Healthy Diet and 4/20

I have run into my first real health issue here. I am highly allergic to dairy, it makes me extremely sick. At home I read all labels, which is difficult enough, but here it is absolutely impossible. So far I have avoided the issue by eating stuff that couldn't possibly have dairy (whole foods).  I felt fantastic! Unfortunately I made the mistake of trusting someone else to check for me. It is common for teachers to eat the school lunches (they taste really good). The school was informed that I had a dairy allergy, but mistakes were made. It's been a rough week... I am still not feeling great, but Ben has brought me home the cure.


Japan has a zero drug policy. Illicit drugs are highly illegal. The penalty for possession of 0.1 g of marijuana is up to 5 years in Jail, and a up to a $300,000 fine. Unlike at home where the legality of marijuana is largely ignored, the drug law is enforced by the culture as well as by officers. Unfortunately Ben and I are now under some unwanted scrutiny because our hometown, Boulder, Colorado is in the news over here. There were news reports here on Wednessday that Boulder hosts the largest gathering of marijuana smokers in the world for 4/20. This lead to an extremely awkward discussion at one of my schools. One of the teachers approached me and informed me that there had been a report on the news about our home town. She told me that it might be a good idea for a while to not mention the name of my home town, and that I might experience a bit more mistrust in the town for a while. I hope that she was being overly dramatic, and I would like to think that the content of my character, (and the results of my drug test) would be enough to dissuade the rumors.