Well...after my last post, I felt absolutely awful yesterday and called my supervisor. She ordered me to stay home - there are a lot of swine flu scares around the area and the worst thing to do is to infect a bunch of students.
This morning I felt much better and got all dressed. I sat down to arrange some things in my bag before leaving, and then when I got up, I was intensely dizzy, and ran off to throw up.
I was worried, so I called the school again, and they told me that if I came in they'd send me home again. But I feel really awful. I mean, I don't feel good sick-wise, but I feel more sick about missing school.
I'd better get better by tomorrow or I'll be seriously panicking.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Yeth Now.
I'm making myself post 'cause I don't do it enough. So I'll give my impression of the weekend, too. :)
Yes, the dinner party went great! There were more people than we thought there were going to be. The night was a mixture of English conversation, more English conversation, explaining English conversations in Japanese, fixing the ceiling in our tatami room, and eating a lot, a lot, a LOT of food.
Most of the people at the dinner were our English conversation group friends. Those that were not attended the conversation classes in Kaya, and we knew everyone who came. Curiously, one of the women was Catholic! I talked with her excitedly. I'm not Catholic, but Christians are rare enough in Japan that it's best to stick together.
As Alex said, Brett and Shawn are from New Zealand. We had this big long conversation about Chinese miners dying in New Zealand, having their bodies shipped to China, the ship crashing, the coffins floating back to New Zealand and being found by some Maori, and everything that ensued. But after we had this conversation, we glanced around and noticed that the Japanese attendees all had that blank goldfish look in their eyes. So I went about the daunting task of translating the entire conversation into Japanese. It was fun, but it was a challenge...
We ate a ton of food, like Alex said. There was...let me see if I can remember it all...
-Of course, the fried eggplant and skordalia. This went over really well. Everyone thought the skordalia was delicious, and Alex was so cute in his little headkerchief cooking-man style. <3 I noticed people putting the skordalia on EVERYTHING. It was cute.
-The spanakorizo. Alex made tiny little flowers out of cut slices of carrots and dressed each little bowl with one. People loved this. I don't think there was a single scrap left. I overheard some people mention that it tasted familiar. Maybe it was the shiso leaves?
-Homemade Spring Rolls. They were full of carrot, lettuce, and ...something else I can't recall but was a green vegetable, I promise. They were very refreshing.
-Fried Spring Rolls. These had meat and bamboo shoots in them, and had the traditional Japanese Mirin-Shoyu-Sake flavor to them. They kind of reminded me of tiny, savory crepes.
-Sushi. <3 Someone brought some sushi. It was delicious. Just a big variety platter of various nigirizushi (the long ones with the fish on top, not the rolls).
-Kara-age? I think? Small fried chicken pieces. These are really good, but I didn't eat much of it 'cause there was so much other stuff.
-Dango. Japanese breaded meatballs on a stick.
-Tiny grilled chicken wings.
-Shrimp-on-a-stick.
-Raw squid. I didn't eat any of this because I don't really like it, but that was fine - I was totally full by this point anyway.
-An absolutely delicious chiffon cake. It was flavored with tea.
So I think that's everything but we ate a whole heck of a lot so I might have missed something.
About the ceiling...our ceiling is made of about four or five really long panels that lay parallel, flush with one another, lengthwise across the ceiling. The one farthest from the window was sagging in the middle. We'd tried to fix it when we first moved in (since the panels are all notched and not set up with nails) but gave up.
Brett noticed this, and decided it needed to be fixed. So everything was moved around, couches were relocated, and about six people stood up on the couches to shift the board back into place. It was hilarious.
We didn't get to bed that night until like 1:30. I didn't want to do anything on Sunday, but I'm trying not to be a stupid stick-in-the-mud so I reluctantly agreed to do something the next day when pressed.
After the time was straightened out, we were off to Miyazu! We went to Mipple! Finally! I didn't buy anything since everyone seemed eager to rush along, but at the same time people were suprised I didn't buy anything. I was like, "whateva". :) But I noticed they had toaster ovens there. Once we get a long table to act as a counter I am SO getting one of those.
We ate lunch at a restaurant in Mipple (which by the way is a huge shopping complex. Well, huge for Japan) and I felt a little shy since I wasn't wearing socks....so I was walking barefoot in this restaurant. I'm gonna have to start keeping socks in my purse.
