Merry Christmas!

I have tons of things to post right now, but I am jumping ahead again to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

My bosses realized that since classes ended on the 24th, there probably wouldn't be any students coming to the school today, and therefore, no English teachers would be needed.

Christmas off! Hooray!

Russell spent Christmas Eve making chicken soup. We had a roast chicken carcass left over from the awesome Christmas party we threw on Wednesday (there will be a post coming). Not wanting to waste even a morsel of roast chicken, Russell set about making delicious soup. I was very lucky when I came home.

So after the soup we started staring at our little pile of Christmas gifts. We had originally intended to wait until Christmas morning (especially since I knew I wouldn't need to go into work after all) but the gifts won out. We opened them on Christmas Eve.

Russell got a Takoyaki pan and related utensils along with a bottle of Glogg and a bag of hard gummy ninja treats. I got convertible glove mittens, a cell phone charm with a compass in it and here's the best part:

Gift certificates to the Cat Cafe!

Apparently, the cat cafe is a small cafe with tons of cats in it. For $10 you can spend an hour snuggling cats. For $12 you can snuggle cats AND drink a beverage and for $15 you can snuggle cats and drink an alcoholic beverage. I can't wait! I kind of feel like I'm cheating on my cats at home... I hope they'll understand...

So wherever you are, if you are celebrating Christmas, Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to everyone.

Unwelcome Surprises

Its been a long time since I have felt the urge to fret over mold. Most of the worry passed with the muggy summer weather. Fall has been lovely and considerably less damp. Winter, however, is now setting in and bringing with it cold winds and rooms covered in condensation in the morning.

Pop quiz:

Let's say you were to go to flip your futon over one morning and upon flipping it over found a dark spot in the middle. Upon further investigation you discovered that the good side of your futon had a spreading infestation of mildew and the bad side of your futon was turning colors.

Would you:

A: Put the $60 futon out in the sun for the day, wash the sheets and pretend you didn't see anything.

B: Buy a $90 futon dryer, dry the $60 futon, wash the sheets and pretend you didn't see anything.

C: Consult a professional cleaner in the hopes that someday in the near future you can drag your oversided futon to their shop and have it cleaned for $20.

D: Buy a disposal tag for your ruined bedding and go out to buy a new $60 futon.

E: Get full use out of your super deep bathtub and give your bedding a bleach bath. Rinse and hang outside for a few days until it is dry enough to bring in the house, use your new $90 futon dryer on it and ignore any remaining spots (they're just stains, right??)

Russell and I are still working on this logic problem. Russell is all geared up for E. I'm prepared to follow up with D when the inevitable hilarity ensues.

Wish us luck.

Jazz Live

Today we got a fun treat. My Japanese teacher has a friend who plays piano for a jazz band. The band was playing at a local restaurant, so she invited us to go with her and one of her friends. How could we pass up a live jazz concert??

The restaurant was a small place - it held about 20 customers and the band and not much else. It also served gourmet curry. It came to the table in a little earthen pot still bubbling away. We arrived early, so we got our dinner first. This turned out to be lucky as later orders didn't come out for over an hour.

Everyone at the concert had reserved their seats ahead of time. The concert lasted two hours and then everyone paid an agreed on $20/person to the band. After that anyone could take the stage. It may have been possible to request backup from the jazz band - I wasn't clear on that. We left before the audience took the stage.

The jazz band was really fun. The pianist and bass player were great. The singer was also good, though she had some moments that were better than others. She definitely had good presence on stage. I tried to take a picture but my iphone couldn't handle the dim lighting. I really should bring my normal, and more reliable camera for times like these.

My favorite part was when, during the last song, the bartender broke out egg-shakers to go along with the clapping and everyone joined in the music.

All in all, it was a great night out. Good food, good music, good company!

Thanksgiving in Japan

Our lack of oven kind of tied our hands when it came to Thanksgiving this year. That and our general indifference to American feast cuisine. The friends and feasting part of Thanksgiving was not to be missed, however. With that in mind, this is what we came up with:

Friends: Russell, Jaci, Carolyn (Russell's sister) and Kenji (Russell's conversation partner). Sorry for the small numbers keep in mind we only have four plates and one chair.

Feast: Homemade okonomiyaki and eggnog!

We actually jumped the gun a bit and had our impromptu Thanksgiving on Wednesday, not Thursday. Russell, Carolyn and Kenji were on their way back from visiting Himeji castle and had the idea for our feast. Kenji offered to show us how to make okonomiyaki and while explaining eggnog, Russell got the bright idea to just go ahead and make some (no matter how much we wish for it, it isn't going to appear in Japanese grocers any time soon).

When I came home from work the trio had already purchased everything they needed and were ready to set to work.

First, the okonomiyaki.

I am fairly certain I have described this particular cuisine before. It is kind of like a vegetable pancake, You take a healthy dose of sliced cabbage mixed with egg and batter and various other vegetables to taste and then grill it. Kenji made pork okonomiyaki by placing strips of pork (not cured like bacon) across one side of the pancake. Once both sides are fully grilled the pancake is taken off the griddle and smothered in a special brown sauce that is extremely popular around these parts. Other toppings can include mayonnaise and bonito flakes among other things. Check out chef Kenji.

At the same time, Russell and I set to work on the eggnog. Russell separated the eggs and we started taking turns beating the egg whites. We were suppose to beat the eggwhites until they held stiff peaks. Ha! We only had a fork and our enthusiasm, so we only got the egg whites to the thoroughly fluffy stage - no peaks. The cream, luckily, whipped up easily. In fact, it was almost butter by the time Russell was ready to use it. We mixed a good cup and a half of vodka and cup of a half of whisky into the eggwhites along with the egg yolk and sugar and then tried to fold the cream into the mixture. The problem was that we were suppose to fold the mixture into the cream. The result was a bit lumpy (check the picture) but oh so tasty and worth a repeat effort. I mean, what's the point of knowing how to make homemade eggnog if you can't perfect your technique?

As experienced eggnog drinkers, Russell and I thoroughly enjoyed our new version of the classic holiday nog. It was, well, not what you get at the grocery store - and yet somehow better. Carolyn felt it was perhaps a bit strong.

But what did Kenji, our new eggnog drinker, think?

In the first picture, Carolyn directed Kenji to pose with a thumbs up.

In the next picture, she directed him to pose with his real reaction. This was paired with the vocal reaction, "Eggnog is a mysterious drink."

And there you have it. Mysterious eggnog in Japan for Thanksgiving.

Japanese Dentists

I am safely through my first dentist's visit in Japan.

I had heard all sorts of horror stories going in. Everyone I talked to - both Japanese and foreigners - agreed that Japanese dentists were something short of what one might expect in the U.S. One suggested reason I heard along the way (I can't remember who told me this - so take it with a grain of salt) was that dentists in Japan are basically med school drop-outs. People who can't finish a medical degree are presented with dental degrees and sent on their way. I have no idea if that is even remotely true, but the reputation around dentists here definitely makes you wonder.

Both Russell and I were surprised by this. In a country that is so focused on customer experience and making things as gentle and painless as possible, it seems impossible that dentistry would be some back-alley practice.

