On Foliage, Costco, and Christmas

Wow, it's been a while since we've posted! Our apologies.

Some notable events from the last week and a half:

- The Thanksgiving Thankstacular was a grand success (as I'm sure you read), and we received many positive responses from our friends and my fellow teachers afterward. The next day at school, in fact, everyone whom I invited came up to my desk and thanked me personally for inviting them. Apparently this is a very Japanese thing to do, but I think it should more appropriately fall under the category heading of "common courtesy" -- a concept which I fear is altogether lost on the more lamentable members of my generation.

- Last week wasn't particularly memorable; there were classes and more classes, both for myself and Katie. We were really just waiting out the week for Friday, which was a national holiday (Labor Thanksgiving Day). Many of my students conflated their Labor Thanksgiving Day with America's Thanksgiving, and I had to repeatedly remind them that their holiday might more appropriately be compared to our Labor Day, which is in September. Nevertheless, we had Friday off, and to celebrate, Katie and I joined some other JETs living in our prefecture in hiking up Mount Hiei - the highest mountain in Kyoto. It was quite a steep climb up to the top and it took several hours, but the views along the way were well worth the effort. And unlike a lot of other mountains, Hieizan holds a reward at its summit for the more determined hikers among us (and for those of us who have cars and can drive there): Enryaku-ji Temple. It was a beautiful temple, made all the more spectacular by the changing autumn leaves.

- On Sunday, Katie and I went back to Kyoto to see some more kouyou (fall colors). We did a little shopping and went to Kiyomizu-dera, which is one of the more famous temples in Kyoto and, therefore, in all of Japan. Unlike Enryaku-ji, it was difficult to enjoy walking around the complex because it was so crowded. Kyoto in general was crowded: it was impossible to walk at your own pace on the sidewalks as you were being jostled and prodded by throngs of people walking to this temple or that shrine, stopping to examine the plastic food displays prominently featured outside many restaurants in Japan, or doing any one of the myriad of activities one does in a cultural capital. If you ever search the internet for pictures of Kyoto, you'll invariably find scores of photographs of cultural landmarks with nary a soul to be seen. It all looks so calm, so tranquil. This is, as Mom is so fond of saying, "A lie from the Devil." Now, don't let that discourage you from visiting what is the undisputed cultural hotspot for all things Japanese. The sights there are breathtaking and the shopping is unparalleled. Ironically, we ate dinner at a fabulous restaurant called "Falafel Garden", which I think is owned by an Israeli. Sometimes there's only so much Japan you can take in one day.

- Monday featured a trip to Costco with some of our good friends. We were running seriously low on bulk, wholesale items, and we needed to stock up. I can tell you that there is nothing more hilarious in this world than trying to fit boxes of stuff - some of which are nearly as big as your own torso - into whatever backpack, purse, or sack you can find, and then attempting to get it all home using only public transportation.

- Yesterday Katie visited the hyaku en shoppu (100 yen shop) to pick up some Holiday Cheer. Now that Thanksgiving is officially over, we can now usher in the Christmas Season, even though Santa and his reindeer have been prominently displayed in certain places around these parts since Halloween. You see, it's for this reason why I absolutely refuse to get into the Holiday Spirit until after my birthday. There's only so much Burl Ives a person can stand in a year. Even though Japan is, by and large, an irreligious country*, the Japanese passion for gift giving combined with the marketing potential of cute, furry creatures makes Christmas in Japan quite a popular holiday. On my street alone, almost every shop has some sort of display. The foreign food store down the street, Mon Marche, is absolutely decked out in its holiday best - colored lights and the flashing silhouettes of reindeer festoon the windows. On my daily ride home, I pass a barber shop that features an outdoor arrangement of dancing figurines singing Christmas songs; among them is a polar bear dressed like Santa Claus. All in all, it captures the commercial aspect of Christmas as it's celebrated in the States quite nicely. Katie was not immune to the swiftly approaching "most wonderful time of the year", and so she couldn't resist picking up a few things for the house. She bought the tiniest Christmas tree you ever did see, complete with lights, tinsel, and ornaments. Yes, Christmas has come to the Bob and Katie household.

