After living almost a decade in Japan I am still being surprised by what I find here. Oh sure, I don't have that brat locked in a toystore feeling like I had during my first days in Tokyo. Sometimes when I hear newly arrived foreigners marveling about something here I find myself surprised by their surprise. Yet occasionally something new pops up even for me. Take what happened to me yesterday. I was eating lunch in a neighborhood "izakaya".( a traditional Japanese restaurant.) I suddenly noticed a large shelf lined with at least 50 bottles of "Shochu". (Something like sake only much stronger) What caught my eye were the labels attached to the bottles. On each label there was a Japanese last name. I was told that locals here will buy a whole bottle and then drink from it during several visits.

Coming soon to a bookstore near you..........

I was in the kitchen today making coffee when my mother in law- in that all together unpleasant way of hers- pointed out that I had dropped roughly 1 and a half coffee grounds on the floor. ( ok ......If you looked really, REALLY hard you could probably have made out 2 whole coffee grounds.) Instantly, in the privacy and safety of my own mind I came up with yet another nickname for the....... for my ...ah...... mother in law.... " Old Eagle Eyes." You cannot imagine my surprise when- no more then 2 minutes after this happening, I was sitting in front of my computer and the first news article I came across on the site that is on my homepage was a story about the Air Force's new anti-terrorist program...."Eagle Eyes"."The Eagle Eyes program is an anti-terrorism initiative that enlists the eyes and ears of Air Force members and citizens in the war on terror." What a coincidence! You know, come to think of it, this might make a great subject for a coffee table book. ( The subject being coincidences, not my mother in law or the Eagle Eyes program.) Here is another strange coincidence that I experienced. I was teaching this english class. It was a private lesson. I asked the student, "When is your birthday?" He replied that his birthday was on Jan. 21. I said," Wow! My birthday is on Jan. 22! " Right after that class, I had another private lesson. Of course, I asked the student the same question. His answer? " Jan. 23"! You out there in cyberspace! If you experienced some interesting coincidences , please post a comment about them. Send me some material for my forthcoming book......"The Great Book of Coincidences."

This is one well written editorial. Short and to the point.

Les loups de Guantanamo, par Eric Fottorino
LE MONDE | 12.01.06

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I found an interesting story the other day in the BBC journalist John Simpson's book.( News From No Man's Land) "It was early in the morning, and I was sick of the thought of another hard-boiled egg. People were walking out of the kitchen eating fried eggs with Afghan bread, and I asked for one too.
"Oh no, sir," said Rahman Beg. " No fried egg."
"Don't give me that, Rahman Beg. I want one."
"No fried egg, sir. I am sorry. No is fried egg today. Have nice cup of tea."
My temper, never very far from the surface in the mornings, especially when I am hungry and haven't yet had a cup of tea, nice or otherwise, exploded.
"Don't be so fucking stupid, Rahman Beg. What do you think all those people are eating out there?Sheep' testicles? I want a fried egg and I want it now."
" Very sorry , sir. Rahman Beg is thinking you are saying "Friday". Is Thursday today sir. Have nice fried eggs, sir.You will like." "
This reminds me of two experiences I have had recently. I was teaching an English class at a Sony building in Tokyo. It was this god awful early class. It started at 7:50 am and yet one student was always in the classroom when I got there at 7:30. One day I asked her why she arrived so early. She said that she got there so early because she needed to take a bath. It wasn't until a few weeks latter that I came to understand that she had wanted to say that she needed to"take a bus" . Likewise, another student gave me much to ponder about when he answered the question "what is your best friend like ?" with "He is the most opportunistic person in the world." I finally realized that he had mixed up the word "optimistic" with the word "opportunistic".