Shocking

This morning I woke up with a head pounding hangover. I was jonesing for a Coke (my favorite remedy for this particular ailment) so I went down to the local grocery store to pick one up before crawling back into bed. I grabbed the first can I saw with the word 'Cola' on it and was on my way. I went home and began to chug my sweet carbonated beverage when I suddenly realized something was terribly wrong...

Apparently I missed the part that reads (in plain English) "with vodka". I immediately spit it out and humbly crawled back into bed. I wish I could blame Japan for this one but this time it's all on me. FML.

Introducing...onigiri (rice balls)

After being in Japan 3 months I thought it was time that I paid tribute to the tastiest and most convenient snack around town. To the untrained eye a rice ball is (you guessed it) a ball of rice. But to those us of who have tasted this sticky goodness it is so much more. To me, the rice ball is a way of life.

3 Reasons Why the Rice Ball is Awesome:

1. Convenience. The rice ball is made of glutenous rice pressed together tightly with salt and various seasonings. The rice is wrapped in dried nori (seaweed) which acts as a shield of armor protecting the rice from harmful elements (wind, rain, clumsy hands etc.) If wrapped correctly the rice ball will hold itself together despite all odds leaving you free to eat with one hand and ride your bike with the other (although I do not recommend this without a helmet and/or knee pads).

This rice ball was wrapped incorrectly by yours truly. 

2. Price. Another awesome thing about the rice ball is the price. Rice is one of the few inexpensive products you can buy in any Japanese supermarket so if you make these sticky treats yourself then rice balls are super cheap. However if you are domestically challenged like I am, then you can pick up rice balls at any convenient store, supermarket, or abandoned bento lunch box you can find for about 120 yen (about $1.20). Who says Japan has to be expensive? (I have recently decided to substitute all my meals for rice balls).

3.The element of surprise. One of the greatest things about the rice ball is the tasty surprise that lies below. Remember when you were a kid and you used to beg your mom to buy a box of cereal simply for the promise of a prize inside? The rice ball is like my Japanese version of Frosted Flakes (more or less). Many rice balls are filled with mouthwatering treats like salmon, beef, or pickled plum. For most rice ball consumers, eating one of these is not nearly as suspenseful as I make it out to be (the package clearly states what lies under those sticky white grains). However I am an illiterate gaijin so every time I bite into a rice ball I feel like I just walked in on my own surprise party.

salmon woohoo!

Setsubun

So last Thursday I had the privilege of celebrating Setsubun. For those of you not savvy to the Japanese ways Setsubun is a bean throwing ceremony held the day before the beginning of spring. It is sort of a New Years tradition where you cleanse away the evil of the year before. In order to do this you must participate in mamemaki where you throw beans at someone dressed as an Oni or devil.

Here's how it went down at my school...

our throwing beans

Oni!

some of us were braver than others...

we have to vacuum...but at least the evil is gone. Happy Setsubun!

An American, a Mexican, a Brazilian, and a Japanese walk into a bar...

okay...bad joke.

A few days ago I was having a drink at a local watering hole with some friends of the aforementioned nationalities. The four of us sat around talking about our travels and I couldn't help but notice that we were in Japan yet our entire conversation was in English. As the only native English speaker I was loving it. I didn't have to apologize for any mispronunciations or be embarrassed for using a word in the wrong context. I could sit back and humbly correct my friends' English when they asked. Then I started to feel guilty. I was sitting with three people who could speak at least two languages fluently and all I could do was ramble on in English, mumble a few phrases in Spanglish (despite 4 years of Spanish language education), and ask for a beer in Japanese (and maybe a few more phrases). Here I was all the way across the world, in a country I barely knew, and everyone was accommodating me. As a native English speaker I have to say...we've got it made.

Unfortunately, this makes me incredibly lazy. I really haven't had any problems getting around in Japan. Sure, I've felt embarrassed for not knowing the language but I've always been able to get what I need (the power of pointing is a magical thing). I told my Japanese co-worker about some of the embarrassing encounters I've had while attempting to speak Japanese around town. She shook her head with disappointment and simply said, "more Japanese people should speak English". I couldn't believe it. Here I was, a foreigner in another country, and a Japanese person was making excuses for me. I corrected her and said it was the the other way around, I should get off my ass, pick up a book, join a class or something. The funny thing is I know that at home, in America, many foreigners are harshly criticized for not knowing English. I'm sure my attitude would change greatly if I received anything other than a smile towards my humiliating attempts to speak Japanese but I can't imagine how awful that would make me feel.

I guess I'm lucky that American influence is (generally) appreciated in Japan. American movies, TV shows, and music is everywhere. As a result, being a native English speaker (who knows only a handful of Japanese) doesn't hold much of a stigma...but I can't say this fact is really helping me acclimate to this new country. Then again, I'm a pasty blond girl...how much can I really fit it?