MELON bread...

Just forget about anything I said in my last post about margarine. If there is one kind of snack I cannot resist, it would be melon bread. The first time for me to have it was here, in delightful wonderful gustatorial Japan. Ahhh, the heaven which accompanied my first bite of it...very sinful.

What really won me over was the textural juxtaposition of hard/crunchy and soft. You bite into a very hard sugary cookie-like shell of sorts, only to be greeted by soft and lovely sweet bread. If you make it to Japan, this is a MUST TRY. Margarine or butter...regardless, I will chomp it down.

There are various kinds. Those with just a sugary crust and plain soft sweet bread inside or others with a crunchy outside, sweet bread inside and some surprise whipped cream/custardy something filling! YUMMMMMMMY, delightful, and did I mention sinful?!

Original flavour, chocolate chip, strawberry, cantaloupe, green tea, chocolate, with whipped cream filling, with custard filling, custard and cream filling, turtle-shaped, orange, hot dog-shaped sandwich style, blueberry...oooooooh, each season has different kinds. The new flavours are often limited to convenience stores...as are limited edition Kit Kats.

My ultimate goal is to make melon bread by myself, in my bread machine!

give me back my BUTTA

Ok, when you mess with the quality of my sweets, that's when I draw out the guns!!!

Recently I found various confectionary/cake shops cutting corners, in an attempt to reduce cost and boost profits. I used to like cream puffs from Cozy Corner...until I tried their awful dry Madeleines...UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, give me a slice of bread with honey over that awful baked sweet any day! I checked out the list of ingredients and sure enough, they had not used butter...it's evil but seemingly innocent cousin, margarine was used in its place.

It just is not the same without butter. Cookies, cakes, any baked goods taste really 2-dimensional without rich real butter. Some things like banana bread are in itself quite aromatic and can stand on its own (w/out butter)...but we're talking madelaines and white loaf bread.

I went to the supermarket to check out packaged, pre-sliced loaf bread and sweet breads...ALL of them (this is no exaggeration, I mean ALL) had margarine as one of the top ingredients. Even BUTTER rolls...ohhhhhhh, the painful irony. Scary too, considering how much and how often I ate such breads. Here, in Japan you can buy a big tub of margine, something like 450g for 200yen (2-bucks) but butter is, on average 350yen (3-bucks) for a mere 200g. I suppose it only makes sense that food producers are opting for the cheaper of the two.

In case you're wondering, American Wonder bread contains soybean oil...neither margarine or butter...interesting. The best thing about having a bread machine is I can make loaf bread with the REAL stuff, that is, butter. (and sometimes olive oil for Italian loaf bread...yum!)

Oh God forbid!!!

Recently some of my husband's colleagues found out where we live - not necessarily a terrible thing, but something of minor concern. One day my husband came back home to tell me that his co-worker's wife noticed we often don't take clothes in at night. Ha ha. Well, aren't we the observant ones?! (later on my Japanese friend who is a busy housewife and mom told me she often does loads of her son's dirty soccer laundry at night, forcing her to dry clothes overnight outside too - she said it isn't 'too' unusual)

Man was I surprised. One that they were looking so closely at our balcony that they noticed and two that they commented on it! Not that I was upset but it certainly blew me away!! My husband really minded and said we should be careful but I told him I could not give a hoot. They can talk all the want, but I don't give a darn. Even in America or Canada people often found me crazy and divergent, which to this day, I admit and am proud of. What is so great about typical, ordinary, and average? In Japan, apparently it counts for a lot.

I am thinking of what to do next to make people wonder. Maybe put stuffed animals from the dollar store out to dry...or grow some HUGE tree on the veranda, a whole forest of them. Ha ha. Then I will be known as the crazy neighbor with the wild jungle. Sometimes I put out the garbage while wearing a mud mask and still in pajamas - some passerby drivers looked a bit astonished. Watch out, you never know what I will do next! (this is exactly what my husband is afraid of...I think)

toxic friends

Have you ever had a toxic friend? I have had such a friend and boy, did it take a long time to 'escape' from her. Due to professional reasons, I had to befriend this person...at first she hated me and was really nasty to me whenever we met. Later on, the rest of our colleagues started to ignore her (almost like ostracism) due to her nasty personality and tendency to cause unnecessary drama. Unlike others, I did not avoid or ignore her - I figured it was better to have her on my side rather than against me...which worked out well in the short run, that is...until..........

I found out what she was really like. A very scary person. I swear, her heart was as cold as...no, make that colder than an icicle from the Antarctic, and any kindness shown from her was for inevitably some kind of payback. Anytime she did something nice for me I wondered what she wanted. I could tolerate her stories of lovers and sordid love hotel stories, exaggerated talking, ex-boyfriend bashing...but then she started to trash people around me, whom I liked. And then, she started to admit things I did not want to know: Japanese yakuza (gang) connections, dating the father of some students at the time she had a live-in boyfriend, doing enjo kosai (compensated dating, a.k.a. prostitution), and so on.

Ok...draw the line right there. I made the drastic move to cut the toxic 'friend' out of my life. Slowly less contact, less, and then no more contact. Even to this day I worry she will want to get 'revenge' at me for terminating the friendship, so to speak. She was going to sue the school we worked for and get gangsters to harrass the manager and drive her crazy. Funny thing is, it was her own fault she got fired...that's what happens when you fail to show up for work (several times) and don't even have the courtesy to call to inform the company about it!

As they say, you can judge a lot about someone by their friends. That makes sense, considering how friends have the tendency to influence each other. Nowadays I try my best to keep those around me who are interesting, kind, good at heart, trustworthy and understanding. If a woman has cheated on her husband or is dating a married man, I do not want to befriend her...I can be a polite acquaintance or teacher but nothing more than that.

Which brings me to topic two...redefining friendship in Japan. Friendship in Japan is a bit different from the kind I am accustomed to at home. (more on that later, in another post!)

do dogs envy us?

You know how often we envy the dog's life: eat, sleep, walk around...sniff, sniff. We tend to pine for that simple life. Is the a case of "the grass is greener?"

I wonder if they envy us, humans...I mean humans can talk, eat various foods (not just dry or wet dog food!), go on planes, make jokes, see in colour. Hey, if you think about it, life as a human is really great.

I would like to live just one day in a dog's life, seeing things from the doggie perspective. I wonder what we would think of humans, other mammals, and more. Would we have amazing sense of smell and sound perception? Hmm...curious I am!