*That is not to say that they don't believe in a higher power or powers, but it's my estimation that the majority of Japanese are more superstitious than religious, at least in the traditional sense of the word.

- The rest of this week is still up in the air. I'm taking paid leave on Friday because my one class was cancelled because, instead of conversation, the students will study grammar so that they don't fail as spectacularly for their upcoming exams as they did the last go around. Instead, I'll be headed to Arashiyama, which is another spot near Kyoto where the fall foliage is said to be particularly beautiful. On Saturday, we're having some friends over and on Sunday, Katie is taking me somewhere for a "birthday surprise". I guess and guess at what it could possibly be, but she assures me that I'm quite far from discovering whatever diabolical scheme she has concocted. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to it.

-Bob

Thanksgiving Thankstacular 2007

Last night Bob and I did something we thought near impossible. We cooked Thanksgiving dinner for 18 people. Here is the story:

THE LEAD-UP:
For a long time now, I've been suggesting to Bob that we should have his coworkers over. We have the space for it, and it's the polite thing to do, anyway. So we decided to do it at Thanksgiving. We invited the principal and his wife, the vice-principal, and all the English teachers (I think there are 6 or 7, besides Bob.) However, only 4 told us they could come. Luckily none of them showed up in costume. The principal's wife, who speaks excellent English and has a very good understanding of American culture, said "We have to wear costumes, don't we?" And the vice-principal RSVPed by saying "Yes, I will come to your Halloween party." I was inclined to just let them dress up and see what happens, but Bob informed them that no costumes were required.

One guy told Bob he was really excited to eat turkey. We had been going back and forth over whether to have turkey, or maybe just chicken or ham, which are much easier to find and also smaller. We don't have an oven, so our friend offered to lend us her electric oven. No one bakes in Japan-- it's a big waste of energy to heat such a large space when you're only baking one dish. And the ovens they do sell are much smaller, not exactly turkey-size. So we thought maybe we just won't have one. The side dishes are the best part of Thanksgiving anyway. But when that teacher kept talking about the turkey, we couldn't disappoint him, right? We took a trip to Costco, where we found the smallest turkey was 16.8 lbs/ 7.6 kg. And it was $40, having been imported from America. We got it anyway.

Now, with this turkey on our hands (which barely fit in our fridge and ended up breaking the glass shelf it was laid on) we knew had to invite more people. We sent out an email to a few foreign friends in the area, all other English teachers. A few people replied, so we now had a guest list of about 8. I was still worried, though, so I told some people at my office about it. I thought maybe 1 or 2 people would come. But many of the Japanese staff got really excited. "My first Thanksgiving dinner!" they said. We ended up having 3 people from my work. Then some more of our foreign friends replied to our email. Uh-oh. We now had a guest list of 15 people. As it turned out, another of Bob's coworkers showed up anyway, making a grand total of 16 guests.

COOKING:
With all these people on our hands, we doubled and tripled recipes in order to feed everyone. Never mind that we had never cooked an entire Thanksgiving dinner for even a few people. In addition to the prize turkey, we made stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, garlic green beans, and ginger carrots. We bought corncobs, rolls, 2 pies, ice cream and most importantly, black olives. We asked people to bring drinks or desserts, or a side dish. So in addition to the main meal, there were chips, guacamole, salad, raisins, and enough beer and cheap wine so that it flowed all night.

The hardest part was cooking the turkey. I don't really know anything about cooking meat. Since Bob used to work as a prep cook, he got the job of cooking the turkey. At first he saved the giblets, thinking that we could use them in gravy, but then decided that it might be a bad idea to eat the parts of a turkey that are used as a filtration system. At least it wasn't a Chinese lead-infested turkey. I put some spices together and he rubbed them on the bird, and it went in the oven at noon.