Even so, we weren't going to just wander into the first dental clinic we saw. First I asked at work. No one was from Kobe so they couldn't recommend any local dentists. Next I asked my conversation partners. No luck there either. One of my conversation partners, though, was kind enough to look for local dentists (she had just moved back to the area and was also interested in finding someone good). She suggested three dentists that seemed to have good ratings and highlighted their use of technology (so how behind the times could they be?). She did warn me, though, that Japanese dentists are usually about 5 years behind the U.S. and privacy in dental clinics was unheard of. More warnings.

Russell and I called the first one and got an appointment. I have had an uncomfortable feeling in my molar for a couple weeks and I was pretty sure I could see a cavity. Russell told them I had a toothache and we got in the next Tuesday.

Post Dentist Report:

Turns out I didn't have a cavity after all. The dentist did use all sorts of technology (including a painful-looking animation of a root canal - didn't need one of those, thank goodness. The hygienist cleaned the plaque away from the molars that were bothering me in case it was causing inflammation and then she applied some topical medication (which made my cheek numb but didn't effect the discomfort in my tooth). The work that was done was super gentle and the staff were friendly and explained things to us. Russell was a little worried about the repeated use of the root canal animation, though.

Hopefully we won't be doing that any time soon.

In the end I am comforted to discover that Japan is not the original staging ground for Little Shop of Horrors. Decent dental care can be found - so far as we have tested it.

December!

Man... shouldn't it still be October?

In honor of the new month (and in spite of the lovely weather we have been having here) I dug out my best chilly-looking photo to ring in the end of the year. This picture was from last Saturday when we were walking home from the train. We had to go under the busy street instead of over it. Unfortunately, however, the city planners didn't plan on an invasion of Mulls. Things were a bit cramped.

Carolyn Arrived

I was unfortunately unable to participate in many of the early activities with Carolyn. I had to work. :( I did, however, catch a few of the highlights. The first night I joined Carolyn and Russell after they spent the day wandering around Kobe. Russell took us to the all you can eat Japanese buffet his Japanese teacher had introduced him to. It was pretty awesome. The food was probably only mediocre quality for traditional Japanese food, but it was super healthy, there was tons of variety, and it was still pretty darn delicious.

As an added bonus, we got trays with little compartments for all the morsels. We could take as much as we wanted, but there was so much variety, it was probably best not to take more of anything than a compartment could hold. We each had two trays of food and a tray of dessert. It was lovely.

Russell's in a Band!

So all that finger crossing paid off. Russell was accepted into the band he auditioned for and just this weekend finally got a chance to go play with them. Apparently it has been a bit of a rocky path for the band in question. Earlier attempts to get together were thwarted first by slow planning by the band members and then by the bass player quitting. They are still a bass player short, but decided to get together anyway. This Sunday while Carolyn and I were off to Kyoto, Russell met up with everyone.

Russell didn't give me the impression they are going to be performing any time soon (especially sans bass) but he had a very good time with them and very much seemed to enjoy the post-practice drinking session.

He apparently also mentioned that his wife has been wanting to learn bass.

Unfortunately, I still have no pictures.

Restaurant Displays

One of the continually intriguing things in Japan are the restaurant displays. There seems to be an active market for plastic recreations of a restaurants' regular meals. It is common to see a display window with amazingly life-like dishes to choose from. This is super handy for tourists - and the food often looks very close to the display. I haven't run into much false advertising.

As an example, I recently took this picture at a frozen yogurt cafe. After oggling the selection I planned to get a coffee float. When I saw the menu, though, I noticed that there was a black sesame frozen yogurt. Never one to pass up black sesame, I gave it a go. You might be able to see the black sesame parfait in the display window. Its the one with the rather large gray growth coming out the side. Based on looks alone, I probably would have passed this one by. It turned out to be delicious, though. I was also impressed to find that the frozen yogurt actually tasted like yogurt! Not just "not-icecream." An all around win.

Stock Pile of Goodness

It has been a decidedly long absence. My apologies.

I will say I have managed to stockpile a wide variety of stories. I will probably try to dole them out over the next few weeks. Many of those stories are related to our second run at hosting: Russell's sister Carolyn came to visit!

To get things started, though, I'm going to rewind back a few weeks before Carolyn arrived.

First, we finally bought a gift for ourselves that we have been pining after for a long time: a solid Go-board and normal sized stones. We didn't go for serious tradition - no two foot by two foot blocks of wood on legs or abalone playing stones. We bought the practical folding board and glass stones. We did splurge on real mahogany bowls for our stones, though. It all feels very official from our inexperienced perspective. A far cry better than tiny magnetic plastic stones on a 1/4 folding plastic board.

So what is Go? For those of you who have lived near you or visited us, we have probably tried to teach you. If not, Go is sometimes called Japanese chess. Unlike chess, however, no one has managed to teach a computer to play a full Go game well. Too many things are influenced by the beginning of the game when there are too many options available. Computers can't take it. I can relate. The point of the game is to capture territory by surrounding it with your stones. One player gets white stones and one player gets black stones. Whoever has surrounded the most stone-free territory by the end of the game wins. The basics are easy to catch on to, but it takes a surprising amount of work to get good at the game. I have been impressed with how many layers it has. I suppose that is to be expected from a game that has been around as long as Go has been.

One nice result of getting a decent board is that it has captured both of our interest. We have actually played fairly regularly since getting it. Back when we were in Oregon, Russell had coached himself into a fairly decent level by using the computer. I wasn't so into it and quickly fell behind. Since starting back up again, though, Russell has slipped a bit in his ability and after some studying up on how to make a strong beginning, we are now more evenly matched. I sometimes still need a handicap in my favor, but I don't need much to become a reasonable opponent.

Playing Go while sitting under our kotatsu (heated table) is what gets me through the day lately. I really can't think of much that's better. Maybe sitting under our kotatsu playing Go with a glass of scotch. Unfortunately, scotch and Go don't really go together well. If Russell ever needed a secret weapon, he would have a sure one.

More to come, stay posted.

Sleep Over!

While Russell was away in Oregon, I had planned to invite the other women from work over to my apartment for a sleep over. Everyone was excited, but we never set a date and time rolled past before we ever got the sleep-over put together. Russell is back now, but we still wanted to get together, so this weekend one of my co-workers hosted the sleep over at her place.

We rented a movie and bought a pile of snacks and treats from the grocery store. Our hostess made a lovely vegetable curry for us and we chatted all through the movie (leaving us really confused as to the plot). I was the first to go to sleep (some time around 2:30am). I got to sleep in the snuggiest futon I have yet encountered and this morning, for breakfast? Marmite! I had never tried Marmite before (and I did have other, sweeter options to put on toast as well), but I wanted to try something new. It was actually quite good. I had always heard horror stories. I can imagine having had a different experience if I had unwittingly slathered my toast with it, but in moderation, I can see where it would be addictive. Yay for new culinary experiences! Who knew I would be trying Marmite for the first time in Japan?

Another Fun Weekend

After so much luck pursuing old quests the week before, last week we decided to explore another area we somehow never quite get to: Harborland. This is one of the main tourist attractions in Kobe and we have meant to go there multiple times. The problem is that there are so many interesting things between our house and Harborland, and we usually think we are going to walk there. We almost always get distracted on the way. (I think this was how we stumbled on the jewelry shop where I bought my new wedding ring, for example).

