I've been trying to write something for at least a week, in between giving goodbye speeches, saying farewells, and attempting to procrastinate on packing and cleaning. But I don't know - for some reason it's been hard to write. I haven't quite been able to find the right words. Are there really ever "right words" though?
Anyways.
Where has time gone?
It seems like just last year, I came to Japan, and just yesterday I got to know all the amazing students, teachers, and people in my sweet town.
The last few weeks have been my last week of classes and a bunch of goodbye speeches to people; it was something of a bittersweet moment, though I suppose, mostly just sad, since it meant no longer having classes and that seeing and talking to students was going to get way way way more difficult (or highly improbable in some cases), as well as some of the last times I went to some schools.
I will say this though, about my stint in Japan. Realistically, I don't think I could do this line of work (being an ALT) for my whole life, let alone a couple more years. It's fun and interesting to work with so many teachers - and some are amazing to work with - but I would really enjoy having more control over the class schedule and everything, I think, without having to worry about also going to four other schools. That being said, if I had to choose whether or not to do this again, I'd choose yes in a heartbeat.
The people that I've met here are, quite simply, amazing. Out of everything in Japan, I will miss them the most.
I've had a whole week of goodbye speeches, and I have had them all the way from July 17th until last monday, the 23rd. I managed to make it through all the speeches without crying (something I'm kind of proud of) and have only cried in public once, when a student also started crying. It gets me every time, when I see other people crying, especially students I really liked. Even the students I wasn't especially fond of, it was quite touching to see them get sad. I don't know what it says about me, but to be honest, it's kind of a relief to see them sad that I'm going, and so many of them. I mean, it's really nice to know that I did part of my job (the exchange part) well enough to where people are sad to see me go. It feels kind of mean saying that though, saying that I'm kind of glad they were sad.
The funny thing is, I think I stopped being really sad about this whole thing. I mean, I am sad. But I don't really *feel* anything about it. Mostly, just a kind of... panic, since my plans have been, uh, "evolving" for quite some time and I don't really know where I'm going after August 1st until August 7th. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Originally, I meant to go Thailand. Then Thailand was stupidly expensive. Same with Okinawa. Part of that was my own fault for waiting for so long. Then I thought about going to Tottori to dive, or Shikoku. But they don't have English places there, AND no dives on the days I'm actually free. What a pain.
So I'm not really sure. My big back up plan is, I guess to stay in Okayama? I don't know. I'm kind of worried about not being able to find a place to stay if I travel somewhere.
Also, a couple of the people I've wanted to see one more time for dinner, or for drinks or something... scheduling has been kind of hard. I originally wasn't planning on being back in Okayama, but now apparently I might be around for the Momotaro Matsuri? One of the days someone is free is on the 6th and I was like "...I wasn't really planning on being here... but sure." I dunno. For me, meeting up with people, seeing people and stuff.... soemtimes is a little bit more important than traveling around on my own. I wish I had been more organized with planning my stuff though. Mostly because it's such a giant pain to try to find hostels last minute here, especially in the summer. I mean, good grief! You basically *have to* have your stuff all planned out if you're doing anything that might possibly require a reservation.
Kind of a giant pain, if you ask me.
The whole "not going to be living in Takahashi anymore" thing is all kind of... surreal though. I was packing and I closed my suitcase and stuff so that I could vacuum (I was finding tiny ants D: ...those are better than big ants though, right?) and my room just looked rather empty. I haven't really ventured much outside the room since it's been ridiculously hot and humid outside my air conditioned sanctuary; I walked from my room to the bathroom and started to sweat.
Absolutely ridiculous.
I passed a sign today on my short but incredibly fun and food-filled trip (like all we did was eat and look at cows and take pictures of stuff) that said the temperature was 37C. Which is really hot, but then you add in humidity and it's kind of like "omg kill me now" kind of feeling. That's 98.6F. Nearly 99F, which is practically 100 F. Stupidly hot. I will be quite glad to get back to dry california heat.
