Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

What is HSS, you ask? I'll get to that, but first off, let me give all the credit for naming 'HSS' to my good friend Kato (aka #2), who brilliantly coined the phrase today. And secondly, let me tell you that I'm definitely suffering from it right now.

  Symptoms of HSS include (but are not limited to):

  -generalized crankiness
  -much whining about not being around family and friends
  -excessive intake of anything chocolate or other 'comfort' foods
  -intense complaining about the height (or lack thereof) of countertops here in Japan
  -feelings of lonliness to the extent that one even purports to miss the annoying family dogs
  -random outbursts of tears, usually followed by the phrase 'I want to go home!'
  -comparing Japanese bobtail monster cat unfavorably to sweet American cats every time she BITES ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! NIP! NIP! NIP! 
  -the desire to hop on a flight back 'home' asap

  If you haven't already figured it out, HSS stands for, yes, HomeSickness Syndrome. Hopefully I'll be suffering a little less in a few days, seeing as it's always worse the first week or so after one gets back from visiting home and the fam. And, luckily for her, Wasabi is just too cute to give away. Although she has been thrown out from under the covers more than once the past few nights!

                             Our little chunker passed out by the space heater

         Wasabi trying out for the contortionist position at the local circus

                                     Singing along to Maroon 5

            Chomping on Sock Monster