If I were to get another dog in the future, it's likely be an Akita. Close resemblance to the former breed I had (chow-chow) yet different. I think choosing a dog of the same breed would be unfair to the last and new dog. With such a distinct curly tail, I wonder if the Akita breed is somehow related to the chow chow!

AGHHHH...cellphone junk mail!

This is driving me nuts. My cell phone, which I regularly use as my alarm clock, is driving me up a wall!!! In the past I did not often receive SPAM mail but now it seems relentless...over 10 in a row started to 'attack' my phone around midnight, waking me up from a verryyyy deep sleep due to a hard day on the slopes. Nothing like waking up to phone mail full of sex-site spam and callgirl websites. (actually it is dangerous to even accidentally click on the weblink provided in the mail as it could incur costs, so I was told)

I had no choice but to turn off my new mail notification service. Though SMS is great, such spam mail is not!

hotel and ski resort in one!

Last weekend we took a few days off work for a ski holiday up north. The weather was rather on the balmy side, a bit odd considering February is statistically the coldest month in Japan! We went to Fukushima...a 3.5 hour drive from here. To kill time on the way up and back, I played the brain teaser game, Sudoku, in the car. (that and it shuts me up, allowing my husband to focus on the road and not me, babbling in English)

The snow was crunchy and icy, definitely not ideal ski conditions! It was snowing when we arrived and most of the next day, making for perfect snowy winter ambiance. There is something very romantic and lovely about falling snow - I just love it, especially when it stays off the roads. Skiing was tough - very icy, slippery, making it difficult to maneuver easily...great training though. The greatest part was: the ski resort was part of the hotel - so we did not have to go anywhere or worry about transporting equipment.

The hotel (Hotel Minowa) we stayed at was luxurious (by Japanese standards) and most information was bilingual. They even had a dress code which prohibits guests from wearing loungewear or pajamas at breakfast. Despite their attempt to appear a classy, upper class hotel...families were abundant, children were noisy, practically making fun at any attempt of the hotel to look elegant. Though if forced to choose, I'd rather stay overnight at a traditional Japanese ryokan (inn)...related to a cozier ambiance? Hmm.

Dinner was really luxurious (according to my weight scale, a bit 'too' luxurious...ha ha ha). 7-course French dinner one night and 6-course Japanese (kaiseki) the next night. Though equally sumptuous (plenty of fancy marbled beef!!!), I preferred the Japanese traditional course...much more food variety and attention to detail and presentation! Perhaps foreigners in Japan find traditional Japanese cuisine more fascinating and scintillating than Japanese themselves. I'll have to ask my friends about that.

woop-dee-doo...

The Bank of Japan raises the key short-term interest rate from 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent during a meeting of BOJ policymakers.

Gee folks, we can buy a single piece of gum with the interest gained from our bank accounts now. Ha ha...I suppose more interest is much better than NO interest. Just a few years ago, Japan had a zero-interest policy of something around 0.000000000002 or something like that.

I wonder if this is supposed to stimulate the economy, keeping interest rates so low? I am not well-schooled in economics so I don't know how it works. The funny thing is, lending consumer companies charge oooooodles for loans - out of this world interest rates. The American interest rate is something killer like 5.25% right now. I heard the Aussie$ and NZD are even higher. Oooh, time to get all our cash OUT of Japan.

D.S!!!

We now own a Nintendo DS lite, portable game console...given to us by Hiro's mother after she had grown tired of it. Hee hee, lucky us! I never considered myself a gamer of any type...that is, until I came across the DS. It has games for adults specifically targeted at non-gamers. Some of my students use the English dictation program, eigo-zuke...and surprisingly, it works! I encourage them to use it on a daily basis, in addition to other listening tools and real English in class.

A fun game is brain training, available in both Japanese and English versions. I started out using the Japanese version and was found to be quite old...around 40's and 50's...but switched off to the English version, resulting in substantially better results. What a relief - my brain is not ancient after all. Interesting how this is...meaning someone living in another country may be miscontrued as DUMB simply because of some language barrier? It is very possible. I always find it harder to analyse the intelligence of Japanese people...sometimes it is difficult because some things translate differently between cultures.

one week of vacation! (not here though...)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, again! According to the ancient lunar calendar, the Chinese New Year was February 18th this year...a Sunday. This week is a week-long holiday for those in Taiwan...(and perhaps China, I am not sure)...lucky ones they are!

My mom and grandmother held their annual Chinese New Year's bash at their house...usually 50-some people attend the event! Although it is potluck (mochi-yori) style, my grandma slaves away making her famous tasty specialties...ohhh, I drool just at the thought!

As a child I shunned such Chinese festivities and hated attending them. Our Chinese school sponsored an annual Chinese New Year's party...for some reason, I did not particularly enjoy them. To celebrate Chinese New Year's I tried to make baked sweet mochi-rice cake (chewy rice cake filled with either walnuts+raisins or red beans), the Hua family way. Unfortunately I seem to have used the wrong ingredient (perhaps wrong type of rice flour?!) so it did not turn out as it should have. Booo...I guess I will try again!

Strangely enough, I seem to know much more about Japanese customs and culture than that of my own heritage: Taiwan/Chinese... (much to the chagrin of my family) I guess that is only natural. The longest I have ever lived in China or Taiwan is a month and a half, max. Funny how most Japanese expect me to know a lot about Chinese culture when in fact, some random ESL teacher living in Taiwan likely knows more about it than me!

growing affinity for ramen

Ramen - the heart of Japan, something I consider 'soul food' here. (perhaps, only second to sushi) Another thing I consider it is, a Japanese heart attack in a bowl, taking into factor all the lard and oil that usually accompanies each sip of the rich broth...hee hee. Despite having said that, I LOVE the stuff now...though this has not always been true.

I used to turn my nose up at ramen, thinking it was more of a greasy spoon typical single man's feast (which it is, btw)...but over time I have grown to appreciate it and instead of eating it once or twice a year, it has become more like once or twice every few weeks! What a complete turnaround, eh? Many women dislike ramen for fear of gaining weight...though recently I saw plenty of women at the ramen shops we frequented, so...perhaps this is changing, too? (additionally, women tend not to drink up all the greasy soup as men often do.)

I think the turning point was eating ramen at the reknown Jyungara Ramen in Akihabara (Tokyo)...already 3pm (way past lunchtime) yet an almost 30-minute wait, just for ramen! Incredible. Heavenly. Sinful. The soup was tonkotsu: broth made from pig's bones cooked until the soup becomes white from the marrow, bone material, and so on...and it was topped with a TON of ingredients, like: mentaiko (spicy cod roe), menma (CHinese pickled bamboo shoots), green onions, char siu (Chinese BBQ pork), soy sauce-boiled egg, benishoga (red pickled ginger)...and more! Free noodle refills are offered, and if one still has the room for it...rice at the end, dumped into the remaning broth and eaten.

