Japan: a photo gallery (II)

Another ten of my favorite photos from life here in Japan. This group starts at the beginning of 2010, the year Geordie and I started dating. I was less active in 2010 than I had been in 2009, but I still got to see a lot of wonderful things in Japan, and I had the added bonus of having Geordie for company.



Geordie and sheep at Hitsujiyama Park in Chichibu, March 2010.



Weeping sakura at the Daruma temple in Takasaki, April 2010.



Daibutsu at Kamakura, April 2010.



Kenroku-en in Kanazawa, May 2010.

Waterfall in Nikko, November 2010.

Geordie makes friends with a black lemur at the Nagasaki Bio-Park, Jaunary 2011.

Geordie (and Rabbit) and the deer at Nara Park, March 2011.

Windmill at Kasumigaura, May 2011.

Dancers at the summer Susono Awa-Odori Festival, August 2011.

Jizou memorial statuettes for deceased children
at Hasedera Jizou-do, October 2011.

Japan: a picture gallery (I)

I had another busy day today and didn't get much writing done. So, what I'm going to give you in this post are some of my favorite pictures from my life here in Japan. This week has been hard as Geordie and I say goodbye to this beautiful country we've come to love so much.

These are just the first ten of twenty pictures I want to post. I encourage you to click on the pictures to see larger versions - some of them are much better when they're bigger! Look for more in the next posting.


Let's start this off right: Mt. Fuji from Gotemba, March 2009.



A lion guardian at a shrine in Takayama, January 2009.



Weeping willow tree in Takayama, January 2009.



Sakura over a shrine in Utsunomiya, April 2009.

A huge statue of Kannon-sama in Takasaki, April 2009.

Wisteria at Matsumoto Castle, May 2009.

With Benni-sensei in Maebashi, during an autumn festival, October 2009.

Behind us is an omikoshi - a portable shrine - which is carried around
the town, presumably to show the god its domain (or to show the people
their local god). Benni-sensei and I were among the group of
shrine-carriers, and we were also honored by being asked to carry
for a short time the lanterns that led the way in front of the omikoshi.

Easily one of my best expriences in Japan.

Maple trees at Mt. Tsukuba, November 2009.

Tsurgua Castle in Aizu-Wakamatsu, New Year's Day 2010.

Meoto Iwa, the wedded rocks, in Ise, January 2010.

Week 36: preparations

If one has not been around babies much (which is to say, if one has not been in a caretaking role), one really has no idea just what exactly a baby needs. I don't mean that in the way of "Holy crap, this baby needs so much stuff!" so much as I mean "Holy crap, this baby needs stuff and I don't know where to start." Fortunately, plenty of people are willing to offer up handy-dandy lists of the absolute essentials, though upon reading these lists, one might well start exclaiming about the amount of stuff required. Which will lead one onward to lists that insist don't really need all that much and frugality is possible. And these lists will bring about the realization that this is starting to get out of control.

In short, the past couple weeks have been seeing a lot of Geordie's hard-earned money go towards baby things. Of course, the bigger items were bigger purchases - the crib, the changing table, and the mattress/bedding set - and we managed to get them for fair prices. The only thing I felt was really over-priced was the mattress/bedding set, mostly because it includes a pillow, comforter, and coverlet, none of which we'll need for several months. We will use them eventually, so it all evens out in the end. Plus, I actually liked the design on this set.

A nice, simple, brightly colored (but not too garish) geometric pattern. Just what I wanted! I tend to shy away from cutesy animal patterns, no matter what the color scheme is. I don't even much like inanimate objects (like planes and trains for boys, or bows and hearts for girls). Simple geometrics attract my eye, so that's what we've been buying. When Lucky's old enough to pick out her own bedding, she can have what she wants. Until then, I'm buying stuff I can stand to look at. Same thing goes for the color scheme.

The finished product! It wasn't my first choice, but it looks nice enough, and I like the storage space underneath. None of the furniture matches, unfortunately, but it's not like we can decorate properly anyway. The walls are concrete, so we can't hang anything, and we used cream-colored curtains that I'd had in the Moriya apartment. But it's a room, and it's comfy, and that's what's important!

