As I went outside to throw away my "Nama gomi" or "Organic garbage" I thought about some of the comforts of home that I miss. Japan may one of the most advanced nations in the world, but man, they are seriously lagging in some ways.

The garbage disposal. I love that thing. They've gotta figure a way to introduce it to the general Japanese public. Throw organic garbage like egg shells into the sink, push em down the drain, flip the switch and hear the carnage. Then again, I can't remember anybody in college having a garbage disposal. What I do remember is a friend of mine advocating drain-o as a liquid garbage disposal.

Central heating. Could have used that this past winter. I tell ya, a space heater doesn't cut it when it's 0 degrees fahrenheit outside even if your windows are quadruple paned (like mine). Actually I could have used central heating this past spring and fall too. Summer wasn't included because it seems that Hokkaido doesn't have one of those.

And of course, the George Foreman grill. Seems like American infomercials are always playing on some channel here in Japan. But the George Foreman grill informercial is not included on that list. When I went home last year, I thought about bringing one over, but then I remembered that the electrical output is different. I didn't want to mess up the delicate settings of the George Foreman grill and get one huge black grill mark across the entire chicken breast.