Yesterday was a very random Thursday.

My friend asked me if I wanted to have lunch before work and I said yes. Then she asked me what else I was doing that day and I said not much, just a couple of classes and that I had to catch the train about an hour before they started. She said that she'd drive me so that I wouldn't have to take the train, and after many, "are you sure?"s we made plans to meet up, go to lunch in the city where I was working, and hang out in the vicinity so that it would be convenient for class.

I usually keep things low-key before work, so that I can de-stress and prepare for everything, but I figured lunch would be no big deal.

So we get on the expressway, and I zone out for a bit, but then I start paying attention to the exit signs and we are going waaay out north east. It's okay, we have plenty of time and everything, but I just wasn't expecting we'd travel so far. We kept passing more and more signs, before I finally asked where we were going, and my friend's like, "it's okay, just 38 more kilometers!" This was like someone in Seattle asking you to lunch and taking you to Bellingham. Not what I expected at all.

We had a lovely time, got lunch, went shopping, etc. But I couldn't understand why we went so far.

When I got home I told Bret about my lunch date, and he was like, "Oh yeah, lots of people out here just like going for drives. It's like a hobby." I'd heard this before but I guess I forgot since I regard long drives solely as an inconvenience. We didn't even have a destination! I could see if there was a specific awesome restaurant or attraction, but we had zero plan.

In the end, it was a great day. Next time I will be more careful what I agree to :) It's interesting to see things from new perspective. I feel like just going for a drive went out of style with the rise of gas prices, but for some it's still worth it!

The Gold Collectors

They come by...all the time. Today they came by while I was making pumpkin bread and watching scrubs. I don't have any gold!!!!

Are people back home getting hassled by these people? I swear, it's either the Jehovah's witnesses or the gold people every other week. They're bold, too. They walk in through the garage all the time. 

Taiwanese Food

So today after we went to the bizarre city office in an attempt to find Vikram, we went out to lunch at a Taiwanese restaurant.

First of all, I don't even know what Taiwanese food is. Seriously. I hear the words and I think of Vietnamese food...so yeah.

Anyways, we go to this place that Bret had been mentioning, that we'd actually attempted to go to before but it was closed.

It was not good. The whole menu was pictures of semi appetizing chinese food looking stuff. Taiwan is above the Phillipenes, to the right of China. So...maybe the food is like Chinese food. I am not great at geography, as I have stated in the past, so I looked all that up just now.

So...when you have bad food are you supposed to pretend it's good? I mean...I feel like I should just cut my losses, pay the 6 dollars, and get out of there, but Bret gets all...disgruntled at my complaining. Which I understand, but I still don't want to eat microwaved freezer food. Lunch is an important meal of the day! Usually the only big meal I have.

He had this omellete with some sort of sauce and crab on top and I had...some sort of pre-cut vegetables with chicken in a sauce that tasted like cornstarch and water. Seriously, it was bad. Bret described his crab as tasting like it was dried and re-hydrated, while I think it had just gone bad. It tasted terrible.

But...we have different opinions I guess, and he doesn't like to waste food and all that...

After that we went home, he got ready for work, and I've been sitting around with nothing to do. I decided to write this because I think it was funny. Bret's probably going to read it and be all like, why did you write that...etc etc.

I just don't like eating garbage.

After all of that, I looked up Taiwanese food on google images and it does, in fact, look like Chinese food in a lot of cases. I tried to find things that didn't look like Chinese dishes. Here are some pictures.

To be fair, in the countryside it's rare to find foreign food that's done well. At least in my humble experience. We have an amazing Korean place that does killer bulgogi, but it is pretty expensive so we never go.

Festivus for the Restuvus

Vikram Update

We're going to the pound tomorrow to see if he's there.

Well, it wasn't open during the weekend and when we went today it was just an office building and they we went to some random department where they took his description like he was a missing person. WEIRD. No success yet...

:(

If you're having a bad day, it's good to remember that things could be worse. You could have this dog's life.

Festival Street Food

Worst Day Ever

I was gone for a few days visiting my friend Christa in the nearby city of Marugame this week. When I came home, Bret took me to lunch, waited until we'd been there a few minutes and said, "I have some bad news."

Little Vikram, our precious, albeit at times vicious cat, is missing. He's been gone since before I left and he never stays out this long. As soon as he'd hear our voices in the driveway he'd come running from wherever he was. He doesn't like to be apart from us hardly ever. When he was little he would only go outside if we came too, and as soon as we went back in he'd come with us.

I am so sad.

I hope he comes home. I have had a terrible terrible day. Please don't bring it up if you skype with me, unless you want to watch me blubber and cry.

I hope he comes home soon. I love you, Vikram. Even though your favorite food was my hand. 