Last weekend we were determined to actually make it all the way to Harborland. There was even a festival happening there to give us stronger motivation. We did get side-tracked for a few minutes when we found the Big and Tall shop that Russell had been looking for (named "Grand Back"). It turns out that even in Japan, you might not need to be AS big as Tall, but you still have to be bigger than Russell to get tall pants that fit. No love for the skinny 2 meter men. Sorry Russell. Note the plaque in the picture that, poetically enough, states that the Big and Tall shop used to be the U.S. consulate building.

After our small side trip, I am please to say we made it to Harborland. We did not explore it all, but we found the festival (local artists were given shipping containers as art spaces and allowed to do whatever they wanted to them. The public could walk through the art spaces for a mere $35. We decided to pass. We are just too cheap.

Among other discoveries at Harborland, we figured out where the pink pirate ship docks. It turns out there are two pirate ships that sail tourists around the bay. The pink one must be the only one that sails past my school, because I hadn't ever seen the classier pirate ship. We also found a shopping center with cute small shops and poked around for the evening. I found some cheap (and cute!) shoes and we picked out some Fall inspired jams from a preserves shop (sweet potato and pumpkin/orange). Next, we headed across the street to the more standard style mall with the huge Christmas display and color-changing tree on display. Everyone is gearing up for Christmas even though Christmas is an adopted holiday. I will have to post later with more details about the differences between Western Christmas and Japanese Christmas - they are significant from what I hear. In any case, after watching the Christmas tree change colors from red all the way through the spectrum to Purple, Russell dubbed it the "Bling Cone."

We finished the evening with a lively discussion at a delicious Indian restaurant and then took the train home. It was a lovely excursion.

Our Big Day Out

I have been on hiatus posting to the blog for at least a week - probably more like two weeks. Sometimes coming home and sleeping just sounds like a better idea. I'm sure you can sympathize.

We have been doing our best to enjoy the last few warm days and continue exploring the area around us. Last weekend, we decided to continue an adventure we had abandoned previously: Taking a tour of Suntory Whiskey Distillery. For those of you who sampled the whiskey Russell brought back to the states, this is a different brand, but it is distilled in our general vicinity, so we clearly needed to check it out. We rode the train out to the small town where the distillery is located and signed up for the free tour.

We all met in a side room and then walked over to the main building. Inside we saw the vats where they put the mash, we saw the room full of enormous, shiny copper stills bubbling away (the tour guide pointed out that there was a wide variety of styles of stills, which is apparently unusual in one distillery). We saw the room where the empty barrels are kept, and then we got to tour the cellar where they keep all of their back log of whiskey with the year printed on the front. It was quite impressive. Apparently the alcohol evaporates while it is in the barrels. This made the walk through the cellar an experience not for the weak of heart. A few children had to turn back and be escorted outside from a side door.

Once we were done with the tour we got to walk through the Japanese garden in the back (highlighting the pure mountain spring water they use for their whiskey) and then on to the tasting room. We were greeted with a choice of the afore-mentioned spring water, a glass of the 10 year whiskey on the rocks or the 10 year whiskey with soda. We were guided to a seat (shared with other people from the tour) and were given a variety of snacks that supposedly paired well with the whiskeys. Once we had enjoyed the first whiskey, we were given the chance to try the same whiskey neat and we were also offered another style of whiskey that was a bit smokier. Between us, Russell and I had four or five glasses of whiskey and a variety of snacks.

Keep in mind this was a free tour.

After the tasting, of course, we were guided to the gift shop, where bottles of these whiskies could be had starting at $100 a bottle. The whiskey was definitely tasty, and the tour was worth repeating, but the whisky was not as good as the Yoichi whisky from Hokkaido that we had found before. The Suntory whiskies were also more expensive, so we passed on the souvenirs. We did go home and buy another bottle of Yoichi, though. I am slowly being won over to whisky.

Since we were passing through Osaka on the way home, I convinced Russell to go with me to my Japanese teacher's cafe (the one she helped design). Russell is generally not a fan of trendy cafes, but this one had the marked attraction of building materials on the tables. Russell happily ate his dessert and rearranged interlocking blocks for about an hour. This is clearly a cafe that can appeal to multiple tastes. If you are in Osaka, I recommend it.

Fall in Japan

Its officially Fall in Japan. The temperatures are still comfortable, but starting to get a little chilly - especially at night. We are also starting see autumn leaf watches. Much like the cherry blossoms in Spring, the Autumn leaves are a big tourist attraction. Apparently going to see the autumn leaves at some of the famous temples in Kyoto is especially popular, and during peak season the crowds approach those on morning trains - a full-on crush of bodies meandering through the grounds. We will have to decide whether the experience is worth it.

I did find this sign in our local train station. Notice how there are different colored leaves posted below each destination. I took this picture a week ago, so only a few locations had graduated from the green leaf status to the yellow leaf status. I will have to try and take a more updated picture to compare. Of course, all of these wonderful leaf-watching places can be reached by that particular train.

Digging in Deeper

We've been through a bit of a boring stint. We pretty much know how to get around, we have our routines. But every now and again we get a wild hair to do something a little different. Two examples:

First, my example, is less what I decided to do, and more what was thrust upon me. It appears I am going to get the honest-go-goodness JET experience (as I have only had described to me, but never experienced.) Team-teaching English with a native Japanese teacher in a high school.

Now, I have met my team teacher. He seems awesome, and both super competent as a teacher and an English speaker. This already makes my situation 100% better than the true horror stories I have heard of. That said, from first blush, it looks like my job is to step in and read the scripts that would usually be played by a CD. There has been some mention of thinking up a few topic-related questions to throw in "spontaneously" along the way too. Its Halloween late, this year. I'm going as a CD.

Alas.

The lesson itself is fine, its just a little disappointing to have one 45 minute block at a high school and be told my job is to read a script and ask a few questions. I mean, why not do something the kids can't do on any average day? Like think of their own questions and engage in authentic conversations? Maybe that would be too much for them... or maybe the class is just too big, but with some preparation...

I shouldn't complain. At least I don't have to spend hours agonizing over how to get the most out of my 45 minute block. I should also look closer at the lesson plan I was given. Maybe there is more room for inserting my own personality than I first saw.

Russell's adventure is way cooler.

Russell has finally taken the plunge and made contact with a local band in need of a guitar player and vocalist. Today he met with the leader of the band to find out more information.

Ready for this?

The band is a Green Day cover band. The band leader is in his thirties and apparently was all style, (think white wingtips with no socks). He explained that the other members of the band are a 24 year old bass player and a 57 year old drum playing grandmother. Awesome!

Russell is worried he wasn't quite the personality the leader was looking for in terms of a guitarist and vocalist. Apparently he was less than social, and less than enthusiastic about the band to be covered. He was also wearing his wrinkled kakis and yellow Ray's Place Buzz Mustard T-shirt. He did shave and clean up his goatee - though in retrospect he wasn't sure that made him any points. He is hopeful that he will at least get an audition with the band. I think he mostly just wants to meet their drum player.

In anticipation of a possible call back, he has downloaded a variety of Green Day and is busy practicing away. Keep in mind, this is the music that was TOTALLY popular when we were in Middle School. It was also the kind of music we both avoided like the plague. I think Russell was in his Folk music funk and I was pretty sure nothing beat Beethoven. I don't think Russell ever anticipated he would be revisiting this particular chapter in music history.

