ninjaB

I was once stopped in the street and they asked to see my gaijin card. From what I believe, they have every right to - we are by law supposed to carry that with us at all times.

Luckily we often have the ability to duck out of such things by being who we are. Hurray!

OK a serious topic now. How do all you intelligents feel about the future of the Japanese economy. The time I have been here, I've seen it fall from the heights of the bubble (when businessmen were making decicions that no-one in their right mind would) to the pathetic stagnation and shrinking of the last 5 years or so. With some investments here and a love of the country (not to mention me living here a long time and being settled so to speak), I often wonder just where it is all going and can't see much to be optimistic about. Any thoughts?

Snowboarding

I know it's early yet, but nothing like looking ahead and getting excited about something in the near future. I am looking forward to getting some new gear and hitting the slopes at least 20 times.

I went to a wedding last week. Expensive affair - there were some wierd things going on like that other person mentioned earlier in this thread. Lots of very pissed people and a terrible enforced karaoke session near the end " title="" src="graemlins/cry.gif" /> . I hate karaoke with all my heart.

Karate

Very funny