As usual, we had our tutoring session with Toshiya (the barber) tonight. And, like always, we learned a lot of very useful things! We learned how to tell the time, and the proper words for prices. The numbers used for counting, prices and time are not the same, go figure! Just like you have to use 3 different alphabets in Japanese, there are 3 different sets of numbers. Some of which are the same, but not all. In some cases the word for minutes changes too; for example, nijupum means 20 minutes, but when using minutes that involves a 3 (san) pum becomes fum!! It's all very complicated but we are trying to get it down!
(10/30) Friday- Today, I had a first time experience... I put away my summer clothes to make room for my scarves, hats, gloves, turtle necks, long underwear, heavy sweaters and coats!! In the "winter" in AZ I always wore my summer shirts with jackets; this is going to be very strange, especially since I don't even know the proper way to wear half of this stuff :0 I guess I will learn as I go!
My first attempt at homemade applesauce was very successful, the result was quite delicious! I also made baked apples and an apple cake, and I sauteed some apples in brown sugar and cinnamon and froze them! And unfortunately we have about 45 apples left... It's time to start giving them away!
(10/31) Saturday- Happy Halloween! We didn't do anything to celebrate halloween this year, but it was fine by the both of us. Instead, we went to the onsen!! It's so wonderful how quickly it warms up your bones! We came home to a nice warm house, thanks to our downstairs neighbors whom have started using their heat!! We had a nice quiet, relaxing movie night.
(11/1) Sunday- Happy Birthday to Kellie!!! We called Kellie today to wish her "Ontanjobi Omedeto Gozaimasu"- Happy Birthday, and as always it was great to talk to her! She is enjoying several inches of snow in Beijing! It is apparently quite rare for it to snow this early, or this heavy in Beijing so she is appreciating her birthday present from Mother Nature.
We have been missing game night with my parents quite badly, so today we had game "night" over skype video chat! We played Yahtzee and had a lot of fun. It's not quite the same... but it is still nice! We also got to chat to Eric's parents for awhile today too. It is always wonderful to have time to chat with our parents whom we miss very very much!! Thank goodness Thailand is getting closer... now, if we can just convince Eric's parents to come visit!! :)
(11/2) Monday- Today was the first snowfall of the season! I tried to get pictures but they didn't come out very well. The flurries were pretty small. I promise to keep trying though! It should be snowing tonight and tomorrow as well! It's currently 1 degree celcius, and I am therefore writing this from my nice warm toasty bed :)
Over the weekend we tried to pawn off some of our apples to the neighbor downstairs... but it didn't quite work out. She did take the apples, but she also brought up vegetables in exchange. We got 2 huge carrots, a head of Chinese Cabbage and an enormous Daikon Radish. Last week I decided that each time I go to the grocery store, I would venture out and buy 1 new item that we have yet to try... the winner was a purple potato-ish vegetable. I have since learned that it is a yellow Asian Yam. It is yellow on the inside and purple on the outside and not quite as sweet as Western Yams. So today, with the first fall of snow and the box of random vegetables... I decided to try my hand at making soup. I have never made one from scratch before (probably because I'm from Phoenix and only have the desire to eat soup a handful of times a year and therefore have never bothered). Anyway, I used the vegetables along with some onion and some Takko garlic, a stock I made primarily from chicken broth and some basic seasonings. I personally thought it was delicious, and Eric sure gobbled it up... but he also had just walked home in the snow so I think he would have eaten anything warm I put in front of him.
P.S. we still have about 20 apples left, any recipe suggestions would be much appreciated!
(11/3) Tuesday- It's still snowing! There is not much snow on ground because it's still 1 degree out, but the flurries sure are pretty to look at! Today I finally got the Wikipedia article posted that I have been writing, it seems so short for so much work... I guess it was harder to find out info about our town than I expected. Anyway, if you search Ajigasawa, Aomori you can read it. The photos have not been uploaded yet because the source has to be approved, I tried to explain that my husband took them on my camera and gave me permission to use them... we'll see if they accept that!
Today is culture day in Japan which means... no school!!! I was thinking about the fact that the students get so many national holidays off, and then remembered that they don't have snow days... I find the system rather strange. Eric and I enjoyed his day off, however the house was rather chilly! Our downstairs neighbors were gone for the day, so no free heat for us! We will probably cave in and use our heat soon.... we are trying to hold out still- as for the reason, I'm not sure what we are thinking! We went on a quest for warm winter boots for me, which in Japan where the average shoe size is around a 5 or 6... and I'm a 10... it's quite a quest. We found one store in the mall in Goshogawara that has a "model size" section. Apparently model size here indicates large, the section is full of 25 and 26 (9-10)! It's such a great change because if there were a model section in the states I'm pretty sure it would be a size 0-slim! We also attempted to see a movie today. They occasionally have a few movies in English with Japanese subtitles and we thought that is what the listing said for this movie; we knew the kanji said Nihongo (Japanese) but we did not know the second one... which we assumed to be subtitles. It turns out that the second Kanji meant dubbed over. Fortunately when we went to buy tickets we were informed "No English". Now we know!
Our movie schedule, we now know that if the title is translated into English, the movie is available in English. (11/4) Wednesday- It is so warm today!! It's back up to 10 C (50 F)! The snow has of course turned to rain! Good thing we didn't switch our tires to our snow tires like everyone suggested!
Snow on Mt. Iwaki and a very naked orchard.Today I drove to Hirosaki by myself and saw a doctor (just for a prescription, I'm not sick) all by myself! I was explaining to my parents that it is a little bit like sending an illiterate 17 year old to a big city to try to get the right medication from someone that only speaks a different language! That's pretty much what it felt like. I say 17 because I sometimes feel a little bit like a first year driver, mostly when I encounter "big city traffic", which I am sure that in comparison it's no different that Tempe or Phoenix I have just adjusted to Ajigasawa traffic. And I say illiterate because I can't really read a map, but roads don't have names anyway so maps aren't always helpful. I have learned though that once I get to the general area if I can find a taxi cab or a bus the drivers are usually quite helpful! All fear aside, I made it there, through the doctor, and home safely!
Fall leaves in Hirosaki!I came home to discover that Eric had brought his supervisor over to help us learn how to use our heaters and to have the gas company come fill our tank :) The house is now roasty toasty warm!
As it is the first wednesday of the month, we had our Ekaiwa club tonight! It is always fun to see the group and chit chat about our daily lives. Their English always impresses me so much! One of our group members is very excited because he friend bought her and her husband tickets to fly to England to celebrate Chirstmas with them! It is someone that was a former JET in the area and it made me realize that we might actually keep in contact with our Japanese friends, and maybe we will be able to see them again after our return home. It was a very refreshing thought for me, it's hard to get close to people when you know that after this year you may never see them again. I think it's especially hard when I am missing the people I have grown so close to over the years!
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