Keep your fingers crossed on that call-back. If this goes as far as a live concert, there will totally be pictures!

Candy Corn in Japan

Its almost Halloween, so i decided to have Russell bring a Halloween treat from the U.S. for my students - Candy Corn!

It had come up in discussion at school that there is no candy corn in Japan. We verified this by showing pictures to a selection of Japanese co-workers. Sure enough, it was an unknown entity. Most of the Halloween candy that you can get in the U.S. is available in Japan. The only other candy I hadn't been able to find (even at import stores) was Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. It just seemed wrong to celebrate Halloween without Candy Corn, so I called Russell (who was luckily in the U.S. at the time).

Yesterday he arrived home safe and sound and bearing sugar. Large quantities of sugar. And toothpaste. (Seriously - we can't get Tom's of Maine here, but the combination of gift was exceptional).

Today I had all of the teachers announce that if the students came to the English office and said Trick or Treat, they could have some honest-to-goodness American Halloween candy. As soon as class was over, the trick or treating began. I had a bag of candy corn and a bag of those candy corn-ish pumpkins.

The reaction? Most students took a nibble, gave me a betrayed look and couldn't finish. A few bravely swallowed the whole candy corn with a disgusted look on their face. A few people thought they were good, and a couple people were turned back by the smell alone. I even had one student happily bite in only to have his face contort and say, "Ah! It burns!"

Apparently there is a reason candy corn never took off in Japan. I do find it interesting that this was an even worse reaction than when Michelle passed around Durian candy from Singapore - and those had the potent bouquet of banana and gasoline.

Oh well.

Isn't it a little late for this?

I was talking on Skype to Russell. I got up for a few seconds to wash a persimmon and when I turned back, there was a medium sized cockroach skittering across my floor. I turned around to get something to whack him with and when I turned back he was gone.

So now it is 11:00pm - I went to the grocery store to get more bug traps, but it isn't bug season anymore. Our seasonal end cap display has transitioned from cockroach traps to heat packs and mittens.

Another sleepless night. Only this time, instead of a bloody knee, nightmares or stomach pain keeping me up, I have friends in low places.

Awesome.

At least today was cleaning day. He will be enjoying a very hungry night.

Osaka Adventure

Today was fabulous!

I started the day out with a quick Skype conversation with a bunch of people I kind of like a lot. It was good to hear from everyone!

Then I quickly got ready and headed out to my Japanese lesson. Long story short: I have a lot of studying to do before my test next week. Yikes!

After the lesson, my teacher invited me to go with her to Osaka to spend the day with a friend who was in the area for an IELTs exam (a standardized test of English). We all met up in Osaka in the afternoon and spent the day together. Here are a few highlights:

Takoyaki!

I have mentioned Takoyaki before several times. It is a grilled savory pancake-like ball with octopus in the middle. I sometimes refer to them as octopus balls. These are common street food at festivals and in tourist districts. We have a takoyaki stand just as we leave the train station on the way home. Takoyaki is very tasty, but it is often slathered in the local sauce - a sort of barbecue sauce, but not as sweet. With sauce and mayonnaise on top it can be a bit too rich for me at times - though eating one or two balls is delicious.

Today, my teacher, Keiko took her friend and I to a takoyaki place she likes. The cool thing, though, was that unlike the street stands, this was a sit down restaurant where you make your own takoyaki. The waitstaff prepares the half circle griddles in the middle of the table, places a pice of octopus in each half circle indentation and then pours the batter over the top. They put a generous serving of green onion on top and then the rest is up to the customer. We had a variety of other toppings, including the equivalent of rice crispies and chopped pickled ginger. After the bottom started to be cooked, we cut the even surface into squares above each half circle and then started prodding the ingredients into piles over each half circle. When the bottom was a bit more done, we used our skewers to rotate the ball around so the ingredients piled on top could grill. Once we could flip the ball all around and it seem evenly browned, we were ready to eat. We put the local sauce on top, some mayonaise and some seaweed powder and then dug in. The best part was that the takoyaki was made with good ingredients, was cooked as much as we wanted and we could control what toppings we put on in the end. It was delicious! Definitely the best takoyaki I have yet had. I was able to eat 6-8. A new personal record.

Osaka Castle!

After the takoyaki, we went to Osaka castle. Russell and I had never made it to the castle, so I was excited to go. I had heard that it was not as impressive as Himeji castle (which we visited shortly after arriving in Kobe) but that was largely based on the fact that the castle is basically completely rebuilt in modern times and is designed to be a museum on the inside. While it is impressive and beautiful on the outside, it is basically a modern building on the inside. I believe the outside is authentic in appearance, but for a history enthusiast, the experience probably leaves something to be desired. The original castle was burnt down during the Meiji Restoration, rebuilt, and then partially bombed during World War II. It now has two elevators in the middle, electricity, bathrooms and other amenities.

I have to say, though, it is still worth a visit for the average tourist. The grounds around the castle are beautiful (especially heading into fall) and the castle itself is gorgeous. The view of Osaka from the top floor was also outstanding. The castle may not be as authentic as Himeji, but it is definitely impressive and worth a visit. I was happy to finally see it. Apparently there is a chrysanthemum festival starting up at the castle this next month, so maybe Russell and I will head back in the near future.

Keiko's Cafe!

Okay, the cafe doesn't belong to my Japanese teacher, but she did play a big roll in the style of it. She did all of the photography, designed the menu, take-out boxes and cups and all the dishes and seems to have her hands in pretty much all the coolness that is this cafe. We walked by after visiting the Osaka castle, but Keiko didn't want to go in just yet because she was pretty sure her boss would be humming around checking on the business. She was spotted as soon as she turned the corner. Her boss, a loud American, came over, introduced himself and launched into all the things he is thinking about changing, fixing, etc. She politely excused herself and we went to dinner first.

We had a lovely dinner at the fanciest kaiten sushi place I have ever been to. Kaiten sushi is "carousel" sushi or "sushi boat" sushi. It consists of various color coded plates that move around a circular conveyor belt with a variety of sushi on them. The different colors stand for different set prices. You can grab any plate of the conveyor belt. At the end of your meal, the waitress counts up your plates and you pay at the register. This place had a wide variety of grilled fish sushi - something I hadn't seen as much in Japan. Everything was delicious. At the end, the waitress hovered her wand-contraption over the stack of plates and it automatically tallied the bill. There must have been chips in the plates that the wand was reading. We got a token from the waitress programmed with our bill and we payed at the register. Super slick.

After dinner we decided to brave the cafe again. We headed back - were spotted again long before we arrived - but forged on anyway. All of the furniture in the cafe is built out of interlocking white blocks. You can see them a bit in one of the pictures I have posted. Each table had a black tatami mat on top (perfect for absorbing any water rings) and each table also had a set of mini-blocks that we could play with while we waited for our order. We perused Keiko's super tasty menu, ooed over all of her awesome food photography and then made our orders. I had the "Monburan" which is actually a Montblanc in french pronunciation, and a cup of coffee. I am not at all sure what the contents of a Monburan are - even after eating one. The one I tried today had a chocolate cookie base, and piped hazelnut paste (I think - though chestnut paste would be more traditional) on the outside. Inside were two more layers of something very sweet and delicious, but which I cannot identify. They were different flavors and different textures from each other. Both were creamy and delicious. All together it was a decadent and definitely worthy of a repeat dessert. I may have been spoiled, though. Apparently the Monburan is the most complicated dessert their pastry chef makes and he is using a $50,000 dollar oven to make them. I suspect the average 7-11 monburan is not going to stand up in a taste-test. I guess I will have to spend more time at Keiko's cafe...

