The good news is, I'm not allergic to fish (I don't think). The bad news is, I don't like "fishy" taste. I'm not opposed to fish in principle, I just really dislike things that stink really badly like fish (for example, salmon USUALLY tastes okay to me but I can't stand its smell). I am typically a person willing to try most things - and indeed when I was in Spain I stayed on the northern coast and they were very proud of the fresh fish they served, so I made sure to try everything. It was funny trying to explain to my host family that I think the fish tasted fine, but that I didn't have much of a frame of reference for comparison AND that my stomach still objected psychologically.

Currently I'm trying out vegetarianism (while still eating eggs and yoghurt/cheese) for a number of reasons, but I'm not opposed to "when in Rome"-ing when I travel. I mean, this is probably at least two years in the future, but I'm looking into exchange programs and host families, and as a current teacher am considering teaching in Japan. I'm coordinating with the woman at my school who teaches Japanese in hopes we can collaborate on a class together next year, so that I can develop my writing skills while also assisting students, and naturally some speaking.

Regardless of what the future holds for longer-term, I WILL be going over there within the next 5 years. I'm not a very patient person for these types of things!