After we left Mipple we went walking on the beach. Shawn and Brett went swimming. I wished I could swim, but I satisfied myself with wading. Unfortunately the water got...a little...affectionate, and I soon was sporting "I'm-not-potty-trained-yet" fashion. I was soooooo embarassed! But you know...one of the pieces of advice I've heard from JET that's struck me the hardest is "don't be afraid to embarass yourself." This is really hard for me. But if I think about it, it makes it easier. So off we went to the cafe.
We had that great conversation Alex mentioned. The lady at the cafe/station was super nice. She actually made all the cakes herself. And I had this peach drink that was absolutely great, but I drank it way too quickly. I always drink way too quickly.
Then we went home. It was late afternoon. We were utterly exhausted.
And then I went to school this morning YAAAAAY! But I've been having hot and cold flashes, and some of the teachers noticed I was looking kinda iffy. I don't really feel good. But I'm not really sure what to do about that, as far as taking nenkyuu (paid leave) or something. But then again, the culture festival is this weekend; significantly featuring the English recitation contest, which I have been asked to help the students with every day.
So I'll hang in there and wait for Sunday. (Saturday's the Culture Fest, so I'm workin'.)
Yes, the dinner party went great! There were more people than we thought there were going to be. The night was a mixture of English conversation, more English conversation, explaining English conversations in Japanese, fixing the ceiling in our tatami room, and eating a lot, a lot, a LOT of food.
Most of the people at the dinner were our English conversation group friends. Those that were not attended the conversation classes in Kaya, and we knew everyone who came. Curiously, one of the women was Catholic! I talked with her excitedly. I'm not Catholic, but Christians are rare enough in Japan that it's best to stick together.
As Alex said, Brett and Shawn are from New Zealand. We had this big long conversation about Chinese miners dying in New Zealand, having their bodies shipped to China, the ship crashing, the coffins floating back to New Zealand and being found by some Maori, and everything that ensued. But after we had this conversation, we glanced around and noticed that the Japanese attendees all had that blank goldfish look in their eyes. So I went about the daunting task of translating the entire conversation into Japanese. It was fun, but it was a challenge...
We ate a ton of food, like Alex said. There was...let me see if I can remember it all...
-Of course, the fried eggplant and skordalia. This went over really well. Everyone thought the skordalia was delicious, and Alex was so cute in his little headkerchief cooking-man style. <3 I noticed people putting the skordalia on EVERYTHING. It was cute.
-The spanakorizo. Alex made tiny little flowers out of cut slices of carrots and dressed each little bowl with one. People loved this. I don't think there was a single scrap left. I overheard some people mention that it tasted familiar. Maybe it was the shiso leaves?
-Homemade Spring Rolls. They were full of carrot, lettuce, and ...something else I can't recall but was a green vegetable, I promise. They were very refreshing.
-Fried Spring Rolls. These had meat and bamboo shoots in them, and had the traditional Japanese Mirin-Shoyu-Sake flavor to them. They kind of reminded me of tiny, savory crepes.
-Sushi. <3 Someone brought some sushi. It was delicious. Just a big variety platter of various nigirizushi (the long ones with the fish on top, not the rolls).
-Kara-age? I think? Small fried chicken pieces. These are really good, but I didn't eat much of it 'cause there was so much other stuff.
-Dango. Japanese breaded meatballs on a stick.
-Tiny grilled chicken wings.
-Shrimp-on-a-stick.
-Raw squid. I didn't eat any of this because I don't really like it, but that was fine - I was totally full by this point anyway.
-An absolutely delicious chiffon cake. It was flavored with tea.
So I think that's everything but we ate a whole heck of a lot so I might have missed something.
About the ceiling...our ceiling is made of about four or five really long panels that lay parallel, flush with one another, lengthwise across the ceiling. The one farthest from the window was sagging in the middle. We'd tried to fix it when we first moved in (since the panels are all notched and not set up with nails) but gave up.
Brett noticed this, and decided it needed to be fixed. So everything was moved around, couches were relocated, and about six people stood up on the couches to shift the board back into place. It was hilarious.
We didn't get to bed that night until like 1:30. I didn't want to do anything on Sunday, but I'm trying not to be a stupid stick-in-the-mud so I reluctantly agreed to do something the next day when pressed.