Sayanora Season

This time last year we went to a bunch of goodbye parties. This year it's just the one. Pat and Mami, as well as their adorable kids, have made our time in Saijo awesome, and we're sad to see them go. They are moving to Vancouver BC, so we'll see them soon enough! :)

We had a little bonfire last night and Kodera (bottom picture far left) presented Pat with his very own Ipad that everyone chipped in to get him (he loves electronics). He pretty much had the best goodbye parties ever.

Most Afternoons

On many a weekend afternoon, I find myself with nothing to do, waiting for Bret to come home. I've been reading a lot of books, but the last one I finished, I kid you not, literally had an entire passage discussing how sad it is for one to read books in volume and the pain of pitying looks from librarians when you hand back a stack of books after a week. WHATEVER BOOK. I don't need you or your judgement.

Bret told me to study Japanese before he left for work, maybe I'll succumb to that now. 

Autumn and Getting my Nails Done

Teeny tiny works of art good enough for the bottom floor of the Louvre, some would say. My students love them, and they are fun to have. They also last a really long time.

We're Coming Home for Christmas!

Home, sweet home! (I have lost my ability to gauge where commas go...so hopefully that's right)

December 23rd til January 1st! (why? because that's the lowest airfare time frame, that's why! Oh flight websites, the slightest change can cause you to quote the most random prices)

I am really, really, really happy to be going back. Also, tickets to India were twice the price. REALLY happy. I am so excited to see everyone and thrilled that I finally have the time off and the money (not really the money, but oh well) to come home.

It's going to be the epic Christmas of epicness!

Sadly, a few of Bret's close friends will be out of town in this time frame, but that just leaves more time for family and other friends!

Kitchen Adventures

Our friend Caleb works at city hall and every year he makes some food stuffs for Thanksgiving to share with the community. There is a fair and he sets up a stall to talk to people about turkey and pumpkin pie.

This year there will be pumpkin soup, cornbread and two turkeys. People will get samples while they last.

We went to the big kitchen room at the public welfare center in our city. It's an enourmous building that has pretty much everything you need in life. Like the room of requirement in Harry Potter. A couple of days ago we went to go pre-make/test out how things were going to go. I made pumpkin bars from scratch but forgot baking powder at home :(((((((( I thought the eggs would fluff the batter up enough...but alas, I was mistaken. Lessons for next time. 

All Alone

All of our guests have departed, and now it's just me and Bret again. This may not seem significant, but it's literally the first time it's been like this in well over two months. It was difficult the first few days after the house was empty. We had grown accustomed to Luke's presence in particular in the upstairs bedroom. It's strange that it's quiet and there's no one to look in on when we come home.

To fill the void I even volunteered to let some random couple on the train stay out our house. You can imagine their surprise to a random person they were asking for accommodations in the area shrugging and saying, "You can stay with me?" They were on vacation from Tokyo, but originally from Scotland and Denmark. I know nothing about either of those countries, but with Denmark in particular I kept making dim witted comments in an attempt at awkward, post I-invited-you-to-my-house conversation. US PUBLIC EDUCASHUN, Y U NO TEACH ME ABOUT OTHER COUNTRIES????

They were good fun though, I hope their trip out here was made a tad more interesting by the loony they met along the way. I've said it before and Ill say it many times again, being in Japan is not making me any more normal. I am getting stranger by the year. I only hope we can make our way back to the US before the awkwardness sets in forever.

In other tentative news. Bret and I are looking at plane tickets back for the Christmas holiday and I am really excited! Dates are December 21-January 4th, so try to make plans to meet up with me so you can observe the socially stunted weirdness that is spending time with me in person for yourself! I want to see everyone!!!!

Stella's Visit!

Beachy Day

remember that one dog?

this one http://brangelinainjapan.blogspot.com/2011/02/stray-of-month.html ?

She got adopted by our next door neighbors and is happy and healthy and beautiful. It's a little awkward when I go for a jog and run into the old man with his new pup, because it always runs up to me (Bret and I fed it through the winter, in combination with our neighbors, probably), but I can't help but pet her for a while while the guy pretends to be very interested in a passing cloud. The dog is soooo cute and fluffy and clean and fat now, it's a relief to know she has a great home. Hooray for happy endings!

Imabari Fireworks Festival

Hot Hot Heat

Every morning when I wake up in a puddle of sweat, I roll over to turn off the alarm clock, which not only has the time, but also the temperature. It's always disheartening when it's more than 32 degrees. I don't know why I expect different results, it seems it's only getting hotter by the day, but I still get disappointed.

The humidity level combined with the intense heat and the fact that there really isn't any AC in the house is causing a disorder. I like to call it heat madness.

I'm irritable, I'm always upset at something, always sweating, and when I can't pull on a pair of pants because my skin is so damp it drags fabric, my fits of rage can be heard throughout the neighborhood.

