Life would be as Shaky as... as... 地震

     This will be a short post - just a blip under the radar. 

     This week while I was standing and cleaning my apartment suddenly felt like a car ran into the building. I slightly lost my balance and a box fell off my counter. What??? Since a car did not run into the building - I checked - I searched for seismic activity in Japan. Yep, a little, baby earthquake like the ones we felt in California.  They are on the same fault line, but it still surprised me.

      Just thought I'd share. And, yes, I am still safe and ok. 

Here is a link to Japan's recent seismic activity.

http://earthquaketrack.com/jp-14-mito/recent

I'm Allergic to Japan - Jet Lag

       So, when I was preparing for Japan (having never been this far overseas before) I expected to experience my first real case of jet lag, and I did. However, if did not take the form that I assumed it would. Surprisingly I did not suffer from sleeplessness at all (a fact which I think is a result of 29 hours of not sleeping, a melatonin pill, and God's mercy). 

       There are other common symptoms of jet lag. According to Google search, the list of common ailments includes: anxiety, confusion, dehydration, headache, irritability,nausea, diarrhea, difficulty concentrating, sweating, coordination problems,dizziness, and even memory loss. 

The route my body chose was to become temporarily allergic to Japan.

     I have never been allergic to anything before, but tears were running down my eyes and out my nose, my eyes were red and swollen, my lymph nodes were the size of grapes, and my sinuses were full... but otherwise I felt fine.  

       So quick as I could, I headed down to the nearest convenient store for this lovely mask (which are all the rage in Japan - you can even get them with cute decorative patterns). Later, after work I had to find allergy medicine in Japanese...

 

In a couple days, I was fine again. 

Reallly, body? 

Apparently I just wanted to wear a mask... Thank you jet lag.

My Walkabout

On my first Sunday in Mito I went and a long walk around the Sakura (cherry blossom) river and Samba lake as a long-cut to getting to church. It was a beautiful day and so the hour-long walk was a beautiful time to think and pray after a crazy first week of work. (I would add sipping coffee to that list of enjoyments but no one seems to walk and drink here in Japan and so I drank my coffee before I left. 

Here are some pictures from that walk. 

The flowers are plum blossoms.

However, going to church has not been my only excuse to get out and see the city. On at least two occasions I have gotten horrendously lost on my way to the grocery store. The kind of lost where I started in downtown and at one point had to follow signs saying "Mito city this way" (in Japanese, of course) -.- But that trip took me through the outskirts of the city where every yard seemed immaculately  and beautifully trimmed. It was snowing too, so thickly that I could not tell the difference between the falling snow and the thick white plum blossoms on the trees. The camera did not do it justice so I won't belittle that particular scene with photos. 

I also did some extensive walking after church through the gardens and parks of the city (not the famous one... the many other parks. I somehow have not made it to the famous one yet).

The Japanese Style

       Here are several photos of houses and structures and trees which strike me as being very Japanese in style. Most of  them I have seen during my walks around town (to church or the store or to work) but some have been elsewhere (Tsukuba city for example).

      It all seems beautiful to me, and I wonder whether that is because it is so foreign to me or if it is because I really like Japanese infrastructure.

The Big Gulp 飲み物

     I have already done a post about eating, so it is only fair to do one on drinking, too.

     On ever street corner, and in front of most stores there is a vending machine which dispenses both hot and cold drinks,even if the store sells drinks. Usually these contain tea, water, coffee, juice, etc... but there are some variation from place to place. The price ranges from 100-150 yen. 

     This post will mostly be pictures unless the drink was particularly surprising or unexpected because it is difficult to describe slight variations in taste. 

In any case, here are some pictures of things that I have been drinking. 

The powdered drinks or teas.

I like Japanese green tea better than American green tea.

In general, the coffee here is more bitter than what I've had in America.

The Juices:

The OJ tall carton tastes like oranges that are just over-ripened and has no pulp at all (texture like apple juice) which to me is really weird and surprising.

The "healthy" one tastes like v8, but better somehow...

Most of these are quart sized containers which the convenience stores sell with giant long straws. 

Do you drink juice a quart at a time?

   

The Canned Coffee.