After the time was straightened out, we were off to Miyazu! We went to Mipple! Finally! I didn't buy anything since everyone seemed eager to rush along, but at the same time people were suprised I didn't buy anything. I was like, "whateva". :) But I noticed they had toaster ovens there. Once we get a long table to act as a counter I am SO getting one of those.
We ate lunch at a restaurant in Mipple (which by the way is a huge shopping complex. Well, huge for Japan) and I felt a little shy since I wasn't wearing socks....so I was walking barefoot in this restaurant. I'm gonna have to start keeping socks in my purse.
After we left Mipple we went walking on the beach. Shawn and Brett went swimming. I wished I could swim, but I satisfied myself with wading. Unfortunately the water got...a little...affectionate, and I soon was sporting "I'm-not-potty-trained-yet" fashion. I was soooooo embarassed! But you know...one of the pieces of advice I've heard from JET that's struck me the hardest is "don't be afraid to embarass yourself." This is really hard for me. But if I think about it, it makes it easier. So off we went to the cafe.
We had that great conversation Alex mentioned. The lady at the cafe/station was super nice. She actually made all the cakes herself. And I had this peach drink that was absolutely great, but I drank it way too quickly. I always drink way too quickly.
Then we went home. It was late afternoon. We were utterly exhausted.
And then I went to school this morning YAAAAAY! But I've been having hot and cold flashes, and some of the teachers noticed I was looking kinda iffy. I don't really feel good. But I'm not really sure what to do about that, as far as taking nenkyuu (paid leave) or something. But then again, the culture festival is this weekend; significantly featuring the English recitation contest, which I have been asked to help the students with every day.
So I'll hang in there and wait for Sunday. (Saturday's the Culture Fest, so I'm workin'.)
A Weekend with Kiwis
I'll start with the dinner party.
It was really fun! Brett and Shawn (I actually never saw the spelling of either of their names, so it might be wrong) were very nice and talking to them was insightful. I was still frying some of the eggplant when everybody got here, so most of the women came over to watch me cook or ask if I needed help. Brett was the only one who managed to ask in time for me to give a job to. All of the food everyone brought was very delicious. We got to keep half of the leftovers (maybe more, but I know we sent some home with somebody...there was a lot of food) and I just finished them off for lunch today. Everybody helped clean up, which I was really grateful for. I think it's common practice at a potluck, though, since everybody wants to clean their own platters before they take them home. The skordalia and eggplant was a success, as was the spanakorizo and the lemonade. Everyone wanted to know what was in everything. I don't know if it was because they liked it and want to make it themselves or because they just found it to be such curious food.
As everyone was leaving, someone said "See you tomorrow!" I replied in kind, then turned to Nat and asked what was happening "tomorrow"? I had heard mention of going fishing and Nat had heard mention of going to Mipple (a sort-of shopping mall in the next town over), but we never really heard anything conclusive. It was late, so we went to bed. The next day, we woke up and saw that we were being picked up at 1:30. The doorbell rang at 11:30. We then realized that we misread the cellphone email. What we thought was a 1 was actually an 11. Whoops! At least we were awake and dressed (the dressed part was particularly important), but we had just eaten breakfast since we weren't expecting anyone for another two hours. So, off we went, not entirely sure what we were going to be doing or for how long. Most of the group from the dinner party was there, along with Shawn and Brett. We went out for lunch at Mipple, looked around an amateur art gallery, perused a few stores then went to the beach. We didn't expect to be going to the beach, so we didn't bring our swimsuits, but it seems the only people who were planning on it were Shawn and Brett, so we waded and wandered with Ken and Yuuko while the guys swam and the older ladies looked for a cafe. After the swimming was done, we went to the cafe which doubled as a tiny, local-access train station. There was a cat sitting in the middle of the last real parking space, so we got a little creative with our parking. All around the area were persimmon and pomegranate trees. Most of the persimmons were ripe, but the pomegranates were still ripening. There were some grapefruit and kiwi trees here and there, too, but most of those were down the street a ways. When we went in the cafe, there was a table of little old ladies drinking coffee that were moved to an outside table in order to make room for us (I am assuming the ladies volunteered, but it's more amusing to think that the cafe owner commandeered their table). Most everyone ordered cake and some beverage. I didn't order any cake, because I was still full from lunch, but everything was reported to be very delicious. Then, the cafe owner placed a whole cake on our table and told us it was on the house. So, over more cake, we discussed the differences between New Zealand and American English, New Zealand and Australian English, and that all the wildlife in Australia wants to kill people. (I should have mentioned earlier that both Shawn and Brett are from New Zealand. Shawn had Nat's job three or four people ago and Brett is currently an English tutor somewhere between Osaka and Kobe). After that, we dropped Shawn and Brett off at a larger train station and headed home. We flopped for the rest of the day. It's been a full weekend. I don't want to do anything today.