So in another step to becoming more 'Japanized' I have become a lover of ramen. I wonder what the next step will be...hmm. Another sign of becoming more Japanese is craving sushi right after a long vacation abroad - it has become our tradition to eat sushi while jet-lagged. At first it disgusted me, the thought of sushi right after getting back to Japan...but this too is changing. I hope to try a few more ramen shops and find a favorite!

Recent RAMEN eating diary: last Sunday 'tan-tan men' (yummy sesame balls in spicy broth) on the ski trip, last Saturday (at the place Kazuyo likes) for lunch...(ohh, more than once a week?!), the weekend before that my student's favorite ramen joint...

first ski of the year...

On Sunday we went on our annual SKI tour...34 members from Tsukuba to Takatsue ski resort in Fukushima. Bright and early we were at 4 a.m...and 4 1/2 hours later we arrived. It was snowing at the park for the majority of the day - they place looked so beautiful! Last year I was pretty hopeless on the slopes but this year I could make progress...getting over my ski phobia has not been easy but it is coming along.

Funny how much people fear a particular food, sport, place after having just one bad experience. Instead of fearing skiing for the rest of my life from one bad experience (almost broke my leg and could not walk for nearly a month), I figure I should face it head on, banishing the silly fear of skiing. Kind of like dating and rejection...you date some and get rejected...you date more, get rejected and date some more...over time the fear of rejection lessens (though still sucks) and hopefully one grows stronger, learning from each experience.

The best part about skiing is hitting the hot spring afterwards. Thing is, from 10a.m. I had a killer headache (rare for me!) which lasted until we got home. I could not enjoy the hot spring at all...right after I entered, I noticed my head pounding - it felt like it was about to explode any minute. Amazingly the headache melted away as I stepped into our condo...hmm, strange. I suppose nothing rings truer than the old adage, "home sweet home."

"the withdrawn"...Japan's next horror movie

Back home, I know plenty of internet addicts: those into computer games, others always surfing the net, and so on. I don't consider them freaks or geeks, by any means! In Japan it is said that many well-wired internet folks are otaku, in other words, major freaks and geeks.

Online dating back in the West is fairly acceptable and popular and not considered dangerous, if one uses common sense! In Japan it seems only losers who have no other alternative use net-dating. It is said to be quite risky to find a partner online...the stats are there to prove it, too. Sometimes high school kids used a girl as bait in order to extort money from some vulnerable man. En-ko (enjo kosai, euphemism for teenage prostitution) is said to occur via internet or through cell phone solicitation. (Mixi is the Japanese equivalent to MySpace back home)

The scariest part of it all is hikkikomori, the withdrawn...meaning social hermits. The numbers are increasing by the year. One of my former student's brother was a NEET and hermit...claiming he was studying to get into law school, something he had not succeeded at doing in at least 3 years. Such people avoid going out during the daytime (and avoid going out, PERIOD) and are often very socially awkward. I don't know why they become like that - speculation says such people are a result of: bullying, child abuse, broken family, being spoiled by wealthy parents, lack of objective in life...and so on.

I thought most such people were single and living with their parents...not always the case. My friend Y. has a friend who turned hermit a few years back...her friend is married and has not left the house in ages. Her husband buys food at the convenience store every night to bring back to his wife. I have many psychologist friends who also highlighted this worsening social problem in Japan. How does one get a snail out of its shell, anyway? Most trauma victims get help but in order to do so, they need to get out of the house to start with...eeks. Telephone counselling? Problem is, such people are often paranoid of others and change psychologists at the drop of a hat... Maybe in a few years we will see a new development in this social trend...hmm.

"For my parents' sake, I suppose I should get a job. But I've been saying that to myself for years now. The fact is, I'm fed and clothed whether I work or not." Hiroshi, 33, one of Japan's estimated 640,000 to 850,000 NEETs (not in education, employment or training), who live with their parents. (Spa!)

OH! KAI SHE?

In Japan it is customary to give an okaishi, a 'return...reciprocal gift' of sorts if one is given a gift. At weddings the couple usually gives gifts worth around 30-50 dollars...in our case, we went toward the higher end because we had fewer guests and thought it appropriate to give larger 'party favors.' For those who did not attend the party but did give us some present, we gave them some Chinese tea or some souvenir from Tahiti. (we have yet to give some people it - I am waiting to give it to them in person!) We gave our couple friend some baby clothes as a present and were surprised to receive a special delivery 'okaishi' gift of ceramic tupperware.

Back in the States I remember simple party favors like candles, homemade cookies, and candies...those are also given to Japanese guests at the end of the party (on top of the heavy, bulky party favor bag...in rural parts of Japan the rule of thumb is: the bulkier and heavier, the better...though these days such bags are going out of style and young couples tend to favor catalogue gifts from which guests can choose exactly what they want!)

I tend to have a hard time knowing the value of such o-kaishi...for example, if someone gives you an item worth around 50 dollars, is it appropriate to give them something back around 2/3 the value? More or less? I guess one could play it safe and be generous. Hiro's mother is good at this...maybe I will ask her next time about it. ^_^

The problem is the cycle of o-kaishi...sometimes people have this never ending cycle of o-kaishi and more gifts and more. AGHhhhhh. If I give someone some tupperware and they return it, it is often returned well-cleaned and filled with some candy or little present. I too follow others' lead and try my best to 'abide' by such little Japanese customs...despite all their pettiness, are important in developing and keeping relations here. I feel a little regretful I did not know about the custom of o-kaishi much earlier, but now that I know, it is really helpful and should keep relations smooth.

cooking event!!!

Talk about food for thought...I am once again fired up and inspired to cook. We had a cooking event last weekend...everyone gathered a the community centre to 'cook up a storm.' Hee hee...bad pun, sorry. Unfortunately the community centre is not so children-friendly so those with babies only came to the afterparty to eat.

People made various dishes: Indonesian gado gado salad, teriyaki chicken balls (pictured), amazing quick Indian curry made by Himanshu, my Chinese scallion pancakes, Japanese simmered daikon, and so on. Each person made some dish and when we had time, we went around the room seeing how everyone else made theirs. ^_^

The best part was the party afterwards...time to eat our creations. It took some time to organize: rental of community centre, condo party room, buy all materials for the party, e-mailing recipes after the event...but was well worth it! I felt so inspired by this event that recently I have taken to dabbling in Indian cooking...last weekend I made butter chicken to much success...though the red lentil dish was, while tasty, disappointing.

chocos for my honey...

