A couple updates

I heard today at work that there was a storm moving in. It was starting to sprinkle as I was heading home and one of my co-workers said he had heard it was suppose to be stormy all weekend.

Then I got a weather advisory from the US Embassy.

It appears there is a rather big typhoon on its way to Japan. The advisory was for Okinawa (significantly south of Honshu, where we live. It looks like Okinawa is in for a very big blow, though. We will catch whatever is left of the storm, but all signs point to it slowing down significantly before it reaches us. Considering we did have an exceptionally large typhoon the first year Russell and I were in Kobe and it had very little effect on the city, I'm not at all worried. I suspect Okinawa is similarly fortified against typhoons. Hopefully there will be nothing to report but a soggy weekend.

Which is good for research, I might add...

So what was my other update? I was walking home from the grocery store today (heavily laden with both groceries and various other bags from work) heading uphill, when an older couple stopped me. They had a bag of takenoko (bamboo shoots) which they offered to give to me. They explained that they were really quite tasty and they were a gift.

Keeping in mind the last time I was offered a "gift" on the street, my friend had $300 lifted out of her wallet (no not in Japan), my first inclination was to at least hesitate. I told them in my broken Japanese that I really couldn't and I pointed out that I didn't have any hands to spare. They assured me I would love them and hung them on one of the other bags I was carrying. I tried to thank them as earnestly as I could and they continued on their way as if they make a habit of gifting strangers every day. Perhaps they do.

Somewhat taken aback by the whole exchange, I continued home.

I'm going to have to try my hand at cooking bamboo shoots. Russell and I bought a shoot when they first came out in spring because they seemed to be a hot commodity and everyone was eagerly grabbing them up. We figured this was an experience we needed to have. After a great deal of research on the Internet for how to cook the shoots we kind of gave up. Its a process that takes both patient and diligence from what we can tell. Not our strong suits.

Guess its time to learn. And hey, where are we going this weekend in a storm anyway? Seems like a good time to gather around the stove.