It was really fun! Brett and Shawn (I actually never saw the spelling of either of their names, so it might be wrong) were very nice and talking to them was insightful. I was still frying some of the eggplant when everybody got here, so most of the women came over to watch me cook or ask if I needed help. Brett was the only one who managed to ask in time for me to give a job to. All of the food everyone brought was very delicious. We got to keep half of the leftovers (maybe more, but I know we sent some home with somebody...there was a lot of food) and I just finished them off for lunch today. Everybody helped clean up, which I was really grateful for. I think it's common practice at a potluck, though, since everybody wants to clean their own platters before they take them home. The skordalia and eggplant was a success, as was the spanakorizo and the lemonade. Everyone wanted to know what was in everything. I don't know if it was because they liked it and want to make it themselves or because they just found it to be such curious food.
As everyone was leaving, someone said "See you tomorrow!" I replied in kind, then turned to Nat and asked what was happening "tomorrow"? I had heard mention of going fishing and Nat had heard mention of going to Mipple (a sort-of shopping mall in the next town over), but we never really heard anything conclusive. It was late, so we went to bed. The next day, we woke up and saw that we were being picked up at 1:30. The doorbell rang at 11:30. We then realized that we misread the cellphone email. What we thought was a 1 was actually an 11. Whoops! At least we were awake and dressed (the dressed part was particularly important), but we had just eaten breakfast since we weren't expecting anyone for another two hours. So, off we went, not entirely sure what we were going to be doing or for how long. Most of the group from the dinner party was there, along with Shawn and Brett. We went out for lunch at Mipple, looked around an amateur art gallery, perused a few stores then went to the beach. We didn't expect to be going to the beach, so we didn't bring our swimsuits, but it seems the only people who were planning on it were Shawn and Brett, so we waded and wandered with Ken and Yuuko while the guys swam and the older ladies looked for a cafe. After the swimming was done, we went to the cafe which doubled as a tiny, local-access train station. There was a cat sitting in the middle of the last real parking space, so we got a little creative with our parking. All around the area were persimmon and pomegranate trees. Most of the persimmons were ripe, but the pomegranates were still ripening. There were some grapefruit and kiwi trees here and there, too, but most of those were down the street a ways. When we went in the cafe, there was a table of little old ladies drinking coffee that were moved to an outside table in order to make room for us (I am assuming the ladies volunteered, but it's more amusing to think that the cafe owner commandeered their table). Most everyone ordered cake and some beverage. I didn't order any cake, because I was still full from lunch, but everything was reported to be very delicious. Then, the cafe owner placed a whole cake on our table and told us it was on the house. So, over more cake, we discussed the differences between New Zealand and American English, New Zealand and Australian English, and that all the wildlife in Australia wants to kill people. (I should have mentioned earlier that both Shawn and Brett are from New Zealand. Shawn had Nat's job three or four people ago and Brett is currently an English tutor somewhere between Osaka and Kobe). After that, we dropped Shawn and Brett off at a larger train station and headed home. We flopped for the rest of the day. It's been a full weekend. I don't want to do anything today.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Dinner party minutes (supersummary)
The dinner party went really well. It was really fun. One (or both) of us will talk about it more when it's not 1:30 AM and we aren't brain-oozingly tired.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Delaaaays
So, yeah. As Nat mentioned, we're having the party tonight instead of last night. Miscommunication is fun. I'm still not sure how many people we have, so I hope we have enough dishes. Maybe I'll go check to see if the grocery store still has their sale on cheap dishes. It's in their section of rotating goods that are around for maybe a week before the store decides that something else would be fun to sell.
