Nature's alarm clock.

Since coming to Japan, I've been getting up at around 6 every day--not because I'm an early morning go-getter, but because this place is infested with noisy, insufferable insects. Hundreds of cicadas inhabit the area surrounding our apartment, and these suckers are loud. I've never seen anything quite like it. The din is just as clamorous and constant as the pachinko parlor pinball machines, except this sounds more like an alien in heat and comes from the tree outside my window. I thought Japan was supposed to be tranquil and Zen-like?

Last night we got our keitai denwa (cell phones). It took four hours, but now we have them way before most other JETs! We circumvented Japan's fancy pants rules and regulations... take that, bureaucracy! Fun fact: Many Japanese cell phone ads feature extremely well-known American celebrities. I doubt the likes of Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt would normally hawk text-messaging plans, but they seem to have no such qualms here in Japan. Anything for a quick buck!