The rest of the cooking was pretty standard Thanksgiving stuff, but with a few complications: 1. Our stove only has 2 burners. 2. We have few cooking tools. 3. With the turkey in the oven (or in the fridge, or in the freezer, or anywhere else we kept it) nothing else would fit. Now, I'm used to putting everything in the oven and letting it all cook, and then going and watching the parade. Not here. From 12-6, the turkey took up every available centimeter of space. So anything else that needed to be cooked had to go in the microwave on "grill" setting, or on the stove-- if there was room on the stove. It was a process. And then the was the most frustrating thing of all: 4. Measurement conversions are a bitch.

You would think that it would be a simple matter of converting US measurements to metric ones. And you would be wrong. You see, there are also Japanese measurements in addition to metric ones. A Japanese cup is equal to 200 milliliters. A US cup is 237 milliliters. All of our measuring tools mark the Japanese cup, not the American one. It was only a month or so ago that I finally figured this out. "Hey, does this look like a cup of water to you?" "Um... I don't know-- wait! I think it's missing 37 milliliters!" Well, it wasn't exactly like that... but I did think that Japanese cups look smaller. Now I know why.

And then there was the not-so-simple matter that the oven had temperatures labeled only in Fahrenheit (not sure why) but our meat thermometer was only labeled in Celsius. This is usually okay, since I've gotten used to describing the outside temperature in Celsius, but I'm not so good with higher temps. And when cooking turkey so that it's still juicy but no one gets salmonella- you kind of have to be precise. We left a Fahrenheit-Celsius converter webpage open on the computer, so we could keep running back and forth to check if it was bacteria-free yet.

THE PARTY ITSELF:
With all the turkey fuss, it wasn't done until 1 hour after the party technically started. People began to arrive at 5, and at first, the Japanese people all remained in the back room while the foreigners stayed in the kitchen. Bob and I were still cooking, and were trying to be good hosts while quickly finishing up dinner. Once the beers and boxed wine started flowing, however, the problem began to sort itself out as people loosened up. We did introductions right before carving the turkey. The best part was making everyone say what they were thankful for. Most foreigners expressed thanks for the Amagasaki Costco, or Bob's stepdad's awesome macaroni and cheese recipe. But some people mentioned that this was their first proper Thanksgiving in years. Some people have been here for 3 or 4 years, and missed having home cooking on Thanksgiving. One girl noted that this was the time of year that many foreigners start to get really lonely-- the excitement of being in Japan has worn off, the weather is starting to get pretty chilly, and many people miss being at home during the holiday season. To her, the party was the perfect antidote to that. I didn't realize how much our crazy Thanksgiving scheme meant to some people. For me, it was the most fun Thanksgiving I've ever had. At home, it can feel routine-- we eat the same things every year, my family always argues, and the Cowboys win the football game (boo.) But when we pulled the turkey out of the oven yesterday, everyone cheered. The foreigners were so happy to have a taste of home here in Japan. The Japanese people all gathered round to see exactly how we planned to serve this thing. Everyone was excited.

Our Japanese friends all said the opposite thing: they were thankful to be invited to a Thanksgiving dinner, since none of them had experienced one before. Some had never tried turkey before, and I don't think anyone had ever had mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, or Southern-style mac and cheese. Again, I didn't realize how much it meant to them to be invited into our home to celebrate with us. But here in Japan, where it's less common to have people over (since people have much smaller houses, so there's no room), and certainly less common to have people over for Thanksgiving, it was a pretty big deal. They were even impressed with the cranberry sauce from a can. One of my friends explained to a roomful of bewildered Japanese people that "it's very hard to make." He then gestured towards me chopping the jelly into slices.

THE END:
So all in all, it was a grand success. Maybe we'll do it again, but I think next year might be a potluck instead.

Hikone, earthquake, and other assorted things

Just a few things to report (I'll make this quick):

Last weekend Katie and I went to Hikone, which is the city where Katie spent her semester abroad during college studying Japanese. Hikone is located in Shiga Prefecture and is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa - the largest lake in Japan. Hikone's population is around 100,000 or so, making it a relatively small city and therefore very convenient to traverse by foot - indeed, you're often required to do so, since there are only two train stations: JR Hikone and JR Minami-Hikone. The city's main attraction is Hikone Castle, which is one of precious few original castles in existence, meaning that it was not completely destroyed over the years by various fires, earthquakes, WWII, etc. It occupies the highest point in Hikone, and a short hike from the inner moat to the main tower provides a sweeping view of the city below, the mountains to the north, and of course, Lake Biwa itself to the west. It was truly one of the most spectacular views I've seen since I came to Japan three months ago.

