The weather turned cold and windy this week. It'll be in the forties tomorrow. Tonight after taiko practice we stopped for ramen. Miso ramen is delicious. Boiling hot soup and gyoza are a warm happy thought.
Hot soup on a cold day is always comforting. Luckily we picked a country that loves soup. And they serve soup in bowls large enough to bath a German shepherd in. Seriously, how do Japanese people stay so thin when they can eat so much? I'm pretty sure one bowl of ramen could feed at least three people. But, when in Rome do as the Romans do, so I try to eat it all. I fail miserably. One stomach can't hold that much.
Oh well. At least we can have delicious ramen whenever we want. Mmmmm.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Fall Colors
Sorry I've been slacking.
Why don't you kick back and enjoy some photos of the fall colors. We drove into the mountains with a friend to celebrate having been here for six months. Japanese mountain roads are something else. They often choke down to one lane with traffic trying to go both ways. As if that wasn't stressful enough, huge tour buses also use the mountain roads. For some reason last Sunday there was a lot of traffic. It wasn't a nice relaxing drive, but it was worth it to see the colors in the Japanese mountains.
And last but not least, you can see where people carved their names in a tree. In Japanese. That was a strange thing to see.
Why don't you kick back and enjoy some photos of the fall colors. We drove into the mountains with a friend to celebrate having been here for six months. Japanese mountain roads are something else. They often choke down to one lane with traffic trying to go both ways. As if that wasn't stressful enough, huge tour buses also use the mountain roads. For some reason last Sunday there was a lot of traffic. It wasn't a nice relaxing drive, but it was worth it to see the colors in the Japanese mountains.
And last but not least, you can see where people carved their names in a tree. In Japanese. That was a strange thing to see.
Friday, October 15, 2010
One Piece
Japanese pop culture was never even on my radar before this year. Sure, I'm a huge nerd, but I had still never been interested in manga, anime, or j-pop. Japanese pop culture would've been on the top ten list of things I didn't care about, right between Olympic curling, and the grand duke of Luxembourg.
It turns out anime is pretty cool. Kelli and I are watching a show called One Piece. It has been running since the '90s. There are nearly 500 episodes. We've watched about 30. It's difficult to describe (a) without making it sound weird and (b) without making me sound weird. Think Pirates of the Caribbean and you'll have a good idea.
We'll start watching Fullmetal Alchemist soon. I'm reading the manga right now and I'm hooked. I wouldn't recommend either show or manga for kids. They both deal with pretty difficult themes and are violent.
Little did I know that moving to Japan would feed my nerdy-ness. I'm picking up whole new genres of nerd obsession. It's always good to try new things.
It turns out anime is pretty cool. Kelli and I are watching a show called One Piece. It has been running since the '90s. There are nearly 500 episodes. We've watched about 30. It's difficult to describe (a) without making it sound weird and (b) without making me sound weird. Think Pirates of the Caribbean and you'll have a good idea.
We'll start watching Fullmetal Alchemist soon. I'm reading the manga right now and I'm hooked. I wouldn't recommend either show or manga for kids. They both deal with pretty difficult themes and are violent.
Little did I know that moving to Japan would feed my nerdy-ness. I'm picking up whole new genres of nerd obsession. It's always good to try new things.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Dragonflies! It works!
So, the brown dragonflies can be hypnotized and picked up! I'll post some pictures later today. Also, it seems that it really is only the brown ones that will fall for it. The red ones (the only other color available yesterday) would take off as soon as they saw you coming.
Speaking of seeing you coming, walking around waving your finger in a circle isn't exactly a good way to blend in. My first attempt at dragonfly bamboozlement was next to the road. I walked toward the dragonfly resting on the fence slowly, with my finger moving in big, slow circles. I got within a foot before it took off. At about that time I heard a car go by behind me. From a car, no one would be able to see a dragonfly. All they would see is a big, white foreigner hunkered down, creeping towards a fence waving his finger in a circle. Had a red dragonfly landed on my face at about that time, it would've been very well camouflaged. I'm not sure why they let me go out in public.
