Long Time No Blog

I suppose it's not as long of a pause as I have had in the past, but I didn't realize I had missed last week until halfway through the week. I missed yesterday as I was extremely tired and even went to bed around 8:30 pm. Not too much has happened over the past two weeks, though I did go to Nara this last Sunday. It is one of Japan's oldest capitals and is known for its abundance of deer. I went with my student's family. Every Saturday I teach English to four kids. It is nice. This week there is a poster presentation that I worked most of last weekend and this weekend on, so I have been terribly busy. Other than, that most of the week blends together and I can't recall everything I've done even though I know there is more.

Today is Earth Day, so Happy Earth Day! I am very big on environment so I think Earth Day is pretty important. Although, I really think every day should be treated as Earth Day.

I only have two and a half weeks left in Japan. Since that is the case, I am going to give a list of the things I will miss when I return back to Alaska.

1. High-tech toilets. Everyone seems to be terrified by them but they are so convenient. Also, they have pictures on them so I don't understand why people think they are difficult. I mostly just like them for the warm seats and the sound button (makes a flushing sound or nature/birds chirping sound that is louder than you). I absolutely cannot use public restrooms when other people are in there at the same time for fear that someone will hear me. It's irrational but comes with so much anxiety it is stressful. Thank you, Japan. I will greatly miss your innovation to make bathroom time anxiety-free. Honestly though, I'm not sure how Green the warm toilet seat is ... though I know they added the noise button because Japanese girls are apparently like me and would flush the toilet every time just so people couldn't hear them. The sound takes less energy and wastes less than flushing the toilet so ... yeah.
2. Trains. I have a whole blog post on trains about three or four posts back. I love trains.
3. Food. American food sucks. The idea of returning to eating greasy, sugar-pumped, plastic-tasting food makes me cringe and want to weep. Every American needs to get a passport and get the hell out of the U.S. long enough to realize just how awful the food is so that it can change and become healthier. When I return I am going organic only.
4. Being able to walk to places. Five minutes and there is a supermarket ... in Alaska it would take me maybe two hours to walk to the nearest store (I don't know, I live in the outskirts of an already small town that is about fifteen minutes by car and I am a slow walker ... town only has one grocery store ... the bigger city is two hours to drive to ... so ... yeah... goodbye convenience).
5. For the most part, the idea that religion is rather 1. dangerous, or 2. very personal. Even if they want you to convert to their religion, Japanese culture is very passive and respectful. You can always say "I'll think about it ..." which pretty much means "no thanks." and they'll leave you alone. In the U.S. if you are not a Christian you will have people tell you nice things like, "you're going to hell", "you must not be happy", and ... yeah, there is a lot more but I'll leave it at that.
6. Did I mention food? Okonomiyaki ... tacoyaki ...
7. Farewell good internet ... I will miss you. Though apparently some people think that Japanese internet is the best, which is a complete lie. South Korea has the best internet in the world. Japan is ... so-so. Mine likes to shut off occasionally. France's was better.
8. Healthcare. Yeah, after experiencing paying only 1500 yen (15 bucks) for a doctor visit and five different types of medicine, antibiotics included ... I will totally pay taxes for that. I kind of really do not understand how that is a bad thing. Also, it is actually more expensive for a foreigner than it is for the Japanese. I mean, Japan's taxes are only 8%, which isn't like say ... Sweden or Iceland ... 24% and whatnot. Still ... cheap healthcare, cheap schooling ... hmm ... after all, the U.S. comes to about number 37 in the world for healthcare and health outcome. France is pretty high up on the list, I think France may be higher than Japan, though I find Japan to be cheaper. Perhaps in emergency situations France is better since I have heard that the Emergency Room in Japan can get frustrating. It is probably because of paperwork.
9. The history that exists for Japan. It is a very old country and has old religions, old architecture, old everything.
10. I will miss using Celsius and some bits of the metric system. I have gotten used to it since I've been using it for two years (I don't know the metric system too well, but I don't really know the imperial/standard system that well either [I just think it is hilarious that it's called the standard system when the only country that uses it is the U.S., how the hell is that standard]). I suppose I can still use them but Americans get all weird and offended about it. Not that I really care about offending people ...
11. Convenient stores. They are everywhere and have just about everything in them.

Disclaimer: I don't have an opinion of which system is better than the other regarding metric vs. standard. I simply do not care which is better. Use whichever one you want. They both have pros and cons.


Things I will not miss!

1. Pollution. Yeah, it's not as bad as China, blah, blah, blah ... so I guess if something is not the absolute worst that means it is okay? For some reason not being able to see the stars at night, coughing and wheezing all the time, people getting sick and having asthma at higher rates thanks to pollution, and acid rain is okay as long as it's not China!
2. So I have had a lot of experience with different cultures and I have to say that the Japanese, so far, are number one with the excuse of, "But it's our culture!" in order to defend really racist, sexist, and overall, shitty things that are not acceptable to the rest of the developed world.
3. Sexism. It's worse in Japan than in the U.S. and France. It is obviously worse. Also, xenophobia. Unfortunately, Japan's xenophobia is predicted to only get worse, but we will see in the future how that goes.
4.  Too many people.
5. People staring at me.
6. You cannot pay bills online or with a card. It must be cash and it must be at the post office or city hall.
7. Paperwork. Ugh. Just ... yeah ... the amount of paperwork to do anything is completely absurd.

