I guess it's Thanksgiving

Turkey Day has come and gone in this far away land of lackluster American holidays. Of course, Japanese don't question the arbitrary tendency to celebrate Christmas, a holiday with absolutely no religious or cultural significance and in fact is more similar to Valentines Day. Surely the Japanese have heard of the brutal sabotage of the Native Americans and how Pilgrims single-handedly destroyed any sense of their heritage other than the reservations they deign to live on. But, I guess today is a day where our bellies are too full to realize how bringing up the white man's burden created a whole new sense of American history.

It would be nice to have some turkey, though. Alas, there is not a single oven in this country that could fit a full-bodied bird. We expats resort to the comforts of rice balls salted with tears and Korean BBQ drinking parties. The memory of sweet potatoes and corn bread is almost as distant as Native American culture in the U.S., sparse and sedated with alcohol.