The biggest thing I realized after the first week in Japan, is that I HAVE to learn basic Japanese. I can’t point, smile and nod my way through the dozens, hundreds (probably not hundreds) of weeks that I’m going to be here. I feel like an idiot and I probably look like one. Greetings, numbers, foods, directions, basic conversation is a must. No one speaks English, but at least all of the menus at restaurants have pictures of every food item they serve, otherwise I’d be really screwed. The second biggest thing I realized is that there are a lot of Japanese people here. Obviously, right? But, I mean A LOT. I can walk around the city of Yokohama, a city with millions of people, for hours, and not see another non-Japanese person. What other major cities in the world can you walk around and see only one nationality? New York, London, Rio de Janiero, Hong Kong, I don’t think so. Japan is not a melting pot like the US, it has less than 1% non-Japanese people inside the country, and it’s obvious. I’m certainly not blending in, but I had no delusions that I ever would.