My JET-set fraternity-brother Matt lived for a while in what could perhaps best be described as the outskirts of the fringes of the suburbs of a city (Sendai) you had never heard of until the recent environmental disasters.  The name of Matt’s town, as far as I can remember, was Myagi-ken.  When I say it was far out…

But being far removed from a major urban area doesn’t make the place bad (unless you had to live there in the dead of winter… sorry Matt).  The first night I was at Matt’s place, a couple of co-workers from his school randomly showed up with sake and Suntory.

So, being in Japan, we did exactly what we stereotypically should have: drank and played Mario Kart.  One man got drunk enough to pass out and have offensive things drawn on his face in permanent marker.  Luckily that man was neither Matt nor I, but one good friend of a man named “Playboy Tanaka“ who looks great in snowboarding glasses.  It was just like college.

To top off my introductory experience with rural Japan, I woke up the next morning to a town covered in snow.  After about ten minutes of walking barefoot in the snow, I ran back inside and started a website that I would call MonkBoughtLunch.  Perhaps I should have gone with “Wild Nights with Playboy Tanaka” instead?