Japanese Food Journal: homemade eel patties

For my first homecooked meal in Japan, I wanted to make something that was vaguely Japanese and definitely not complicated. I settled on eel patties, a recipe I found in the Japanese cookbook I brought with me. It suggested serving them as burgers, but I couldn't find hamburger buns in the grocery store, so I decided to just make them patties instead.

I've found that Japanese respond to my love for in eel in two ways: they're shocked that I love it or they're shocked that most Americans don't eat it. One student was even horrified when I said that eel is not readily found in American grocery stores. She simply couldn't believe it. Another student was thoroughly amused that I liked it so much that I wanted to cook with it. Overall, though every Japanese I've met is thrilled that I'm embracing Japanese food. One of my kids' classes saw me eating onigiri (a riceball) today, and it was apparently the most amazing thing they've ever seen, the idea that an American would willingly eat such a thing.

Anyway, back to my home-cooked Japanese meal. It was all quite simple: peel, chop, and cook the eel just briefly. Eel comes prepared, already grilled and flavored, so I'm not having to cook it for more than a couple of minutes. Then, mix the eel with a beaten egg and enough panko to form into patties. I was afraid I'd used too much panko, but the combination turned out to be perfect. In a skillet, I cooked the patties in some olive oil, just enough to get them crispy and crunchy on the outside.

To serve: I laid out a bed of cabbage and squirted mayo over top it. Then I placed the eel patties on top, in a triangle. I had one beautiful tomato that cost half a fortune but was well worth it because it was so juicy and yummy. To finish, I covered the eel patties with tonkatsu sauce. And voila! I cook once again!

Don't know when I'll do it again though. My kitchen has zero counterspace, and that makes it exceedingly difficult to do any kind of prep work. I'll definitely make the eel patties again soon because I still have plenty of panko and cabbage left (though I might make okonomiyaki with the cabbage before I get to the patties again). But cooking is going to be a major chore because I have so little space to work in. I'm going to keep things simple at first (pasta, perhaps, since that requires little prep), and if I find I can manage the space better, I'll continue trying new things.

Until then, I have plenty of food to choose from outside the apartment!

my new favorite holiday

I love my Headways class with my horticulturist student. It's always amusing. Naofumi is probably my most advanced student. He spent 7 years as a child growing up in California, and his reading and conversation are excellent. He takes classes mainly to practice English and keep it honed and because his job encourages it. Headways is the most advanced class GEOS offers, and it's pretty intense. The book was published at Oxford, so it's painfully British at times, to the point where I've had to look stuff up because I had no idea what they were saying. But, he's a smart guy, so we've had some pretty interesting conversations regarding the text.

Monday was a Japanese holiday: Culture Day. I asked Naofumi what it was for, and he explained that people were supposed to go out and get cultivated, by going to a museum or a concert or something (yay for Sarah and Nick! I just went to the ￥100 store). He added that most Japanese people just take the opportunity to be lazy and do nothing. He seemed to be of the opinion that those kinds of holidays (Culture Day, Sports Day, etc.) were kind of useless, except for the fact that it's a three-day weekend for a lot of people.

"Sounds like some holidays we have in the States," I replied.

"Yeah." A pause. "Like what?"

"Like Columbus Day, for one. He discovered Hispaniola, not the North American continent."

Naofumi kind of chortled at this. "Wasn't the continent discovered by some other guy from Scandinavia or some place like that?"

"Yeah, Lief Ericsson."

"Hmm. So why don't you have Lief Ericsson Day?"

See? I love this class.

Speaking of holidays, I find it amusing that head office sent out an email encouraging NETs to tell their students about Guy Fawkes Day in an effort to convince them to travel abroad and "experience holidays unlike their own." For some reason, when I think of foreign holidays that I want to observe, Guy Fawkes Day isn't the first one that comes to mind. Just hope no one uses V For Vendetta as their reference point.

sara-sensei's apartment

Finally! No video, but I do have pictures of the apartment for you to enjoy.


This is what you see when you step through the front door. I'm standing in the entryway, where shoes are put. I have a little closet there where I keep my sneakers and sandals, as well as the trash bags and the Jayne Cobb: Hero of Canton bag that I use to haul my groceries in. Take a left turn right before the fridge, and you get to the bathroom area of the apartment.

