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That Time I Thought I Could Converse with the Crows
It’s kind of true. I go for an early morning walk roughly the same time every day. For a month or so now when I get to a certain point on that walk, I come across this crow sitting on top of a huge mound of dirt. Since I have nothing better to do, I…
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The Not-a-Rice Ball Rice Ball – Onigirazu
An onigiri is a rice ball. The verb nigiru meaning to shape or mould something in your hand(s), not unlike, um, a rice ball. It’s also important to note that rice balls are the standard, go-to, easy-peasy meal of choice all over Japan (what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was to my generation when I…
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Pushing the Reset Button
Lewin’s Equation: B = f (P, E). Behavior is a function of a person and his/her environment. The way I figure it, Ol’ Kurt Lewin was trying to tell me that in order to change my behavior (being an all-out slacker about my writing), I needed to remove myself from my stale environment (um, where…
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A Watershed and an Existential Crisis
One year ago this month my son, Julyan, started his second year of university and moved out of the house. At the time I thought I was being clever by planning ahead, applying for a scholarship and a prestigious workshop, also picking up a few more part time jobs. Keeping busy would stave off empty…
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Not Cookie Cutters
These are not cookie cutters. Well, I guess they could be cookie cutters. But they’re not really. You can find them in all sorts of Japanese stores. They’re usually sold in sets of four, like this. So what they are, actually, are vegetable cutters. You use them to cut carrots or daikon radishes or, heck,…
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Monkeys on a Stick!
I’ve been wanting to write about this for awhile, and now I’m finally getting around to it. This is what I love about Japan. Monkeys on a stick. Before I went into the hospital to get my gall bladder out – um, ages ago (last spring?) – a good friend gave me this little thing…
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Skipping Town–Yonige （夜逃げ）
Japanese Word-of-the-Day: Yonige (夜逃げ)–skipping town; literally running away at night. I was really trying to sleep past three am last night, and I was almost there. That is until sometime around 2:55 when I started dreaming about explosions. Time to wake up. It turned out I wasn’t actually in a war zone. Instead, someone was…
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Cha Cha Maru
Dogs get you through things. They teach you about yourself. They’re your little buddies and a part of your family. That said, they’re not your “children”, as I hear so many people say. Your kids will invariably grow up and become their own independent-thinking human creatures. They’ll move away from you. But not…
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Three-Thirty AM Ramen
Here’s a twist on what to do when life gives you lemons. If you’re woken up at three am by a husband being noisy downstairs and you can’t go back to sleep, you go grab some ramen. There’s this super popular ramen shop one town over that is only open from 3:15 am until 5:30…
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Okuribi–Send Off Fire
August 16th is the last day of obon — a summer festival that honors the spirits of the dead. It’s the day everyone has to send back all those ancestors who have being hanging out at the family altar, feasting on fruit, sticky rice cakes, and sake’. Because, really, you don’t want them hoards of ghosties hanging…
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Summer Desserts
In Japan sweets are sublime. Let me give you an example. The other day I was picking up some sticky rice cakes for my mother-in-law and I came across this. It’s a gelatin dessert, but there’s a goldfish floating there. And little red and white bean “rocks”. Seaweed even! And there, minus one gelatin bite.…
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The Bear Spray Incident
The day started. It was a mellow, sad morning with many tearful goodbyes to my Clarion West classmates. Okay, I have to go home. I’m going to do this thing. I arrived at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport three hours before my Japan flight, paid 75 bucks for my overweight suitcase (still loads cheaper than had I…