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Saturday, June 28, 2008

Parachutes

It's already Saturday again. It's terrifying how fast the weeks are flying. Today my host mom and I picked up Obaachan and then went to a fancy restaurant for Lunch. It was amazing. I've decided though that I don't like fish in custard. or jellied fish. Jellyfish is good though.

After lunch we drove for a while through the beautiful Japanese countryside, and my host mom told me that we were going to "a mountain." I was slightly confused, you don't just go to "a mountain" for no reason. Was it for hiking? A famous monument? Some historical sight? After a while, we parked the car at the base of a small hill and started walking. Beyond a group of trees that were standing in the way, there was a gorgeous hillside, surrounded by forest, with families having picnics, and dozens of parachuters soaring down the hill. It was so cool. There was a rickety little chairlift that we rode to the top of the hill/mountain and from there you could see the view over all of Sendai. The funnest part though was all of the parachuters. We were able to watch them take off and go soaring off into the distance. It looked like so much fun!!!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Automatic Rice Machine

This was the strangest thing ever. Seriously.

On the way home from my host mom's English class, we stopped at this little booth and she asked me to please carry a large bag of brown rice in for her. We went inside, fed the machine a 100-yen coin, and the entire booth started shaking like crazy. We poured all the brown rice down a chute, and waited, and waited, and it felt like the little booth was about to blow up, and then white rice suddenly started flying out of the other chute. I am so confused. Why not just buy white instead of brown rice in the first place?

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Day at Home

This is the first time that I've actually been home all day since I arrived here. My host mom has had something planned for me every single day which has been awesome, but it was nice to have a break. I went downstairs to breakfast this morning to find toast smothered with my leftover mango tart filling. lol. It even had the toasted meringue on top.

I spent the day watching J-Dramas! Four episodes of Nodame Catabile, and two episodes of Kurosagi. I'm getting hooked. This is not good.

I also tried to pull out my summer AP homework, but then got frustrated over the thought of spending my precious time in Japan doing American homework. I don't know what to do with it. D: I really shouldn't save it all for when I get back.

For lunch my host mom invited two of her friends over and we had obento delivered. I find it amusing the way she says kawaii ne? (Isn't she adorable?!) to everyone she introduces me to. I had kind of thought that kawaii was just something that younger people said all the time, but no. It's everyone I meet.

Also, my continuous posts about food are probably getting annoying by now, but the obento boxes were so pretty! It was all so visually stunning that I felt guilty eating it. There were dozens of little pieces of tamago, and ebi, and unagi, and tempura, and mochi, and little red fruits that I have never seen before in my life, and dozens of other delicious things that I had never seen before. It was amazing.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Mango Puree

Today I spent the day making mango meringue tartlets for my host family! They were extremely excited to have "American sweets." I'm not too sure about how "American" mango tarts really are; I've never had them except when I've made them, but I didn't mention that. I was a little worried about finding all of the ingredients in a Japanese supermarket, but with the exception of limes, didn't have too much trouble. What I didn't think about was the part where the mangoes have to be pureed. In America, we have blenders, and food processors, and mix masters, and juicers, and any number of ways to puree a mango. Not in Japan though - at least not in my host family's kitchen. When the forks didn't work so well, my host mom pulled out the old fashioned suribachi and surikogi - the Japanese mortar and pestle. What can I say? When I offered to cook for my host family I never imagined I would be pounding mangoes with a stick. My advice: never try to puree a mango without a food processor. It doesn't work. My host family absolutely loved the tarts though. My host mom even had me help her translate the recipe into Japanese so that she can make it again for her friends someday.

Only In Japan...

I guess umbrellas just don’t fit inside normal vending machines.


Kawai roadblocks with monkeys


Supposedly a taxicab - I wouldn’t exactly trust it to get me anywhere alive though.


Beautiful, Sweet, Perfect, $84 cherries

Mochi

Guys, I don’t think I’ll be coming home. There’s just too much amazing food here.

This is mochi – sweet gooey deliciousness. The one on the right is black sesame, the brown one is walnut, and the green one in the middle is Sendai’s famous zunda. You will never find zunda mochi anywhere outside of Sendai.

Sendai Castle

This week Shirayuri School has exams Tuesday through Friday, so the principal asked me to please only come to school on Monday. I think more school weeks should be like this. lol. Yesterday my host mom and I took the subway to downtown Sendai, and then toured around Sendai City on the Loople bus. We saw some famous Sendai landmarks, and then got off at Sendai Castle.

