Arriving in Japan

A few classmates and friends and I had been making plans for our arrival. We would get there a week or so before our school program began. Our idea was that it would be exciting and help us get ready for the program. A few of us decided to meet in Osaka ( at the airport actually)... Going through customs by yourself when you can barely read kanji and are too scared to try out your language skills is a bit horrifying, but you have no choice...you still have to do it and this was one of the most beneficial things I've experienced.



Taylor, Amanda, Denise and I met at the airport and were on our way. We took our first train ride ( except for Taylor who had been to Japan previously) to a station near our hotel. We put our things away and chatted about what to do, go out? or stay in and relax after our long flights. Of course, we went out.

We made our way down to Dotonburi. We were excited and a little nervous but mostly ecstatic ( I was kind of in a fog, I couldn't believe I was really there). Taylor led as he had been there before, had stayed in the same hotel had walked the same streets.

We wandered the streets for a few hours until we realized we were all starving. We stopped at a small restaurant for our first Japanese meal and then headed back to the hotel. Meanwhile we had begun to worry about two members of our group who were supposed to have met us several hours before but who hadn't shown. None of us had cell phones or any other way to contact people. We stayed up chatting and snickering all of us too excited to sleep. Finally Brian and Stephanie showed up and we all went to bed.

大阪 Osaka

大阪 I arrived in Osaka alone, a bit scared and more than a bit overwhelmed. Two hours before I had touched down in Tokyo at Narita airport. We sat on the tarmac for over thirty minutes as they prepared to send a group of doctors onto the plane. Because of the Swine Flu panic all planes entering Japan were being boarded and the passengers examined. The doctors dressed in scary looking haz-mat suits seemed more than a little intimidating. They asked the passengers if anyone felt ill at all, and if they did to raise their hand. No one raised their hand. The doctors walked the length of the plane scanning the rows looking for tell tale signs of illness. Fortunately no one was obviously ill and we were released from the plane.

I had been told that I would need to go through customs in Tokyo, as I left the plane I got to go through a series of checks. They scanned my forehead for a high temperature, perused my visa, asked me why I was here, etc and then I was off to find my luggage. I couldn't find it right away and I began to panic. A security guard noticed my confusion and although he didn't speak English he gave me a paper with English directions on airport basics. I soon found my luggage and went through the customs line, they didn't bother to look through my belongings. The customs official just asked if I had brought produce and why I was here. When I said that I was in Japan to study Japanese puppetry he laughed and waved me ahead.

I got on my transfer and was on my way to Osaka. On the plane I was seated next to a woman and her daughter. After a while they asked me where I was from. They thought I was from England, when I told them I was from the US they asked where. I tried to explain where Missouri was and they giggled. We talked (in Japanese only) about Paris, Yuzu, why I was in Japan, Puppetry, and a random of assortment of chitchat. Of course in the middle of all of this I spilled an entire cup of juice in my lap....yes I am awesome. We arrived at the airport and they wished me luck and were on their way. Meanwhile... I was in Osaka. After running around I began to relax and followed the signs that I could read to find my luggage, to go through customs and to find the exit to the main lobby. I ran into Taylor near customs and we exited into the lobby together. We found an exchange center and changed our money into our first fistful of yen.
Soon after we ran into Amanda and Denise and began our search to find the correct train to get where we needed to go, somewhere in the heart of Osaka.

I'm going where?

This summer I spent over two months in Japan. Although I had internet access rarely, I honestly was too busy to post. So here are some posts relating to my summer.

How did I get to Japan?

Well.....

One day when I was a little kid I decided that I was going to be Japanese when I grew up ( great....right? How about another dream I can't attain) shortly afterwards my peers informed me that was impossible. My interest in Japan didn't diminish however and I became fascinated by the rural lifestyle in certain parts of Japan.

I grew up ( supposedly) had been in college for what seemed ages and had just transferred to a new University to eek out a few more miserable years until I could attain my degree. After a year and a slow slip into boredom I realized that the school offered Japanese. I had always wanted to take Japanese and said "what the hell" so I enrolled. I was horrified at first, I couldn't read most of the words in my textbook, I had no idea what to do. Soon I fell into the swing of things and found that 1) I wasn't bored 2) I was pretty decent at learning the language 3) I didn't want to quit school and live under a bridge anymore.

At my last job I had fallen in love with Giant Salamanders and was especially fond of Andrias japonicus ( Giant Japanese salamanders) but thought I could never seen them in person. Now that I had Japanese under my belt I realized I could do anything (not just with Japanese but with any language, I can go anywhere!).

Now my professor is especially pushy about getting his students to study abroad and of course his stories peaked my interest but there was no way I could afford it. I decided that I might as well try and see if I could get financial aid.... I couldn't but I had already filled out all my papers and had been accepted. So, I took out a school loan. Yes I know that may seem foolish but to tell you the truth, it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.

My dad bought my ticket to Japan as a gift and I was on my way.

