5:32pm Japan:

I was interrupted from my worry in a lovely way. The fellow sitting next to me struck up a conversation. He was approximately 56 and went to high school in Nokomis Illinois, graduating in 1966. He lives in Tokyo but has a daughter going to school in New Zealand. He taught me the phrases above and was just generally very polite and seemed pleased to be talking to me. His English was very good but he kept saying it wasn’t. Which makes me wonder if I should have denied it when he complimented my pronunciation. I’m on the shinkansen now, which is a very fast train from Tokyo which stops in Aioi. Just from what I can see out the window Tokyo looks fascinating. I managed to buy a lighter at Tokyo station (which I’m sadly really proud of). This train is fast enough that I almost get dizzy looking out the window, I think mostly because the ground/buildings and so forth that are nearest are a blur. If I look at things further away I’m fine. I’m sweating like a... horse. I’m saying horse becaue it is a lot more flattering than pig. Alex warned me that it was hot and very very humid. Aside from the unladylike dripping sweat (ladies glow? You could bottle my “glow”) I really like it. The air feels thicker and soft and fuzzy in a good way. There are also smells I can’t define (aside from the mothball scent in the immigration line, but I blame other travellers) but that are nice. It’s like air wafting out of a sauna. I feel soothed and really thirsty. Alex said that there are food and drinks on these trains; I’ll have to keep and eye out for that.