Pre-vacation post

Edit: Click HERE to see where I live. The cursor is on me! This feed must from awile ago as there are none of those big dirt spots left and the bridge is much nicer!

Ah, well Farva is gone to his new home for the next two weeks. My supervisor's son is going to take care of him. I miss the little bugger already!
Now I have to force feed myself the leftovers in my fridge!

Today, I made the best teaching tool yet. Tired of straining my voice over loud kids, I put my small staff locker keys in an empty aluminum bottle. And then I shake it. They stop in their tracks like dogs. Awesome, I don't even have to say anything.


I gave my supervisor a Christmas present of Jelly Bellys, blueberry tea, and candy canes for his family. I also wrote a ridiculous card saying things like, "Go to America and we'll eat Mexican food. Let's always be friends!" haha. but in Japanese, that's why it's so absurd.

This past weekend I went to Nagoya and ate at Hard Rock (oh yes finaly a veggie burger!) and added another pin to my large collection (it's a surfboard at that!). I bought an easy Christmas book to read to the kids, a book for myself, and a few things from the international food store, including Hello Kitty tea. It was just sitting at the register and was a complete impulse buy, how could I not?! I also saw my first James Bond movie, the latest one. It actually wasn't crap, and a good overall movie in fact. I did not care for the actress though, she was odd looking and didn't act very well. Anyways...
I also went to a vegetarian Chinese restaurant! I had 'chickn' and cashews, potstickers, ma-po tofu (with 'ground beef'), and snow'fish' and veggies. All was made with TVP. They even served brown rice, you could buy the TVP chunks there (and I did) and the guy was soooo nice. And the complimentary tea was great. My favorite was the fish, it was crunchy and blackened on the outside (looking like fish) and the sauce it was in was real nice to. The chickn was the runner up. I do love me some cashews. I am definitely going back. It is called Chien-Fu, although I also saw it written Chen Fu and Chan Fu.

I've taken a lot of photos, but mostly of food. Here are some recently;

From the Xmas party:


A seductive bird?


Sunset & cold mountains


Looks like a shrine used to be here, but now only the stone structures remain.


A 4th grader drew this for me:

pretty accurate I'd say...


I will have the internet while in Hong Kong... so maybe look for some photos in the next couple of weeks! Wish me a good trip!

E. Coli!

Before we get into things, I would just like to offer a little enlightenment to all.
Sake is pronounced sah-kay, not sa-key.
Sushi is not raw fish, but it refers to the vinegared rice, in which you can place raw fish, egg, veggies or anything else in or on it (the Japanese love adding mayo). Thinly sliced raw fish by itself with no rice, albeit smoked, is called sashimi (sah-she-me).
Now you know!


Let’s start off with the most recent news shall we?
First, my infection was caused by E. Coli. Awesome.
Second, I am allergic to the cold. It’s a real thing, it’s called Cold Urticaria.

I figured out I feel like a cat or dog in Japan. Hearing Japanese has become very natural and even though I may not understand them, I can hear and predict the speech patterns and such. So while your dog or cat does know some English words (its proven), over all its just nonsense that sounds a certain way. Does that make sense? Probably not.

The other day, it was 10 degrees Celsius. I had on 2 pairs of socks including knee highs, leg warmers, long johns, jeans, 2 long sleeve shirts, a dress shirt and a cardigan. Ok, it was cold. The school is cold. Even the “heated” teacher’s room isn’t that great. I look outside and these poor kids have to run around the track in t-shirts and shorts. I was then informed I was not allowed to wear gloves in the classroom (I told them I break out in spots so they said it was ok- due to the cold allergy). The kids aren’t allowed to wear gloves, the girls drape their swishy jogging top over their legs to keep warm. And yet the windows are open in the hallways. What is going on here?!

Speaking of things that don’t make sense, I went out to buy a new pillow to sleep on last night. Not a big deal, so you would think. Lets see, feather pillows, therapeutic awkward shaped pillows, temprapedic pillows, pillows with rocks in them (I’m not kidding)… Ok… where is just a normal pillow? Oh here’s one. Oh, its $30. So I ended up buying a body pillow for $9 to just use as one whole pillow across the top of my bed. It is overstuffed and too big to be comfortable. Just like my other “normal” pillow. It’s giant and not comfortable at all. I'm going to perform "surgery" and give it a little lypo.

I did find some raisin bread I could eat and bought a couple of loaves of that. I also bought some greens that were discounted to 65 yen. When they rang up they came up as 0 yen. Awesome!

Last weekend I went to a Christmas party at a little restaurant that had been reserved for all of us and they made me special mashed potatoes and green beans and salad and mushroom pasta which was really sweet of them. I gave them chocolates as thanks. I gave out samplers of my chocolates and I think they went over pretty well. It was a good night.

