Konnichi Wa

Yes! I did it! I had dinner at a sushi place that had a conveyor belt! I'm in heaven!

For those of you that don't know what I mean, I have heard about these sushi restaurants in Tokyo where you sit down at the "bar" or counter and there is a little conveyor belt that wraps around the bar. The sushi chefs prepare plates of sushi almost at random and just place it on the conveyor belt and you take whatever plates you want. Each plate has a different color in order to tell the price. It was amazing! Not only was the sushi awesome, but I was able to try some different types. I had the usual salmon, and tuna but I also had pink shrimp, squid, and a couple types of fish that I have never had before. The great thing about this is, if you are brave enough, you can just grab something that you have no clue what it is and try it.



Ok, I may have an obsession with sushi. I have had it for every meal except for breakfast since arriving in Tokyo. I had it for dinner last night, I even had it for lunch at my high school visit, and then with the sushi tonight for dinner...I plan on going back for dinner tomorrow too. What can I say? For those of you that remember my last trip to Tokyo, I was sick for the last day of the two day visit and I never had sushi. I was really disappointed so I'm just trying to make up for lost time now.

Today I only had one school visit but it was cool because it was Japan Day at the school, which is an all girls school so they were all wearing traditional kimono's. One of the girls I met with was wearing her grandmothers handmade kimono, it was beautiful, they really are very elegant. I guess we are pretty lucky at Northeastern University, I didn't get to visit this school in the fall but we still received 5 applications from them, more than any other school in the U.S. received from them.

After my visit I decided to walk back to my hotel (I'm staying at the Grand Hyatt hotel, which usually is way out of my league, but because I am hosting my reception there, this is a one time exception, this is also the hotel from "Lost in Translation"). It is only about a 20 minute walk but it really allows me to explore the city a bit. I love Tokyo, it is such a beautiful city. The streets are very narrow but so beautiful because almost all of the streets have some sort of flora, but this time of year is especially beautiful because the cherry blossoms are out and amazing! There are so many trees lining the street, it is awesome!



I am also staying in Roppongi which is one of the bigger expat communities so there are plenty of signs in English around here. I walked around the area for about 2 hours before I had dinner.

When I am in Asia I eat a lot of Asian cuisine (obviously, see all of my previous posts) but breakfast is always different. Occasionally I will have breakfast in the hotel before I head out in order to have a good meal but most times I try to find a coffee shop around the hotel and 9 times out of 10 its a Starbucks, believe it or not its one way for me to be able to stay within my budget because I can usually get my breakfast for a fraction of the cost of a breakfast in the hotel.

This blog has focused a lot on the food and travel aspects of my job but one thing I don't think I mention is the people I meet. One reason why I love my job is that when I walk into a school, even a new school that I have never been to before, the guidance counselor and I are like old school buddies. At all of the good schools the experience of talking with the counselors is what makes my travel so enjoyable. Lots of visits will include a meal where we talk about more than just education and sometimes it even turns into drinks after work. It only gets better after each visit. As I am now on my third trip to Asia there are some counselors that I really look forward to seeing again and catching up with. Many of the most friendly are in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok, this may be why I love visiting these cities the most.

Well its time for bed for me, but tomorrow morning is another day of walking around Tokyo, an Admitted Student Reception and of course sushi!