Hello there

The book is great. I thoroughly enjoyed the information presented and had a good laugh at some of the anecdotes the author, P. Sean Bramble, told to get the peculiar points across.
I've always been fascinated with Japan ever since I started watching Robotech, or actually Macross, and also visiting Japantown in San Francisco when I was younger. Admittedly I had many chances in high school and in college to learn the language but I never did anything about it. :( Over the years I would catch many Japanese shows, live action and anime and again have always been annoyed at myself for learning the language and culture. About two weeks ago, my wife was watching this show called Densha Otoko and I suddenly got hooked into the show and it renewed my interest to learn the language and culture. By the way I thoroughly enjoyed Densha Otoko, both the TV series and the movie. I know the story is wishy washy but I really can identify with the main character. Seeing some outdoor scenes got me really excited to visit Japan so lately I've been reading some travel information online. So yesterday Friday I told my wife I wanted to head to the bookstore after work to buy the Lonely Planet guide. As you can tell, I ended buying the "Culture Shock!: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette, Japan" book along with "Berlitz Japanese Compact Dictionary". I forgot why I decided against buying the Lonely Planet guide book. :) When we were at the bookstore, Kinokuniya in Liang Court, Singapore, I saw so many books that my wife suggested I also get a compact dictionary for our upcoming trip to Japan. I remember reading online at 4-ch.net about some posts about Japanese culture that I thought buying the Culture Shock book would be cool because all the information would be in one place rather than having to search and read from various sources. My wife didn't see interest in the book, but I knew it would be a very educational and fun read. I started reading it the minute I got home but couldn't finish because it was getting late and I felt sleepy, not because of the book though. :) I finished the book the next day.
Some memorable parts...
1. CVs are hand written, on my gosh! I can't imagine hand writing my resume for each job.
2. The supposed long work hours of salarymen. I can't imagine staying late for the sake of staying late, but according to the anecdotes there are people who do that!
3. The author revealing a bit about himself as I read more. I really read the book from front to back and also didn't know anything about "P. Sean Bramble". Also this book was shrink wrapped, which Kinokuniya is famous for doing, and there weren't any display copies for checking it out. But I have to say just as the book is about introducing and alleviating the culture shock of learning about Japan, I saw the same thing in learning about the author. One thing though I haven't figured out is the UK spelling he uses when it is finally revealed that he is an American.
4. He recommends reading "Rising Sun" by Michael Crichton. I read that book several years back and that was also an enjoyable read learning about Japanese culture.
I find Mr Bramble to be a very educated, thorough(especially the story he revealed in finding a day care for his daughter) and capable(for being able to move from America to Japan and starting a life and family there) person. If Mr Bramble ever writes a second book, Culture Shock! Japan is his first, I like to give some ideas:
1. Write about his JET experience, starting with how he learned about it to where he is now because of it
2. This might be sensitive and requires permission, but I would be glad to learn more about his life in Japan, his family and how he's raising his daughter. I have a friend who is in a similar situation. He's from America(read: white), has a Japanese wife and a son from the marriage and is currently living in Japan. He blogs and it's very educational when I read entries about his family especially about his adventures in caring for his son. It's very educational, full of life and just wonderful to learn about him and his family and in the process understand myself and who I am.
Now I gotta get back to learning Japanese as I mentioned in my New Year's resolution. :)

1. Wake up early, probably won't be able to do this all the time, but will take baby steps. :)

2. work on my own things, such as teaching or building something

3. learn Chinese (actually re-learn) and Japanese