We ended up getting the crib from Babies R' Us, but the changing table is from IKEA. I read a lot of pros and cons about having a changing table, and I decided that this was one of our essentials. Also, from what I read, a lot of people chose to forgo changing tables because it was more convenient to change diapers in whatever room of the house they were in, either on a couch, a bed, or the floor. Well, we don't have a couch, there's no way I'm changing poopy diapers on my bed, and I'll skip the floor because I like being able to use my back. Also, it takes about 10 seconds to get from one end of the apartment to another, so it's not like I'm going out of my way to get to it. Also, it doubles as a dresser. The closets are stuffed full of non-baby items, so we'd have no place to put baby clothes if not for this.

Speaking of baby clothes, I doubt there's a set of parents in the world that can resist doing a little bit of browsing and buying, even when other people are all to eager to purchase things for baby. In particular, a certain expecting grandmother who finds something irresistble whenever she pops into a store's baby department! Because of that, Geordie and I have been pretty discriminating in our choice of baby clothes and accessories. And given the kind of stuff we buy, the cashiers at Babies R' Us probably think we're having a boy.

For example, the socks we picked out:

Geordie liked the dinosaur motif. Me, I like the middle pair in the bottom row. Stripes are awesome. Geordie also spotted this onesie and refused to consider not buying it:

Really, who could resist? This t-shirt too:

And cute goes way beyond color scheme, you know. I love this little hat and mittens combo:

I admit, I can't help but mentally giggle at the sight of those little ears. The hooded bath towels were fun to go through too, and we decided on two of them. The first was easy; we knew we were going to get it as soon as we saw it. The second one was a toss-up - it or the strawberry. A close one, but the strawberry lost out.

I seriously cannot wait to put these to use! And probably take far more photos than are required.

We also bought a few more onesies, a couple blue and a few yellow-patterned ones as well. The pinks were just too . . . pink. But, we did end up buying one pink thing, and it's one of my favorites of what we got. It is pink and has hearts and it makes me think of neapolitan ice cream:

I just hope it fits her for winter! I'm worried it might be too big - in which case, I hope it fits her for next winter!

And that's pretty much all the shopping we've done now, as far as clothes are concerned. We'll wait to see what size she is before buying more - and also to see the haul Gramma Joyce brings with her when she arrives! We've also gotten all of the other essential baby items we'll probably need - diaper bag and other various diapering supplies for the changing table, a bassinet for nights in our room for the first couple months, washclothes, and various other boring things like that.

I can hardly believe it myself, but we may be ready for Lucky's arrival! Supply-wise, that is. Mentally, it's still a bit of a free-for-all. Especially since a week has passed since I first started writing this post and we're now at WEEK 37 and Lucky could make an appearance at any time. Any day now.

I need to go organize some baby things . . .

Kit-Kats: The Odd

These are my favorite Kit Kats. Not necessarily because of their taste but because you have to wonder, "Who thought this was a good idea? Who came up with this flavor?" Seriously, imagine what an awesome job this would be, coming up with new flavors for Japanese Kit Kats.



You could do a lot with flowers. This is the rose (ロ－ス") Kit Kat. If this Kit Kat had been white chocolate, I'm sure it would have gone with the Bad flavors. But it was milk chocolate, and all was well. I liked this flavor - it was subtle, not too sweet, and strangely appealing. Flowery, yes, but no nasty aftertaste like the jasmine tea one. It was just not a flavor I associated with Kit Kats. But, oh, how that has been remedied.

How do I explain ramune (ラムネ)? The word originates from English's "lemonade" and it's a kind of cidery drink. But it comes in different flavors, not just lemon. I've never actually tried ramune (though, after this Kit Kat, I mean to), but I'm told it's a fizzy cider drink. If you look at the Kit Kat wrapper, you will see a green bottle with a blue ball near the top. Apparently, this is a specific type of bottle used only for ramune, and it's got a little marble inside it that floats on the liquid. Why? Just for the hell of it, as far as I can tell.

