For some reason, being in a Ph.D. program

has made me want to write in lists all of the time, rather than paragraphs. So, in that spirit, here are some things that I have been up to this week.

1. I did my first Japanese-language interviews. It was less hard than I had feared, and I was able to improvise questions that my interview subjects understood, so that was good.

2. After doing the interviews, I met my old roommate in Tokyo and he took me out for some outstanding sushi, and then I and spent the night at his pad in an extremely desirable Tokyo neighborhood (Shibuya). When he told me what he paid, I got the impression that Tokyo rental prices are on par with Manhattan prices.

3. I have a meeting with a big professor next week, who should hopefully be able to introduce me to some more interview subjects.

4. I attended Rosh Hashanah services at the Tokyo JCC. They were a little bit less crowded than the last time I was in Japan, but there was still a nice crowd (around 60 or so, mostly expats). One of the new features since the last time I had attended services is that, while they had always done a prayer for Japan (that the leaders should be granted wisdom, etc.), in the past that prayer had been done in English, but now they do in in Japanese (and it is beautifully written). The rabbi is new, and he seemed good. The same Chabad rabbi is in town as the last time I was here, but I didn't see him since he was in the Sephardic Orthodox service that was being held in the library.

5. Perhaps the biggest news of all, Kate and I have finally gotten internet service in our home. We got a wireless router, so now we are both online, and it is awesome.

6. This weekend we will have dinner with Kate's grandmother's friend Rumi's brother-in-law at a tempura restaurant near Tokyo Station and we will have the American professor over to our house (the same guy that had us over last weekend).