I’d like to talk to you today about Japanese Cuisine. I’m not going to mention any food in particular, but I would like to get a little intimate with you. You see, I love Japanese food, and there are very few dishes I cannot handle, other than perhaps Sea Pineapple and Raw Liver here.) However, subsisting on a Japanese diet for over a month can have some really interesting consequences on you body.
Continue reading ‘The Ass End of Japanese Cuisine’
Archive for January, 2007
I’m not sure why, but I was shopping at my local “Max Value” when I had the sudden urge to mouth out the lyrics to G.I. Joe. This got really weird when a student and his family stopped me during my ballad in the vetetables section and asked me what I was singing.
Me: ….( He’ll fight for freedom where ever there’s trouble.)
Student: Jason-sensei. How are you?
Me:…( GI Joe is there….) Oh hello. How are you?
Student: What song are you singing?
Me: Um, …a famous American folk tale about a brave warrior…..named, Joe.
Student: Did he have Samurai spirit?
Me: Er, something like that.
Student: Oh, I have to go. Please lend me your CD next time.
Me: Um. Sure, have a good night.
I still can’t figure out how, in the middle of Northern Japan, the theme song to G.I. Joe popped into my head. Maybe it’s something in the fish.
Hey, it’s Sn’o problem, originally uploaded by jasohill.
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I was able to avoid the blizzards that hit Vermont and Edmonton. I escaped them on a jet plane to sweet sweet freedom. However, today I wasn’t able to outrun the one hundred centimeters of snow that seemed to have buried my house, my car and my sanity.
The snow was so deep I had to shovel a path to car just to shovel out the car. Then when I got on the road it was like some sort of aircraft turbulence from hell. The vehicle started to sway back and forth, and then when I slowed it down to about 30km/h I got this massive up and down vibration from the road. Then up the road, I could see my nemesis. The grader from hell. Shoveling snow and blocking my road. That was the only time I went out today. I hope not to have to go out again until April.
Remember folks, Japan might seem like a magical Island of awesome food and rice fields, but when winter comes, we get the same old crap. At least when you live in Iwate it is.
The task is a simple one. I need a ski outfit so I can enjoy a little sledding with my preschool class. There is only one problem with this situation. I am an large western male and I live in Japan. There could not be a worse outcome to this problem.
You might remember me writing last year about a debacle at one school where they forgot to make me a school lunch, even though I was scheduled to eat there and had paid for said lunch. Well, now that I work for another Board of Education, my situation is quite different, and I am pleased as punch about my lunch time circumstances. You see, I am now required to eat my lunch with the students, and this could not make me happier.
So I am at my local Board of Education working on a few projects, when who should show up but The Army. Not just a few soldiers, but a convoy of vehicles and equipment. I do admit I was almost inclined to wet my pants for a moment until I inquired as to why they were here.
There is a massive Ski tournment at APPI ski resort this weekend, and the Army comes in with troops and equipment to help things go by smoothly. It also appears that I have be co-opted into helping in this event as well. Since I am a staff member of the Ashiro board of eduction, then I am also a staff member for this ski tournament. This is going to be be an interesting weekend. I can tell you that.
Well, I’m now back in Japan. After a 14 hour trip that, coincidently, had me on the same plane as a friend of mine. I arrived back in Tokyo and got myself a bullet train up to the frozen north of Iwate. It’s amazing how the weather goes from warm and raining, to cold and blizzardy all in the space of 400km. Within a day of returning, I was back at work and back to routine. My trusty kerosene heater decided it didn’t want to work, and is now in the shop, leaving me chilled to the bone.
I’m not sure what it is about 2007 that already has me in a bit of a funk. It could be the rather cold reception I got when I came back(Oh! you’re back. Whoop de doo), or possibly the army of friends and acquaintances I know that seem to have found true love in the last six months. I always know about how happy they are, because they never stop reminding me. This wouldn’t bother me so much if it weren’t for the fact that I can’t seem to locate a woman that shares anything in common with me. I have been in three rocky relationships in the last three years, and I have spelunked my way out of them. I do want to relax a little and enjoy my freedom, but, as some of my younger friends remind me, “Wow, you’re 30? Why don’t you have like three kids by now?” It’s hard to shake that artificial pressure that at this age that I need to be with someone. But I’ll do my best to fight it.
I think I’ll just chalk it up to SAD again this year and try to move on with my life. There should be plenty of interesting things to blog about here in Iwate. Overall, I’m sure I’m just a little tired from a long flight across the pacific. I really enjoyed my trip back to Edmonton, and I can take away a lot of positive memories from it. I also took some great pictures and will be sharing them with all of you as well. So here is a preemptive “cheers” to 2007!
First of all, I want to wish all of my readers a happy 2007. I am currently in Edmonton, Alberta on vacation and I have not been blogging about Japan. Today I want to reflect a little on what it is like to return to North America after three years living in Japan.