Japan

I've been in Japan for over 2 months, can you believe it? I can't. I'm not ready to go home yet either, I want to stay here forever. Ah the woes of loving life!
I've spent the summer with a host family (the Tsutsui family), they are wonderful! I hope we can be lifelong friends.
well I'm off to eat some sushi with my auntie and to ride a bicycle in Tokyo. Wish me luck!

mm mm trout

Things I like: Trout


Greg and I finally put some money down and bought a pair of trout from the nice lady at the Troutdale Farm stand at the farmer's market. We've been eyeing the trout for some time but as college students who are quite broke we simply couldn't afford it. I spent some birthday money on a set and ta da here are the results.

You can read more about the trout farm at http://www.troutdalefarm.com


The trout comes to us in a ziploc bag packed in ice. You have several choices for meat cuts including : whole fish, whole gutted fish w/head, gutted fish w/out heads, and filets. We chose the whole gutted fish for fun, plus Greg wanted to eat the eyes and cheeks as he had heard they are delicious and good for you.


Next Greg and I considered what to season the fish with, we decided some on some lemon, sorrel leaves, onion, parsley, garlic cloves and butter.




We tied the fish up with food string, brushed with olive oil and Greg put the little guy on the grill.




Results? Delicious.

nom nom nom

Things I like:

Ice Cream!

I love ice cream, love it. I love the variety of flavors, I love the different textures, I love the smell. In Kansas City I have two favourite ice cream parlors: Murray's in westport and Paleteria Tropicana off of southwest boulevard....delicious! After we moved to Columbia we discovered Sparky's which is uber delightful ( I was sold when I tasted their lavender honey and their ghiradelli and red wine ice creams). Greg and I ventured down to Jefferson City for a treat at Central Dairy where not only are the prices beyond reasonable but the icecream is plentiful and superb. Central dairy offers such a large variety of choices including ( but certainly not limited to): Bear Claw, Spumoni, Texas pecan, and all of your regulars ( i.e. chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, neopolitan, and sherberts of every color). Following our journey to the Central Dairy we heard of an ice cream shop on campus called Buck's. The icecream at Buck's is reasonable and is just fine although sometimes a little icy.

Unfortunately Ice cream is expensive and I am once again a poor student. For my birthday my dad gave me an ice cream maker. I love it. The first attempt was a complete failure but since then I've made Blackberry mango icecream as well as peach. ( I prefer the blackberry mango). Although making the ice cream at home is certainly not cheap ( About 3 dollars or more in ingredients...I find the most expensive ingredient to be cream. I'm going to see if I can replace the cream with a less expensive alternative), making the ice cream lets me try flavours that I've never seen in stores.

I expect my ice cream making will occur for years to come. I need to invite more people over otherwise I'll turn into a whale.


Blackberry Mango icecream
materials:
2.5 cups of sliced blackberries ( slicing blackberries turns into cutting them into chunks)
0.5 cups of sliced mango minus the skin
4 tbsps of lime juice ( I prefer fresh)
2.75 cups of heavy cream (chilled)
1.5 cups whole milk (chilled)
1.5 cups of sugar
1.5 tsps pure vanilla extract

Tools:
hand mixer
bowls
ice cream maker
knives
measuring cups
the usual suspects

methods:
combine the blackberries and mangoes with the lime juice and 0.5 cups of the sugar in a small bowl. Stir gently ( or hard who cares). Let the concoction sit for 2 hours to allow the berries and whatnot to macerate.

After 2 hours strain the berries but keep the juice! Mash or puree half of the berries. ( If you want a seedless ice cream you'll have to find a way to remove the seeds at this point.)

Using the hand mixer combine the milk and the remaining sugar. Mix for 2-3 minutes ( I like mine to get frothy). Stir in the cream, half of the berries plus the reserved juice and the vanilla.

Set up your ice cream machine and turn it on. Pour the mixture in and wait. After about 20-25 minutes add in the leftover berry mixture. Run for five more minutes. Scoop out and let freeze for about 2 hours ( to harden ice cream further...the results from the machine are like a very very soft serve).

Recipes differ depending upon the icecream machine. I make my ice cream with a cuisinart 2-quart ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet maker.

For peach ice cream use 3 cups of peaches instead of the mango and blackberry, and exchange the lime juice for lemon.


The peaches we picked up from the Farmer's market
We picked out a big box of "seconds", the peaches that aren't as nice. Seconds are much less expensive and are just as tasty.
The peach skins and pits
mmmm looks gross. The peach bits and juice
In the ice cream maker, churning
nearly done!

A hurrah for the farmers!

Things I like:
The Farmer's Market

When I was a teenager I ended up staying a few summers in Wichita, Ks with my extended family. Wichita is the "big city" where I come from and as a result living there was exciting and new for me. I would work during the week and on the weekends I'd wander about exploring the city either by foot or by bus. I spent a lot of time at the library, the river, downtown in general and our version of fancy Old Town. I love old town, in recent years it has become quite popular and there has been a lot of development. Honestly I preferred Old Town when it was well...old. I think the old town development is great for the city but I miss it as I remember it.





