Hello friends. Dogentricks.com here. There are three things I would like to write about tonight.

First and most importantly, I’ve changed the contents in the ‘about the author’ section of this website such that my birth name is noted ‘Dogentricks.com,’ which I think is rather comical.

Secondly, a large group of my friends have left UW. As I write this, 30 kind, Japanese people are sitting on a plane, watching Kung Fu Panda for the 4th time (the 1st through 3rd being on their flight to the Seattle three weeks ago). Kung Fu Panda, for those of you who haven’t seen it, is actually quite comical and heartwarming. I recommend it to everyone, just give yourself 3 weeks between every 3 viewings.

I was approached by a nice girl named Yuriko at the Narita Airport during my last day in Japan and asked, “”You’re from Keio right? I saw you in the cafeteria talking to my friend once.”" Afraid that I was about to be accused for the end of a beautiful 10 year friendship, I cautiously answered, “”Yes, I’ve been there..”" A short conversation entailed; low and behold I’m on the same plane home as a group of students from Keio, coming to study at UW. Nice.

It’s very interesting coming back to America after spending a year in Japan. It’s especially strange coming back to America after living with a Japanese family for 5 months and being told on a regular basis, “”Kevin, you are Japanese”" in respect to behavior and attitude. For better or for worse, Japan changed me – a lot. Coming back to America was just as foreign as my first trip to Japan. Reverse culture shock, it’ll get you!

But I’m glad to say I had a fantastic group of friends to help me adjust to this very strange place I call home. For the first time in my life I did tours of Seattle, went downtown without a purpose, and even went to the first ever Starbucks. OK, the starbucks part is a lie. 行く訳ないじゃん。Anyway, I had a group of foreigners just like me (?) to help me readjust to English, an American city, and an American way of life. And just now I can finally say, “Yea, you know what, it’s not too bad here after all.”

I want to thank all the exchange students that came to Seattle for the past 3 weeks. Hats off to Yuriko, Daiki, Yui, Mami, Taka, Tama-chan (帰ろうか？w), Tomoyo, Rei, and everyone else that put up with my nonsense. Hope everyone had a great time in Seattle, I know I did. Looking forward to meeting again in the god-awful Japanese summer heat. Nice.

Before I move on to point three I’d like to mention I just finished eating my first double decker peanut butter sandwich since coming back to the states, which should firmly disenchant any belief that I actually was Japanese.

Third, writing. How ironic of me, I’m about to talk about writing and began the paragraph with a grammatically incorrect sentence. Blasphemy, surely. Here’s the deal, I actually wrote about three books (two short, one of considerable length) during my stay in Japan. It’s made me realize how much I truly love writing and the possibilities that words entail. It is quite magical if you think about it – the way you line up characters can bring someone to tears or even inspire them to learn a foreign language.

I received a lot of indirect support for my writing over the past year and have recently decided I’m going to do my best to explore my abilities in English, and in Japanese. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be good enough to write for a living. Maybe one day I’ll be good enough to write for a double decker peanut butter sandwich.

Maybe.