Today is Valentine's day, the day when women give homemade chocolates to their significant others...and store-bought simpler chocos for their male colleagues, boss, and so on. Next month 3/14 will be White Day when the men reciprocate. For me, I like giving friends and student sweets for no special occasion - lucky them. :)

My brother and Jinny in Korea say they ignore all the strange Korean holidays and celebrate only the Western ones. I am mixed on this one...I wonder if it would be better to just celebrate Valentine's day once and not again the following month. I am fine with either way because normally I make tons of sweets and buy gifts for my husband. It is not much different from other days, just a tad fancier and time-consuming. However because my normal dinners are sometimes fancy, I have to make Valentine's dinner especially fancy...sometimes hard to do! My husband says not to make such a big fuss out of it, but I cannot help it - it is my nature to do everything overboard.

This picture is similar to my toffee...but mine are in cute individual little cups. I call it 'bikkuri choco', meaning surprise chocolate. It looks like chocolate but is in fact mostly toffee...hee hee. I love surprises. I tasted some chocolate...and then some more...and then some more...and then tried the toffee...and it was sinfully good, oh my goodness so tastyyyyy...and some more, and some more... Ahhh, I have to stop before there is no more left for Hiro! (sometimes this really happened with some chips or other snack, ha ha...so I had to buy/make more)

Oh, the other day it dawned upon me that I never got Valentine's gifts from any other boyfriend except my husband. (I got them from students and female friends, but not in a romantic way) No relationships ever got beyond a month or so, so I guess it is only natural...well it took a good 24 years of waiting for a real Valentine's present but it was well worth it. So my dear friend and loyal blog reader, "E"...hang in there, your day will come soon!

Well, off to work and prepare more for our special dinner. Lots of work but very much the labour of my love.

lingering things to do still

Post wedding...

After the wedding there are various things to do, still!
- thank you letters and/or gifts for tons of family/friends
- continued distribution of honeymoon souvenirs
- copying and distribution of DVD and photos (CD and prints!)
- photo album, organizing photos from the pro photographer
- scrapbooking (still a long way to go...mine are not fancy at all)
- sending either 'Thank You cards' or o-kaishi (reciprocal gifts)

...the list goes on...OooOoooOOooOOoooooo.

I cannot believe months have gone by since our wedding. Last October, and it is already almost March!!! I am still catching up on all kinds of stuff. Though they say it is entirely normal, I mean tying up loose ends months after the wedding. For an event of a lifetime, it takes much planning but we were quite satisfied with the outcome. Could not have been better! For the married folks out there - how long did it take you to finally finish up all wedding-related things?

In society it is the woman's job to keep in touch with family, maintain correspondence and so on. I wonder if it is the general nature of women and they are very good at it or it is something that has, over the years, been imposed on them. Either way, it is fun (albeit at times exhausting) to keep in touch with relatives and family friends through e-mail, letters, colourful packages.

Michelle's wedding speech (Japanese version)

Though I posted the English version, I forgot to post this a while back...here it is, for my Japanese readers.

さんこんばんは！私はヴィヴィアンのいとこのミッシェルです。ヴィヴィアンとは子どものからのしです。彼女はアメリカち、私は台湾ちで、はのでったのですが、それでもくなりました。私はおとなしい子どもで、ヴィヴィアンはいつもクレイジーな子どもでした。とてもクリエイティブで、ユニークで、しさがれていました。

ある時、私たちは一緒に“メッギー”をしました。メッギーはすばらしい物を、でも作ることができるブランドです。メッギーで、えば、れた人が手に持つだけで、すばらしいスイマーにできるサンダルを作りました。 またある時は、一緒にヨーロッパ旅行をしたのですが、長い電車でのにきると、ポップコーンを、歯のにして、のマネをして、ほかのをおどかして遊びました。

ヴィヴィアンは子どもの頃からずっと、大人になった今でも楽しさで溢れている人です。ヴィヴィアンを知っている人は皆、私と同じように、彼女がよりもくて、思いやりのある人だと言うでしょう。そしてたぶん、これからはキッチンでも、ビックリするようないっぱいの料理を作ってくれる事でしょう。彼女の持っているカリスマは、りの人々をきけてまないのです。

ヴィヴィアンを知らない方のために、ほんの少し時間をいただいて、彼女のいちについてしたいと思います。ヴィヴィアン・リーさんは台湾人のごに生まれ、アメリカのイリノイ州でちました。大学時代の四年間をカナダでごしたので、いかにもカナダであるかのなふりをするのですが、イリノイ出身です。四年前にカナダのトロント大学を卒業し、からアジアに住んでみたいと考えていたので、英語の先生として日本に行くことを決めました。すでにかの友達が日本で仕事をしており、日本がとても気に入っているようだったので、彼女もほんのしにやってみることにしたのです。したら帰るつもりでした。そしてへ来て、イーオンの先生として働き始めました。ところが、彼女ののカリスマ性、さ、そしてすばらしい英語力は、くに彼女をの先生にしてしまったのです！
　
ではここでをえ、のであります、山田ヒロツグさんを紹介したと思います。ヒロツグさんはでち、のをする仕事をするため、筑波に引っ越してきました。３２歳の時、のため、バンクーバーに行くがありました。見るもの、聞くもの、すべてがワクワクするものだったのですが、ただ英会話ができなかったため、外国人の研究者と何も話すことができなかったのです。それで、英語のをして、英会話スクールに通う事にしました。ののめでイーオンをび、行ってみた初めてのクラスで、ヴィヴィアンに出会ったのです。ヴィヴィアンはその時、先生ではなくてオブザーバーでした。クラスのあと、ヴィヴィアンがヒロにいくつかの質問をしたのですが、ヒロは彼女が何を言っているのか、さっぱりかりませんでした。ヒロがなかなか答えてくれないので、ヴィヴィアンはにギブアップしました。それが、の初めての会話です。ちなみにヒロさん、その時のヴィヴィアンの質問が何だったか、今はわかりますか？
　
それ、ヴィヴィアンはヒロを時々パーティーに招待しました。ヒロの英語レベルはどんどん上達し、二人でもっと会話ができるようになってくると、おいが、色々なのを持っている事に気づいていきました。

ある日、ヴィヴィアンはヒロをにいました。ヒロがちわせに行ってみると、そこにはヴィヴィアンのに誰もいません。「の人はどこ？」と聞くと、ヴィヴィアンは「ええと、うん…、他の人は来ないの。」と答えて、ヒロはとてもきました。になってヒロから聞いた話によると、この時が、がをにしていく始まりとなったのです。また、こので“二人の関係でどちらがをっているか”が、わかりますね。