This week has been unremarkable, with a few minor exceptions. First, there was an earthquake on Tuesday. It was barely a tremor, but it occurred during my only class of the day. The students felt it before I did: I just saw them looking at each other with wide eyes and wondered why they looked surprised, when all of the sudden I felt a little shake underneath my feet, like a giant truck had just passed by. It was small enough to be exciting without being legitimately scary, but big enough so that I really don't care to experience anything more powerful!

Also this week, Katie and I tried out some new recipes. The first was a standard Chinese stir-fry. We make a lot of stir-fry around Chez Robert and Katie, but we usually add sauce from a packet instead of making it ourselves. So we gave the latter a go this time around. The second, which I tried out last night, was a really simple chicken curry recipe I found on the internet. I've shared it below if anyone's interested (you do need a s*** ton of garam masala though, so don't forget to hit up your grocer's spice aisle before you attempt to make it!)

This weekend, Katie and I are headed back to Nara (the place with all the deer running around) to check out the famous Shoso-in Treasures. My principal walks up to me one day and hands me two tickets to this exhibition and says, "Here." Apparently the tickets were for him and his wife, but because they are busy this weekend, Katie and I get to enjoy them! It will be nice: I really enjoy getting out and doing cultural and, dare I say, "Japanish" things on the weekends, because I find it compensates rather nicely for all the time I spend at school doing a whole lot of nothing when not in class. :) Tonight, though, we're "fonduing" with some fellow gaijin down in Kobe; sometimes you just need to hang out with other ex-pats, eat some melty cheese and bread squares, and complain about how there seems to be some gene in the Japanese DNA that makes them walk right in front of your bicycle. Seriously. Even if they've been standing in the same exact position at the bus stop for five minutes straight, as soon as they see you heading towards them on your bike, no matter how fast you're going, they will suddenly be overcome with the urge to take a step either forward or backward - whatever will put them directly in your path. We've all been there. Although I suppose it would be healthy to also get some Japanese friends, so we could hang out with them, eat some melty oyakodon, and complain about how the gaijin are ruining this country. I mean come on. And have you seen what big noses they have?

Katie and I are putting together a little Thanksgiving dinner on the 18th, and we've invited all the Japanese English teachers at my school to our house for the festivities. Anyone care to help me think of some side dishes to serve? Please bear in mind that we don't really have an oven big enough to accommodate anything bigger than your average dinner plate.

Well, that's all for now! Oh, the chicken curry recipe is below.

-Bob


Chicken Curry

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Oil
• 10g Butter
• 3 Cloves Garlic, crushed
• 1 Medium Onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1 tsp Ground Coriander
• ½ tsp dried mint (for lack of mint, I used dried basil instead)
  
• 570g Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, diced
• 200 ml water

Method

1. Heat the oil and butter in a wok or large, heavy frying pan. Add the garlic and onion and stir fry for about 5 minutes until onion is golden.
2. Stir in the garam masala, coriander and mint. Add the chicken and cook over a moderate heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the water, stir, and simmer without a lid for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked and sauce has thickened. (I also added a little flour to the sauce. You could also try adding less water)
   

Happy Halloween!

Many things happened since my last post:

Katie went to the Jidai Matsuri (pictures up on Flickr) and had a lot of fun while I did a whole lot of nothing at school. At least I had a class on Friday!

I went to Katie's school on Saturday and had a Halloween party with the childrens, and my definition of "cute" has been forever changed by what I witnessed there.

On Sunday we went to Kobe and did a bit of shopping.