There are treatments for HM, but my lack of free time makes it difficult to do many of them. The number one method is going to the river and submerging in the cool water. Also good is drinking ice water at all times. That's right, at all times. Because if you think you're drinking enough water out here....hahahaha....you're not.

We also like to go to free places that have AC, like the library, but it seems like most of our town has caught onto this idea and it can be difficult to find a spot in the reading chair section.

How do you combat Heat Madness?

Luke

Bret's 17 year old brother, Luke is staying here with us for another week and a half.

It's been good having him, he keeps Vikram company during the day when we're at work and is generally self-entertaining.

Yesterday I took him to the ballet to see Sleeping Beauty. I told him we were going to "a show" and that I didn't know how long it would last. After 2 and a half hours I called it off and we went home though. We stopped by a big temple on our way home. Luke likes temples, shrines, and things with Japanese writing on him. These are all things I can work with!

Other than that, Bret and I are busy busy busy. It's crazy. There's a special event going on at my job so I have to go in at 7 am to prepare for everything and probably won't get home until 9 or 10. The sad part is that's nothing compared to Bret's job, which has been crazy. I should say job(s). I feel really bad. But things should be leveling off soon. New things, change, it always settles down in the end.

An old department store getting torn down.
Vikram sat like this through 15 pictures. He's such a good kitty.
Some sunflowers I grew!

Bret looking super cute

Kyoto (Silver Temple and Cafe)

I've Found What Engrish Storefronts are Good For

Being an Adult

I've come to the conclusion that being an adult means tiredly accepting the hundreds of bills you have to pay every year. Sure, I've been paying bills for...maybe two years now. But things are getting real around here! In the last couple of months alone, we've had to pay for:

Residency tax--you only have to pay it if you've been in Japan more than a year, because it calculates your tax based on the previous years income. 3 grand for me and Bret combined. That was a rough one

Health insurance--again, this bill used to be insignificant, but after a year it magically quadruples. Not a fan, not a fan.

Car insurance--we didn't have a car our first year and I forgot what a pain all this stuff can be.

All in all, I feel like before I was just cruising along. I enjoyed an easy, minimal bill pay life. Sure there were minor annoyances at high electricity bills or gas or what have you, but now--I'm just tired.

Take my money, government. Because that's what being an adult is about...working and paying bills. Lots of them.

Edit: After re-reading this post it sounds like I am complaining about nothing (3 things, big deal) but I would like to add that for most of these items, they have to be paid up front, in cash, lump sum. When you make 4 grand/month cumulatively (Bret and me after taxes) and someone hands you a bill for 3 grand that has to be paid asap, it suuuuuuuuuuuckkkkkkks

Vikram

kittehs @ Bret's work

Edit: This kitteh is now dead. He was attacked by other feral animals. RIP kitty, I'm sorry I couldn't save you :(

Last weekend in three pictures

Last weekend in three words: camping. cookies. sailing.

Stray Kitten

We named him Vikram. He is the best.

Bret the Transformer

Since the places we can go are often limited by their wheelchair availability, we've been going to the mall and wheeling Bret around. The hardware store also has them. It's pretty funny, but in seriousness, Bret's situation is not getting a whole lot better. It's been weeks now and still no closer to walking without crutches. His doctor told him to be as careful as possible and not to rush anything.

Since Bret can't walk, I've been doing most of the house stuff....or shall I say not doing it. It's been rough. I got sick this last weekend so we have both been a couple of uselesses. Hopefully we both feel better soon, but until then it's reruns and take out food!

Our Favorite Restaurant

Here are some pics from one of our favorite restaurants, which we go to exclusively for their bomb lunch sets. Some weeks Bret goes every day on his lunch break, and we frequently make the 20 minute drive just to go there. The main dish changes every day (pictured above is lotus root and chicken cooked in a sweet soy sauce) but it always comes with a salad with toasted sesame dressing, a vinegared cucumber salad with black sesame seeds, and another vinegared veggie salad, usually cabbage, seaweed, etc. It also always comes with rice, soft tofu with sliced green onion and soy sauce, and miso soup.

The ladies at the shop have the lunch special available from 11:30 to 3, but they often run out by 2. I am getting hungry just writing this post.
aforementioned tofu, served cold with soy sauce. we only eat it because it makes us feel healthy :)
Pickled cabbage, fish paste rings, spinach, and seaweed. Another I-eat-it-because-it's healthy dish. But the cabbage is really good.
Shredded pork, carrots, vinegared cucumber, bean sprouts and sesame seeds. Delicious.
The main dish, eggplant covered in ground chicken, rolled in egg and japanese breadcrumbs and fried, with what tastes like barbeque sauce without the tang. It was soooo good.
Everything i just described together
One of the lunch sets Bret had and took a picture of. It varies every day but I have never been disappointed. And we feel so healthy after we eat here. Definitely a favorite