new findings

Click here for more November pictures :)

This is the oatmeal that has recently arrived in stores for the winter in Japan. At first, I thought the mushrooms shown in the picture were included in the box so I didn't want anything to do with it, but I've just found out that the small box doesn't, in fact, include mushrooms. I can now enjoy my favorite food any time I want. Thank you to those who have spent your life savings in shipping to sustain me in the meantime. Now I know that I can just go to the rice section (duh) of the grocery store and find oatmeal without mushrooms.

I have a newfound love for downloading tv shows (especially The Office) and podcasts from itunes and putting them on my tiny ipod nano. These are especially handy when making long trips on trains. Also, you can also use itunes' (free!) podcasts to learn any language.

A couple weeks ago, I started a cooking class here. It will probably be for just a month unless I decide to continue, but I've already learned how to make some delicious things. We've made inari zushi and another sushi using kiku (edible flowers that are only ok to eat for a very limited time in the fall season). Last weekend was a special Christmas holiday meal, which was not actually so Christmas-y. It was, however, very tasty - a Chinese chicken salad, meatball soup, baguettes with different spreads, and pineapple cheesecake.

The cooking instructor speaks English well and used to work as a manager and head teacher at my school years ago. She and her husband were nice enough to drive Susan and me to Mount Tsukuba "Tsukuba San" last weekend. The weather was a little foggy and rainy, but we were still able to see some really pretty colors from the top. In the future, I'd like to hike it!

This is a picture from Tori no Ichi, a festival held in Tokyo every year. I went over the weekend and got to see all the rakes that are decorated and displayed for sale in hundreds of booths. They are supposed to bring good luck and good fortune (raking in big $), but ironically, they are too expensive for many to afford. They are really beautifully made though. They sort of remind me of the mums/garters we made in high school for homecoming. It was very crowded but well worth the crowds just to see what it was all about.