もう間もなく、ヴィヴィアンが日本をとうとしている時に、二人はおきいを始めたのです。日本をれる時、ヴィヴィアンは「またってきたい。きっと戻ってくる」。そうヒロにいいして、っていきました。

そして、２００４年４月から１１月にかけて、ヴィヴィアンは日本を離れ、をしました。たとえくれていても、おいのいいはうがありませんでした。毎日、Ｅメールでをりいました。ヒロはすでにヴィヴィアンのいハートをゲットしたのです。いれれも、ヴィヴィアンにとっては、かえって「こんなにすばらしいを、にがしちゃいけない！」とますますいがくなるのでした。そして、をきり、りをまわったあと、ヴィヴィアンはヒロのへと、また日本にることを決めたのです。その時から二人は、を共にごしていくことを決め、なお付き合いを始めました。に二人はとても気が合っていたのです。

ヴィヴィアンがだった頃は、彼女のについてはも聞きませんでした。たぶん男の人に対してになりやすかったようで、誰かとお付き合いすることなんてなかったと思います。私は、がのを見つけるなんて、なだとっていました。ですから、をったで、彼女が日本にるとうが、日本にボーイフレンドがいるからだとったは、ビックリしました。その時は、まだヒロさんにおいしたことがなかったけれど、私のいとこのハートをちったのだから、にすばらしいにいないとしました。私は、のをって、ヒロとヴィヴィアンと一緒に過ごすことができました。そこでのヒロをにかめてみたところ、彼は本当にとてもしくて、インテリジェントで、おもしろく、で、それでいてにちて、く、もすばらしい事に、クレイジーな私のいとこをけれることができる人なのです。

ヴィヴィアンがめて日本にた、のが「ヴィヴィアン、日本の男性ときってしたらいいよ！」とジョークをうと、ヴィヴィアンはでって「Ha！そんながこったらのわり！」と答えました。今では、その友達にうたびに、このをからかわれるのです。

その、ヒロ。あなたもだにしなかったでしょう。あの時に、ヒロがスクールにこうとめた。それが、英語のはもちろんの事、もっとすばらしいをっていた事。その最初の決心が、のびへとつながっていた事。

は、私たちのどんなもし、もありません。そして、愛は、いもよらない時に、のドアをたたくのです。ヴィヴィアンさん、ヒロさん、のをつけたお二人に、Congratulations!

spending priorities...

Some people spend their money on a car, clothes, accessories, name-brand bags...and others are like me - I spend money on what I think counts: food. Food is our source of energy and affects our mood more than we admit! Why should we cheap out on ingredients? It is, after all, going into our body and fueling our every movement, action!

Recently I spend more money on food than ever...how my financial priorities have changed. I try to buy the best quality (and freshest) ingredients to nourish our body and soul. Now I am not cooking 'just for one' but for two...and in the future, even for three?! Instead I spend less on unnecessary things: clothes, accessories, other things that will simply clutter up my house. Each dinner has at least 15 different ingredients and each day two kinds of fruit, ideally. I don't always make my goal but at least I have got a target. Since I moved in with my husband, I can feel the physical changes in my body due to a better, healthier, regular lifestyle. It is a great feeling and now in retrospect I wish I took better care of myself before as a single gal. Oh well, too late for regrets...aim for a better future.

Another thing is, I try now to use up all the money I have saved up for leisure activities because in a year or more there will be fewer chances, should a child come along. On the advice of my family and friends, I have decided to enjoy vacations and DINK lifestyle to its fullest (and without worrying too much about costs) before settling down. Being thrifty is nice but hey, we only live once!

hoorah for siestas!!!

Taking a nap after lunch may help lower the risk of death from heart disease, especially for men, Greek researchers say. Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos of Harvard University and the University of Athens Medical School and his team tracked 23,681 healthy Greek adults for an average of about six years.

Some employers, such as software company Intuit Canada, have nap friendly policies.(CBC) Men who napped 30 minutes at least three times a week showed a 37 per cent lower risk of dying from heart attacks or other heart problems compared to non-nappers, the team reports in Monday's issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

The link was strongest in men who were working, compared to unemployed. Too few women were assessed to tell if they benefit from siestas, too. "My advice is if you can [nap], do it. If you have a sofa in your office, if you can relax, do it," Trichopoulos said.

Curry museum

Last weekend we made the requisite trip to the curry museum before it closes its doors in about a month or so. Our expectations were not extraordinarily high, especially after the let-down of a trip the ramen museum turned out to be.

The good point: free admission. The downsides: high prices, not so special curry (at least the shops we tried), and lines/crowds. Aghhhh, get me outta there!!! Upsides: lots of souvenir stuff involving curry...curry bath powder (not strong enough so I added real curry to our bath...oops, big mistake as the bathtub itself became temporarily stained BRIGHT FLUORESCENT yellow!!!), curry chocolate, chai tea...and so on! Yeahhhh.

Anyway I have decided while entertaining and amusing, food museums are just not what they are cracked up to be. I had wanted to visit the gyoza (dumpling) museum but now have second thoughts...hmm Though, I do admit, when it comes to food, I am almost willing to try anything...but bugs were not really my thing, so I would like to avoid them in future food experiences.

I have heard of this before...wonder it's true!

I eat chocolate every single day and have being doing so since around...October, after the wedding. ^_^ Amazingly I have not gained weight (with the exception of the New Year's weight gain...ha ha, beyond choco reasons) from eating so much chocolate. I wondered why but perhaps this article explains it? I wonder if the claims are legit... pic to the left are cocoa beans...woooo.

In a mouth-watering claim sure to make many chew the fat, a Japanese doctor tells Shukan Gendai that eating chocolate can help you lose weight. "Chocolate lovers can still enjoy the tastes they like and lose weight while doing so," Hiroshige Itakura, an Ibaraki Christian University professor specializing in "lifestyle diseases," like hypertension and hardening of the arteries, tells Shukan Gendai. Eating chocolate for a month could lead to a loss of 2 to 3 kilograms.

Itakura continues, explaining how he thinks the "chocolate diet" works. "Cacao contains a substance called cacao polyphenal that absorbs glucose and burns fat. Cacao is also really rich in natural fiber, which also absorbs fat and loosens the bowels. Then there's a substance called theobromine, which is what gives cacao its bitterness, but also has relaxing quantities that can combat stress -- a major cause of overeating," the doctor says. "Chocolate also has plenty of vitamins and minerals, so there's no worry about losing these, either."Itakura adds more.