Oh Japan. Oh Takahashi. I will miss you though, despite your stupid bugs and stupid heat and humidity (also stupid). I will miss seeing students in the conbinis. Conbinis themselves. Randomly running into students and having them say hello. The mountains. The scenery near the river. The seasons. The special things that come out with the seasons, like special flavors and foods. The colors in autumn. The snow in the winter. Your silly delayed trains in extreme weather. Kakigori/shaved ice. Soft cream. Tonkatsu. Doria and gratin, you ridiculously unhealthy things you. Festivals/matsuris. Stall food. Yakisoba. Milk tea. Collectable crap on the top of plastic bottles. Your pardoxically clean streets despite the ridiculous lack of garbage cans. Chuhai and delicious fruity cocktails and the lack of social stigma when you drink those over beer. Nomihoudai-all-you-can-drink places! Karaoke. Shaved ice again. All-night karaoke. The amazing JETs I met here. The other amazing foreigners I met here. The amazing Japanese people I met here. My JTEs. Super nice students. Geeking out about video games and having a completely legit venue to do it in. The fresh veggies from people. The nice teachers at my school. Onsen. Oh man, onsen. Kakigori (shaved ice) again (I really love that stuff). Gyoza! Beef bowls for super cheap! Crazy McDonald's things. The sheer amount of things you can collect. The "specialty food" for each area. Deep tubs. The sense that the unknown is out there, just waiting to be explored. I mean, I suppose that's there too, since I won't know much about the city I'm moving to. It'll just be a more urban sense.
Point is, I'm going to miss this place. It's the longest I've ever lived in one spot, and I've grown rather fond of it and the people in Okayama Prefecture. My home away from home, kind of, with all its bugs and humidity. :)
I say this with a smile, because right now my AC is on and my room is deliciously cool. Mmm, cool.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Oldschool Rare Food Adventures
So, it seems that I have found another Foodie in Japan whom I've ended up becoming friends with. Oh man. She's *that person* who knows all the good restaurants and all the good places to go. She's been there before, and has recommendations on what to get. Plus she's pretty good company and really quite fun to talk to.
In our latest cultural culinary exchange, she took me to this small house on the river
that I've walked by every week on my way to my Tuesday school, and that I pass by on a bus every other week on my way to my Friday academic school. It sits on the edge of the street and the riverbank, with support structure on the wall below it. It looks really really old on the outside, like one of those houses that's well lived in, but not necessarily well maintained. Outside is a red lantern (the only indication that it's a restaurant and not only a private home) that the owner lights up at night.
The owner is this lovely old woman who runs the whole place by herself. She buys, preps, cooks, and serves everything herself in her ridiculously tiny kitchen. Like seriously, if you only count the stove area and the sink, my kitchen is about the same size. To be fair though, she has a nice amount of counter and prep space, making it a pretty decent kitchen for one person to move around in. There's a fridge in the middle, and next to it, a giant TV that sits atop a ledge, which is actually a doorway to the old lady's pantry and extra refrigerator/storage space. It's pretty awesome looking.
The place, she said, is about 42 or 43 years old; it shows on the inside. Everything is that almost yellowish, sepia kind of color on the walls. It has that kind of dirty old Chinese hole in the wall look to it (which, is another indication of how awesome it is). The seats too, at the bar, were these super oldschool red plushy bar stools. There were no menus; only slips of paper with the menu items pasted to the wall. My teacher told me that this was a really good representation of what old restaurants used to look like in Japan, which corroborates my earlier suspicions with the restaurants in Takahashi.
So apparently old restaurants were really small. There was the table we were sitting at, which seated 7 people around it. Maybe 5 seats at the counter. And then there was a private room. That was about it. The whole place was really short as well; some of my taller guy friends might have had to stoop. Also, there were cobwebs EVERYWHERE in this place! There were spiderwebs on the chopsticks at the table we sat down at, a couple barely visable lines running up to the lamp, where they joined a larger web with a spider in it. There were spiders in the windows.
But my teacher insisted that this place had this amazing shake, or salmon, though today she didn't have the sashimi, only the cooked one. I do enjoy eating salmon, though I feel like sometimes it can be pretty hit or miss on how good it tastes.
This salmon though, was a type of rare salmon. It's called 「ときしらず」(toki shirazu) and is translated kind of as "doesn't know the time" due to its irregular migration timing (or, the popular story is that they simply don't care and they just kind of wander around). My teacher said that normally, salmon return to their hatching grounds some time in the autumn. However, these salmon return sometime July through September. Perhaps it was supposed to taste delicious because it was younger (and younger animals do tend to be quite delicious).
Oh, the Internet says they're also called "spring chum" in English, and are of a different variety than the chum you can find on the northern part of the Northern American coast (from Alaska to Oregon).
Seriously though, it was one of the best things I've had during my stay in Japan. Freaking. Amazing. She salted the salmon before cooking it, and it had just the right amount of moistness and saltiness to it. She served it with daikon (which you were supposed to splash soy sauce on). I mean, I'm not even the biggest fan of salmon, or skin in general, but the skin of the salmon was excellent. I'd eat more of it if I could. It was actually soft, with no trace of the scales or anything, nothing to make you remember that it once came off a fish. I wouldn't say it beats out Kobe beef, but you know what, it's right up there with it. So freaking good, from such a tiny hole in the wall place. Definitely not the kind of food I expected from that place. I guess that just goes to show the old adage about assumptions.