This week, Katie didn't have to work on Monday, Tuesday, or today, so she was able to go and get some administrative things done related to her work visa. Every gaijin (foreigner) in Japan has to get an Alien Registration Card. Sometimes cops will stop you randomly, and you have to be able to produce either a passport or an ARC (aka "Gaijin Card") on the spot, or you get in big trouble. I feel like being a foreigner in Japan is probably a lot like being black in most places: a lot of people are afraid of you and police stop you for no reason. I do get a little paranoid around cops, I've found, even if I haven't done anything wrong and I have all the appropriate documentation on me. My friend Adam, who's teaching in Busan, South Korea, said he felt pretty much the same way.

This weekend Katie and I will be headed to Hikone, in nearby Shiga Prefecture, which is the city where Katie did her semester abroad a year and a half ago. She's going to show me literally EVERYTHING there is to see and do there ("It'll take a whole day," Katie said). So that should give you some idea of how big the place is.

Oh, one more thing of note: today I taught my kids how to play King's Cup, which, if you've never heard of it before, is a drinking game you can play with a deck of cards. Here's how it works:

Players sit in a circle. In the middle of the circle is an empty cup. Around the empty cup is spread a deck of cards - all cards face down. Each player, in turn, picks a card up from the pile and displays it to the group. Depending on the value of the card, you or the other players have to perform a certain activity.

If you draw a...

2 - You. The person who drew the card selects a player to take a drink.
3 - Me. The person who drew the card takes a drink.
4 - Floor. Last player to touch the floor when this card is drawn takes a drink.
5 - Guys. All the male players drink.
6 - Chicks. All the female players drink.
7 - Heaven. Last player to point to the ceiling when this card is drawn takes a drink.
8 - Pick a mate. The person who drew the card picks another player. Both drink.
9 - Bust a rhyme. Going around in the direction of play, the person who draws a card says a sentence. The next player has to come up with a sentence that rhymes with the first one (it doesn't have to logically follow the first sentence in terms of content). The players continue this until one of the players is unable to come up with a rhyme. That person drinks.
10 - Categories. The person who drew a card announces a category of items, for example, "car manufacturers". Going around in the direction of play, the players have to name items in that category. So the next player in turn might say, "Toyota", and the player after that might say "Honda", for example. The first person to repeat an item or fail to come up with one has to take a drink.
J - "Never Have I Ever". The player who drew the card says a sentence with the following format: "Never have I ever _________". Any activity can fill the blank, such as "Never have I ever stayed awake for 24 hours straight." Anyone in the group who HAS done that activity (in this example, anyone who HAS remained awake for 24 hours) takes a drink. In the direction of play, the players each take turns thinking of a new "Never Have I Ever" until all the players have had a turn.
Q - Questions. The player who drew the card asks another player a question. The person to whom the question was asked may not answer the question, but must instead ask a DIFFERENT question to a DIFFERENT player. The game keeps going like this until someone makes a mistake. The first person to mess up takes a drink.
K - King's Cup. The player who drew the King must pour some of whatever they're drinking into the cup in the middle of the circle. The player who draws the 4th and final king must drink the contents of the cup (which now contains a mixture of potentially 3 different kinds of drinks). The drawing of the fourth king also ends the game.
A - Make a rule. The player who drew the Ace must create a rule that will apply for the duration of the entire game. The player may choose to cancel a rule previously created by another player. Some commonly used rules are "Little Green Man" (before taking a drink, every player must make the gesture of taking a little man off the lid of your can/bottle, placing him gently on the table, and then gently placing him back on the can/bottle after you've finished. Any player who fails to do this must drink again) or "Chin on the Table" - if you say a word (determined by the creator of the rule), you have to put your chin on the table and keep it there until another player says the word.

There are other variants of this game, of course. Because it's a school environment, though, I couldn't very well give each of the students a beer, so wherever it says "take a drink", I would give them a point instead. The object of the game, then, is to finish the game with the least number of points. It's actually good practice, since it's all in English. Certain activities, like questions, are good practice for forming questions in English, and Categories is excellent for practicing vocabulary. And "Never Have I Ever" is ALWAYS a good way to get to know your other players.

-Bob