But first, a shot of the actual entryway. The rolling thing is my kitchen storage unit, where I have my dried goods, the dishes, and various tupperware containers (William left quite a few of them, but NONE of them have lids, and they're all super tiny). The top is concave, so it doesn't work well as a cooking space, but it's handy to put my drying dishes on.

And here is the washing area. Directly ahead is the washer, which holds about a week's worth of clothes in one load. To the left is the toilet, to the right is the shower.

This is the toilet. It has its own little room. It's not a super-futuristic toilet like the one in the motel, but it has a faucet on top where clean water comes out when you flush. It's kind of cool.

Here is the shower. Note that the whole room is the shower, even though there appears to be a tub there. There are two drains, one in the shower and one in front of the sink. Theoretically, you're supposed to draw a hot bath, wash yourself outside of the tub with the shower hose, then get in the tub and soak. It's quite relaxing, but it's also a bit complicated, especially if you're not so graceful like me. It's a tiny space, and it's kind of maddening. I also hang a lot of shirts in here to dry, since I don't have much room on the line out the window.

Here is a closer shot of the kitchen. Seriously, that's the kitchen. Fridge, microwave, rice cooker, stove, and sink. Notice the lack of counter space? And the lack of an oven, but that was a given anyway.

I do have some shelves just above the microwave, which is where I keep my spices and utensils and whatnot. There is not enough room to keep food up there. That all goes in the fridge or in the rolling storage unit. Which, by the way, either blocks the front door or the path to the bathroom. There is no room for it to just be, as you can see:

I have plenty of pots and pans, more than I'll ever actually need. I make pasta every once in a while, and I have a skillet that I use more than anything else. I don't often cook in the evening. On Tues-Thurs, I have enough time to come home and make myself some lunch (or bring home lunch), around 2-3pm. So, that is when I cook. For dinner, I just get something mircowaveable, and I don't consider that cooking.

Here is the stove and the sink. Small, huh? The stove works wonderfully, I have no complaints with it (except it randomly decided to turn off in the middle of boiling pasta one day). The cans there are waiting to be rinsed out so I can recycle them. All cans and bottles are recycled.

And here is the living room, entering from the kitchen. I have a door separating the kitchen from the living area, which I like, because I feel a little more closed-in and protected. That's my closet, which is big enough to accomodate all of my clothing. It's got a few shelves in there under the hanging clothes, so I was able to fit all of my socks and things in there too. The AC/heat unit is above it next to the window. I have a crummy view of still more apartments. I have also a really ugly blue futon couch which is usually covered with clothes or someting, but that's okay, because it's not really comfortable. I have to climb on it to open the window and hang my laundry to dry. I'd really prefer to get rid of it, it's just taking up space, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to. Or what to do with it if I were to throw it out. I spend most of my time at the little table, where I do my ironing, my computing, and my eating.

Across from the table is the desk with the tv. You can see how often I use the tv. I didn't like it glaring at me (I hate tvs that aren't turned on, they're creepy), so I covered it with a sheet. Above it are some shelves that I've got my GEOS paperwork crammed into. You can also see some of my bed, but here's a better picture:

Yes, my bed is elevated! I have steps to get into bed. What's really cool is that the steps open up and give me more storage. And there's all kinds of storage underneath my bed, so that's nice. My bed is very hard, though. I think I need another futon on it. I'm not sure if I made it correctly either, but I'm pretty sure that I should be sleeping under one of those things that I'm sleeping on. I needed more cushion. Two blankets came with it: the pink one (I did NOT pick that out) and a soft, warm, fuzzy one. The sheet over the tv was also provided, but I didn't like it. They're all too short for me; if I stretch out, my feet stick out. They're also not very wide, but that's okay because there's not a lot of room for me to move anyway. Maybe it's not overly comfortable, but I sleep just fine in it.

