Counting down until the trip home...

Well, not actually.  But it's coming up pretty soon.  This time the question of travel insurance came up.  I've never bought travel insurance, but my wife felt she needed to.  She's very relieved about having it.  I'm still thinking it over and may wait until we're at the airport to make up my mind.

My first international flight was here to Japan.  Ten years ago.  They say time flies, but it's more accurate to say I do.  Flying is one of my least favorite activities.  It's twelve to thirteen hours of physical discomfort and stale air, plus people are actively rude to you.  And that's if everything goes as planned.  Unplanned alternatives include being stuck inside the plane like a prisoner for half the day while the pilots wait for clearance, or a long mechanical delay or-- worst case-- a falling-leaf pattern tumble from 35,000 feet into the Pacific, lost without a trace.

Yesterday one of my conversation class students asked me about air pockets.  Some of our senior high kids are going to the UK for a three-week homestay and I've been helping them with their English.  The flight is on some of their minds now, though.  It's like standing in line for a roller coaster.  The anticipation is tinged with just a bit of fear.  He said something about zero gravity.

Now there's something to think about.  I once experienced about fifteen minutes of violent turbulence (violent to my mind, anyway) over Canada.  The plane shook and vibrated and we passengers rattled around like the last few peanuts in the can.  While the person next to me seemed perfectly relaxed, my imagination-- honed from years of flaming pseudo-death in various flight simulator games and a love for books documentaries about aviation history and airline disasters-- had me clutching the seatback in front of me in a white-fingered grip.  Well, at least until the flight attendant asked me to secure the runaway cart she couldn't reach from her jumper seat where she was strapped in for relative safety.  It's nice not to fall to the cabin floor, so much less effective in preventing your descent to the ocean's.  Eventually the pilots announced they were changing altitude and things smoothed out.

But no, I told the concerned student, I've never experienced an air pocket.  Have you?  No, he replied, but a friend of his did and it made quite an impression.  Like stepping into a hole or falling off a trampoline and landing flat on your back in the grass.

Travel insurance won't prevent accident or illness, unless you're into magical thinking.  But I do think it's a good idea.  If knowing we're covered financially even in the event of food poisoning helps my wife hop on the plane with a smile on her face, then I'm all for it.

It's a pretty big burger... I guess...

O.M.G. Burgers (a hamburger restaurant in Kanagawa) touts a monster sandwich they call the Akebono Sumo Burger on their webpage.  It weighs approximately 6 pounds and comes with about 2 and a half pounds of fries.  If you manage to finish it, you win the equivalent of 300 USD and a t-shirt that proclaims to the world you ate half a cow.

Oh, and the burger is on the house.

For the ex-pat-- and the native-born as well-- Japan offers a wide variety of hamburger dining experiences.  You can try the classic taste of McDonald's (yes, yes I did), Burger King and Wendy's (they exited the Japanese market in 2009, but this December they're jumping back into the food fight with renewed vigor), plus the home-grown delights of Freshness Burger and Mos Burger.  If you're a fan of the manga Nana (and why aren't you?), you can try a Jackson Burger at Hachi's favorite place, Jackson Hole.  Which is a bar.

But not the original bar as seen in the comic book and movie.  In 2008, Jackson Hole moved from near the southern entrance of Chofu Station to new digs on the northern side, as some intrepid explorers in real-world manga locations have discovered.  Philosophers and those versed in mereological essentialism will have to debate whether or not a Jackson Burger in the new location is the same as a Jackson Burger at the old and if it presents a Ship of Theseus paradox.  I just know Hachi loves a Jackson Burger no matter where she sits to eat it.

As for me, a trip to O.M.G. Burgers is on my itinerary for the coming year.  After all, who wouldn't want to challenge the sumo burger, especially if there's a chance some bikers will be there to cheer you on?