I’m back in Cluj. (It’s pronounced like “kludge”) Yes, it’s an ironic place to locate a software company. They know, They’ve heard all the jokes. I think this place is probably beautiful in the spring and summer when the trees are full of leaves and the winter grime has vanished from the streets. At the moment, however, I am faced with dead trees and filthy cars.

Actually, much the same is true of the Romanian women. From the glimpses I catch, there seem to be a lot of cute girls in this town, but during the winter they are buried under four layers of clothes and fur, so I can’t really be sure.

I have to come back when it’s warm.

Last night I discovered that I like Turkish food. I never knew I did. (And no, I’m not talking abut the cloyingly sweet desert for which this post in named! Can’t stand that stuff.)

In fact I always considered Turkish food to be either too heavy and greasy or too spicy and greasy like like those damn street kabobs. Turns out I only dislike bad Turkish food. I just hope I can find good Turkish food somewhere other than Istanbul.

Now, it’s back to cold, cold Romania.

I thought I was going to be in Romania on business today, but the Transylvanian winters are cold, so my two colleagues and I caught a plane to Turkey for the weekend.

It’s early morning and I’m stilling in a hotel lobby in Istanbul waiting for my two friends to go sight-seeing. Ilker’s a Turk, so the two of us are relying on him not to get us too hopelessly lost.

If you don’t hear from me for a few days, send reinforcements.

… and while we’re on the subject of health. It’s kind of Amazing that Americans will ignore all kinds of real health dangers, but invent all kinds of diseases that are not real.

A friend sent me an article about the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which is the psychiatrists bible. If can’t sleep after you drink too much coffee, you are not an idiot, you have
292.89: Caffeine-Induced Sleep Disorder F15.8, and of course there is a mind-altering drug available.

It also turns out that your kid is not a disobedient, ill-mannered brat, but has a combination of 313.81: Oppositional Defiant Disorder F91.3 and 312.8: Conduct Disorder F91. The recommended treatment, of course, is not grounding or a good spanking, but drugs to alter the child’s brain chemistry.

It’s as if life itself has become some kind of medical condition.

In 20 years the Japanese will be just as fat as today’s super-sized Americans — although by that time the Americans will be even fatter.

A few years ago I blogged about my shock over the popularity of the McGriddle in America (seriously people, its not food) but it has turned into a best seller here in Japan as well. They have also introduced the MegaMac here in Japan. It’s basically a Big Mac with a two extra patties, and they literally can’t keep it in stock.

Two years ago Krispy Kreme opened its first outlet here and the lines are still hundreds of people long. An unending flow of petite 45kg Japanese girls wait for an hour in the cold to get to the front of the line and and then scurry off with their box of dozen glazed donuts: each one ready to cite without a hint of irony the conventional wisdom about how healthy the Japanese diet is.

Most nauseating and vile of all, however, has to be Pizza Hut’s new special crust. (I think this is a Japan only thing, but I could be wrong.) The outside rim othe the pizza crust is actually made from detachable, rolls or cheese that have been battered and deep-fried, and it comes with maples syrup that you are supposed to pour over the crust before eating.

The Japanese are currently the longest-lived people on Earth. I wonder if the next generation will be able to claim the same title.

Or I suppose “Barbarian Back Up” is more appropriate.

So much has changed (and all for the better) since my last posting, I don’t know where I would start or when I would stop. I’ll just let the info trickle out over the coming posts. (Yes, they are coming. I’ve been quite delinquent in my posting for the past few months, but that will change.)

For me the New Years Holidays are a time I sit down and write down my goals for the coming year, and look back at last years goals to see how I did. It’s amazing how things always work out.

They never work out like I expect them to, but they always work out.

I hope we all are going to have fantastic 2008!