So . . . that's it! Not very exciting, perhaps, but it gets the job done. I don't spend a whole lot of time here, maybe six hours out of the day (not including sleeping hours). Mostly, I'm over at GEOS or out wondering around. But it's nice to come home to, and I keep it fairly tidy. What can I say? It's home.

not quite perfect

Let me begin by saying that I love Japan. But I am a self-profressed cynic and curmudgeon, and there's no way I'm going to say that Japan is perfect. Much as I love this country, there are some things I'd change if I could. Because I can't, I accept them as they are. But I'd thought I should take a break from singing the praises of Japan and vent a few grievances.

coffee
Nothing wrong with it as it is. It's strong, which I like. Seems to me that most Japanese drink their coffee black, but sugar and cream (even the disgusting non-dairy kind) is readily available. There's also some kind of syrup with flowery labels, but I'm still not sure what it is, and it doesn't do much in the way of sweetening things, so far as I can tell. Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate Splenda, which I've come to prefer over regular sugar. No, the problem with coffee is the price. You think Starbucks is expensive in the States? Try paying the equivalent of $4.50 cents for a small cup of regular coffee. Ouch. At Mister Donut, the coffee was cheaper (about $2.60), but the serving size was even smaller! Fortunately, both Benni-sensei and Hitomi-san drink coffee, so it's in ample supply at the school. All I have to do is buy sugar and creamer, and I'm set. Still, it's a ridiculous price to pay for coffee.

my utter and complete lack of a dryer
Domestic duties are not my strong suit. I have no problem with the washer - it's simple enough to use, and it does what I need it to do. However, I would kill to be able to fit a dryer into this place. I cannot figure out how to keep my jeans from drying crunchy and stiff. My towels are flatter than the Kansas plains. I can't deal with it. As soon as I'm mobile on a bike, I'm going down to a nearby coin laundry and scouting for dryers. I know they exist in Japan! I've seen them in stores! I've got to be able to find one to use somewhere! My work suits are fine (they just need some ironing, which I can do without much problem), but the crunchy jeans are beginning to get to me.

the size of my bathing room and my kitchen
The whole apartment is small, and I'm okay with that, really. This is just something that's going to take some serious adjustment on my part, because I can't help being a big, clumsy gaijin. Also, I'm clinging to some fairly American ways of doing things. Like drying off in the bathroom after getting out of the shower. I can only assume that most Japanese don't do this, because it's pretty damn difficult to do given the space available in the bathroom. This is true of the kitchen, too, in which there is no counter space at all. I knew this was going to be a problem, I just had no idea how difficult it would be to actually deal with it.

having to bag my own groceries
Okay, this is just because I'm lazy. But, at least I'll admit it. I just really hate having to bag my own stuff.

mosquitoes and spiders
Holy crap, mosquitoes are everywhere, and they come in droves. Whenever I kill one, it seems like two more come to replace it. It's freezing outside, and yet, there are mosquitoes. It makes no sense. Even Hitomi-san was complaining about them the other day. Also, there are spiders. Duh, it's not like I expected Japan to have no spiders. And most of them aren't too big. The biggest I've seen have been in house gardens or in the bushes in front of restaurants, and they're about the size of the banana spiders that are all over the place in Florida. I'm fine with that, as long as they're hanging out in their webs and not bothering me. I'm just wondering how they manage to survive this COLD and very STRONG wind that has been blowing every night for the past week. They're apparently more resilient than I would be.

And, um, that's about it so far. I have yet to come up against the "you need your gaijin card to get in here/do this/buy that thing," so I consider myself fairly lucky in that regard. Most people have been very nice and polite and willing to help as much as possible (though, according to Hitomi-san, the woman who processed my information for my gaijin card was "making things more difficult than they should have been - she was very grumpy," but the woman has a government job and I can't say I expected anything more than what we got).

Overall, Japan's pros definitely outweigh its cons, as far as I'm concerned. I'm just feeling grouchy after dealing with the internet, which is irritating no matter which country you're in.

seriously?

Okay, so I was going to post two videos of my apartment today, and I even came down to the office on my day off to do it.

You'll notice there aren't any videos posted, yes? Because I just spent the past TWO hours waiting for blogger to upload ONE measly three-minute video, except it wasn't finished but I cancelled it anyway because I have other things I want to do with my life besides sit in front of a computer watching it process something that I don't know what. I have no idea if it had another hour to go or if it would be done in thirty seconds. Either way, I was done with it.

I guess I'll just go back and take pictures of my apartment instead. Not as exciting, but until I can get vids uploaded to blogger without it taking half a century, that's what I'm doing.

Also, because I'm now in a grouchy mood, I'm going to post my grievances with Japan as well.

a lil' bit of the neighborhood and GEOS

And now, for your viewing/reading pleasure, I present to you pictures of my neighborhood and my school.


