Today's big shout out goes to the B to the A to the R to the Barbara Gilly! Thanks for the package of "home". Meds! Pancake mix! Thousand Grand Bars! Mac and Cheese! And how did you know I am a total freak for the Double Chocolate Milano Pepperidge Farm cookies??? I totally downed half of them already. There goes the 4.5 pounds lost in the past month and a half. Yes, the weight just keeps on flying off somehow. I haven't been this light since high school. Weird. All those nice clothes I bought before I came here sort of sag on me. I'm going to have to invest in a new suit, which according to Tadashi, are really cheap to buy here, even the really nice ones. I guess I don't mind having to buy new clothes if it's because I'm losing weight instead of gaining it. But honestly, I can't believe how easy it is to take off weight here. Fujita sensei told me from the beginning if I wanted to lose weight, eat a traditional Japanese diet, and although I'm not eating a traditional Japanese diet, I'm eating one that's much closer to that regimen than I ever have before. I eat a lot more vegetables here than I did in the states. I love the way they're prepared here, mostly shredded, rather than chunked, like in the States. They taste better too, but I'm not sure how they're prepared that gives them this distinctive taste. I hear it has something to do with vinegar or some other substance they might use to pickle them or whatever that process is called. I dunno. I'll have to start asking questions about how the veggies are prepared here now.

One of the nice things about living in another culture is having to reacquaint yourself with the world. You're constantly shaking hands with life and asking it all sorts of questions, treating it like a new acquaintance with hopes of friendship, rather than taking it for granted or assuming you know all you need to know about it to get along.

Thanks again, Barb!