Enjoy refreshing taste in relaxing time

The pouring rain in Kyoto, Japan caused me to seek refuge inside a McDonald's. Well, that, and I hadn't eaten in some time. There was a cardboard cut-out of a man holding a tray of food that was much too close for me. He is named Mr. James and he is the biggest nerd I have ever seen. His comb-over has to be the greasiest, most nasty looking hairstyle known to mankind. Mr. James' job is to promote a new sandwich; what a fulfilling life that must be.

I made it to Kyoto alone, completely relying on my own devices and when I saw the tall, needle-like tower that stands next to the station, a combined rush of excitement and pride flew through me.

My Japanese is slowly improving though trying to get control of the language is like trying to tame a wild grizzly bear. From my seat in the wonderful American restaurant, I could see a construction site across the street with a sign that read, "Kyoto Yodobashi Camera Project." Below this strange description were two small digital marquees with rapidly changing two digit numbers. Next to this was a chart with ranges of numbers and more descriptions all in Japanese. I was able to deduce that the numbers were decibels and the ranges were describing similarly loud situations from "jet engine" to "office room." It is the tiny victories such as these that keep me going.