This is my apartment building: Leo-Palace Rainbow Chateau. Apparently, Leo-Palace gets its kicks by naming its apartment buildings weird, flowery names taken from English or (as in the case of my home) French. Who knows why, because there's clearly nothing rainbow-y or chateau-y about this building. My apartment is not in view here because it's all the way at the end on the second floor. The tree by the gray boxes (which is where the trash goes) is blocking my apartment.

The street on which I live. The striped building at the end on the left is Rainbow Chateau. Across from it is a vegetable field in which is growing a big, leafy crop of something I don't know what.

This is facing away from my apartment building, the direction that I walk to go to work. At the end of the street, I turn left and go a little ways before hitting a major crossroads. It's a pretty quiet neighborhood. The buildings you see here are all residences (except for the spired building on the left, that's a restaurant called Spaghetti House). And look - mountains! It was a little cloudy the day I took these pics, but they were still visible. On clear days, you can see green and brown patches, and on really cloudy days, you can't see anything at all.

The road to GEOS! It's a short walk from my apartment to the school, about 10 minutes (less if I don't have to wait at the light at the crossroads, but I almost ALWAYS have to wait on the light). The only time I don't enjoy it is when it's really cold and windy at night, because it's a pretty fierce wind. Apparently, Gunma-kun is gets very windy in the winter, and it's a Siberian-based wind, so you can imagine how cold that can get. The past couple of days, I've had to take my overcoat to work to wear at night, and that makes it much more manageable. I shudder to think what it'll be like in January, though.

This is the outside of the GEOS office. Not all that impressive, is it? It's a pretty small school, with only two teachers and a manager, and our numbers are consistently too low to keep head office pleased, but Isesaki is a pretty small town by Japanese standards. The school itself has the lobby area, two classrooms, a larger activity room, a small office, a canteen area, and a small bathroom with separate washroom. It's cozy and suits our needs pretty nicely.

This is my room. It's kind of small and not much to look at, but it's my room and I like it. Today, I'm spending my day off straightening it up and getting it better organized. William did things a little differently than I want to do them, and there's not a lot of organization going on, especially in regards to the Kids' classes. I play 2-3 games with them each class, and some of them require a lot of props. I'm trying to make it so that everything is within easy reach and I don't have to go off on a search for something and in the process lose control of the class.

So, that's a bit of my "neighborhood." It's what I see every day. The 7-11 and the grocery store are about a 5 minute walk from GEOS, so everything I need on a daily basis is pretty close. There's a ￥100 yen store about 30 minutes from my apartment, and I don't mind walking there. I'm hoping to try out some of the restaurants that are nearby - there's quite a selection of them, and it's going to be only a matter of time before I get tired of convenie store fare.

Japanese Food Journal: vending machines

Before coming to Japan, I was told that there were vending machines everywhere and that they sold a variety of items (including the fabled "used panties" machine, which I really don't think exists, but there are stranger things out there, I suppose). This is probably true in larger cities. In Isesaki, all of the vending machines sell liquid refreshments. But, this goes way beyond just soda and water. There's also juice of all kinds, beer, various bottled coffees, and a lot of other things that I haven't figured out what they are yet.


I use vending machines about once a day, especially the one in GEOS. It has two kinds of lemonade drinks, plus Pepsi Twist, which is one of the few soda drinks that I will allow myself to drink because I like it. I haven't seen much of Pepsi Twist in America in several years, and I thought it was no longer so there and therefore no longer produced. Shows how wrong I can be. I could drink a can of it every day, but I try to limit myself to one a week, opting for water or lemonade instead. I still haven't purchased a Brita container, so I've been getting a lot of bottled water too. It's about ￥100 for most drinks, and I think it's worth it. The one at the train station also sells cherry juice, which is a little weird but pretty good.


My favorite vending machine is the one next to a takoyaki stand near the school. I pass it nearly every day, on my way to the 7-11 or to the grocery store. I have never bought anything out of it because it's mostly canned coffee (which says it's hot, and this intrigues me, so maybe I'll try it someday). No, it's my favorite because of what it looks like:

Yes, my friends, that's Tommy Lee Jones on a Japanese vending machine. I had no idea he was so fond of canned Japanese coffee. Talk about your awesomeness.