Since it hasn't really been brought up all that much yet, I'd like to cover something in particular. In the end, we were bringing someone who we didn't know firsthand to the US for some 4 days' worth of fun and excitement with which he wasn't entirely familiar. Still, Mizuki-san proved to be friendly, sociable, polite, patient, understanding, open-minded, amicable, appreciative, generous, good humored, a good sport, and is indeed quite experienced with the about the whole anime/manga/video game scene to boot. We really couldn't ask anything more from a guest. It allowed the entire weekend to go off without a hitch. He's also well-spoken and articulate, which allowed our dogged translator to easily turn over any information. It also allowed anyone with knowledge of the language to pick up on the conversation.
Story time ahead filled with notable events and such will be for later when I have more writing time. Ugh. I miss the people already, too.
Edit: My work inbox contains more than 300 messages. Back to reality!