This was a very fun Kit Kat. First, it's blue. (It's also white chocolate, but milk chocolate would NOT have worked with this flavor, so it's okay.) Blue is easily the most awesome Kit Kat color I've seen thus far. Second, it was fizzy. Like, carbonated soda fizzy. How fun is that? It's a Kit Kat that fizzes in your mouth! Just when I thought Kit Kats couldn't get any better. Third, it tasted good. How's that for amazing?

Here's an interesting one. Most of my students and co-workers think this Kit Kat obsession of mine is charming or cute. I got in the habit of showing Takeda-san any new Kit Kats I found. When she moved back to Sapporo, her father drove down to help her, and she asked him to bring me Sapporo's signature Kit Kat. (Have I mentioned that my Japanese friends and co-workers are beyond awesome? Because they are.) This is a grilled corn (やきもろこし) Kit Kat. Weird, but tasty. In fall and winter, vendors all over Sapporo sell this delectable treat, so it's only right that this should be their flavor. It's much better than a squid flavor, which is the other thing that Sapporo is supposedly famous for (as far as food goes). I'm still waiting for miso flavor.

And this one is just fun: hot chili pepper flavor! This is the first dark chocolate Kit Kat I've had, but logic dictates that spicy chocolate must be dark. Milk chocolate just can't do it justice. I got this one in Nagano (along with the apple and the grape, which seem positively mundane compared to this), and I shared it with one of my more advanced classes. It was a hit, and now whenever I go somewhere, they ask me what kind of Kit Kats I found. One of them even occasionally brings me Kit Kats to see if I've had them before (the answer is usually yes, but I appreciate her curiousity).

Last, I present two Kit Kats that are appropriate for summer: lemon vinegar (レモンビネガー) and apple vinegar (アップルビネガー). Yes, vinegar. It's actually closer to a cider flavor (rather like what's pictured on the apple vinegar box), but it does have a slightly vinegary taste that goes well with the chocolate. It's a very cool flavor, which is why it's so good for summer. The lemon flavor was better than the apple flavor, maybe because it was less cidery. I actually really enjoyed the lemon flavor and bought a couple of bags to eat over the summer. It's been a while since I saw the lemon, but the apple is still available at a store in the Loc City mall.

And with that, I am now caught up with my Kit Kat discoveries. For now. Autumn is fast-approaching, and I have no doubt that more exciting (and/or odd) flavors will be appearing soon. In the meantime, I can get back to blogging about more important things, like travel and sightseeing and actual food!

Kit-Kats: The Bad

So, we saw the good. Unfortunately, some Kit Kats just don't have what it takes to be considered delicious. To be honest, some of them are downright yucky. It baffles the mind, doesn't it?

Surely combining strawberry cheesecake with Kit Kat marvelousness should create something truly fantastic! Right? Er, not according to my taste buds. Granted, it's white chocolate, and I'm not keen on it anyway, but this Kit Kat was particularly displeasing to me. It's not the worst flavor I've ever had (molasses Kit Kat, I'm looking at you, and YOU were milk chocolate, so don't EVEN try to make excuses), but it has its place in the bottom ten.

Yes, I rank the Kit Kats. So?

Now, part of it probably may be because I just don't like certain flavors. Take Mr. Espresso here. I did not have high hopes for this Kit Kat because I don't like espresso, and the last espresso-y Kit Kat I had was the tiramisu, which was just nasty (that one probably ranks #2 on the worst list). And I was right. Perhaps someone loving espresso would also love this Kit Kat, but for me, it was a one-time thing, baby.

Also, take a look at how unappetizing it is:

Could it be any blander? Beige Kit Kats are a crime against humanity. Note that it almost looks like it's not white chocolate. But it is! It is! Sneak.

