Whew

It's been almost a full year since I came to Japan, and I think I've never been this busy in my life but I think I'm managing. During this time I've actually noticed something peculiar about how the Japanese don't really think about subtle implications when they interact with someone. For example I know an American man who married a Japanese woman. On the man's birthday his wife bought him a nose hair clipper. Now the man was worried about how his wife might be insinuating that his nose hair is always sticking out, but from his wife's perspective she was just simply buying it because it was his birthday. I can relate to this and I've had some times when I've wondered if the Japanese person I'm talking to is actually hinting at something when ever they say something that seems out of place. I've learned to not think too deeply about it but then if I overdo it then people will think I'm "KY"... Coping with different cultures is hard :(