Hello all! I hope everyone is doing well! Sorry I haven't posted in a little while, not much new and exciting has been happening here. I'm trying to help Wendell settle into his new routine, though it's been getting tricky for him lately as he's been getting a few new classes added to his schedule already. We're actually about even now which is great for me but I'm sure he'd be grateful for the break!
Today we went into work to see the old daytime Manager there! She came to visit to make a GEOS video of us for the website. With ten minutes to prepare we pulled a little something out of our bums (which isn't bad!) and it was on the site within minutes. Here is a link to our school's website. If you click on the pinkish red square around the top/middle/rightish of the screen that says "2/25" and then a bunch of stuff in Japanese, it will have you download/open the video. Enjoy!
http://www.geos.co.jp/school_j/contents/hamamatsuichino/index.html
This will give you a chance to see me in all my awkwardness (trying to hide a horribly thick scratch on my nose), Ai in all her cuteness, and Wendell in all his funniness! ENJOY!! =D
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Old Boy, Atta Boy, Whatta Boy, BIG BOY!!!!
One of my favorite things about Japanese women is that they're super thin but most of them
can eat like it's nobody's business!
Miharu suggested an Italian restaurant for lunch today called Cafe Tartaruga.
What she didn't tell me is it's the most kick-butt buffet EVER!!!
I had the yummiest Margarita mini-pizza, some seafood alfredo, a plethora of healthy (and not so healthy) appetizers, and a massize sundae for dessert that consisted of melon, strawberry, banana, and chocolate ice cream. It was AMAZING!!! (Why don't Americans have honeydew flavored ice cream? It rocks!!) And the best part? She kept up with me every step of the way! PARTY!!
Anyhoo, as we're driving home I glance at a restuarant that has tons of Japanese banners out front. I don't realize exactly what I'm seeing until this clicks in my brain:
can eat like it's nobody's business!
Miharu suggested an Italian restaurant for lunch today called Cafe Tartaruga.
What she didn't tell me is it's the most kick-butt buffet EVER!!!
I had the yummiest Margarita mini-pizza, some seafood alfredo, a plethora of healthy (and not so healthy) appetizers, and a massize sundae for dessert that consisted of melon, strawberry, banana, and chocolate ice cream. It was AMAZING!!! (Why don't Americans have honeydew flavored ice cream? It rocks!!) And the best part? She kept up with me every step of the way! PARTY!!
Anyhoo, as we're driving home I glance at a restuarant that has tons of Japanese banners out front. I don't realize exactly what I'm seeing until this clicks in my brain:
OMG! It's Frisch's BIG BOY!!!!
I haven't seen one of these since visiting Grandma all those times in Ohio!!
This is sooo freakin' awesome for me!! =D
.....
So that's really all this blog was supposed to be about. =D
But, as usual, I got side-tracked when food was mentioned.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Out with the old, In with the New!
After a grueling schedule of arriving in Japan yesterday, two full days of training, and trying to maneuver the city buses by himself, Wendell arrived in Hamamatsu tonight. What a trooper, not only did he come to work and meet some students, but he stuck around until we closed, even making a poster for the lobby! After work I told Kashima I would get her into the city (a 20 minute walk + 10 minute train ride one way) to her hotel (as she was staying in Wendell's apartment until he came in) and what a nice guy, he offered to walk with us. Mike (my Area Leader and Ai's temporary replacement) came with us too but he rode his bike away from us the whole way. I think he just wanted someone to tell him how to get to the station, where he left us. =D Ah, well!
So from the two hour adventure, I'd say he seems pretty funny. We all quoted Scrubs a lot and I decided to push him in the shopping cart that we borrowed from the mall on the way home. It was pretty funny. I'm glad we have someone genki here so I don't go insane when Kashima leaves on Saturday! Holla! P.s. He's a bit taller than he looks in the cart, and he's eating sushi. I called it an "incart meal"... like "inflight meal." Get it? =D
So from the two hour adventure, I'd say he seems pretty funny. We all quoted Scrubs a lot and I decided to push him in the shopping cart that we borrowed from the mall on the way home. It was pretty funny. I'm glad we have someone genki here so I don't go insane when Kashima leaves on Saturday! Holla! P.s. He's a bit taller than he looks in the cart, and he's eating sushi. I called it an "incart meal"... like "inflight meal." Get it? =D
Monday, February 2, 2009
Why you SHOULD talk to strangers...
