I am a victim of Obamania

Okay, the Obama comparisons have got to stop. Since the election I have been told by several Japanese people how much I look like POTUS. I mean, what the rock!???

Full disclosure: the other day on Skype, my sister did say that she could kind of see what they were talking about - something about the low resolution, the skinny neck and the sticky-out ears. I don't know.

But today's little incident took the cake: I was up visiting our research centre in a little rural village a few hundred k's outside of Tokyo, waiting to cross the street at a pedestrian crossing. Opposite me stood a little group of junior-high-school kids (a clutch? a gaggle? a murder!) who looked over at me and gradually started nudging each other and suppressing little giggles. Kind of par for the course when you're a non-Japanese in these parts.

But then when the lights change and I walk past them, one of the little runts plucks up his courage and bold as brass declares, "Yes, we can!" much to the group's (murder's) delight.

I will grudgingly admit that his comic timing was perfect and my eye roll was accompanied by a healthy dose of lol's. But still, c'mon...