenomenally pretty and though she isn�t *quite* half Apple Guy�s age plus seven years, I can forgive them that for being a cute and civil couple. Plus, she�s the first Nihon-jin I�ve met who has expressed an absolute lack of interest in learning/ obsessing over the English language, so I have to respect her for that.

I�m in serious trouble here, folks. I don�t know when it crept up on me (I have a good hint though) but life here has become satisfyingly normal. I�m just �used to� living in Tokyo. At some point this city stopped being a terrifying and hostile mass of metal, concrete and flesh and became for me one of the most amazing places on earth. It�s becoming harder and harder to �feel� what life was like back in the United States. Of course I still remember, but those memories are distant like a dream. I�m going to have a hell of a time readjusting. Whoo.