This is a week old story but I didn't have time to post it yet, hehe, so let me set the scene. I'm in one of my favorite stores, staring intently at a display of fabulous goodies. My mp3 player is soothing me with the warm, beautiful songs from the Once soundtrack. I know I sporadically join in to the melodious crooning of that cute Irish guy whose name presently escapes me. At some point I realize that I'm not alone. A Japanese woman and her daughter are trying to look at the same aisle display. I step back with a smile and a "sumimasen" (pardon me) so we all can look. They pick up some of the boxes and, adding them to their basket, leave after five minutes or so and come back after ten. I'm still there. I smile at them and return to my intent staring at the little treasures I enjoy so much. They come back over and switch one of their boxes for a different box before leaving again.
They return after another five minutes and again, I'm still there, comparing packages and softly singing along to something only I can hear. I have no sense of embarassment though, I think we all know that. =D
This last time the Mother is openly laughing at me. I smile and say that I can't decide what to do. Unexpectedly, she answers me in English! We chat for a few minutes and after I explain my dilemma (which is that I'm not buying anything even a little bit big because of the cost to ship it home) she suggests buying things from a recycle shop (I think she only understood the word "cost" and probably thought I was complaining about the store's prices). But since I love a bargain I asked her if she knew a nearby recycle shop. She offers to show me the way but the next thing I know I'm getting into her car.
I should interject here that Japan in a lot like America in the 50s. It's extremely safe and lots of people still leave their doors unlocked and their bikes unguarded and nothing really happens to them. That's one of the biggest things I like about Japan. I feel insanely safe in all aspects. Most people are honest and everyone goes out of their way to help you or take care of you (and if they don't, they are considered extremely rude!). Plus, she was a sweet woman with an adorable daughter. I didn't see them as a threat.
"Nearby" is a ten minute drive but I'm thrilled and amazed by what I find. These Recycle Shops (リサイクルショップ) are nothing like what I was expecting, which was a Salvation Army. Apparently people have to pay to donate their things here and it's cheaper than paying to dispose of them. The crazy thing is that almost everything I saw was brand new, with tags, and in boxes. It was basically a discount store with anything and everything you could imagine. Sweet!
Etsuko brought me back to Hamamatsu (浜松) after a little while and I gave her my e-mail address. She e-mailed me this week to see if I would like to get together and so naturally I agreed. Her daughter had the day off from school so she would be joining us again (she is adorable and such a sweet, shy little thing!). As a special treat she took us to a "confectionery." In my head I was thinking of a sweets shop she liked, and assumed that it was chocolate that was made around us in Hamamatsu. Instead, we drive for 30 minutes (I have no idea what town we were in, LOL) and we stop at a giant factory. Flashes of I Love Lucy's "Job Switching" episode and Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory race through me head! I always thought of myself as Veruca Salt, but I was secretly hoping to see a ChocaRiver!!
From the outside, the factory looks like the newer version of Charlie (with Johnny Depp) so it looks a bit like a modern prison but I'm remaining optimistic. As we walk in, I can smell sweet butter and something cooking in the oven. We're at the Unagi Pie factory!!!!!!! SWEEEET!!!! (Unagi Pie: a cookie like biscuit made from ground up eel bones. Sounds creepy, but it's GREAT!!!) We receive a free one (I'm hoarding mine!) and a pamphlet to start our self-guided tour around the factory! I watch as the dough goes into the oven in one window and how it gets coated in melted butter in the next! YUM! This is a fabulous surprise, a FUN DAY and the reason you should always talk to strangers. You know, the ones who aren't visibly insane or smell of urine.