I don't even know, do they sell canned coffee in America? Not bottles, but cans?
 I think rainbow means cream and sugar - at least that's what it tastes like.
The carton of coffee tastes like sweetened condensed milk in coffee.
The percentage # in the corner indicates what ratio of cream to coffee.

Starbucks coffee tastes the same in Japan.

This is milk. I had to ask someone how to tell the different percentages of milk apart. 

This is whole milk (see the 3.6 milk-fat).

And everything else...

Convenience stores コンビニ are great. 

Mito 水戸市 City of Flowers and Beans

Above is the beloved mascot of Mito, Mito-chan. She is the cuter of the two mascots because the other (natto the fermented bean) looks more like an elastic hot dog. 

Right now I am still exploring the city and find it great fun to stop into random shops that I pass, if they look interesting. Unfortunately, I still don't read as much Kanji as I'd like... so some of the stores are more of an adventure (what's this and what is it supposed to do?!?!?)

Mito is a city  of just over a quarter million people and  so has all sorts of things to do. There is shopping in the train station and little shops and restaurants littered throughout the busy streets. Like most of Japan, the city is not like any city in America that I am used to. The city has many more tall buildings with ample parks and green (or in the winter, brown) spaces in between. 

I have not really enjoyed any of the cities that I have stayed in within the United States, but there is a certain charm to Mito. Maybe I am just blinded by the fact that I will be living here for a year and either have to learn to love it or deal with myself...

part of Mito's charm is it's focus on nature and plants.

 There is moss everywhere.

Gardens are more than a mere afterthought.

People value flowers and natural beauty, even the manhole covers attest to that!

Also, the more I explore the more I discover "hidden" nature spots. 

I say hidden like that because many people use them, and yet they somehow retain the privacy of a forgotten nook in the woods. 

I love them!!

And I am learning to love my city. ^.^

Omnon Food 食べ物

For some reason, food is always an interesting topic between cultures. 

     Maybe its because it is something with which we can easily make a clear distinction. Maybe because it appeals to more than one sense (taste, smell, sight). In Japan, it particularly appeals to multiple senses as food is supposed to "feed the eyes as well as the stomach". If you have any doubt about this, look up "bento boxes" or lunch boxes "松花堂弁当".

 (fried squid) 

In any case, tasting the food here in Japan is one of the things that I was very excited about as I prepared to travel overseas.  One of the unfortunate things that I've discovered is that it is possible to retain a western diet here. It takes some time and more money, but there are enough McDonald's and Denny's and western imports to create approximately the same. 

(Of course, even western restaurants make adaptations for their Japanese audience, but it seems to be close enough. McDonald's sells chocolate french fries!)

For my first week I had very little time and no kitchen, so I ate at convenience stores most of the days and occasionally restaurants at night. In Japan, convenience stores コンビニ　have a decent array of goods at not-too-expensive prices.  My most frequented are Seven-Eleven, Lawson's, and Mini-Mart.

My favorite is Onigiri or rice balls. These are packaged individually for a dollar apiece (roughly) and are basically a full meal on the go. On the loft is a sausage onigiri (which is actually a mixture between ham and spam... not sausage at all. Below is a meat onigiri of some sort which was made like a sandwich: rice, meat, rice and seaweed to hold it all together

There are also these great French bakeries in all of the train stations which are a self-serve buffet of pastries. YUM. Below is a bad photo of a strawberry something. (French food labeled in Japanese katakana... so IDK...)

I have also tried some prepackaged foods, like rice porridge.

And going out to eat. The black seaweed stuff on the top right is an acquired taste. Eggs are EVERYWHERE in Japanese food. The brown thing in the bowl is kitsune (fox) tofu which is fried in soy sauce and sugar. The tempura on the plate is some kind of ocean meat... tasted like the imitation crab meat. 

Speaking of eggs being everywhere, here is my new notebook. This strange egg man is named Gudetama, the lazy egg. I have not decided yet whether he is cute or disconcerting.

More eggs! Below is a BLT, which comes with egg.

When I asked one of my Japanese friends why eggs are so popular, they said it is because they taste good and go with everything... Eggs certainly are inexpensive, and taste good (in my opinion) and prevent me from handling odd, unidentified food stuffs. I know what eggs are. 

Now that I am in my city and have gone shopping (and bought real food) I will have to do a post about that, but that will be another post for another day...