It had a bunch of other random things too. Gyoza that was ridiculously delicious. (I'm such a sucker for gyoza). Plus this cut of beef that - I was told - only yields 2 g per cow or something tiny like that. Maybe not 2 grams. Maybe 200 grams. Probably that. I forget what it's called though... something. It was really tasty though.
Also among my favorites was the flower part/stalk bit of wasabi. Hawasabi, it's called. Pretty spicy, in that wasabi kind of sense, but it was also pretty tasty :D Oh, and my second favorite that night was definitely the somen. The somen was handmade; a little bit harder and a little less sweet than normal. It was made by this old dude the shop lady knew. The sauce that she used also used pretty expensive ingredients as well, so the dipping sauce was also really tasty. One of the best somen's I've had. :)
Still though, I think the salmon was the best!
This restaurant, despite its looks, had a bunch of things that were "rare" kind of in Japan/Niimi because the lady told us that she thought of these dishes herself. Like the somen? That was her creation. Kind of inspirational, to hear it from her about how she decided to make all these delicious things!
In exchange, I gave her a little tupperware full of chili. :D I made it in my rice cooker, and oh man, it's pretty freaking tasty. :) I added a dash of vinegar and A1 sauce, which made it a bit tangier, and ohhhh that was just the right thing it needed.
I almost didn't want to give it to her since it was so tasty hahaha. I had it today as chili cheese nachos. Nom.
What a way to celebrate the (extended) fourth of July! Nachooooos and no bean chili.
I swear I'll post about something that's not food or bug related sometime. Soon. Maybe.
In our latest cultural culinary exchange, she took me to this small house on the river
that I've walked by every week on my way to my Tuesday school, and that I pass by on a bus every other week on my way to my Friday academic school. It sits on the edge of the street and the riverbank, with support structure on the wall below it. It looks really really old on the outside, like one of those houses that's well lived in, but not necessarily well maintained. Outside is a red lantern (the only indication that it's a restaurant and not only a private home) that the owner lights up at night.
The owner is this lovely old woman who runs the whole place by herself. She buys, preps, cooks, and serves everything herself in her ridiculously tiny kitchen. Like seriously, if you only count the stove area and the sink, my kitchen is about the same size. To be fair though, she has a nice amount of counter and prep space, making it a pretty decent kitchen for one person to move around in. There's a fridge in the middle, and next to it, a giant TV that sits atop a ledge, which is actually a doorway to the old lady's pantry and extra refrigerator/storage space. It's pretty awesome looking.
The place, she said, is about 42 or 43 years old; it shows on the inside. Everything is that almost yellowish, sepia kind of color on the walls. It has that kind of dirty old Chinese hole in the wall look to it (which, is another indication of how awesome it is). The seats too, at the bar, were these super oldschool red plushy bar stools. There were no menus; only slips of paper with the menu items pasted to the wall. My teacher told me that this was a really good representation of what old restaurants used to look like in Japan, which corroborates my earlier suspicions with the restaurants in Takahashi.
So apparently old restaurants were really small. There was the table we were sitting at, which seated 7 people around it. Maybe 5 seats at the counter. And then there was a private room. That was about it. The whole place was really short as well; some of my taller guy friends might have had to stoop. Also, there were cobwebs EVERYWHERE in this place! There were spiderwebs on the chopsticks at the table we sat down at, a couple barely visable lines running up to the lamp, where they joined a larger web with a spider in it. There were spiders in the windows.
But my teacher insisted that this place had this amazing shake, or salmon, though today she didn't have the sashimi, only the cooked one. I do enjoy eating salmon, though I feel like sometimes it can be pretty hit or miss on how good it tastes.
This salmon though, was a type of rare salmon. It's called 「ときしらず」(toki shirazu) and is translated kind of as "doesn't know the time" due to its irregular migration timing (or, the popular story is that they simply don't care and they just kind of wander around). My teacher said that normally, salmon return to their hatching grounds some time in the autumn. However, these salmon return sometime July through September. Perhaps it was supposed to taste delicious because it was younger (and younger animals do tend to be quite delicious).
Oh, the Internet says they're also called "spring chum" in English, and are of a different variety than the chum you can find on the northern part of the Northern American coast (from Alaska to Oregon).
