One thing I did not expect about going to Japan was how popular unicycles are. It was so weird being in the teacher's lounge, looking out the window and seeing kids at recess just zipping by on unicycles. Every kid in Japan learns to ride a unicycle. It is just a universal fact and a part of growing up in Japan. I think the coolest unicycle trick I saw was watching two girls holding hands and spinning together synchronized in a circle.

It is so very much ingrained in the Japanese experience that one teacher refused to believe that I couldn't ride a unicycle. I tried to explain that unicycles are just not an American thing and I've never been on a unicycle in my life! She was bound and determined to get my butt on a unicycle!

Her attitude was very much like “Oh don't be modest! I'm sure you remember how to ride a unicycle!” So finally one day it's like okay, let's try. They have these training bars to hang on to for the little kids who are just learning. So, here's the unicycle between the training bars. Teacher grinning from ear to ear. Okay, here's goes nothing.

I hop on and immediately start falling forward. Luckily I grabbed the training bars so I didn't faceplant. Her smile dimmed and she remarked. “Oh. You really don't know how to ride a unicycle do you?”