My first day as a Mansfield Fellow at my first placement–the Ministry of Communication of Japan. There are obvious things like, 50 people working in a small room at desks crammed next to each other, that should make me feel dramatic differences between the FCC and MIC.

However, I am surprised that nothing seemed all that different. Alot of people working together on subjects that maybe one in ten family members have a chance of understanding the immediate significance of. [yes I like dangling participles..] A room full of nerd lawyers, engineers, and economists can only support a certain limited set of new conversations I suppose..

I’m really looking forward to this year. I’ve been in Japan for two months and it’s already been a total blast.