Seriously though, it was one of the best things I've had during my stay in Japan. Freaking. Amazing. She salted the salmon before cooking it, and it had just the right amount of moistness and saltiness to it. She served it with daikon (which you were supposed to splash soy sauce on). I mean, I'm not even the biggest fan of salmon, or skin in general, but the skin of the salmon was excellent. I'd eat more of it if I could. It was actually soft, with no trace of the scales or anything, nothing to make you remember that it once came off a fish. I wouldn't say it beats out Kobe beef, but you know what, it's right up there with it. So freaking good, from such a tiny hole in the wall place. Definitely not the kind of food I expected from that place. I guess that just goes to show the old adage about assumptions.
It had a bunch of other random things too. Gyoza that was ridiculously delicious. (I'm such a sucker for gyoza). Plus this cut of beef that - I was told - only yields 2 g per cow or something tiny like that. Maybe not 2 grams. Maybe 200 grams. Probably that. I forget what it's called though... something. It was really tasty though.
Also among my favorites was the flower part/stalk bit of wasabi. Hawasabi, it's called. Pretty spicy, in that wasabi kind of sense, but it was also pretty tasty :D Oh, and my second favorite that night was definitely the somen. The somen was handmade; a little bit harder and a little less sweet than normal. It was made by this old dude the shop lady knew. The sauce that she used also used pretty expensive ingredients as well, so the dipping sauce was also really tasty. One of the best somen's I've had. :)
Still though, I think the salmon was the best!
This restaurant, despite its looks, had a bunch of things that were "rare" kind of in Japan/Niimi because the lady told us that she thought of these dishes herself. Like the somen? That was her creation. Kind of inspirational, to hear it from her about how she decided to make all these delicious things!
In exchange, I gave her a little tupperware full of chili. :D I made it in my rice cooker, and oh man, it's pretty freaking tasty. :) I added a dash of vinegar and A1 sauce, which made it a bit tangier, and ohhhh that was just the right thing it needed.
I almost didn't want to give it to her since it was so tasty hahaha. I had it today as chili cheese nachos. Nom.
What a way to celebrate the (extended) fourth of July! Nachooooos and no bean chili.
I swear I'll post about something that's not food or bug related sometime. Soon. Maybe.
Monday, July 2, 2012
The Adventure Continues
My goodness. It's July. And I'm a quarter century old now. Hodang. And I'm going home in less than two months. And my contract as an ALT finishes in less than a month!
CRAZINESS.
I think earlier, I posted about talking to my JTE about marriage in Japan, and as I was browsing around the Internet (procrastinating on writing a farewell speech) I happened upon this article and found it to be kind of interesting. It expands a little on what I was talking about before, with "gokon" parties (parties to help guys and gals find potential matches). I did find it interesting that the article said that they see it as a place to find friends over spouses, but I suppose (in the US anyways) you can find a spouse from your friend circle. :)
http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/drink/best-outfits-get-guys-hopes-gokon-parties-395759
Also, to return to the topic of leaving. I think most people who know me know now that I'm going to return to California and enroll in graduate school at Stanford. Hooray! I'm studying East Asian Studies, with a special focus on Japan and Japanese. I'm really excited. Kind of intimidated.
I will definitely keep this going though. :D I just won't be in Japan any more, but I'm sure life will find a way to continue to be interesting. :) Life's just one big grand adventure anyways, right?
Not going to lie, not having to fight my way through swarms of bugs is kind of exciting. I will miss it here though. I'll do a proper goodbye Japan kind of post later.
CRAZINESS.
I think earlier, I posted about talking to my JTE about marriage in Japan, and as I was browsing around the Internet (procrastinating on writing a farewell speech) I happened upon this article and found it to be kind of interesting. It expands a little on what I was talking about before, with "gokon" parties (parties to help guys and gals find potential matches). I did find it interesting that the article said that they see it as a place to find friends over spouses, but I suppose (in the US anyways) you can find a spouse from your friend circle. :)
http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/drink/best-outfits-get-guys-hopes-gokon-parties-395759
Also, to return to the topic of leaving. I think most people who know me know now that I'm going to return to California and enroll in graduate school at Stanford. Hooray! I'm studying East Asian Studies, with a special focus on Japan and Japanese. I'm really excited. Kind of intimidated.
I will definitely keep this going though. :D I just won't be in Japan any more, but I'm sure life will find a way to continue to be interesting. :) Life's just one big grand adventure anyways, right?
Not going to lie, not having to fight my way through swarms of bugs is kind of exciting. I will miss it here though. I'll do a proper goodbye Japan kind of post later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)