America is big and dirty!

This isn't quite a fair comparison; it might be like "comparing apples to oranges," which I've noticed my students like to say (which is code for "Why are we talking about this?" to which I want to exclaim "Because it keeps philosophers employed!"). But these are the streets with which I am familiar.

This is a small, two-way street deep inside of west Yokohama. There's a bus route that stops along here. I don't like it when my grandma jaywalks on this street. 

And here is Chicago's Fullerton Avenue. There are two lanes for each direction. Again, the 74 Fullerton bus is probably not the same as the 53 route that runs by my grandma's apartment, but still, we're talking about bus route streets. I don't like it when big families jaywalk on this street.

Since about high school, when I'd return home from Japan, the first thing I'd really notice and appreciate was the high ceilings of American homes. Lately when I return home from Japan, I feel like in addition to things like ceilings and streets, the sky seems bigger, too.

I walked with Mordecai and Mitsu on Christmas morning. We walked along Fullerton, where I took these pictures. Looking at them walking ahead of me, I remember thinking, "Damn, it's dirty here." Still, it is nice to be back home.