Bonus: This one doesn't really count because Alaska also has this issue ... but why the hell does fax even exist still?


Things I look forward to in Alaska!

1. American food is terrible, however, in Alaska there are a lot more organic choices. I really prefer river fish to ocean fish. Japan mostly does ocean fish while interior Alaska does more of the river types. Also, Alaskan salmon and crab is significantly better. Halibut is so expensive in Japan, it is almost cry-worthy.
2. Nature. Ugh, nature. Except that bad or no internet thing ...
3. Winter. Two years without snow that sticks or real winter is so depressing.
4. Clean air. The city with my university has some air pollution, mostly because of wood burning and car exhaust, but it is nothing compared to Japan or France (in turn is not even compared to China, I guess). Nothing tops my hometown, though. The air is great, except when there are forest fires or strong winds that make dust storms.
5. Wildness. Alaska has a wildness that I don't know if I can explain.
6. I can use the term "below" for temperature without people becoming confused (seems as though most English speakers and the English taught to foreigners is "minus"). I can also use Lower 48 to reference the contiguous United States. "Outside" to reference anything outside of Alaska, "Break-Up Season" to reference spring ... Alaskan slang.
7. No more having to worry about exchange rates.
8. Carefree attitude. Little stress, slow-pace lifestyle. Alaskans usually are pretty difficult to offend compared to Lower 48ers ...


Things I do not look forward to in Alaska!

1. Dryness. Interior Alaska is a subarctic desert.
2. Forest fires.
3. The sun in summer. It "goes down" for maybe an hour, that hour being mostly a dark blue and not really "darkness".
4. I hear that this is a very common issue with people who have travelled abroad and gone places in the world, but I feel like people back home are very uneducated about the world/close minded.
5. American politics and "America only" mindset. American politics are not the only politics in the world. They are not the only messed up politics in the world either. Other countries are worse or better than the U.S. regarding politics.
6. Bread ... France really, really spoiled me in the bread department ...

For now, I will end this blog post. No Writing-Prompt Monday (though it is Tuesday for me ...) today. Since I am getting ready to leave Japan, I will be very busy and a bit stressed out as I try and do things I want to do before leaving.

Until Next Time~

A Full Blog Post

Let's start this blog off with a bang! We'll begin with food. This little fish is called Taiyaki. They are very popular at festivals and are absolutely delicious! It is fried bread (kind of pancake-tasting) with some kind of filling, usually red bean paste ... though I've tried green tea and chocolate too.  This first picture was at Osaka Castle and was chocolate. I actually had that one the most recent.

The second picture (on the top right) was in Sakuranomiya, one of the best places to see the sakura (cherry blossoms) in Osaka. This one was green tea, which I think is my favorite filling so far ... though I did like the red bean paste too.

This last week the cherry blossoms were out and about. They were very beautiful. I think they are kind of like the aurora borealis, you can see all the pictures you want of it, but it really isn't the same as seeing it for yourself.

The picture to the lower right is of my feet, some chocolate I bought, a little branch of cherry blossoms (that I picked up off the ground, picking them from the tree itself is taboo and really a big no-no), and some kind of drink that is actually in the fridge still.

The other photo to the left is of me holding a sakura blossom that had fallen off of its branch.

We're going back a little, the picture to the left is of a sort of candy they eat in Japan. March 3rd was Girl's Day, a day where you celebrate having a daughter. People will show off by putting up little dolls on display. These treats are also given to the girls and is kind of like mochi, pounded rice.
The picture to the right is the only tofu I've liked.

The picture here is of candy. It's just glorified sugar. Same with the Konpeito. The green stuff off to the far right is weird, jello-like, traditional Japanese sweets. I was not fond of it.

 To the left is oysters, the green stuff mayonnaise and some spices and the red being salsa. The right has raw octopus and veggies (raw food at this point means nothing to me. France was also big on raw meat, so I've long been used to it ... raw horse, raw rabbit, raw octopus, raw beef, raw pork, raw fish, raw egg , raw pretty much everything ...)

 Mochi is sweet, pounded rice cake ... it is very gooey and stick, but very delicious. One of my favorite things here. That is what you see on the left, though the mochi is underneath the reddish-brown stuff. That is red bean paste and is a specialty in Shizuoka (Mt. Fuji area). The picture on the right is sashimi/sushi. Tuna.

 This was a fun meal. The little dish to the right are little baby eels. The whole thing. I've already been eating a lot of them, so they're not too strange for me. Off to the left there was some sea urchin, which I wasn't too fond of ... more eels, and more tuna sashimi.