Also, as Nat mentioned, I made lemonade. I got done with most of the prep work a little (actually, a lot) early, so I ran to the store to buy some lemons (which were, oddly, not next to all the other fruits, but amongst the leafy vegetables). I made the lemonade in a 2-liter water bottle, since we don't have any pitchers (I doubt any would fit in our tiny refrigerators). I tasted some and put it away. A couple hours later, I tasted it again and realized that I had made it for me and not for someone with reasonable taste buds (aka "it was too sour"), so I added more sugar until it was a proper lemonade.
Yup.
Also, as Nat mentioned, I made lemonade. I got done with most of the prep work a little (actually, a lot) early, so I ran to the store to buy some lemons (which were, oddly, not next to all the other fruits, but amongst the leafy vegetables). I made the lemonade in a 2-liter water bottle, since we don't have any pitchers (I doubt any would fit in our tiny refrigerators). I tasted some and put it away. A couple hours later, I tasted it again and realized that I had made it for me and not for someone with reasonable taste buds (aka "it was too sour"), so I added more sugar until it was a proper lemonade.
Yup.
Whoops!
It's been a while since I posted. I had a nice five day vacation, in which I accomplished my goal of doing absolutely nothing. Thursday and Friday were back to school.
Thursday I went to elementary school and introduced myself to the teeny tiny first and second graders. They were absolutely adorable. I wanna teach Elementary School! They're so much more fun than these middle schoolers who are too cool to speak up in class. I'd much rather have the kids fighting over themselves to scream a response at the top of their lungs.
Friday.......
Okay so, the dinner party below? Both Alex and I heard Friday but it was actually Saturday. WHOOPS. @_@ Alex really worked hard to get the house sparkling clean and prepare everything. He even made homemade lemonade. (I had some, it was delicious!) And then at around 4:00 PM (about two hours before we expected people, give or take an hour) we get an email...
"[Name] is coming tomorrow. So we'll have the party on Saturday, also we're bringing some more people"
It had some more important stuff in it, but the point was...
Saturday?
Two hours before we were expecting the party?
It was one of those "Oh man" moments.
Anyone who knows me when it comes to things like plans, is that I absolutely lose it when plans get dropped or pop up really suddenly. I can be spontaneous sometimes, but other times (like after a long day) it's like "WHAT."
So I called the person about it just to clarify, just in case. See, what had happened in the first place, was that the AET (my position) from...like...three AETs ago was coming back to town. His religion stated that he couldn't drink, so we couldn't have a meeting for him at an izakaya, and the house he was staying at couldn't accommodate people on the night he was coming. So we agreed to have it at our apartment.
Now, both Alex and I could swear that it was Friday night. Both of us. But she was like, "Huh? ...No, it's Saturday....it was Saturday from the beginning!"
So of course (and this is Nat holding back full "I'm a moron" mode) I grit my teeth and was like, "Oh, okay! That's fine! Um, Alex prepared a lot of stuff but he didn't cook it yet, so we'll just cook it tomorrow..."
But OH MAN was I embarassed. Probably more than I should have been, but, hee.
That night I had PTA chorus practice anyway. So I walked there at night, sang, and then came home.
Now, I don't know if Alex has said anything about this, but we have loudspeakers all over our town that play little tunes at 7 AM, 5 PM, 7 PM, and 9 PM, and a siren at noon. It's because we're out in the country. I think they're signals for people working out in the rice fields.
But anyway, I was walking home from chorus when the 9 o'clock song went off. Now the song it plays...I think it's 'Moon River' from Breakfast at Tiffany's at 9. I'm not really sure what the rest of them are. But walking through a dark alley, and all of a sudden absolutely surrounded by this music...I was suddenly just overwhelmed with the feeling that...I'm here, in Japan, half a world away from almost everything I know. I'm in a tiny town full of friendly people who want to take every opportunity to spend time with me, and I'm not being an idiot and pushing them away for once, because it's part of my job. I've got a really fulfilling job with great perks, and I'm with my husband, the person I love most in the world.
So standing there in the alley, surrounded by corny music, I just started to cry.
I only cry for really stupid things! Seriously! Moon River played over an intercom system!?
Thursday I went to elementary school and introduced myself to the teeny tiny first and second graders. They were absolutely adorable. I wanna teach Elementary School! They're so much more fun than these middle schoolers who are too cool to speak up in class. I'd much rather have the kids fighting over themselves to scream a response at the top of their lungs.
