Nothing too exciting this week, but some good stories to share. There was a grad student from Nepal who was finishing up so we took a group photo the day he left. From left to right Sunil (India), Matsuo-san, Maeno-san, Professor Akaksaka, me, Shah (Nepal), and Jodai-san.
My second to last night staying at the professor's house, I was again put to work picking fruit. Professor has somewhat close to 10 acres of farm land, where he has biwas, kiwis, oranges, and much more. After a long evening of picking biwas (very small fruit most similar to an apricot but you have to peel it before eating and it has a few medium size seeds inside), we went out for chinese food and then I had my first experience at a public bath. That was interesting, and of course I have no pictures of it. I was a little nervous at first, but once I got passed being without clothes in front of a few women (the men's and women's baths were separate), it was quite nice. It was like a big sauna, powered by natural hot springs and there were several pools both inside and outside. I could only last about 20 minutes. My last night at the professor's house he took me to my first conveyer belt sushi restaurant. It was neat seeing all the different (and some quite weird) sushi that would come around. So there were several rows with about 4 tables on each side, and the conveyer belt went up and down each row. We were in the second row and quite often I would see something that looked good, but by the time it came around to us it was gone. It pays to be in the first row; however, you can special order on a touch screen at the table then it will come on the conveyer belt but raised on top of a bowl so people know it is reserved. At the end, there is a slot at the table you put all the plates through and it counts them so the server knows how much was eaten by that table (it was about 105yen per plate, so not bad).
I am now moved into my apartment. Once I am settled in a little more I will share some pictures. It is small but very cute. At night you can hear tons of frogs croaking (I am surrounded by rice fields). Coming home one evening from work, I saw something hopping out of the corner of my eye. Kind of difficult to see, but there is a tiny frog in the picture below.
Even before arriving here I had intentions of purchasing a bicycle to get around here. Last weekend, the post doc whose apartment I was taking over took me by bus to see it and to get to know the bus route. After realizing it would be about 500 yen ($6) a day to ride the bus, my decision to buy a bicycle was solidified. The professor took me to a Japanese equivalent of Walmart after visiting a small bicycle store in town, which only had single speed bikes. I saw a number of the single speeds, then I saw a 3 speed (which may have been okay), but then I saw a 6 speed! It is no fabulous mountain bike, but I think 6 speed is the best I would probably be able to find here. So $160 gets you a 6 speed bike, with a basket already attached, a lock build on to the back tire, a bell, and a head light turns on at night if the bike is in motion. I thought it a pretty good deal, considering it would save me about $100 from riding the bus everyday (plus I would get the exercise). It is nothing fancy, but has everything I need for my summer here in Kinokawa and Iwade. Mine is the white bike in the center.
Unfortunately, Friday (the day after I purchased the bike) was pouring rain so I decided to take the bus since I wasn't quite sure where I could park the bike. There are special bike parking lots, and if you park elsewhere on campus, security will confiscate the bike. I also decided I wanted to purchase a good rice cooker here to take back to the states with me (where better to buy one right?). The professor pointed out the biggest electronics shop in town and said I would be best off going there. Once I found a few other things I needed (surge protector, USB hub, etc) I sought out the rice cookers. There were about 3 rows with almost 50 different rice cookers ranging from $30-$300. I walked around for about 30 minutes looking at each one, trying to figure out what I wanted. Eventually, I tried to communicate with a sales person about finding the right one, and about all I could say to them in Japanese was: small, not too expensive, and few days (it would keep the rice warm for a few days if all was not eaten right away). So they understood what I was looking for and took me over to one is specific. Apparently I also can hard boil eggs, steam vegetables and to some extent use it as a pressure cooker. It is very cute and small, and as Jesse puts it... it looks like a radio.
The buttons are all in Japanese, but fortunately during orientation the instructor gave us a Kanji cheat sheet that included TV remotes, air conditioning, and... rice cookers!!! So I was able to figure out what the main buttons were for. On the bottom, the right most is to start cooking, the middle a delayed cooking setting, and the left for just keeping warm. As for the settings I know the top one, which the arrow is pointing to is white rice, the bottom I think is brown rice and the middle maybe other? And those on the top I have no clue (good thing my grandmother is Japanese and lives at home with us, eh?). So after purchasing my rice cooker, I needed to go buy some rice to try it out with. I also stocked up on the following so I could have Japanese style breakfasts... (Miso soup, seasoning, pickles, and tiny dried fish!)
I also decided that instead of leftovers (I made stir-fry the night before), I would pick up some sashimi and Japanese beer. All sashimi and prepared foods go 50% off after sometime around 5pm. So I got quite a bit of sashimi grade fish for $6!
At the end of the weekend, I had my bike, my rice cooker, some cooking and eating utensils, cleaning supplies, my dry goods stocked and my fridge full
I'm enjoying having a bike, but it definitely is a workout when it is 90+ degrees and close to 100% humidity. After riding my bike a total of an hour and a half on Saturday to go to the stores to get all the household things I needed, I enjoyed a the air conditioning in my apartment! And also just the alone time! Since I arrived here in Japan, I have been constantly with people around the clock and on someone else's schedule. So it was really nice to just be able to have a quiet evening alone in my new home. Today was a bit of an adventure too. I had an idea where the dance studio was, so I decided to hop on the bike and try to find it. I followed the streets shown on the map but still couldn't find it after 45 minutes or so. I did finally get to see the Kinokawa river!
Hardly any buildings have street numbers, and the street numbers do not make any sense at all. Apparently the first building in the area is numbered one, and each building after gets the next number. So it is quite difficult to find a specific address. I checked the GPS on the phone and it appeared that I was way past the studio. So I turned back and after about 15 minutes I thought I'd come to the right place. There were 2 buildings and I wasn't sure which was it (all signs of course are in Japanese). After staring at each building for about 10 minutes, I eventually saw that one had a figure of two people dancing. I was very excited to find the studio, and know that it was only about a 25 minute bike ride from the apartment.
On the way to the studio I had noticed a little street party happening next to the athletic club. On the way back from the studio I decided to check it out. Turns out it was the 25th anniversary of the opening of the athletic club. There were a few different food and drink vendors, and one caught my attention. They tried to explain the type of sandwich (it was like a giant wafer with an egg, meat, seasoning and mayonaise). I eventually gave in and said ok, it was only 50 yen so why not? I took my "sandwich" over to a table where a woman with her children was sitting. I pointed to the empty chairs and said "okay?" and she smiled and said ok back so I sat down and prepared to eat. Then one of the girls from that food stand came over and invited me to join them. She spoke some English. Once I sat down, the girl next to me wanted a picture taken, then one by one others joined until everyone was in the picture. After attempting some conversations, it started raining. I tried to wait it out, but it was just getting worse. One of the girls offered me a ride home, because she had a van and my bike would fit in it. So I made my first Japanese friends today, and will hopefully get to see them again.
Well it is late on a Sunday night, and I want to be able to get up early before it gets really hot to ride my bike to work (if it isn't pouring rain again). I have really enjoyed finally having some alone time and am very happy with the apartment I was given.
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