I love Japan. Let's just get that out there, for those of you who didn't already know the obvious. I leave, spend time in other countries, tell myself it doesn't bother me that I have yet to be assigned to Tokyo. But, then I have an occasion to visit and, let's face it, I get sad. Yes, I'm excited to be headed to Vietnam in 2016, and sure if I lived here there would be crazy things I'd remember that annoy me (just like in any place!) ... but Japan just has a special place in my heart.
Today I walked out of my hotel, went about two blocks, and pulled out my gloves because it was a tad nippy. Except I only had one glove. My fingers are long, relative to the general American population, so this was more than a bit of a bummer, since it took me (and Greg - the winning ones were a Christmas present) quite some time to find them. But, then I remembered that I had worn my gloves walking home last night from dinner, so there was a chance I had dropped it in the hotel. Which meant there was a chance I could retrieve it on my return from brunch.
This being Japan, of course the glove was there. And, not only was the glove there, but the second I walked up to the bell captain's desk, with just one black leather glove in my hand, before I could even utter a word, he looked at me with a huge smile. I started to ask, but he just said, "one moment please!" He walked over to the lobby captain's desk, returning my glove, with such happiness as if reuniting my left glove with the right was the absolute best thing he was going to have accomplished all day.
How can one not love Japan, with vignettes like that?
