My coworker Takeshi spent a year in an Indiana town of 2,700 people. Last week, he let me scroll through his phone's search history from that year. It's the best thing I've ever read about America. WEEK 1 "is indiana safe" "why did my neighbor bring me a pie" "what did I do to deserve pie" "how to return a pie plate politely" WEEK 3 "is it rude not to wave back at every truck" "why is everyone waving" "do I know these people" MONTH 2 "why does an entire town go to a high school basketball game" "what is a hoosier" "nobody in indiana knows what a hoosier is" MONTH 3 "man asked how I'm doing, then waited for the answer. what do I do" "how to explain my whole life to a cashier" MONTH 5 "how to say no to a grandmother offering a third plate" "you cannot say no to a grandmother offering a third plate" MONTH 6 "neighbor mowed my lawn while I was at work. I did not ask. how to repay" "how to repay a man who refuses all repayment" "japanese gifts for a man named Wendell" MONTH 8 "is it normal to cry at a high school basketball game" "is it normal to cry at a high school basketball game if you do not know any of the players" MONTH 11 "how to say goodbye to americans" "why do americans say goodbye four times" "can you mail a basketball hoop to japan" LAST NIGHT IN INDIANA "how to tell a man who only says 'yep' that you will miss him" He never found the answer. So at the airport, he just bowed to Wendell. Wendell said, "Yep." Then he pulled Takeshi into a hug so hard his glasses went crooked, and said, very quietly, "Door's open, son." Takeshi has been home for six months now. These days, I asked, what does he search for? He turned his phone around. "new neighbor from overseas. how to make him feel welcome" A family from Peru moved in next to him in Tokyo last month. He brought them a pie. He had no idea how to make one. He searched that too.