As you know if you have been following my posts, Keiko has taken me to a wide variety of cafes. I have to say, among the trendy cafes, this one is definitely my favorite so far. There was one other cafe early on that had more hearty cakes and a more casual atmosphere that may still be my very favorite, but this one is excellent. In a place where trendy cafes are the rage, they should do very well. I look forward to going back. If you are interested in the website of the cafe, it is: http://www.shakers.jp/ I think Keiko did the website, too - and most of the photography on it.

My Funny Students

Two more stories about my students.

For the first story, there are two things you need to know about Japan:

First, it is persimmon season. There are two general kinds of persimmons (many sub varieties) one can be eaten fresh and is delicious eaten as it is, skin and all. The other is a slightly different shape and leaves a terrible dry feel in your mouth if you eat it fresh. That one is often dried or prepared in specific ways to change the texture.

Second: People in Japan peel EVERYTHING. Grapes, peaches, apples, pears - you name it. It doesn't matter how thin the skin is or how tasty - it is always peeled off. This is also true of persimmons, whose skin is about the same thickness as a nectarine. Westerners are perfectly happy to bite right into one of these beauties - the sweet variety, anyway - but that just isn't done in Japanese culture. Its really a shame since the Japanese variety of these persimmons has no core, no seeds, nothing that needs to be thrown away except a few leaves and a stem from the very top. Its the perfect fruit for chowing down.

The other day one of our coworkers brought a bag of persimmons to school. It was quite the luxury. There were plenty to go around for two days. Of course, the westerners just dug in right in the office. This got some scandalized stares from students. After explaining that yes, the skin was edible, and yes, it was delicious, we convinced one of the students to try it. You would not believe the process involved in getting her to bite in. She nibbled away but had a very tough time actually biting through. When she finally did break the skin she barely had any fruit to balance it and was pretty sure we were crazy. We finally convinced her to take a real bite and THEN she realized that yes, the skin was indeed edible. This experiment was so intriguing to my boss that she made sure to document all the stages on her camera phone. Not to be outdone, I made sure to take a picture of her taking a picture of the student eating the persimmon.

Win for the foreigners!

My second story is about one of my students from last term. This particular student had gone through a romance during summer break. I am not sure if they broke up and he tried to get back together with her when school started, or if he just confessed his love at the end of the summer. In any case, when he told her he loved her she told him she wasn't interested. He was quite heartbroken and decided to ask one of my coworkers for advice. She talked with him for a while and then decided to pass him over to me. He nervously tried to explain his story and with some help got it all out. He then asked me what I thought. I didn't really know what to say - romantic advice is not my forte - so I told him she must be crazy and he shouldn't worry about it. He thought about that and then the conversation went something like this:

Student: Now I'm lonely
Me: Would you like some chocolate?
Students: Valentines chocolate?
Me: No, Wednesday chocolate.
Student: Okay.

Moral of the story: Don't come to me if you want romantic advice. Do come to me if you want chocolate.

Triumph

Sorry to have been away so long. I've mostly just been lazy. I have things to post, but I haven't uploaded pictures yet. I'll try to get around to it soon.

I do have to brag about two small triumphs, though. One - I finally replaced the cardboard box we were using to store crap we couldn't find a home for with a lovely IKEA shelf. It wasn't hard to do, but it has taken 7 months to get around to it, so I'm pretty proud.

The other triumph was finally getting the enormous mountain of non-burnable plastic down to the garbage pile on the correct day. Non-burnables are only picked up once every other week and due to a wide variety of circumstances, Russell and I hadn't managed to take it out for at least two months - maybe more. The pile of plastic was starting to take over our house. It took me two trips to get it all down to the garbage pile and I was so embarrassed by the quantity of it that I got up at 5:30 (before the sun was up) to beat the morning traffic. I only saw one person and he wasn't a direct neighbor - so it was an all around success.

Now I'm going back to bed.

:)

Typhoon

We are just heading in to our first real typhoon. We had some light weather from a typhoon that passed near Japan a couple weeks ago, but this one is the real deal. It will actually hit land (which is not common). It should hit Osaka directly and Kobe will be on the outer edge of the center.

A typhoon is kind of like a Hurricane but in the Pacific. The Typhoons that hit Japan are not known for doing serious damage, at least, not in this area and not often. That is probably due in equal parts to strong infrastructure and weather patterns that weaken the typhoons. Typhoons are generally considered to represent high winds and lots of rain. I have heard rumors that all of the deep cement river beds with tiny little trickles in the bottom turn into rushing rivers after a good typhoon, though.

Of course, a particularly strong typhoon that hits in a rural area can cause serious damage, and there have definitely been fatalities before - but we aren't too worried this time around. We were assured that we don't need to take any special precautions. No, we don't need to reinforce our windows or set aside water. No, we probably won't lose electricity. We just need to stay indoors and enjoy a day off of work tomorrow.

In fact, the eye of this particular typhoon is suppose to be over us around midnight, so by morning tomorrow we may well be in the clear. Since school was already called off, and since the weather after a typhoon is supposedly lovely, tomorrow could be a lovely vacation.

In case the U.S. news does pick up the typhoon for any reason and you want to know exactly where we are, we are in the Kansai region of Japan on Honshu Island (the biggest island). We live in Hyogo Prefecture (which is huge, so don't assume we are having problems if someone else in Hyogo is) and we are just East of the center of Kobe city.

Please don't worry, though. While this will probably be an exciting storm for Russell and I, no one around us seems to be paying it much mind. The main focus is on staying dry.

Update: It is now morning after the typhoon. Russell and I are fine. There were no problems here. There was some crazy fast wind and tons of rain, though. I was starting to get fairly nervous at the peak of it, but everything was fine. I have not poked around on the Internet to see how the rest of Japan fared. Hope all is well in other areas.

Burgers and Whiskey

Oh yes. You read correctly. Japan just got even better!

So a bit of context...

Russell leaves for HIS trip home to Oregon next Friday. Since this was my last weekend with him (and a three day weekend, no less) I wanted to make the most of it and spend some quality time together. I shared as much with Russell, who seemed game. Neither of us really knew what to do, though. Our first thought was to got camping. Camping in Japan, from what we have been told, means bringing your own food to a cabin located a tasteful distance away from a bus line. It may not involve a backpack - or a tent - or lack of electricity - but its mildly rustic and getting out of the apartment sounded good. We started looking for "camping" online. Unfortunately, this is something we need to spend more time figuring out. We were able to find car camping, but no cabin camping. We will keep looking.

In the meantime, we got a nice drenching from a typhoon that was passing by - so camping wasn't sounding all that neat anyway. The weekend was thankfully, dry, but we really didn't have anything planned. To make matters worse, I got to spend Saturday morning humming around my computer, hoping my contact at Oregon State would actually contact me to discuss what has happened since our last meeting (he cancelled the scheduled meeting and has been elusive ever since). Damn.