"If 'bad' cholesterol in the bloodstream is oxidized it leads to the formation of plague that lines the artery walls, which in turn hardens the arteries, makes it more difficult for them to contract and causes high blood pressure. Chocolate combats the oxidization of cholesterol and thus works to prevent the hardening of the arteries," Itakura tells Shukan Gendai. "What's more, cacao also contains properties that fight against harmful bacteria."

good news, for a change!

Twin giant pandas born Dec. 23 are shown sleeping here at Adventure World safari park. Named Friday, the female Aihin (right) and male Meihin, are now about the size of small cats. KYODO PHOTO

what a pity...

Apparently the boycott letter (posted below in previous posts of my blog) is written is quite filthy and shocking Japanese. How terrible. The English is worded so politely and very to-the-point without going to the extent of being nasty. I sure need to learn more Japanese so that I can determine for myself what is appropriate and inappropriate language in such a boycott letter. Bahhhhh.

In other news...we will see 14C weather soon - wow, what a very very balmy winter it is! Unfortunately the Sapporo Snow Festival is suffering...ice sculptures which require much snow, labour, energy to make are melting forcing the builders to scurry about rebuilding and more. Ooooh. One day I would like to see the snow festival with my family...if only there weren't those darn crowds! Ha ha.

Hope the weather is as nice as it is here in Japan recently!!!

my cinnamon roll!

This is a pic of the cinnamon rolls I made the other week...er, in this case, one lone cinnamon roll. It turned out well (the first batch) but then the second batch kind of fell flat, likely due to it over-rising...**sigh** Baking, much like anything, is very much trial and error. Over time, should I not give up first, I might improve! The key to a GOOD American cinnamon roll is the frosting, no doubt about it! It must be sweet, creamy, buttery, aromatic...the frosting either makes or breaks it.

Despite having a bread machine, we enjoyed a nice bakery bread breakfast this morning...a little too much since it had been a long time since our last trip there: custard tart, maple cake, takoyaki donut, chocolate cream bread, and more...oh, and yogurt and coffee. Umm...not so healthy but you could call it our "It's been a long time to eat C-bakery's bread" baked goods binge. Hee hee.

The best thing about being a couple is you can try MORE of everything because you can share it. :D Yeah.

oOoooo, too early!!!

TOKYO — Cherry trees have started to blossom in Tokyo's Ueno Park, nearly a month earlier than usual, park officials said Monday. The officials said five trees had already blossomed and that four more trees were expected to blossom by next weekend. Japan has been experiencing an unusually warm winter, with temperatures in Tokyo 2 to 4 degrees higher than normal for this time of year.

The good news: it is lovely and warm and all is fantastic in the worlddddd! The bad news: we are going skiing 2/18 and the snow conditions are poor...blahhhh. That and some people are already suffering from hay fever! I hope it snows PLENTY this and next weekend!!!

threats of a boycott makes them back down...

That's right. Go get 'em!!! After the racist propaganda magazine was published last week, some foreigners in Japan launched a campaign to boycott Family Mart and other stores with the magazine in stock.

Here is the official letter, written in both Japanese and English. The letter proved quite effective as the Family Mart head office wrote a letter of apology and instructed all stores to take down the repulsive magazine. I went to the local Family Mart stores and even 7-11 shops (I heard it also stocked the mag) to make sure they took every copy off shelves. After I was satisfied with the inspection, I bought lots of choco to refresh my daily stash...hee hee hee.

Dear Family Mart Management:
I have always enjoyed being a customer of yours. However, I am gravely disappointed that you have decided to stock and sell a magazine entitled GAIJIN HANZAI URA FAIRU, which in my view offers discriminatory statements and images about non-Japanese residents of Japan.
Please remove this magazine from your shelves immediately and return them to the publisher. Please take care not to sell magazines of this type ever again in your stores.
Until you do, I will not shop in your store, and will tell my friends overseas and nationwide to boycott your stores. Non-Japanese are important customers too, and in this competitive market it will be no trouble for us to take our business elsewhere.
Sincerely,

冠省　いつもファミリーマートで日常品を購入させていただいております。
しかし、近日貴社が雑誌「外人犯罪裏ファイル」を販売に対し、大変絶望しております。当雑誌のなか、「おいニガー！！日本婦女子のケツさわってんじゃねえ！！」「路上で手マンはやめてくれる？」「お前らそんなに外人がイイのかよ！！」「ここは日本なんだよ！てめえの国に帰ってやりな！」等という発言が載り、意図的に外国人住民のイメージ・ダウンを図っており、差別意識を助長しています。貴社が当雑誌を取り扱っていることに非常に憤りを感じております。
よって、この雑誌をいますぐ棚から撤去し、販売を取り止め、出版社に返却して下さい。そして、二度とこのような雑誌を取り扱わないで下さい。
このままですと、私は当分の間、他のコンビニで買い物をします。そして、私は友人にも連絡して、ファミリーマートの国内かつ海外店舗（米国で"Famima!"社など）にも不買運動を促進します。宜しくお願いします。
草々

Ok, writing some article about "foreigners commiting crime in Japan" is free speech...but when you start throwing around the F-word and N-word and other words I would be ashamed to see on my own blog, now THAT is racist, stupid, and wrong.

I want to hear more about the Japanese COP who was caught robbing banks...or the cop who stole from his colleague last week...I hear about things Japanese police are doing wrong daily. So why should crime committed by foreigners be any different?

This is not the only issue at hand...foreign trainees get something like 200 or 300 yen an hour...because they are not protected by labor laws. 2 or 3 dollars an hour in a developed country...and you wonder why they are turning elsewhere (bars, gambling, gangs, crime) to get money just for daily living expenses! Quite often their bosses abuse them, deduct unnecessary expensese and more from the trainee's salary...how sad. I hope foreign workers, officially called 'trainees' get REAL rights, the same kinds as regular Japanese citizens have!

you call that food?!

Researchers are brilliant - they have become so successful that they have invented various compounds and things that could hardly count as food, but in fact are by the FDA and other governing organizations. Our ancestors ate real food, harvested and prepared in the ol' fashioned way, slow cooking...and it was good! Somewhere along the line we decided to strip real food of all nutrients, fortifying food to add nutrients lost from food processing, and package it as 'FOOD.' I read an NYT article my friend Jon sent to me and thought it has some really valid points. The whole thing is something like 16 pages long, so I will summarize the main points for you to save time.

