Note: this first appeared in the magazine Being A Broad, where I write a monthly tip.  It was written with a Tokyo audience in mind, but hey...here it is anyway. 

Sometimes living in Japan can be so surreal that it literally feels like a dream.  Like that time you shared a beer with Little Bo Peep and ate octopus balls, and a guy on the street asked if he could have a strand of your hair, and also were your breasts real?  Because that was no dream.  This time in Japan may be a hiatus, or an adventure, or just be outside your comfort zone, but it isn’t time OUT of your real life—it IS your real life!  And not to kill your buzz, but it’s the only one you get.  So dive deep, kick up your heels, and suck the juice and marrow out of it.  And if you ever get a chance to hang out with Little Bo Peep, definitely go for it.