fugume
One of the first things I did in Japan was buy Sony's latest laptop, the Z1, and a cell modem for wireless internet from AirH. The purchases alone were a little tricky. For one thing I had to convince salespeople that I really did want to buy the computer. You see, it is only sold with Japanese language Windows, and my Japanese is pretty bad. I had to whip together an explanation, that I would be living in Japan for at least a year, and that while my Japanese was bad, I was pretty good with Windows. Luckily, "living in", "bad at", and "good at" are all bits of the language that you pick up very early on.
Still, even being pretty good with windows, hardware installation in a foreign language is scary. Here pictured are Japanese computer wizzes, Hisanagasan and Kawasakisan, who not only took me out for this delicious meal, but also helped me install and configure AirH. Big thanks guys! The Z1 and AirH are a great combo. I can get my email almost anywhere, without having to worry about finding a phone I can jack in to.
Hisanagasan also tried out the AirH card in his Sony Clie handheld, and it worked there too. I may eventually pick up one of those for when I don't want to carry the notebook with me. My Palm that I brought with me is serving as clumsy backup alarm clock.
Oh, and for the curious, the food we are in the middle of cooking is called monja. We also had okonomiyaki, one of my favorite foods in all of Japan. Both you commonly cook yourself on a table like the one shown. Very fun!