On my trips to old town I would take what little money I had accrued ( I was only paid once a month) and I would explore the shops within the old market building, have some gelato for lunch ( heh, yay desert for every meal!), and then walk home. On Saturdays they had an actual farmer's market with locals exhibiting their wares. I only caught this once as everyone was packing up but I loved the idea of it. Everyone selling things they had made and things they had grown. I liked seeing the face behind the objects.






When I moved to Kansas City in 2001 I hadn't thought about farmer's markets in years. Shortly after the move I began to attend a junior college where I met, my now fiance, Greg Brostoski. Greg introduced me to many things in Kansas City including the wonderful Lakeside Nature Center ( we had our first date there....watching a bird circus). I ended up working for the nature center for 4+ years and I loved it. We went everywhere! We spent tons of time in parks flying kites, having picnics, yelling at ducks. He also introduced me to the City Market, which is where the farmer's market is located on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings. I was thrilled, I loved it there was just so much! So many farmers and artists. We picked up Oyster mushrooms which Greg breaded with Italian bread crumbs and lightly fried, they were delicious. The market was wonderful except for the chickens in crates.







When we moved to Columbia we quickly found their farmer's market which although a lot smaller is just as good or better, they certainly are more friendly. Here are some photos ( sorry I only have a crummy camera phone at the moment).

My not so secret surprise garden

Things I like:
Gardening
When Greg and I moved to Columbia we moved into a tiny duplex, leaving behind an extensive yard and our privacy. Moving "back" into a city was a bit of a shock as we had been working as caretakers on a 365 acreage of Missouri Oak and Hickory woods/forest. Our home was an aging camp house with impossible plumbing, a wealth of small insect friends ( spiders, crickets, sow bugs), and a huge front and back yard edged in by forest. The yard had several plantings already including quite a few succulents, a patch of native plants, irises, a variety of trees, forsythia, and more. I added crocus, daffodil, poppies, more irises, grapes, allium, and more native plants including poppy mallow, cardinal plant, grey headed cone flower, etc. When we made the decision to move (which was a result of our choice to go back to university) the idea of leaving all the plants behind broke my heart. I asked the fellow who was going to take our place to care for the plants and with his promise I felt more comfortable about the move. The winter after the move I went by for a visit only to find that each of the beds had been ripped out and flattened. All my hard work was gone.

When spring came I debated whether to begin again here in our new place which has a tiny yard with very thick clay soil and a tendency for algae. Knowing that we would probably not be staying here for too long I finally decided to go ahead but to try container gardening. With container gardening I have the option to bring my plants with me.

To be honest I'm not a very good gardener, I haven't a lot of patience and often I just end up doing what I think might work rather than going by the advice of the experts. As a result there are some disappointments but in the end, anything that comes up thrills me. Each planter offers me a surprise and fills me with delight.

Here are the results for this year: The corn in the only ground plot, in addition to the corn there are also pea plants, dill, carrot, radish, broccoli and lettuce planted in this plot. My good friend's Alita and Ana helped assist with this plot. Ana and I busted up most of the soil and the next day Alita helped us to finish it off and plant the corn plants. We all planted in different areas to see what would happen ( I'm not much for order really). Alita chose to make raised rows, Ana did hers in a flat row and I threw mine up the air and then poked them into the ground where they landed. Next we have cherry and grape tomatoes in a drink bucket turned planter ( using my handy drill), the tomatoes off this plant are plentiful and delicious. Following is one of my black sweet potato plants which is in bloom. A sprig of radish. Some lettuce in the surprise plot. Jalapeno plants. Basil and oregano in the same planter, I have another set of oregano plants in a second identical planter but instead of a basil pairing they were planted with flowers, this set is not doing well at all. A habanero plant. Quite a lot of radish planted around a Blueberry bush which I had given up on but decided to leave, it is now doing much better. My hens and chicks! Some petunias, I planted these when I realized I had no flowers whatsoever ( they were on sale at the nursery so what the hell). Lavender. Brandywine tomatoes. A larger grouping of radish, I should really separate them but I don't mind it so much. I also have tarragon, 6 types of mint, rosemary, hyacinth bean, carrot, onion, cilantro, sorrel, three other types of flowers and another type of lavender that are not pictured.

Dance

Things I like:

Bollywood

Sweet lord I love it. I could watch Bollywood films everyday. I also do a Bollywood work out dvd ( because it's awesome). One of my favourite Kansas City Area restaurants is Bollywood Indian Bistro in Independence, not only do they have excellent food but they have a dance floor, a beautiful color scheme and play bollywood films on a large screen.

My sister Kyla and I can't help ourselves and we often dance in the bollywood style around the living room to everyday songs. It doesn't matter how we look it simply makes us happy.

Here are a few videos from Lagaan: