I'm blogging, I'm blogging!

LOL, I get so many complaints that I don't write enough blogs. I'm sorry! I'm glad you guys think my life is interesting enough to warrant daily updates but I am afraid it is just a Japanese version of mundanity. I will give you a few tidbit, to satisfy that rabid curiosity of yours.

First off, it is getting gradually colder here. Not exactly the 15 degrees Fahrenheit that it is in New York, but for a person with no gloves (they're in the mail!), no central heating, and no car... it's pretty cold. It's 50 degrees in my apartment and it is only 4:30 in the afternoon. I find it difficult to get up in the morning because it means leaving the relative warmth of my futon- only to get in a shower that doesn't quite keep the cold air out because the door doesn't close all the way. Then, of course, there is getting out of the shower, which usually involves drying off with a freezing, wet towel because I inevitably forgot to dry it in front of the heater the night before. Even at school, the teachers wear jackets to move between classes in the frigid hallways.

School itself has been alright. I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I was given an assistant at the elementary, and she translates everything for me between the other teachers and the students. It is heavenly. It has made my working life in that school 100% less stressful. Because there are two of us, we have ended up taking over all the classes, with her taking the place that normally the homeroom teacher would take. The result is that I more or less run all of the classes as the main teacher. It is not so bad because there are set lesson plans that I just have to follow. I love my assistant! I am really sad/scared because I talked to my friend, another JET, Bob, and he told me that our assistants will be leaving us in January.

Noooooooooooooooo!

More bad news, Hashiba-sensei informed me that the school board will be replacing all of the computers in mid-January... and ALTs no longer qualify for having their own computer. Really, it's almost worse news than losing my assistant. I very well might die from boredom. On a more serious note, it really irritates me; Japan is expanding their English education program, so they limit the resources of their English teachers? I'm sorry, can you say that again with a straight face?

Bitterness aside, I have to say again that I am so grateful for this job. I love it. I don't think I will ever not be an awkward panda when it comes to dealing with children/youth, but it is really not such a problem.

Speaking (belatedly) of the elementary, today was my last day of teacher classes for the year. Yay!

Back at home... things have been quiet this month. After my last concerts, plus Xmas presents, plus shipping said Xmas presents, I have less than no money to do anything, so I stay home. It's no so bad, as you read about my Santa adventures. I have not even had to do any cooking lately. The tea lady at my school gives me left overs from every school lunch. I combine that with what I don't eat of my lunch and bring it home for dinner. Instant free meal 4 nights a week. A good money saver and hella easy on me.

Typical School Lunch

Seeing how the weekend is coming up, however, I had to do some cooking to get me through Friday-Sunday. I will teach you the secret to all Japanese cooking: soy sauce, mirin, and sake. You put these three things on anything, and you have easy Japanese cooking. The reason I have not been posting food updates is because, when I do have to cook, that is usually just what I use. I buy whatever meat and vegetables are cheap and/or on sale, throw them in the frying pan, and stir fry in soy sauce, mirin, and sake. Sometimes adding a little sugar is a good idea too, but I usually forget. No matter what recipe I ask my Japanese friends/coworkers about, they always always tell me to cook whatever it is in these three ingredients. It's not fool-safe, but pretty damn close. I don't even measure the amounts anymore.

On the right you can see what I cooked for this weekend. It is beef slices, green beans, green onions, sweet potato, mushrooms, a little fried tofu, and some random lettucy-stuff that I got from the school garden. In soy sauce, mirin, and sake.

I did cook something a little exciting at the same time. I am not sure what it is actually called... I just call it hijiki, because that is the main ingredient, but it's a little like calling a salad merely lettuce. On the left you can see what I am talking about. Hijiki is a very short, very mild tasting seaweed. It has none of the fishy taste that most seaweed has. With it I cooked some sort of soft white bean, and a particular type of thinly sliced tofu that I can only say is fried, because I don't know the name. Cooked in -you guessed it!- soy sauce, mirin, and sake. It's really very good. I am actually missing some ingredients, but I made it based on memory from what I ate in my school lunch, so...

I was told by one of my English teaachers that I was a "fantastic American" because I like hijiki. That made me laugh. Hijiki is nothing. If you can eat natto (I cannot!!), then I think you qualify as "fantastic" (or at least olfactory and taste-bud deprived).

Cheers,

cold Baer