But enough picking on white chocolate. Milk chocolate has its bad flavors too. Isn't this a pretty box? And it sounds nice, too: jasmine tea. Ah, jasmine tea is nice! It's refreshing, yeah? Good for a hot summer day. Okay, so the chocolate is melty, but still - jasmine tea! Nice!

And then you put it in your mouth. Bleh! Might as well just rename this one jasmine and be done with it. There's no tea flavor here, it's just jasmine, and jasmine hangs around for a while with a severe aftertaste. Granted, some flowers have a nice taste to them: lavender is good, violet is not so bad, and rose can be quite pleasant. Jasmine, however, should be left well enough alone. Stick to tea, jasmine. We'll appreciate you more that way. You and chocolate just don't get along all that well.

Speaking of tea . . .

Don't get me wrong, I like green tea. And I love matcha-flavored things. But when it comes to Kit Kats, I'll leave it rather than take it. It's the only Kit Kat I've eaten that tastes . . . chalky. Sometimes matcha has that chalky aftertaste to it, but this one was stronger than usual. And take note: it's white chocolate. It's a nifty electric green color, but it's still white chocolate.

This one was milk chocolate, but it still wasn't that great:

Well, it's a short list, but there you have the less-than-spectacular, the Kit Kats that missed the mark. It just proves that nothing is perfect, not even variously flavored chocolate treats.

Next up, we will examine the weird and the wonderful, the outlandish and fantastic. The Kit Kats that make you say, "Huh?"

just making sure everything's in working order

Come summertime, a large number of Japanese companies require their employees to have annual medical check-ups. GEOS is one of these. This is a good thing (I guess) because if I wasn't forced to do this, there's no telling when I would do it on my own. Probably never. At least it's fairly simple, requiring only height/weight measurements, blood pressure check, sight/hearing check, x-ray, and urinalysis.

I'm not sure why x-rays are required, but I thought it was cool anyway because I don't ever remember have any part of my body x-rayed. Only teeth, and that's just downright dull. Also, my insides are neat. The doctor showed me my heart and lungs, though it was hard to tell they were my lungs because they were so clean and clear. There are no spots on my insides. The doctor was very pleased.

Interesting note: the doctor did everything. In the States, nurses do the brunt of the work (in my opinion) and the doctor just comes in to poke at you and sign the paper. This is my experience. Here (and, oddly enough, in Puerto Rico), the doctor did all of the tests and measurements. The nurse assisted, mainly by holding things and showing me to the bathroom. Also, the doctor spoke some English and was pleased to know I'm from Florida, because, of course, he'd been to Orlando in years past.

It was a very fast doctor's visit; it took all of maybe 40 minutes. I got a clean bill of health, except for "excess weight." Yeah, I know. I'm working on it. To show how far I've come since my heavy high school days, this did not fill me with overwhelming self-loathing. Rather, I was amused, because I was thinking, 'Yeah, you should have seen that number two years ago, pal.' Granted, my weight is not where I'd like it to be, but I AM working on it. Also, in my defense, the measurement was taken in the middle of the day, only two hours after a huge lunch, and during a particularly bloated period of my cycle. None of these are ideal for weighing. I was a full 3 kilograms heavier than when I weighed myself that morning.

I have gained a little weight since moving to Matsudo, and it's because of a number of things. I'm riding my bike less, so that's a loss of aerobic activity. I am walking and using the stairs everyday, but that's only developed muscles in my thighs and calves, which probably accounts for the gain. I'm doing weights in my apartment at night 2-3 nights a week, so my triceps and biceps are a little more defined too. I've lost inches around my waist and hips, and that means more to me than anything else. But I'll be much happier when I can go back to riding my bike 30-60 minutes a day.

My blood pressure is normal, so all in all, I can't complain. And I feel great. I haven't had any muscle aches or body pain in months, and going up all those stairs has done nice things for my endurance.

So, to reward myself, I went shopping. Not for food (yay, me!). I usually go to the Lala Port at Kashiwa-noha-campus, but Mio-sensei suggested I go to Nagareyama's Otakanomori instead. So, I did.