Once it became obvious that he had gone home (and it was well past breakfast and lunch time for me) I got cranky.

Russell to the rescue.

In looking for cabins, Russell had discovered some other points of interest. One of which was a festival happening in Osaka. Another, was a delighful eatery on the way. He was very excited (and very secretive). I played along and followed after him. We walked to the train. No food yet. I was getting skeptical due to my empty tummy, but I kept going. We arrived at a random stop on the train line. Still no food. A nice young lady offered us a coupon for a special at a local burger joint. It was called "Healthy Burger" Couldn't we go there? No. Russell was on a mission.

I was starting to be sick of Russell's mission. I was pretty sure the trek wasn't worth it. We walked and walked and then discovered we had gone too far. We walked and walked back. I was not feeling terrible charitable at this point. We went up to a lean-to that was billowing smoke. This was the place. To its credit, there was a group of folks standing outside. Russell checked, and they were all waiting for to-go orders. This was a burger shack. Not just any burger shack, either. This was apparently the best place in Japan to get a decent burger. They even served Hawaiian micro-brews and coke in glass bottles. The menu consisted of "regular" or "large" and a variety of beverage options. I went with Regular and Russell with Large. We sat down at the wooden bar inside (which seated 6 and was only sheltered from the outdoors by a sheet of plastic and some woven grass) and took a long swig of my not-from-corn syrup- coke. Things were looking up. We started staring not-so-covertly at the ladies next to us who were making messes of themselves trying to eat the enormous sloppy burgers that had just arrived. Things were definitely looking up.

Our burgers arrived shortly and they were amazing. A real beef patty, made by hand on the spot. with some sort of Japanese style barbeque sauce, sauted onions, a thick slick of tomato, lettuce, mayonaise and a toasted bun. I'm not typically a fan of any sort of goo on my burgers, but the flavors were all lovely and the burger was delicious. It was also impossible to eat gracefully. The thick slice of tomato, in particular, kept slipping away from my bite and pushing the meat with it. The first few bite were largely lettuce and bun. Eventually I managed, though. It was a damn fine burger. Russell managed to get sauce on his cheek, nose and temple.

It took us about 20-30 minutes to get there (actually 30-40 after wandering past it the first time) but it was worth it. We left with big smiles on our faces and full intentions to return. Preferably with friends.

Our next plan was to head to the outskirts of Osaka to the Suntory Whiskey distillery. (I mean, why not, right?) While we were checking the route, though, we discovered that the distillery was only open for about 45 more minutes and we were at least 30 minutes away. We decided it was impossible and headed home instead. This was probably for the best because Russell has been nursing a running injury (from running to catch a train, not running a 5K - alas) and was starting to be finished with the all the walking. While we were on the train, though, he did some more research and found a bar in Sannomiya (the center of Kobe) that specialized in Whiskey - both Japanese and International.

Now, to explain the interest in Whiskey, it is important to note that Japan just won the "Best Whiskey in the World" label from a whiskey authority. The whiskey that won even beat out all the traditional Scotch Whiskeys from Scotland. This had become a bit of a legend that Russell was chasing. The distillery we had been heading to is not the home of the best whiskey in the world, but rather its rival. Suntory is known as a fine whiskey maker as well - if not as decorated as Nikka from Hokkaido.

In any case, we had whiskey on the brain, so we headed to Sannomiya and this whiskey bar Russell had found on the Internet. It was in the basement of a building and when we got out of the elevator we were greeted by a long brick wall with a door decorated with wood from what we believe to be casks (not verified). Upon entering we found a room that was only big enough for a long bar, a bartender in the back, and full wall shelving going all the way around the room covered in all manner of whiskeys. There were two men at the bar and we took the two seats at the far end. Russell ordered the whiskey on special (coincidentally from the Hokkaido distillery that he had been wanting to try). I am not known to revel in Whiskeys of any sort, so finding me a suitable beverage was a bit more of a challenge. I wanted to try a whiskey, but I didn't know where to start. The conversation went something like this:

R: Well, what do you want?
J: I don't know.
R: What kind of Whiskey do you like?
J: I don't really like whiskey.
R: Well, I think you liked Glennfidditch.
J: No, sir. I remember Glennfidditch. That stuff was awful.

At this point the bartender, who had procured Russell's drink and a wide variety of snacks (nuts, rice snacks and some delicate ham and cucumber sandwich squares) started to look on in anticipation of another order.

B: And for the lady?
R: Uh, we don't really know, but but maybe something like a Glennfiddich?
J: #giving "NO" eyes#
B: Would she like a whiskey that is easy to drink, do you think?
R: Uh. yes, please. What would you recommend?
B: I have an idea. And would you like it straight, with water or on the rocks.
J: On the rocks, please.

Russell was the main contact for this exchange because I was clearly not the more competent Japanese speaker. Russell later launched into a conversation about Gaelic with the bartender (who had spent some time in Scotland) and one of the regulars sitting to our right.

In the meantime I tried some of Russell's whiskey - which I actually liked quite a bit. My own was exactly what I ordered, and, well, whiskey. Turns out the "easy drinking" kind of whiskey is not my style. Being able to compare, though, did give me new appreciation for the spirit. I may not be a lost cause yet.

Been a while!

Wow.

Sorry for the hiatus from the blog. The last few weeks have been a mite crazy. Among other things, I found myself back in Oregon for an emergency trip to sort things out for our student who are currently studying at Oregon State University.

I'm not sure I should get into specifics on my blog, but the general trend was: thing went really well, then kind of iffy - we returned to Japan and then things started to really go down hilll - but now there is some hope that a resolution may yet be reached. Keep your fingers crossed, even if you know not what for. :)

Right before I headed out to Oregon I had one day of weekend to spend with Russell. We decided to try out an arboretum that Russell's Japanese teacher had recommended. As is all too typical of us, we got off to a late start and only arrived about an hour before the arboretum closed. We had put a great deal of effort into finding the place, though, so we decided to pay the entrance fee and get as much out of it as we could.

It turned out to be a lovely big arboretum split between a sculpture garden (regular sculptures by famous artists scattered along a not-so-challenging terrain) and a hiking course (with short hikes in all directions and hiking paths off of hiking paths going up, down and around all manner of forested hills). We barely got to scrape the surface of the hiking trails, but they were a perfect blend of challenging, but not too challenging. We will certainly go back.

Then it was off to Oregon for a week only to start teaching the day after I got back (10 hours after, to be exact). Luckily my anti-jet lag strategies mostly worked and while I slept very well (and often early) every night. I never woke up at odd times or felt overly exhausted during the day. One week of teaching under my belt for the term and we arrived at the first holiday. Yes, we got the second Monday off.

Three day weekend!

The Surprise Date

After spending most of the day holed up in our apartment (Russell was working and I was off work and generally being lazy), Russell and I decided we needed to get out of the house. It was just about dinner time, so we figured we would go get dinner and then pick up a couple movies from the movie rental place. The problem was that we had had a delcious Gyuudon lunch and weren't really interested in eating anywhere too rich. That cut out the ramen shop, and the two izakaya in the neighborhood. We decided to deal with the movies first and think it over. As we walked Russell suggested pasta. There is a pasta place we have been to several times in the center of the city that is super tasty, not too fancy, and relatively cheap. It also has a lovely view of the mountains. We didn't really want to head to the center of the city, though.