If you're interested in seeing some more pictures (not from my cell phone!), the company's website is:
http://shunkado.co.jp/
ENJOY!!
The Unagi Pie is on the right, the pamphlet is on the left.
Etsuko posing with her daughter. Her daughter isn't nervous, LOL, she's being distracted at that moment by a huge group of women who were climbing off a tour bus. You heard me right, people take tour buses to come to the Unagi Pie factory! Party!
They return after another five minutes and again, I'm still there, comparing packages and softly singing along to something only I can hear. I have no sense of embarassment though, I think we all know that. =D
This last time the Mother is openly laughing at me. I smile and say that I can't decide what to do. Unexpectedly, she answers me in English! We chat for a few minutes and after I explain my dilemma (which is that I'm not buying anything even a little bit big because of the cost to ship it home) she suggests buying things from a recycle shop (I think she only understood the word "cost" and probably thought I was complaining about the store's prices). But since I love a bargain I asked her if she knew a nearby recycle shop. She offers to show me the way but the next thing I know I'm getting into her car.
I should interject here that Japan in a lot like America in the 50s. It's extremely safe and lots of people still leave their doors unlocked and their bikes unguarded and nothing really happens to them. That's one of the biggest things I like about Japan. I feel insanely safe in all aspects. Most people are honest and everyone goes out of their way to help you or take care of you (and if they don't, they are considered extremely rude!). Plus, she was a sweet woman with an adorable daughter. I didn't see them as a threat.
"Nearby" is a ten minute drive but I'm thrilled and amazed by what I find. These Recycle Shops (リサイクルショップ) are nothing like what I was expecting, which was a Salvation Army. Apparently people have to pay to donate their things here and it's cheaper than paying to dispose of them. The crazy thing is that almost everything I saw was brand new, with tags, and in boxes. It was basically a discount store with anything and everything you could imagine. Sweet!
Etsuko brought me back to Hamamatsu (浜松) after a little while and I gave her my e-mail address. She e-mailed me this week to see if I would like to get together and so naturally I agreed. Her daughter had the day off from school so she would be joining us again (she is adorable and such a sweet, shy little thing!). As a special treat she took us to a "confectionery." In my head I was thinking of a sweets shop she liked, and assumed that it was chocolate that was made around us in Hamamatsu. Instead, we drive for 30 minutes (I have no idea what town we were in, LOL) and we stop at a giant factory. Flashes of I Love Lucy's "Job Switching" episode and Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory race through me head! I always thought of myself as Veruca Salt, but I was secretly hoping to see a ChocaRiver!!
From the outside, the factory looks like the newer version of Charlie (with Johnny Depp) so it looks a bit like a modern prison but I'm remaining optimistic. As we walk in, I can smell sweet butter and something cooking in the oven. We're at the Unagi Pie factory!!!!!!! SWEEEET!!!! (Unagi Pie: a cookie like biscuit made from ground up eel bones. Sounds creepy, but it's GREAT!!!) We receive a free one (I'm hoarding mine!) and a pamphlet to start our self-guided tour around the factory! I watch as the dough goes into the oven in one window and how it gets coated in melted butter in the next! YUM! This is a fabulous surprise, a FUN DAY and the reason you should always talk to strangers. You know, the ones who aren't visibly insane or smell of urine.
If you're interested in seeing some more pictures (not from my cell phone!), the company's website is:
http://shunkado.co.jp/
ENJOY!!
The Unagi Pie is on the right, the pamphlet is on the left.
Posing in front of a giant unagi pie!
I was mesmerized by how quickly the cookies were flying out of the machines!
Dressed all in white, just like the Mike TV segment.
You know what I'm talkin' 'bout!
You know what I'm talkin' 'bout!
Etsuko posing with her daughter. Her daughter isn't nervous, LOL, she's being distracted at that moment by a huge group of women who were climbing off a tour bus. You heard me right, people take tour buses to come to the Unagi Pie factory! Party!
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