Because I still haven’t had enough of the ridiculous circus that is My Life in a Japanese Micro-Kitchen, I’ve been trying my hand at baking. I have no counter so I must mix powders and sugars in a metal bowl balanced on my lap. I have no mixer so I must churn batters with a […]
Japan
Your 97-Word Mini Japanese Culture Lesson
A small assortment of random Japanese onomatopoeias, for you: The dog says: wanwan The cat says: nyaonyao The baby chick says: piyopiyo The rooster says: kokekokko The gleaming, sparkling object says: pikapika The knock on the door says: tonton The door bell says: pinpon! The crunchy snack says: sakusaku The empty stomach says: pekopeko The […]
Metric Avenue
It took me a while to get used to the Metric System. It can be difficult to retrain your brain to a whole new number scale of “hot,” “cold,” and “tall”, especially if it’s pea-sized, American and went to public high school like mine. Carnitas warned me. “Get used to it,” he said. “It’s standard.” […]
Monkey-chan
The apartment is chosen: spacious, ultra clean, as cheap as our current place, fully-furnished, and bathed in gorgeous natural light. Before making our final decision, we dealt with 3 English-speaking real estate agents and 1 Japanese real estate company; a company I’d inadvertently gotten us involved with after answering an English-language ad online that said, […]
To the Side
Miho always comes to class ready to get her sass on. Today she arrived slightly late and extra sassy, her ramped up feistiness announced first by her sideways dimpled smirk and then by her fierce side ponytail. The three other girls were also late to class, so only Miho, Aya and myself were in the […]
Good Bye
I’m an incurable cosmetics junkie; my love for beauty products began at the age of 6 when I begged my mother to buy me a tube of Coty Nature’s Blush that I’d seen advertised in her Glamour magazine. 22 years later, I can still spend over an hour in one drugstore, rubbing my hands in […]
Your 65-Word Mini Japanese Culture Lesson
In many Western countries, when a person wants to signify themselves they point to their chest. In some cases, they point to their face, with their index finger held several inches away. The Japanese version of this self-signification? Touching their nose with their index finger. This is why every time I quiz my students on […]
- Food Culture
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You Are Jealous of My Lunch
From the sushi stand on the corner near work; rolled within seconds by a gruff sushi master and wrapped lovingly by a woman I would love to assume is his wife, so seamless is their teamwork …. I knew you were jealous.
Honey
A conversation between myself and a neighborhood man this drizzly afternoon, as we rode our bicycles past the honey store on the corner of my block and he saw me whispering to the blue-eyed cat that sat in the store window, surrounded by colorful jars of golden honey with hand-printed labels: Him: Are you looking […]
Support
It’s JLPT season again and the 500 yen application forms are being sold at bookstores across Japan. Sean kindly brought home two this week – one for him and one for me. He sent his off the other day but mine is still on the table; unopened, untouched. When I passed the Level 4 exam […]