Really? XD I guess I'm just used to it now. Fried chicken is really popular, especially stuff called "karaage" But I was really surprised that they sell corn dogs at convenience stores (and they call them "American dogs". ) You can find all sorts of foods at convenience stores so I visit them a lot.

Ugh, yeah. This is very true. Not even just politics, any bad news article that I see people get worked up over frustrates me. Science and health articles do that all the time. First there's usually a legitimate study that shows there might be a small chance of X, then suddenly a popular news site publishes an article deceptively rewording the results, if it properly mentions the study at all. The headline reads "Scientists find proof of X! Possible cure for cancer!!" =/ I try to be critical of news articles and sources before I jump to conclusions, but even reputable news outlets resort to bad tactics sometimes.

Well, I guess I should rephrase that. My home "town" does qualify as a city (there's about 20,000 people living there now) but there were only about 6,000 in the old city limits when I first moved there almost 20 years ago. It's pretty near one of the larger cities in Washington state, so I can't say I grew in the middle of nowhere. Still, it's small enough that I would often run into people I knew at my local supermarket.

Now, I live in a city of 1 million people, which has definitely been a change of pace. But Sendai is pretty green and not terribly crowded, so it's been easier to adjust than I thought it would be. Keep in mind Seattle only has a population of about 500,000 people, so I'm kind of surprised. But the city is pretty spread out, with only the central downtown area being congested. Interestingly, I run into people I know a lot here too. Size doesn't seem to matter. Is that the same for where you live?