Then, Russell remembered that we had passed a pasta place close to the movie rental store several months back. I had totally forgotten about it, but I did recognize it when we walked up to it again. It looks rather fancy inside, but the menu on the board outside the door seemed reasonable, so we decided to try it. We were the only ones in the restaurant (which is always a bit eerie to me) but it did have nice atmosphere. We looked at the menu. The first page had set menus on it starting at $35 for a four course meal. The next three pages were all wine lists. Hmmm.... I checked my wallet. I had $70. Russell had $20. We decided our dinner out had just turned into a date and each ordered the set menu with a glass of red wine. So much for eating light.

What I am about to describe is the best meal I have ever eaten in my life. Russell was hard pressed to remember better himself. He had certainly never had anything so delicious for the price.

The red wine came out first, followed shortly by our antipasti: two small triangles of polenta, a small mound of couscous with two slices marinated mackerel, a slice of some sort of meat (smoked ham? smoked turkey?) and two thin slices of caramelized acorn squash. All carefully displayed on a long white plate with olive oil and basalmic vinegar artfully dribbled around the edge. It was looking like we were in for an event. Everything was as delicious as it looks - probably more so.

Next came a plate of bread. We each got a thin, crunchy breadstick and a slice of delicious wheat baguette. Its been a while since we've run into any sort of bread with an honest yeast/wheat taste. This was glorious. We have since decided that the bread does not count as a course and we were probably suppose to save it for the pasta that came after it (even though it was long polished off before the pasta arrived).

The pasta was amazing. Perfectly al dente with a light, tomato and olive oil based sauce. The sauce also had crushed olives (mediterranean style, not US black olive style) and capers. Russell commented that it was the best pasta he had ever eaten. We were both very sad to see it end and very excited to see what would come next.

Next was a second pasta dish. This one was quite different. It reminded me of a beef burgundy with gnocchi. There were chunks of beef and a local mushroom that is long, skinny and chewy in a thick beef sauce poured over gnocchi (a kind of doughy pasta dumpling). This was when we really started enjoying our wine, by the way.

The third course was the main course. Russell had ordered the meat of the day (lamb) and I had ordered the fish (a local fish I had heard of before but I have no idea what it is in English). Russell reported that the lamb was perfect. It was lightly crispy on the edges and tender all the way through. It game with grilled asparagus and assorted other vegetables. The fish came in two pieces, also grilled to perfection and paired with a fresh salad, radishes and cherry tomatoes. Neither of us were willing to share with the other.

The final course was dessert. We each got a plate with tiny portions of three very different desserts. One was a chocolate chip cake (which was a bit dry and chewy), there was also a small scoop of grapefruit sorbet and something white that we could never fully place. It was almost like a very light, fluffy yogurt, but clearly not yogurt (it wasn't tangy at all). It had a lemon honey sauce dribbled on top of it. That was definitely my favorite. Dessert was also accompanied by a cup of coffee or black tea. I had the coffee and Russell, the tea.

We are only now coming down from our food induced euphoria. Of course, its not a place we will be eating at regularly, but we will definitely go back for special occasions. Maybe next time we won't wander in wearing jeans and T-shirts, either...

Boy Restaurants

I have had several posts in which I talk about cafes - which, of course are meant for eating cake, not drinking coffee. These tend to put great effort into designing an atmosphere that will attract a female crowd. They tend to be trendy and chic or decorated in a more tuscan theme. That sort of thing. On the flip side of that, there are also what we have come to term "Boy Restaurants." These are restaurants that often cater to men on their lunch hour. While the girls head off to the fancy cafes and restaurants, the boys look for something a little bit grungier and less pretentious.

These boy restaurants have been mentioned in this blog before. You might remember that one of Nicole's three "worsts" while she was in Kobe was:

"No dude restaurants (due to Gwen being too girly)."

Gwen quickly replied in the comments with:

"'too Girly' meaning I wouldn't eat at a filthy restaurant"

The particular restaurant to which they were referring was a Gyuudon place near the train station. Gyuudon (in case you have not been studying your Japanese food flashcards) is the beef over a bowl of rice that Russell is so good at making. Russell had been to the Gyuudon place by the station and had come home raving about it, but as Gwenn pointed out, its a little more than seedy looking. I hadn't put it too high on my priority list to try it out. Today, however, Russell suggested going and figured, why not? I have to say, it was one of the best meals I have had in Japan (although my next post is going to blow it out of the water, so stay tuned).

The restaurant is small (it probably can only seat about 10 people on stools around a U shaped bar. Before you sit down, you buy a ticket for whatever you want to eat out of a vending machine. We have seen these in several other restaurants, and of course at the cafeterias where I work, and they really are quite clever. Since you buy your ticket before you sit down, the restaurant doesn't have to handle any money. In fact, this particular restaurant is run by only one man. All he does is cook and clean up after patrons when they are finished. Its quite efficient. Russell and I each got a ticket for gyuudon and we sat down. The fellow behind the bar came out, took our tickets and returned maybe 5 minutes later with a tray and three bowls. The big bowl was the guudon, the middle bowl had some broth with bits of seaweed and peppery shitake mushroom slices in it, and the last little bowl had some kimchee in it (spicy Korean pickled cabbage if you have never tried it before). Everything was delicious. The Gyuudon was different from Russell's gyuudon. There were larger, but still thinly sliced pieces of beef that had been grilled perfectly and laid over half of the rice in the bowl. By grilled perfectly I mean they were fully cooked but super tender and tasted like the best steak you've ever had - even though they were very thin cuts. The other half of the rice was covered in shredded cabbage. All together the meal cost $6 and I was quite full afterwards. It was delicious.

I have to admit, though, the place is absolutely a boy's restaurant. The walls started at a grease flecked off white color at the bottom and about half way up started slowly getting darker and darker until the color was more of a dark brown at the top. The ceiling was black. This was all due to the smoke from the grill and an apparent lack of any sort of attention for quite some time. The posters on the wall were all sun-faded and covered in a similar caramel patina. Everything we came in direct contact with (the bowls, the counter top, etc. ) seemed perfectly clean, but this did strike me as the kind of place you would need some encouragement to try out. Considering I have never had better gyuudon anywhere, though, consider yourselves encouraged.

Beautiful Kobe

I have to say. We really do live in a beautiful city. The city itself feels very new due the all of the rebuilding and self-reinventing that happened after the huge earthquake that happened here, but stuck between the mountains and the ocean, its just a lovely setting. Lately I have been treated to gorgeous sunsets on my way home from work. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was taken from the deck outside the English Office where I work.

Health Care Reform

I do not claim to know all the ins and outs of the Health Care Reform debate, and I don't think anyone on any side can predict accurately what the outcome will be of any plan other than the current one. I do know what I think today, based on a fair amount of reading on the topic, and I have the bully pulpit, so here's my two cents.