Especially because after we went to the park and made some dragonflies dizzy, we took pictures of spiders by the road. We could get really close to them and get some good pictures. On the other hand, they were very active and made us jumpy. A couple of foreigners crouching down, taking pictures of who-knows-what and getting startled had to make for a head-scratcher.
We also saw a snake eat a frog. It was a pretty eventful day.
Speaking of seeing you coming, walking around waving your finger in a circle isn't exactly a good way to blend in. My first attempt at dragonfly bamboozlement was next to the road. I walked toward the dragonfly resting on the fence slowly, with my finger moving in big, slow circles. I got within a foot before it took off. At about that time I heard a car go by behind me. From a car, no one would be able to see a dragonfly. All they would see is a big, white foreigner hunkered down, creeping towards a fence waving his finger in a circle. Had a red dragonfly landed on my face at about that time, it would've been very well camouflaged. I'm not sure why they let me go out in public.
Especially because after we went to the park and made some dragonflies dizzy, we took pictures of spiders by the road. We could get really close to them and get some good pictures. On the other hand, they were very active and made us jumpy. A couple of foreigners crouching down, taking pictures of who-knows-what and getting startled had to make for a head-scratcher.
We also saw a snake eat a frog. It was a pretty eventful day.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Six months
Today marks the completion of six months here in Japan. It's been a wild ride.
I've learned a brain-ton (2,000 know-pounds to the brain ton, for those of you who aren't aquainted with units of knowledge). I've learned about being a teacher. I've learned about being a husband. I've learned some Japanese. I've learned how to drive on the opposite side of the road.
The pressures and difficulties of living abroad either temper you or break you, I think. Thankfully, I feel like I'm being tempered (he-he-he. Wheeee. Wahoo...Oh, maybe I snapped).
If someone asked me to recommend living abroad, my recommendation would take the form of a TV commercial for a prescription drug. It would open with beautiful scenes of rice fields, and cherry blossoms. Scenes of castles, zen gardens, and temples would play in the background while the narrator speaks.
"Do you suffer from mundania? Is the humdrum of daily life getting you down? Then maybe Living Abroad is right for you. Living Abroad will awaken that dormant sense of wonder. Living Abroad will infuse life with new energy. If you've been longing for something new, Living Abroad might be what you need. Ask your doctor about Living Abroad. Probable side effects include frustration, loneliness, isolation, confusion, stress induced premature baldness, discombobulation, bewilderment, indigestion, diarrhea, and/or constipation."
So, if your thinking about living abroad, 3 out of 4 gaijin (foreigners) recommend it.
I've learned a brain-ton (2,000 know-pounds to the brain ton, for those of you who aren't aquainted with units of knowledge). I've learned about being a teacher. I've learned about being a husband. I've learned some Japanese. I've learned how to drive on the opposite side of the road.
The pressures and difficulties of living abroad either temper you or break you, I think. Thankfully, I feel like I'm being tempered (he-he-he. Wheeee. Wahoo...Oh, maybe I snapped).
If someone asked me to recommend living abroad, my recommendation would take the form of a TV commercial for a prescription drug. It would open with beautiful scenes of rice fields, and cherry blossoms. Scenes of castles, zen gardens, and temples would play in the background while the narrator speaks.
"Do you suffer from mundania? Is the humdrum of daily life getting you down? Then maybe Living Abroad is right for you. Living Abroad will awaken that dormant sense of wonder. Living Abroad will infuse life with new energy. If you've been longing for something new, Living Abroad might be what you need. Ask your doctor about Living Abroad. Probable side effects include frustration, loneliness, isolation, confusion, stress induced premature baldness, discombobulation, bewilderment, indigestion, diarrhea, and/or constipation."
So, if your thinking about living abroad, 3 out of 4 gaijin (foreigners) recommend it.
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