Next Wednesday I leave for Hong Kong! I am very excited and look forward to a vacation and being able to buy fresh bread. The place we are staying can help get you a China visa in a day so I hope to hope across the border for some bootlegs, Taco Bell, and Papa Johns. I also have a feeling I may be out in the shops on my own at times. No one has been able to keep up the feat of staying with me for power shopping/browsing. I was gradually trained in to the marathon shopper I am today by a grand champion herself, Mom. And when I say “power shopping” this does not necessarily mean purchasing. It is the ability to go from shop to shop to shop non-stop. And Hong Kong is like THE marathon of shopping. Add on cheap shopping on top of it being in a foreign land, and I am in every shop exploring. Sorry friends, you can’t hold me back! (Actually, Jenise could keep up with me, but due to her having to try on and touch everything, the number of places to go dramatically decreases. But she’s not here so it doesn’t matter =p)

All photos pending.

Perfect Vegetarian

First news:
I can pick up my camera tomorrow, AND it was covered by warranty! I am so happy. ALSO, I am allowed to take baths again! (I couldn't because of the infection) My back has been killing me, so it's my little joy. At today's checkup, the doctor said my pee was "clean/pretty" but I'm still on meds for a week just in case.

While on the subject, let us talk about Japan's medical field. If you have a cold, or a cough, people will say "Go to the hospital." And to me, that seems quite extreme. But I think in Japan, going to the hospital does not equal an emergency. Its just like doctor check ups, where you can or cannot have an appointment. So its "no big thang." It is so much not a big thang, that in fact, the hospital is closed on Thursdays (I cannot offer any more info, I have no idea).
I have also heard while studying here a few years ago, that when people got sick, the doctor just kinda gave them pills and didn't really say anything about it. I now have first hand experience. The lovely nurse told me to take pills 3 times a day. Ok! But when I got home and opened the pack.. what's this? little packets of powder. Luckily, Chris had seen a co-worker with a similar thing. You are supposed to put the powder in your mouth, then drink something. You are probably thinking what I was.. "uh-huuhhhhhh". So I did it, hoping that it wasn't one of those preservation/dry packets that come in shoes. The next time I mixed it with water, because, that makes sense. Oh-ho-ho readers! You have not been paying attention! Japan does not exist on sense. i mixed it with water, and it tasted like crap. I then asked one of the English teachers how to take it, and told me the same thing: pour it in your mouth. Still weird.

Last night was the end of year party. Now, everyone knows of Chris and I's diet, and I asked and was told that yes, there would be food for us to eat. As we arrived, we saw that there was some veggies and tofu on a giant plate, but what's this?! Oh, its covered by raw bloody slabs of death. Oh, an unappetizing pile of cabbage salad, but its something, but alas! covered in fried flesh! The salads and soup in front of us? Seafood, seafood, seafood. We ate some eggplant that may have been questionable.
The other co-workers nearby looked at us, and said, can you eat anything? We pitifully said "just the eggplant". The laughed at us saying "so sad!" and continued stuffing their progressively reddening faces from alcohol consumption.
About 20 minutes later of us complaining to eachother, we were actually checked up on. Oh no! no food for our international friends! Let me tell the staff!
A few minutes later, a giant platter comes towards us, Chris and I's eyes light up! Until it came down to eye level...



A giant plate of raw grated cabbage!! YUM!
(Thank you Chris's cell phone)

We pitifully had a small plate of of this. Five minutes later, we are brought some cold tofu and scallions. We were excited to have food, but we still weren't thrilled with having to possibly pay about $50-$80+ for cabbage and tofu. About 10 minutes later our lovely wonderful co-worker was appauled this was all we had to eat! The cook then felt sympathy and made us udon and tenpura. The end they served rice and pickled food and hot tea and I was stuffed! mmmMM!

During the party everyone but us became increasingly drunk and red-faced and thankfully did not notice the karaoke machine. Chris's supervisor started talking to her condisendingly like a child, I started to feel like the foreign "pet". Like a little dog that is dressed and babied and cooed at and made to feel dumb (not on purpose, but that is what I felt like). So it was more than annoying.
The former high-school English teacher came up to us and said how happy he was we were here in Japan. Then he asked me if I hated Japanese (I said, "I like it but it is difficult." He seemed to like that answer). He we had this conversation:

Guy (to Chris): You are false vegetarian.. false? no...
Chris: I am not false.
Guy (to me): You are perfect vegetarian. (To Chris) You are false vegetarian.

He was just trying to use words for being vegan and vegetarian. But I loved being called that! Other jems of the night including jaw dropping gasps that people in America can use chopsticks (or as my supervisor said "chipstick" so cute) and not just Americans! But Koreans, Chinese, etc... WOW! Japan can be very wonderful, but they are very self-centered (not to mention intensely materialistic, patriotic, and stubborn, I would say even more than America, but that's another topic =p ).

Ok! time for my bath! ahhh!!!