1. Eat real food. (breakfast bars, non-dairy creamer...all should be avoided)
2. Avoid foods that bear health claims. (low-fat, reduced-salt...do not be tricked by these)
3. About foods with ingredients that are a) unfamiliar b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number or d) contain high-fructose corn syrup.
4. Get out of the supermarket and hit up farmer's markets. Go organic if possible.
5. Pay more, eat less. A very Japanese concept. Quality over quantity!!!
6. Eat mostly plants and leafy vegetables, especially leaves. Eat a variety of them.
7. Eat like people 50 years ago ate.
8. Cook, and if possible, plant a garden!
9. Eat like an omnivore. Diversity is key.

For the longest time Americans tried to stick to a low-fat diet regime...only to end up failing miserably and several pounds heavier. Pasta is low-fat, candy is no-fat...but the calories all add up. In addition, various foods strip out fat but replace lost taste with sugar and other additives...again, which all add up to an unhealthy chunk of calories or chemicals. As for fat: there is bad fat (omega-6) and good fat (omega-3) so in fact choosing the kind of fat we consume is the main issue at hand. (not just presence of fat) The worst kind is trans-fats...something surprisingly still relatively unknown in Japan but luckily is now gaining awareness. "Trans-shibo-san" Trans-fats are cheap to produce but take a toll on our health...margarine is one of the main trans-fat culprits.

Don't get me started on meal replacement bars, energy bars (a.k.a. glorified food), soy bars...you'd probably be better off eating 2 Snickers rather than one PowerBar. Though it was genius of the person to invent it, package it, and make loads of money. Pity to think I once bought such energy bars - what a pathetic waste of money...I could have used that money to buy real food like tasty exotic fruits and so on!

Enough with this health talk, I am going to indulge in a donut and some chocolate soon. Ha ha, no joking! 80% of the time I eat real food and the rest of the time I eat JUNK...hey, what's life without a little bit of unhealthy something?!

apparently Japanese do not commit any crime

Recently, to many foreigners great dismay, this magazine was published and is selling at various venues. Amazing that Japan can call itself a first-class nation when they allow such trash to be sold at major convenience stores, and even Amazon!

Poor foreigners who are ruthlessly targeted by this vicious gossip rag full of trash and likely fabricated statistics. I read some translated quotes from the magazine and boy, they really do not hold back, using even the 'N' word for black people. Now that, surely, is a blunder someone will have to pay for.

Sure there is plenty of crime commited by foreigners but these days crime by Japanese is escalating at equally alarming rates. Case in point: yesterday a train pervert cop was caught red-handed, touching a woman on the train. Ohhh, the irony. Cops gone bad. Years ago 1 in 10 cop applicants were hired...these days it is more like 1 in 4 or 5...um, meaning the standards have really gone down.

To read more, go to Debito.org for more details.

great news 4 bi, tri, and multi-lingual people

Bilingualism slows dementia by Hiroshi Masumitsu, Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

Bilingual people typically develop dementia about four years later than those who only speak one language, a research team from York University in Toronto and other institutions said.

The research was conducted on 184 patients with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia undergoing treatment at the Memory Clinic at the Baycrest Research Centre for Aging and the Brain in Toronto. Researchers analyzed various data on patients including their academic background and occupation.

Among those included in the study, 93 were bilingual and had been using two languages since they were young. The average age at which these patients developed dementia was 75.5 years old. The remaining patients, who spoke only one language, typically developed the disease at 71.4 years old.

flower arrangement

Frustration leads to innovation. Isn't this always the case? My favorite...make that former favorite flower shop attempted to recreate a flower arrangement from a picture I showed them. Upon pickup, I saw a hideous arrangement and knew there was no time to change it all over again (I asked the woman to change a few flowers) ...so I had to give Hiro's mother an arrangement even I found ugly. Wahhhh.

Due to this very unfortunate situation, I was driven to learn how to make my own flower arrangements! Last week I made my first flower 'work of art' and to my great pleasure, it turned out better than expected! This picture is not the flower arrangement I made but it's quite similar. I made a spring flower arrangement (not in water...instead with a green foam base) the other day. In the future I will make my own flower arrangements to present to my mother-in-law...original, save money, and content with the outcome!

It is much easier than you think: choosing the container is fun and easy...then lining it with plastic...adding some well-saturated green foam and decorate with flowers of your choice! Another good thing is you do not have to wait an hour (or so) for them to make it, if you are in a hurry. I did not use roses this time but was told they do not hold up as long as other flowers such as gerbers, daisies and stiff/hardy greens.

Since the weather has been unusually warm, I have declared it spring and not winter. That way at least my spirits are lifted up and I feel cheerful! Spring colours are so pretty - pink, lime green, yellow, pastels...ooooooooooooooooooooOOOOoooOOOoo.

February 3rd, bean throwing day!!!

OUT with the demons, IN with happiness!!! Oni wa sotto; fuku wa uchi! This

is what one shouts on Setsubun day. It is a day much like Halloween once was, predominantly used to drive out evil spirits using scary masks. In Japan's case, they get physical and drive out spirits by pegging them with dried soybeans!

At home one is supposed to throw the beans outside and say that key phrase. (sometimes a parent dons the scary mask, pretending to be the devil while children attack him) Then they are to eat the same number of beans as their current age. Which means...26 for me this year - no so bad. One should also buy some holly and stick remaining sardine heads on it at the door entrance at night, along with a clove of garlic or head of onion. Only in Kansai people eat thick sushi rolls, futomaki-sushi...though it is becoming more and more commercial even in parts of Kanto area.

You can imagine why I love this holiday. Things that children like, I like! It involves many projectiles and funny faces...now you get the picture, huh?! Last year the event ended with me, beans up my nose, soybeans crushed on the floor, soybean bits in my trousers, and a whole soybean left in my underwear..until I sat down and experienced a sudden, sharp, excruciating pain of the soybean crushing. We will spend the holiday with his mom this year so I expect the event to be much more civil. Ha ha.