To be clear from the start, I am very much in favor of a public option. To make sure we are thinking of the same thing, this is where the government starts a non-profit organization that competes with private insurance companies without anything being subsidized by the government. This seems like a straight up good idea - there are no subsidies, so it doesn't cost the tax payer as much as real socialized medicine (I'm sure it will still cost plenty to get started, though), and it only provides honest competition to private companies - it doesn't have an unfair edge (namely being able to offer services cheaper because Uncle Sam is paying for part of it). Of course, a public option non-profit company is only concerned with staying viable - not with making people at the top rich, so that gives it an edge, but then again, it would likely end up being a bureaucracy with its own inefficiencies so that private companies could still find ways to give better service but still make money doing it.

It has been interesting comparing the American system to the Japanese system (something I am still learning about but have had contact with recently).

In Japan there is social health care. There is a national insurance provided by the government to anyone who wants it. In fact, signing up takes less than an hour and because it is subsidized by the government, it's quite cheap. It does not cover 100%, but I think it covers 70% of medical expenses which would probably keep most people from going broke, even if they did have a huge emergency. I'm sure I am oversimplifying things, but lets go with that for now.

In Japan, there are also many private companies. They offer different kinds of coverage. Some offer cheaper monthly costs but don't pay anything until you reach a certain pre-set amount. Many of my colleagues opt for plans like this because they don't expect to get sick and they don't want to sink too much into health care at this stage in their life. Another common private insurance is a gold-premium style of option. Its super expensive, but it covers everything. If you can afford it, you never have to worry about any medical issues.

It is also illegal to live in Japan without insurance. I assume there are ways to get help paying for insurance if you truly can't afford it.

From what I can tell, most hospitals run on a first come, first served basis. This is probably not the case if you are doing a yearly physical, but as you may remember from earlier posts, most people get their yearly physical done at work once a year. For those with medical issues that crop up unexpectedly, you go to the hospital, take a number, and wait your turn. If you go in the morning, you may only wait a few minutes. I can only imagine that dire emergencies skip the wait. From what I hear, you are always seen the same day. Plus, if you know you need a specialist, you go to the specialist. No getting a referral from your doctor. We like that rule. Our dermatologist is like a friend of ours. We drop in all the time.

The cost of our dermatologist visits are also surprisingly inexpensive. Again, we don't make appointments, we literally just drop in when we feel like it. We have never waited more than 15 minutes (though that must be different in other branches of medicine) and we don't pay so much. I have national insurance here in Japan and I usually pay the equivalent of $7 or $8 per visit. Russell is insured through work, but has to send all receipts to the U.S. and be reimbursed, so he sees the full cost of the treatment - usually about $30-$40. I'm not sure what keeps the cost of treatment down. I assume it is in part related to malpractice suits (or lack thereof), but there are probably many forces at work.

The cost of my national insurance (and it may be cheaper this year because it is the first year I am on it - I'm not quite sure how all of this works yet - is about $50/month. Way less than is taken out of Russell's paycheck, and way, way, way less than Russell and his employer together pay.

I realize that this is a more socialized system, and not what the U.S. Democrats are proposing, but I find it interesting that the main complaints I hear from people against a public option are that 1) it would put private companies out of business (not even a socialized system has managed to do that in Japan) 2) it will reduce the quality of care (but we get treated faster and by clearly qualified doctors) 3)all of the government bureaucracies will get between you and your doctor (but in spite of very clear bureaucracy here, I got insurance fast, pay on the spot, and am in and out in less than 30 minutes). I'm not sure that a public option in the style the Democrats are proposing can do as much as a Socialized system, but it seems like a step closer to good quality, affordable health care while still promoting responsible competition from private companies.

Another thing that's interesting to me is that whenever I mention the U.S. health care debate to Japanese people, they are shocked that the U.S. doesn't have any form of government run health care. They are even more shocked to hear that a significant chunk of Americans live without any health care. The first thing most people say is, "How is that possible? The United States is one of the most advanced countries in the world!" When probed about the Japanese system, of course there is belly-aching and stories of abusing the system or slow bureaucracies - but no one ever says they wish there were no national insurance plan. And no, Japanese people are no more trusting of their government to run anything, much less health care. In fact, they are probably less confident in their government than we in the U.S., overall. The need for some sort of universal health care just isn't up for debate, though.

I am curious to hear other opinions. If you have my email, feel free to send me your thoughts. Posting in 'comments' is also good.

Back to the Present

It has been a marathon of posting tonight, but now I am back to the present. We had two delighful adventures this week. Amid the horrors of writing a textbook in one week with almost no interaction from peers, a few sunshiny spots are extra nice.

The first was my Japanese lesson. These are the highlight of my week. I really do like Japanese (even though I am a painfully lazy student) and I love my Japanese teacher. I know I've said so before, but she really is the best. One of her designs is going to be featured in Garr Reynolds' new book (the author of Presentation Zen). I don't know what the new book is called, but I am excited to see it.

Of course, as you all probably know by now, the really, really great part about Japanese lesson days is the post lesson coffee shop cake eating. This week we went to a very trendy shop Russell and I had seen when out walking. It is called Shin and has a display case full of miniscule desserts that are truly all about the presentation. It was fun to go once, but these cakes were my least favorite of all the places we have been. A big plus, however, and one that may well entice me back to this cafe, was the amazing hot chocolate. Real, made from bittersweet chocolate hot chocolate. It was delicious. It happened to be a bit chilly and rainy that day, so perfect for hot chocolate. (Don't worry, the rain and cold was a one day fluke, we are back to lovely not too hot sunny weather now).
Of course, I took pictures (as seems to be the custom when you go to a coffee shop to eat cake). The standard Japanese cake seems to involve layers of very light and fluffy cake with large layers of cream and glazed fruit on top. Either that or a glazed fruit tart. There is usually a rich chocolate cake option, too. Some of the cake shops we have been to offer a wide range of specialty cakes - the first place we went to had an Amish cake that was magnificent, for example - but Shin was definitely just about doing the basics in the classiest way possible.

The second adventure is fresh from today. We finally ordered a pizza! I had had some pizza at work when a colleague ordered some for an office pizza party. This is the first pizza Russell has had since coming to Japan. Pretty hard to believe, huh? Its not for lack of pizza. We get ads in our mailbox all the time. Its certainly not for lack of interest, either. There are a combination of factors that have held us off, though. The first is that we are trying to be good about what we eat. There are so many healthy options to choose from, it seems unfortunate to load up on greasy pizza. The even bigger reason, though, is that pizza in Japan is REALLY expensive and often comes in flavors that just don't appeal to the western palate. From the pizza party at work, I had been introduced to a pizza brand that seemed very in line with what I expect from American delivery pizza. There are, of course, some fascinating topping options (mayonnaise, seafood and corn are present on the majority of pizza options, for example) but there were some pretty basic options too. We got a regular pizza (think US medium) with half 4 cheese pizza (mozzarella, parmesan, camembert and brie) and half crazy mix with pepperoni, sausage, bacon, corn, olive and onion. Both very straight forward options. At a price of $30 for that one medium pizza, we weren't really willing to be adventurous unless the end result sounded DELICIOUS. For that price we are not going to be repeating this adventure any time soon, but it was absolutely delightful to order a pizza online, spend the wait time doing dishes, and then eat and throw away the box. I am very much enjoying my spotless kitchen - at least until tomorrow, breakfast time.