Friday.......
Okay so, the dinner party below? Both Alex and I heard Friday but it was actually Saturday. WHOOPS. @_@ Alex really worked hard to get the house sparkling clean and prepare everything. He even made homemade lemonade. (I had some, it was delicious!) And then at around 4:00 PM (about two hours before we expected people, give or take an hour) we get an email...
"[Name] is coming tomorrow. So we'll have the party on Saturday, also we're bringing some more people"
It had some more important stuff in it, but the point was...
Saturday?
Two hours before we were expecting the party?
It was one of those "Oh man" moments.
Anyone who knows me when it comes to things like plans, is that I absolutely lose it when plans get dropped or pop up really suddenly. I can be spontaneous sometimes, but other times (like after a long day) it's like "WHAT."
So I called the person about it just to clarify, just in case. See, what had happened in the first place, was that the AET (my position) from...like...three AETs ago was coming back to town. His religion stated that he couldn't drink, so we couldn't have a meeting for him at an izakaya, and the house he was staying at couldn't accommodate people on the night he was coming. So we agreed to have it at our apartment.
Now, both Alex and I could swear that it was Friday night. Both of us. But she was like, "Huh? ...No, it's Saturday....it was Saturday from the beginning!"
So of course (and this is Nat holding back full "I'm a moron" mode) I grit my teeth and was like, "Oh, okay! That's fine! Um, Alex prepared a lot of stuff but he didn't cook it yet, so we'll just cook it tomorrow..."
But OH MAN was I embarassed. Probably more than I should have been, but, hee.
That night I had PTA chorus practice anyway. So I walked there at night, sang, and then came home.
Now, I don't know if Alex has said anything about this, but we have loudspeakers all over our town that play little tunes at 7 AM, 5 PM, 7 PM, and 9 PM, and a siren at noon. It's because we're out in the country. I think they're signals for people working out in the rice fields.
But anyway, I was walking home from chorus when the 9 o'clock song went off. Now the song it plays...I think it's 'Moon River' from Breakfast at Tiffany's at 9. I'm not really sure what the rest of them are. But walking through a dark alley, and all of a sudden absolutely surrounded by this music...I was suddenly just overwhelmed with the feeling that...I'm here, in Japan, half a world away from almost everything I know. I'm in a tiny town full of friendly people who want to take every opportunity to spend time with me, and I'm not being an idiot and pushing them away for once, because it's part of my job. I've got a really fulfilling job with great perks, and I'm with my husband, the person I love most in the world.
So standing there in the alley, surrounded by corny music, I just started to cry.
I only cry for really stupid things! Seriously! Moon River played over an intercom system!?
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Town Life-Long Study Center Intellectual Playing Mansion
Today, I woke up, did some laundry and left. Last week, one of the local English speakers invited me to visit his workplace to look at some oil paintings in the gallery and I said I'd come. I figured I'd also stop by the grocery store on the way home so that I could pick up some necessities for tomorrow night's dinner.
I pass by the building every time I go to the ATM or the middle school (not as often for the middle school...Nat does that a lot, though), so I knew where it was. As I approached, however, I realized that the door I often pass looked slightly more like an employee entrance. I got cold feet and walked right by, deciding to see if I could take a walk to the shore. The route I took dead-ended into a field mere yards away from the seaside walkway. I didn't know if I was allowed to walk through the field, so I ended up turning around and going back to my original destination. The town life-long study center intellectual playing mansion (or "Town Culture Center", if you choose to be wise and not use Babelfish translations) loomed into view and there in the window was Johnny (he actually has a Japanese name, but he refuses to let me use it and so I completely forgot what it was). Johnny promptly encouraged me to enter the door which I had thought was an employee entrance. I was relieved. After I entered, he then informed me that it actually was an employee entrance and that the public entrance was on the other side of the building. I was embarrassed. We then proceeded to have an awkward introduction with the other three staff members in the office. Then, he and one of the staff members took me to see the aforementioned gallery (the other staff member apologetically informing me that she "English little".
The gallery was really nice. The current exhibition is oil paintings by a (former?) art teacher at Nat's school. There was a painting of Mikonos, a painting of the Mona Lisa with popped bubble-gum on her face and Amanohashidate in the background, a brushed ink sketch of an old man picking his nose, a series of flamenco dancer paintings and a surreal painting titled "Firefly" ("ほたる") without actually containing any fireflies (there were some seagulls and a girl, though). Partway through my tour of the gallery, Johnny excused himself to sneak off to the grocery store and buy some snacks for Nat and I, leaving his coworker and I to peruse the the works.