English: the best and worst of it

Best things about being a native English speaker in Japan:
- it is easier to get around and get help (sad to say but I think Japanese people are more receptive to English-speaking foreigners than say, those from places like SE Asia)
- concerning TESL, finding a job is relatively easy in the city (unless in Tokyo where number of teachers is practically at saturation point?)
- most subway and JR train signs are in romaji (romanized Japanese)
- some places in Tokyo are bilingual and cater to English-speakers, too (for example, restaurants in MaruBiru like Mango tree...see previous blog posts)
- it is quite easy to communicate with other foreigners using English (though knowing other languages like Chinese, Korean, Portuguese would help here)

Worst things about being a native English speaker in Japan:
- one does not need to try hard to learn Japanese (oftentimes knowing English is sufficient enough to get around...but many Chinese people pick Japanese up in a snap!)
- one has to be careful not to pick up friends who just wanna polish up their English (I reeeeeally hate feeling like an English teacher w/friends. Man, gimme a break. I wanna relax just like others! If you want to learn English, take a lesson - not necessarily mine but anyone's!)
- it is hard to find a job outside of the TESL scene (teaching English is great now...but in the future??? I want something fresh, new, inspiring! Change of pace...)
- quite often menus are in 3 writing systems: kanji, hiragana, katakana (seldom is the English menu)

All in all, like anything else, there are pro's and con's to being a native English speaker.

I used to think my friends wanted to keep up with English so I used English to write them. One friend asked me if I would like to try writing in Japanese, even in romaji. She told me she spends a lot of time composing a letter to me in English and it is fair if I do the same in Japanese. I cannot tell you how delighted I was for her to say that! From then on, I tried (and try) my best to compose in 80% Japanese and some mixed English buzzwords. I am glad despite her wanting to know more English, she encourages me to write and speak more in Japanese.

Sometimes I felt at a loss, really depressed, like many people were just interested in using me as English practice. At least non-native English speakers do not have to doubt or second-guess their friends...lucky Chinese folks here, ha ha. Don't get me wrong though...it took a good 2 years to figure out but now I have a better sense of detecting superficial friends. Less friends but more time to focus on the good ones. Again, think the smart, particularly Japanese way: quality over quantity!

Got Bilk???

Meet "BILK," = beer-milk ---> bilk, the new hit beer in northern Japan, invented out of sheer necessity (to use up surplus milk). I highly doubt the inventors knew what the word "bilk" means in English...if they didn't know then, they probably know well by now. This is why we have dictionaries!

Well, if you are wondering, it seems to have gotten a thumb's up from some female taste-testers, claiming the beer imparts a lovely fruity taste on their palettes.

BILK: (as found in the dictionary)
1. a) To defraud, cheat, or swindle b) To evade payment of
2. To thwart or frustrate
3. To elude

the drama that took Japan by storm last year...

If you have get access to some J-dramas, this is one well-worth watching. It is full of slapstick (sometimes culturally exclusive) jokes and predictable plot yet is addictive.

'Nodame Cantabile' is a drama on classical music based on comics, depicting a girl who has prodigy-like talent for playing the piano...except for the fact that she is unable to read musical scores. He is a pianist whose dream is to become a great conductor. Her character is really wacky and I can without hesitation, say that she is an off-the-wall kind of gal. Most of the acting is good but I just cannot get used to Juri Ueno's new look, likely due to showbiz pressure-induced plastic surgery? Nostrils look different, streamlined thinner nose, lost a load of weight, eyes look more alien-like and large...you decide. See the before pic. Pity, too...now she looks generic like any other actress out there. Boooooo. Most of the other main actors/actresses seem to have alterations done...but I won't get into that. That's showbiz for ya.

Though not endorsing this method, one can download it at drama addicts or fragments at youtube/dailymotion. If you download the raw version of the drama, you also have to download the subtitles from another file-downloading location.

in hot, make that BOILING water

7 NOVA teachers arrested for cannabis, cocaine

Seven foreign teachers working at the NOVA English language conversation school have been arrested on suspicion of violating a law on illegal drugs and the Cannabis Control Law, police said Wednesday.

Police accuse the seven of possessing five bags containing a total of about 1.5 grams of powdered cocaine, and 15 bags containing a total of about 8.2 grams of cannabis, on a street in Tokyo's Roppongi district on Nov. 19 last year.

Don't let the cute mascot of theirs fool you! If you are not in the know, NOVA is the biggest English language conversational school...and one could also say the most ruthless one of all the chain schools. In the past I heard they hired foreigners at the airport, straight off the plane...something which, I do not doubt. Not all NOVA teachers are bad but a good crop of those I met were real jerks. The men really look down on Japan, talk about all the girls they laid the other night, diss Japanese culture, trash the food, and don't put any effort into teaching. Some NOVA teachers who start out with good personalities change for the worse due to those 'rotten apple' teachers. This incident is sad news for the few 'good' Nova teachers out there.

One of my former students at AEON signed up for NOVA, paid all at once, went to the school only to be ignored by the teacher and fellow classmates. I thought she was particularly sensitive but I in fact met a man who works at the NOVA school she went (goes?) to and was told by his girlfriend (my friend) that he sometimes makes fun of students or ignores those whose level is still relatively low. OUCH - can you imagine paying to be ignored by your teacher? That is really mean and disheartening to hear. I totally, completely lost respect for him after I heard that. And this is good money, like 40 dollars an hour! My poor friend - she dreaded going to class each week...I really felt for her.

As for this recent case involving NOVA teachers and pot, cocaine...it does not surprise me in the least. In fact I am surprised it did not happen much much earlier! Doing pot is kind of 'tolerated' in the West, especially liberal areas...however getting into crack (cocaine) - now that's serious stuff, a whole different ballgame. At AEON's 'so-called' teacher training week, they stressed how important it was not to take the drugs issue lightly. Japanese people take it very seriously, they said, and taking pot is equivalent to hard drugs such as crack. So they told all the AEON teachers to lie to students if they ever had past drug experience. (though comparable, I still think Aeon, Berlitz, and Geos teachers are leaps and bounds ahead of those at NOVA, probably a result of more rigorous interviewing procedures)

Did the teachers at AEON lie? Yes. My husband was told by one of the teachers he never got into drugs. What a laugh. In the teacher's room he and another teacher were often recounting or comparing stories about how stoned (high on pot) they were, all the while laughing and wishing they could get pot in Japan as easily. What losers. The funniest thing is, most of the Japanese women were really into/infatuated with those guys...but to foreign women, we would not date them if they were the last man alive!!!

Nothing like smearing corporate image in Japan with a drugs scandal. This hurts not only Nova but all schools in the industry. I wish all the losers would go home, where they belong!

novel yet, why didn't I think of that?!

This is a picture of some plates and glasses I got the other day. What do you think? Could you notice they are made of a high-quality plastic resin? This is an ingenious design for anyone who likes to throw the occasional party.

Stand up or group parties tend to be quite the juggle, toting along your drink while plate in the other hand. This plate solves that dilemma, leaving you hand-free to dig into food!

You can buy them in Japan at Sony Plaza's Serendipity store...LUX designed by Starck, made in France. Very good for entertaining and environmentally friendly!