Point/Counterpoint

This is a gem. A mean gem.

We Can Vote!

Our absentee ballots arrived today, which means we really can vote. We've been keeping up on all the crazy news back in the States, and now we can have a say! [Go Obama/Biden!]

iTunes sadness and Red crabs

Dearests,

We have been keeping ourselves occupied in our sleepy town by downloading movies from iTunes. Sadly, this went awry recently. We are unable to get The Shining, for example, and some funny Scorcese flick. It all happened after we saw the crabs. It went something like this:

Chrystal: Omigod! Did you see that?
Ben: Yeah! What was it?
Chrystal: A tarantula. Did you see the way it moved, and its size?
Ben: No it wasn't. I didn't sign up to live with tarantulas. Tarantulas are only in South America.
Chrystal: It looked exactly like a tarantula. We're in the sub-tropics. They have big spiders here.
(a spreading rustle in the undergrowth...)
Chrystal: They're all over! There's another one.
Ben: What?!?
Chrystal: This is cool.
Ben: Wait. Is that a crab? Look.
Chrystal: Jesus! What are crabs doing on the sidewalk? There's no water here!
Ben: They must be land-crabs.
Chrystal: Or wetland crabs.

We have seen the crabs twice since. They come out around dusk and scatter across the brick path. They are black with a bright red marking, some of them as big as tarantulas...

Takoyaki

an octopus with 9 tentacles!



Hello friends. Some of you know that we have been introducing ourselves to hundreds of children over the past few weeks, letting them know what America is like, and what we are like. The younger, more adorable kids usually ask us questions after the presentation. These usually consist of:

"What color do you like?" (Green)
"Do you like animals?" (Yes, remember I told you I have two cats!)
"How tall are you?" (About 1.7 meters, I think. WOW!)

And, finally, "What Japanese food you don't like?"

To this last question, I say that I like most Japanese food, but I don't like to eat octopus. 35 astonished faces gasp at me as the teacher translates. Octopus is "tako" in Japanese. Usually, they follow up by asking if I like squid, which I do, especially when fried to a crisp Greek-style.

So today, we are at the mall, YouMe Town, which is the coolest hangout spot for English teachers and adolescents alike, and we need a snack. There is this food stand that fries up some really yummy looking morsels, and people are always in line to buy it. To be safe, we watched the staff make a batch. In the batter we saw corn, carrots, and some other chopped veggies; they looked and smelled like hush puppies. Yum!


So we bought some. We took them home and I bit into one. It was okay, until I looked at what was hanging out the side of the uneaten half: a bright purple tentacle, suction cups baked into a delicious doughy ball and frozen in time like this. Where the arm had touched the dough, a bright pink color so unnatural, and the arm itself looking like it was straight out of a Jacques Cousteau picture book. I put the takoyaki down and said, "I can't eat another bite."

The octopus is like a monkey to me, something I haven't seen in its natural habitat, and therefore more like a pet or a photograph. I see them at aquariums and zoos, or on TV. They grow really big. I can't eat them.

Typhoon!

We are being warned by teachers that a typhoon will hit Omuta on Friday. They are concerned for us because we do not have shutters on our windows. However, when we search for information about this storm, nothing pops up. We've been to numerous weather websites and even the national news network, but cannot find a mention about this freaking typhoon. Please let us know if you hear anything... for now, the next few days call for light rain, partly sunny skies, and possible thunderstorms.

UPDATE: There really is a typhoon heading "in our direction," but mostly this just means some really wet weather. I guess if we're in any "imminent danger," our company will be contacting us and making sure we stay safe (at least that's what they said). Could be exciting, but not truly unsafe where we are.

Kirin's Brewing Technology Elaborates the "Nodogoshi"

Friends and family: what is the "Nodogoshi"?

I have been pondering this for many days, approximately the number of days since I started going to the grocery store and buying Kirin beer. However, I haven't felt like asking people at school, or on the street What is the Nodogoshi?. I finally googled "the Nodogoshi," and my findings were perhaps a little underwhelming. And therefor, I intuit, false. Also, unsurprisingly, they made for poor English. So I have come upon the answer: It is the name of my new gang. We are The Nodogoshi.

Respect for the Aged, or Old Person's, Day

Today is a Monday but we didn't have to work. This because it is a national holiday, "Old Person's Day." On this day, we are told that people generally go shopping and sleep in, so it sounds a lot like what most of America thinks of holidays like Veteran's Day, President's Day, or Labor Day. We slept in a bit, did laundry, mosied around the apartment, then mosied around the city. We took a bus to the school I'll be working at tomorrow so I don't get lost on my way there, and we discovered a "Green Co-op," which is a gigantic step up from the grocery store we have been frequenting. Consider the difference between Winco and a small New Seasons, and you would come to understand what I mean.

So I've been thinking I need a project, either in some sort of art/craft or anthropological study, to keep me occupied in Japan. You see, our jobs are really easy, and don't take up much mental space, so I need something a bit more challenging and interesting. I'm thinking about trying to make a pizza tonight in our fish broiler (think upside-down grilled pizza), and in my search for some semblance of a recipe to do this, I came across this blog: http://www.giantjeansparlor.net/archives/candy_friday/ By absolute chance, this food blogger from LA lived in Japan for two years teaching English, and wrote a weekly entry about Japanese candies. Especially disgusting is the squid-roll-up, which oozes some sort of squid-y juice. I need a theme like this. Let me know if you have any ideas/curiosities, and I'll keep you posted.

On a side note, these pictures of the walk we took on Saturday, into this huge forest above our town. The mosquitoes were...vibrant.

Donuts in Japan

Hmmm. Ben loves donuts, and here there is a chain called "Mister Donut." We were told it's the best place around to buy coffee because they offer free refills. We have been to Mr. D, and it's pretty good, especially the Old Fashioneds, says Ben. At said donut shop, we have sampled: 1) donuts filled and frosted with a sort of confectionary green tea, dyed green, of course; 2) a little smoky sausage hidden inside a muffin; 3) chocolate-glazed, where the glaze doesn't seem to be sweetened, so is not very good; and 4) regular things, like Old Fashioneds, which Ben likes. Chrystal also tried a chestnut-cream filled one, which was yummy.

Mister Donut's sister company, Mosburger, does not make us happy. The burgers suck.

Chrystal is whining because we turned the A/C off and she doesn't like sweating after showering. It's 10:00pm, and definitely still hot enough for sweating. Today, however, was a pretty good one as far as weather goes. A light sprinkle here and there, slightly cooler, and good bike-riding conditions.

We took a great ride into the hills to our East (for the first time!), and discovered a really cool forest. Blue bamboo! (sort of) Mosquitoes! (lots) Shrines! (also lots) A Big Slide! (literally) An Environmental Protection Forest! (with a sign in English!). We will certainly be heading back there for hikes going up long, steep hills, when the weather and bugs cool down. We liked our city much more after our long bike ride today.

Okay, Ben says, "Publish Post."

We are Here

Ben and I have been in Fukuoka Prefecture, the Isle of Kyushu, for 3 weeks and 6 days now. While there is much to share, we would like to leave you with this photo to ponder, taken our first full day in Japan in 95 degree weather with 90% humidity. Please note the attire of those photographed.