Beer and Tea

These past few weeks have involved me being sick, the internet breaking along with my new camera, cooking a big thanksgiving meal, going to meetings, and getting a bladder infection. And it’s pretty cold.

My thanksgiving dinner was Tofukey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, cornbread, green beans, stuffed mushrooms and pumpkin pie with a flaky crust. Everything was homemade (except for the maple syrup I put on my cornbread=p). It was a weekend of gluttony and laziness.

This past Friday night was spent with Pat and Ed figuring out details of our Xmas/New Years trip. I think the final result is just to hang out in Hong Kong and Macau as going to Beijing would be a lot of extra money right now. So while I am intent on going to Beijing at some point while I’m over here, it won’t be now.

Saturday was an early start off to Kyoto. Ed’s adopted host-mom (Junko) was taking us out to some interesting events (along with her friend, her friend’s husband, and our friend Katie). First up was the Suntory Beer Factory tour! Suntory is a large drink distribution company (soda, coffee, etc) but is mostly known for their alcohols. We rode the bright yellow Suntory Beer Tour bus for free to the factory. Once there, we drank some tea, was shown a power-point presentation and got to eat barley and sniff bitter and “fine aroma” hops. The tour was basically all about one kind of beer, “The Premium Malts” which won best beer in all of Europe in 2005 and 2006, as well as prizes in Japan. They use all sorts of premium waters and don’t skimp out on hops and such, and other environmentally friendly things. We saw the factory and the giant vats and the canning process. At one point we walked through a section that smelled like whiskey, and my stomach didn’t enjoy that so much.
Finally, we come back to our original room and get a free glass of this god-like beer, draft-style. It was all right. They showed us how to pour the perfect beer for head. I could barely finish my first glass, I was starving and couldn’t eat the mixed nuts they gave us (cuz it had shrimp in it. Why? I don’t know). They gave me a free Suntory pint glass and a packets of ads to hand out to friends as a door gift. Their gift shop sucked.
Next we stopped for lunch and were off to a “tea ceremony” where you make your own “cake”. I say “cake” because that is misleading, as it was tea “sweets”or even “desserts” not cake. Anyhow, we made some wagashi (Japanese sweets).

The first one was cinnamon mochi (chewy sweet rice dough) rolled out, with some anko(red sweet beans) and a strawberry in the middle. We raised the sides of the mochi to the strawberry to look like a flower.
Kinda like this



The second was strawberry mochi with a strawberry sweet bean paste filling made into a triangle.

Like this, but pink.

We then MADE our own traditional green tea. 2 scoops of the greenest green powder, mix with hot water, and stir with this crazy looking whisk until frothy.



As explained in the “big tea” ceremony post, the sweetness of the sweets offsets the bitterness of the traditional green tea (macha). It was real good. I know the sweet beans sound weird, and I was skeptical at first, but they are really good. And now that it’s could you can find hot buns with the bean filling at convenience stores, it’s the perfect snack.
Then we part ways with everyone and Ed and I strolled around a busy Kyoto city night. We dropped our stuff at our hostel and went out for more adventure (which really just included arcades and drinking at a crazy Japanese rock bar). We did go to a “vegetarian” restaurant, which wasn’t all vegetarian, but had a load of options (Clevelanders- think of a posh Tommy’s). The best part was, EVERYTHING was fresh. Japan has so much processed food, this was so great to taste. They had fresh veggies lying on the tables, and great mood lighting for such a small place. I had tofu and avocado slices and a tofu & veggie burger for an appetizer. My main dish was a small Margharita pizza (tomato sauce, basil), with a crust made from brown rice smooshed together then baked, so the bottom was crispy and the top was chewy and even a bit creamy from the heat. You can tell it was hand made as there was no shape to the crust. It even had homemade tomato sauce! Yum! (can you tell I’m writing this when I’m hungry at work?).


Sunday morning I called my mom to tell her Happy Birthday (since it was still her birthday at home), and we set out for some coffee. We went to Nijo Castle, which was pretty amazing. The floorboards were specifically made to squeak so no one could sneak into the palace. They called them the Nightingale Floors because the squeaks were almost musical and sounded like nightingales. Check out this random persons pictures to get a feel.
We went and got Indian food for lunch, wandered around the shops, went to the foreign food store where I found candy canes and can now make peppermint bark! Then started the long, long train ride home to my apartment.

My apartment is cold (no central heating here) and my heaters are always on. I think this has been causing me to blow fuses, which always scare me (a loud pop and then plunged into darkness? Cmon, cheap scare).
Tonight there is an enkai for the office. Enkai being an obligatory drinking party with your coworkers. I am looking forward to eating its elaborate food.
I am pretty sure I am not going to stay another year. Japan is nice to stay in, but having to work and live con your own here isn’t exactly thrilling. “It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” So if you know of any jobs that pay you to travel, please leave some hints. Maybe I could write articles and sell them or something. Wait, I suck at writing, nevermind! =p