History Note: Sendai Castle was built by the samurai Masamune Date, after he aided in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Masamune was 34 years old at the time. The castle was destroyed in July 1945 due to an air attack on Sendai during the second world war. All that remains now is the wall.

The view from the wall was incredible! You could see the entire city, the green mountains beyond, and even the glimmer of the ocean in the distance.Lord Masamune Date

There was also a museum with relics that have been found from the castle. After that, we went to the library, which was really cool. I must admit though, it was a bit disturbing being in a building with millions of books that I couldn't read.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Matsushima - Tako

Tako = octopus = my absolute favorite. On a side street there were dozens of little stands set up with freshly grilled seafood of every kind. Since I love tako so much, we stopped and bought some. I believe that it was the most amazing thing I have ever tasted.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Matsushima - Tea Ceremony

On the mainland, there was a temple-like building where sight-seers could experience a tea ceremony. After removing our shoes, we walked in to find a wide open area overlooking the gorgeous bay below. Red carpets for sitting on lined the room. A server dressed in the traditional Japanese Yukata served us hot matcha tea and small Japanese sweets.

Matsushima - Temples and Islands

As I mentioned earlier, Matsushima has many small islands scattered throughout its bay. Some of them have small temples on them, and can be reached by way of short bridges. We went to two of the little Island temples.

Matsushima - Zuiganji Temple

Japanese temples are incredible. The one we went to today, Zuiganji Temple, was the family temple of the Date clan, built in 828. Cameras unfortunately were not allowed inside, but it was spectacular to see. All of the sliding doors were painted in gold, with murals of various animals, such as peacocks and hawks. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of it was the different levels of the floor. Parts of the floor were raised, and only the higher class people were allowed there. One room in particular was higher then any of the other areas of the temple. This room was reserved for the emperor, who only visited on one occasion.



On either side of the avenue leading up to the temple were caves cut into the rock, used by the monks as places for meditation. They were really something to see, and almost a bit eerie.

Matsushima - Uni

This had to have its own post. It was definitely an experience that I will never forget. After the glass museum we drove to a large fish market. It was the coolest place, with every kind of fresh seafood delicacy you could ever imagine, including fresh uni (sea urchin).


I've always been terrified of trying uni, but when it's that fresh and still in one piece, it's pretty much impossible to say no. My host dad bought one for me, and the guy at the "uni-stand" immediately set about preparing it. Apparently there is an entire process to it. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Step 1
Step 2
Step 3


So, my first time ever trying uni. I have heard many times before that it is an "acquired taste," and so was terrified that it would be really dreadful. I took a bite and was somewhat surprised. It definitely wasn't the most delicious thing in the world, but it sure was fun to eat. lol. It's taste kind of reminded me of the way the ocean smells - really wonderful when when you first smell it after being away for a long time and you hear the waves crashing on the shore again. That probably sounds really weird. lol

Matsushima - Weddings

The first place we saw in Matsushima was the Kyohei Fujita Museum of Glass, which had many gorgeous glass works of art, and a very beautiful and famous ocean garden. As it turned out, the museum was a very popular spot for weddings. It the hour or so that we were there, we saw three completely different styled weddings.

The Traditional Japanese Wedding - The bride and groom were dressed up in traditional Japanese style wedding garments. Their reception was held in a little open air room above the garden, looking out over the ocean. It was like watching something take place from another world.

The Chapel Wedding - When we finally averted our stares from the stunning traditional wedding taking place, we turned to see another bride, dressed in white, having a wedding in the little domed chapel which was set in the midst of the garden.


The Museum Wedding - We were leaving the museum when suddenly the staff members started sending us back the way we had come. I had no idea what was going on at first until we saw yet another bride making her way towards the entrance to the main part of the museum. It was truly the most stunning thing I had ever seen. I couldn't even think to take a picture. The main hallway leading to the museum's exhibits was darkened, with the friends and family members lining the walls and either side, and the minister standing at the end. The bride's dress had at least a six foot train. We watched in awe as the many woman surrounding her arranged the entire dress so that it fell in the perfect places around her as she walked down the aisle. It was quite some time before we were able to turn away.

Matsushima

Today was so amazing! I got up this morning and my host mom and dad surprised me by telling me that we would be visiting Matsushima! Matsushima is one of the three most famous views in Japan, with over 260 small islands scattered throughout its bay. The drive there was extremely beautiful, with endless rolling hills and lush greenery.


Even though it was a cloudy day, the view was still breathtaking with the ocean, the islands, the beaches, the temples, the mountains, the rock formations, the zen statues, and the endless greenery. It was beyond incredible.