After he returned, I was served tea with my snack while they asked me what I planned to do with the rest of my day. I replied that I had to go grocery shopping and cook. They immediately tried to tell me what was on sale, but stopped short, because they didn't know what the words were in English. One of the coworkers tried, "Marron? Furansu-go ka?" (Marron? Is that French?). To which I timidly replied "H-hai, furansu-go desu," (Yes, that's French). I then explained that we called it a chestnut. Johnny confirmed this with his hand-held Japanese-English translator. The only reason I knew this was because of my current amusement with the French Republican Calendar. Then, they asked me if I knew Pacific saury (now that they had Johnny's translator on-hand, they could get specific with their fish), to which I replied that I knew what it was, but I didn't think we had it in America. They were then quite shocked and asked me if I ate fish. I assured them that I did. They later tried to name different kinds of fish I might, perhaps, have eaten ("Tuna? Do you know tuna? Do you eat...uhhh...horse makureru?" Horse makureru is horse mackerel in Engrish). After they were thoroughly impressed with my ability to eat raw fish, Johnny rushed me away to the public library section of the culture center (which was closed for the day...it's a holiday week here). I put down my half-eaten snack as he introduced me to the two librarians who were busy cleaning all the nooks and crannies of the library they don't have time to touch during open hours and then showed me the scant English-language section. I wasn't really expecting much. In fact, I had overheard someone say that all they had was Harry Potter, so I actually underestimated it...by about ten books. There was, indeed, the entire Harry Potter series in English. This made up the total of English language novels available in the library. They also have The Giving Tree and The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. They also had a bilingual Japanese cookbook and some books about Japan. Eventually, I was permitted to finish my snack and leave.
On the way to the grocery store, I realized that I was carrying the snack I was given for Nat. Carrying it into the store would be awkward and I didn't have any pockets to put it in (I have mentioned that I walk everywhere, right?). I decided my best choice would be to hide it on top of one of the outdoor vending machines and retrieve it when I'm done with my shopping. After entering the store, I notice that it is quite a bit less busy than it usually is around noon on a weekday. In fact, it looked a little darker. Still, there were employees and a couple customers, so it was definitely still open. The darker lighting, was probably because of all the new signs hanging from the ceiling that boldly claimed something I couldn't read. We're hosting a potluck dinner tomorrow night and the locals seem to think it would be a brilliant idea if I made fried eggplant and skordalia. I'm not entirely certain skordalia will appeal to Japanese tastes, but at least I can tempura-fry the eggplant to make it something they're more familiar with (or I could, y'know, do it my normal way since the only difference is how you add the flour). But this is what they wanted, so this is what I was at the store to get things for. I also decided to grab some ingredients for spanakorizo, just in case I'm feeling extra ambitious tomorrow. At least I can make that early in the morning and refrigerate it until dinner and reheat it.
I went home, and made the skordalia. We don't have instant mashed potatoes here, so I used the soggy bread method. The texture is slightly different and I don't dare make it as strong as I normally do, but it is good. Then, I remembered that I was going to buy shiso for everyone to eat after the dinner. Not only that, but I'd need some shiso for the spanakorizo. So, I ran off and bought a couple packets and ran back.
I put off vacuuming today because I want to do it tomorrow. I'll likely have to do it again on Saturday, too. Tomorrow's a busy day! I have no idea how many people we're hosting.
I pass by the building every time I go to the ATM or the middle school (not as often for the middle school...Nat does that a lot, though), so I knew where it was. As I approached, however, I realized that the door I often pass looked slightly more like an employee entrance. I got cold feet and walked right by, deciding to see if I could take a walk to the shore. The route I took dead-ended into a field mere yards away from the seaside walkway. I didn't know if I was allowed to walk through the field, so I ended up turning around and going back to my original destination. The town life-long study center intellectual playing mansion (or "Town Culture Center", if you choose to be wise and not use Babelfish translations) loomed into view and there in the window was Johnny (he actually has a Japanese name, but he refuses to let me use it and so I completely forgot what it was). Johnny promptly encouraged me to enter the door which I had thought was an employee entrance. I was relieved. After I entered, he then informed me that it actually was an employee entrance and that the public entrance was on the other side of the building. I was embarrassed. We then proceeded to have an awkward introduction with the other three staff members in the office. Then, he and one of the staff members took me to see the aforementioned gallery (the other staff member apologetically informing me that she "English little".
