April 17

Lately, life has entered a kind of repetitive point, so I don’t have much to report on a daily basis. I’ll give some highlights from the days you’ve missed, but mostly it’s a today post.

Okaasan has been gone for the past two days. That has resulted in a very quite house. On the up side, that has also resulted in curry, which I have had a craving for as of late. (: We have curry when okaasan goes away because it is easy to make (for otousan’s sake). The first night though, we had a type of nabe with “hamburger” in it (pot roast, but more soup-like). Japanese hamburger is delicious, though it looks like it would have the disgusting taste of a salisbury steak.

I screwed up my breakfast today by scorching the egg (I think okaasan’s technique of adding water to the hot egg might be to blame) and undercooking my toast, but it all worked out fine. P.S. Toast tastes best when you cook it half-way, add the butter, and then pop it in the toaster oven to finish.

Japanese class started out pretty well. I think I aced my kanji quiz (we’ll see). Afterward, we talked to Japanese people and it was a lot of fun. The ryuugakusei brought in photos taken in Japan and we had a lot to talk about. It was going so well that Takeda sensei (morbidly addicted to rule/schedule following) had to tell us multiple times that class was over and we needed to leave.

After class, I went to the C cafeteria to have mega chicken!!!!! But, I got jumbo chicken instead because it’s cheaper. This time around, I understood tons more Japanese from the cafeteria ladies. :D Somehow though, I think I overate. D: The rest of the day was rather mild. We watched excerpts from Seven Samurai and another old black and white film in Art and Culture class. Old movies move really slowly; the fight scenes aren’t slow par say, but the story itself and the scene-changes are.

After class, I walked toward my eki with my classmates and by chance, JiWei was at the corner when we were!!! I was really surprised to see him, hisashiburi. Apparently, he’s been really busy with school and baito (That seems like a hard combination, especially in Japan). I hope we can meet up and do something during golden week. When we parted, I met back up with my friends at the subway car. I told Keili about JiWei and she made the (seemingly obvious) suggestion of going to the restaurant where JiWei works some time while he’s there. What’s wrong with me that I don’t think about these things myself?

At home, I was surprised to see the Prius in the driveway; okaasan was already home. I gave her an “okaerinasai” and tried to help with dinner, but all that was left to do was serve the rice. We had a nice dinner and I got in on the conversation more than usual. (: We talked a bit about baseball, the olympic location applications, and okaasan’s trip to see her friend. Okaasan brought omamori (charms you buy at shrines) for me. (: It’s a general one (you can get all sorts, especially for children’s safety, driving safety, good grades, etc.) and it’s yellow and pretty. I’ve been thinking about getting one, but I never know which to get (except the school ones, which I wouldn’t carry in a few years probably).

Culture Notes

Japanese apple juice is delicious, as I’ve established strongly. I’m trying to figure out why. First of all, when you pour it, you’ll probably think “What!? This isn’t apple juice, it’s white grapefruit juice,” because instead of the American norm of golden-colored translucent juice, it is slightly opaque and off-white. Second, it’s super-sweet, despite being labelled as 100% juice. I’m guessing the difference is in processing and/or juice blending. I’m not sure if they blend the Japanese juice (I will investigate) but it seems like everything you buy in the US is about 60% grape juice, regardless of the fruit on the label.

If I had to describe Japan in one word, it would have to be “anal.” By no means take that to mean I do not like Japan. I am constantly amazed by the country. However, this aspect of the country is undeniable. Yes, it does manifest itself positively and even productively in many cases, but it also appears in very inconvenient forms. The most frustrating forms are in bureaucracies, where meticulous and redundant procedures must be followed. In some cases, convention must be followed until the last moment possible despite the existence of easier alternatives for the sake of convention. In other cases, it is simply a cultural tendency, such as; waiting to cross empty roads until the light changes, scheduling class lessons down to the minute, and including examples/diagrams for practically everything.