Otakanomori is much bigger that the Lala Port and also not so Americanized. Lala Ports tend to be (in my experience) very similar to American malls, big and airy and open and filled with children. Otakanomori seems to cater to a more sophisticated crowd. It's not cave-like, but it has lower ceilings and fewer windows. It oozes style. It's a mall that doesn't feel like a mall.

I made wonderful discoveries in Otakanomori. A Build-A-Bear (because "a bear hug is understood in ANY language!"), a Cold Stone Creamery, a New York-style bagel shop, a Baskin Robbins, and a gorgeous movie theater. Also, more expensive clothing stores than you can shake a stick at. Best of all is a Kinokuniya, without a doubt my favorite Japanese bookstore. This one had a terribly small English section, but it was still nice to peruse. I bought a kanji workbook to improve my reading skills. And then I went over to the cd/dvd section and bought myself a new pair of earbuds because my old pair is falling apart. These are easily the best things that happened to me all day. I had no idea that my old pair sucked so much until I put these on.

All in all, it was a pretty good day, even though it rained on my all the way home, and I've got a blister on my left foot because I wore my new sandals instead of my tennis shoes. The clinic I went to was in Minami-Moriya, and exploring that area has only endeared me to Moriya as a whole. I saw a lot of apartment buildings with "tenants wanted" signs, so I'm going to talk to Mio-sensei about inquiring after some of them. It would be nice to live there - the train station is so tiny and cute, and it's a short ride to Moriya that way. By foot or bike, it's maybe three miles, which would definitely make for a healthier lifestyle. I'm also thinking that the apartments may be cheaper than in Moriya proper because there's no Tsukuba Express to drive up prices. We'll see.

For now, enjoy some pictures of south Moriya.

the barely there platform

the tiny, tiny train station
proof that Moriya really is countryside

Non-Japanese Travel Journal: Florida

First, let it be said that I don't get homesick. In order to be homesick, one must have a permanent home, and it's been a long time since I had a home that I considered permanent. Home is where I am right now - I carry it with me, inside of me, because that won't change. My environment may change (and I prefer it to change), but I've got my memories, and that's enough. I don't waste a lot of time or energy on sentimentalism or nostalgia.

I didn't to back to Florida because I was homesick. I went because I had the chance to go, reasons to go, people to see, and things to do. Also, because I don't know when I'll be going back, and I have no desire to return any time soon. Returning to Florida is almost like taking a step backward, and I don't like backtracking. It's a waste.

Okay, waste is a bad word, and it doesn't quite have the meaning I want. It's more apropos to say that there are countless places in the world to see and limited time to do it in. If I'm going to use my free time to travel, I want it to be to someplace I've never been before, to experience something new. Florida is familiar and therefore comfortable, and it's too easy to fall into a nostalgic state of mind: "oh, remember how fun it was to . . . " or "how about all the good times we had at . . . " or "wasn't it funny when . . ." or "I sure miss . . . " Once you start visiting the past in your head, it makes it that much harder to appreciate the present and make something of the future. I'm too young for nostalgia, not when I've got so much more living to do.

Not that there's plenty of goodness in Florida to encourage visiting it. There is the following:

those beautiful natural settings

the never-a-dull-moment weather

the delicious (non-commercialized) food

silly friends

and, last but not least, family

Do I dislike Florida (or the United States)? No, of course not. There's still a lot of the States that I'd like to see. Will I live there again? The answer right now is probably not. It's not that I want to avoid comfortability and familiarity - I want to avoid complacency. It's too easy to start taking things for granted, to expect that this is the way things will always be. Familiarity is nice, but it doesn't make things wonderful. And I've found that I can be perfectly comfortable in a place that is foreign to me. That made me realize that I spent a long time in a place that no longer felt comfortable, even though I'd lived most of my life there.

So, for me, going back to Florida wasn't like going home. It was like going through a photo album and realizing how much has changed - both in yourself and in others - and appreciating the past while at the same time not wanting to relive it. And honestly, I prefer it this way.