The gallery was really nice. The current exhibition is oil paintings by a (former?) art teacher at Nat's school. There was a painting of Mikonos, a painting of the Mona Lisa with popped bubble-gum on her face and Amanohashidate in the background, a brushed ink sketch of an old man picking his nose, a series of flamenco dancer paintings and a surreal painting titled "Firefly" ("ほたる") without actually containing any fireflies (there were some seagulls and a girl, though). Partway through my tour of the gallery, Johnny excused himself to sneak off to the grocery store and buy some snacks for Nat and I, leaving his coworker and I to peruse the the works.
After he returned, I was served tea with my snack while they asked me what I planned to do with the rest of my day. I replied that I had to go grocery shopping and cook. They immediately tried to tell me what was on sale, but stopped short, because they didn't know what the words were in English. One of the coworkers tried, "Marron? Furansu-go ka?" (Marron? Is that French?). To which I timidly replied "H-hai, furansu-go desu," (Yes, that's French). I then explained that we called it a chestnut. Johnny confirmed this with his hand-held Japanese-English translator. The only reason I knew this was because of my current amusement with the French Republican Calendar. Then, they asked me if I knew Pacific saury (now that they had Johnny's translator on-hand, they could get specific with their fish), to which I replied that I knew what it was, but I didn't think we had it in America. They were then quite shocked and asked me if I ate fish. I assured them that I did. They later tried to name different kinds of fish I might, perhaps, have eaten ("Tuna? Do you know tuna? Do you eat...uhhh...horse makureru?" Horse makureru is horse mackerel in Engrish). After they were thoroughly impressed with my ability to eat raw fish, Johnny rushed me away to the public library section of the culture center (which was closed for the day...it's a holiday week here). I put down my half-eaten snack as he introduced me to the two librarians who were busy cleaning all the nooks and crannies of the library they don't have time to touch during open hours and then showed me the scant English-language section. I wasn't really expecting much. In fact, I had overheard someone say that all they had was Harry Potter, so I actually underestimated it...by about ten books. There was, indeed, the entire Harry Potter series in English. This made up the total of English language novels available in the library. They also have The Giving Tree and The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. They also had a bilingual Japanese cookbook and some books about Japan. Eventually, I was permitted to finish my snack and leave.
On the way to the grocery store, I realized that I was carrying the snack I was given for Nat. Carrying it into the store would be awkward and I didn't have any pockets to put it in (I have mentioned that I walk everywhere, right?). I decided my best choice would be to hide it on top of one of the outdoor vending machines and retrieve it when I'm done with my shopping. After entering the store, I notice that it is quite a bit less busy than it usually is around noon on a weekday. In fact, it looked a little darker. Still, there were employees and a couple customers, so it was definitely still open. The darker lighting, was probably because of all the new signs hanging from the ceiling that boldly claimed something I couldn't read. We're hosting a potluck dinner tomorrow night and the locals seem to think it would be a brilliant idea if I made fried eggplant and skordalia. I'm not entirely certain skordalia will appeal to Japanese tastes, but at least I can tempura-fry the eggplant to make it something they're more familiar with (or I could, y'know, do it my normal way since the only difference is how you add the flour). But this is what they wanted, so this is what I was at the store to get things for. I also decided to grab some ingredients for spanakorizo, just in case I'm feeling extra ambitious tomorrow. At least I can make that early in the morning and refrigerate it until dinner and reheat it.
I went home, and made the skordalia. We don't have instant mashed potatoes here, so I used the soggy bread method. The texture is slightly different and I don't dare make it as strong as I normally do, but it is good. Then, I remembered that I was going to buy shiso for everyone to eat after the dinner. Not only that, but I'd need some shiso for the spanakorizo. So, I ran off and bought a couple packets and ran back.
I put off vacuuming today because I want to do it tomorrow. I'll likely have to do it again on Saturday, too. Tomorrow's a busy day! I have no idea how many people we're hosting.
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