( note : often I ca n't stand Americans who pretend to know everything about Japan and Japanese people / culture , so I usually try to avoid acting that way myself , but for serious , really , I do feel like I have a bit of experience here ) . I enjoyed the previous Japan school visits I ' ve done , though , so I was looking forward to it . After some formalities from the principle , we went off to visit classes .

A: Why does the narrator express anger at some Americans despite being American ?

I maintained that temperature for 10 minutes ( according to McGee 's instructions ) before moving the pan to a cold water bath and lowering the temperature to 115 degrees , at which point I mixed in 3 tablespoons of our favorite commercial yogurt from Seven Stars Farm . I poured the mix into a warm quart jar and placed the jar in a cooler with a heavy pot full of hot water . I placed an instant - read thermometer in the cooler , aiming to maintain a temperature of about 115 degrees . Turned out I did n't need to do anything further .

A: Why did they place a thermostat in the cooler ?

We thought Victor might clam up in his presence , but he did not and it became apparent through sign language that this man was also not concerned about recriminations for talking about the pollution . In fact it appeared that the entire commune was so fed up with the poison seeping through their night and day that they were totally fearless as to any consequences caused by their speaking out . This was highly refreshing . We ' ve never encountered people willing to be so open to talk about their problems before .

A: What is the reason there would be recriminations for speaking up about pollution ?

Brooke 's Bridal Shower yesterday was a huge bust . I got there around 5 pm & all these ladies were just sitting around the coffee table & barely saying a word . WEIRD . A bunch of duds .

A:
Why were the people around the coffee table acting like duds ?