Lastly, what is this? That is a fish skull with its eyeball intact. I asked if the eyeball was edible and I guess that was an invitation for me to try it out. At first I was hesitant, but I pried the eye out of its skull and stared at it until I braved the courage to eat it. The lens was interesting, but what really surprised me was when I bit down it was surprisingly kind of tough.

Though, to be entirely honest ... it was the most delicious part of the meal. Fish eyeballs are really good. The flavor is just perfect.




So, I went to Mt. Fuji this weekend. It was great. I went to an onsen (hot spring) where you could see the mountain as you bathed, it was fantastic. I really love onsen, I think they are very atmospheric, and honestly ... I think it is a bit disappointing that in Alaska you have to go in with a bathing suit. The water feels a lot better naked. They should just do what Japan does, have a women section and a man section and people can go in naked to enjoy the water (though I guess there are onsen in Japan where it is not gender split). Wearing clothes in the hot spring would completely destroy the atmosphere. It feels like you're going into a swimming pool, not into a spring with nice water that has minerals and whatnot. It has an earthiness, a wildness that I wish people were a little less weird about in the U.S.

So, it is writing prompt Monday. I came across this writing prompt "Make me fall in love with the character, and then in the last sentence make me hate them," but as I said ... I went to Mt. Fuji this weekend, which was a whole weekend of driving basically. I am exhausted. So something small will have to do. I found this: http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~creativewriting/Prompts.php ... number 18. In case your internet is slow or you don't want to click a link, the prompt is:

"18) Describe the room of one of the following: a high school student about to drop out; a cashier who has just won the lottery; a faded movie star who still thinks she's famous; a paranoid person, etc (see full list of suggestions in What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers). Be as detailed as possible."


I'll do each of them, a few sentences for each ... and maybe you'll have to guess which room belongs to whom? High school student about to drop out, faded movie star, cashier won lottery, a paranoid person?

1. A cozy, yet worn-out recliner took up the far end of the room, its faded color clashing with the dark curtains that were floral print in design. They hadn't been opened in a long while, but they did allow for some light to come through as the fabric was thin. There wasn't much for decoration in the small space. A fold-up bed, a closet that's doors had been broken off long ago, a dresser with a few misplaced photos and the delicate necklace the owner had forgotten to put on for the day, and some tubs filled with random knickknacks. Although a bit bare, there was a small pet bed for an old friend. The plump cat that took up one of the corners always managed to give its owner a peace of mind.

2. It was the type of room that would have the owner denying disorganization by saying they were the "messy organized" kind of person. Clothes piled high no matter how many times the room was cleaned, random socks thrown across the room. There was a stash of junk food in a grocery bag next to the desk, because one never knew when it was snack time. Lost items were everywhere, never to be found thanks to a scatterbrained owner. A bag of chips on the bed, waiting for their master to return and eat them after a long day. The messy room was always full of hope though, the owner always looking around, nodding and telling themselves they'd get around to cleaning. The next clean-up would be the clean-up and the room would never be messy again.

3. The trophies on the wall hadn't always had the odd, cancer-like effect they did now. Before, they lit the room up, making everything appear brighter. Now, the room seemed dim, even with the windows open and curtains rustling in the wind. Trophies weren't the only thing that decorated the walls, photos joined them, smiling faces looming, watching. There were happier things. A ring on the nightstand, new and glistening. Although there was something bright in the room, it couldn't light up the shadows that crawled around, owning the room.

4. It had been out of style for at least fifteen years, but that didn't stop a closet full of bright reds, blues, yellows, and greens. The clothing would definitely come back in style soon. The boudoir was newer, nice mahogany and rich lacquer that made its surface shine. Lit up, the room had more windows than necessary, but the view was worth it. Her kids were embarrassed of the room, but the photos and newspaper clippings that clung to the frequently polished mirror never dampened anyone's spirits.


All right, it is getting late for me so I rushed the last bit. If you want to figure out which room belongs to which person by yourself, read no further ... and once you think you figured it out, come back and read the next paragraph.

Some may be more obvious than others. The first paragraph goes to the paranoid person. A paranoid person is similar to everyone else with their forgetfulness (leaving the necklace behind). They keep their curtains closed, have a few necessities in their room. The cat was to show that often times paranoid folk like to have something close for comfort. The second paragraph was for the cashier. A bit cluttered and stuck in a routine (how we often find ourselves in jobs like cashiers) but with high hopes of eventually getting the room clean (winning the lottery, starting anew). The third paragraph was the drop out. I've met a lot of girls who dropped out to get married, thinking it would be perfect only to get divorced and regret their choices later on. Not to say all do, but this is supposed to reflect the cases that do have the regret. Although marriage seems like the right choice and glitters bright and is full of hope, the rest of the room is shrouded in regret that can only be distracted from for so long before the ring's glitter will die out. Lastly, the fourth one is the faded star. She has her old style, clinging to the past and even her kids think she should jump into the present. However, she is happy the way she is, with her memories (the pictures and newspaper clippings). We shouldn't let go of the happiness our past gave us, but we should make new memories and new happiness (the open windows that allow for a lot of light to come in with a great view = opportunities).

Until next time~