what is wrong with me

i think it may be a sign that i've been in this country too long when i, walking by a post office from which i desperately need stamps to send postcards, declined to enter because there was no stamp vending machine and i would have to engage in human interaction. is something wrong with me? i think maybe so.

well, you've probably noticed i'm terrible at this thing (unlike my friends Lisa and Todd who, whilst being in Italy and Egypt, respectively, have still found the time to regularly post stuff). I'll get to posting my adventures later (let's hope), but now, I will just write about japan. i've lived here now 3 months, and thus am qualified to make lots of broad generalizations with far-reaching implications about this country. (yes, this is sarcasm)

first off. japanese people love mayonaise. isn't this strange? i mean, actually, it's probably not so true. i'm not really sure. but it feels like it. can i get my piece of salmon sushi smothered with mayonaise. why yes, yes i can.

also, japanese people like alcohol. ride any train in japan at night (after say 10pm) and you will see drunk japanese men (and sometimes women). they're not usually beligerent like americans when drunk, they just nod off to sleep or sing quietly to themselves. there are also no open-container laws in japan, so to see a guy pop open a can of beer on the subway or out in a public park is no big deal. did i also mention they have beer vending machines (and cigarette vending machines for that matter?)... this must inevitably lead to the following conversation:

you: "but Evan, don't they have age restrictions on who can drink and smoke?"
me: "why yes they do billy"
you: "but if they have vending machines for these things..."
me: "it's the honor system billy, the tried and true honor system."

in fact in no situation have i ever heard any of my friends being checked for id upon entering a bar or whatever here. but i think that's probably more because i think most people are afraid to ask simply because we're foreigners and, for the most part, are pitifully unable to understand the language. even though it would seem that alcohol is readily accessible by youngins here, i'm not sure if underage drinking is a big problem here. i just don't have any sense of that. drinking is a big part of the culture here (if i'm to judge by the redfaced salarymen crowding the trains late at night), but i don't know how problematic it is.

but food. yes, food. let me tell you about food. well, i should start by saying that since coming to japan, i have essentially moved to a semi-vegetarian diet. this is to say that i have pretty much stopped eating any land-based animal. i continue to eat fish, but i am not eating chicken, pork, turkey, beef or any other such thing. i'm not trying to be dogmatic about eating, and at first i did consume a little meat when it happened upon my plate due to... generally, my illiteracy, but i don't think i've consumed any more than maybe 1/8 kg of land-based meat since arriving.

it can be difficult to be a vegetarian in this country because almost everything seems to have some bit of meat in it. even the curry (not like indian style), contains tiny tiny tiny bits of beef in it, which, naturally ruins it for me. it hasn't been too bad though, and i've found out how to survive fairly well. if i was a strict vegetarian or vegan, i think it'd almost be impossible to eat out here. let''s just say that in the cafeteria at school, i'm limited in my choices to about 3 things... kakiage donburi, which is fried vegetables and partially cooked egg over rice; udon with fried tofu; soba with fried tofu. the latter two are just noodles, and i don't find myself to keen on either in their soup form.... but soba, when grilled is quite good. this is called yakisoba and it is quite tasty.

speaking of japanese foods i like, let me tell you about my new and ever growing love for a thing called okonomiyaki. now, let me also say to all of you who have eaten in a japanese restaurant in the US, and, when people ask you, "do you like any foreign foods?" and you say, "oh yeah, i like Japanese food," that you are wrong. because "japanese" restaurants in the US generally serve nothing closely resembling actual food in japan. all that stuff about hibachi and chefs who cook in front of you while making jokes... this is all a clever ruse, trying to keep you away from the experience of actual japanese cuisine. well, let me tell you about one of the pinnacles of japanese food -- okonomiyaki. okonomiyaki is often likened to a pancake or pizza, but really it's a thing unto itself. i think the name literally means something like "whatever you wanted grilled." usually though, it's cabbage, egg, a kind of dough and something (meat, shrimp, or whatever) mixed up and grilled and then smothered in mayonaise (see there it is again) and this magical brown sauce. what is this sauce. i do not know, but we are all convinced it's magic. well, yeah, i've been on a bit of an okonomiyaki streak this past week and have gone out for it some 3 times. what can i say, it's delicious. now i just need to figure out how to make it.

aside from that, i've been eating fairly well here. i cook most nights here, and, though at first i couldn't find a lot of essentials (like cheese. actual non-processed cheese does not exist in most parts of japan), i have since found an online import store which has delivered lots of food to my door (including the difficult to find peanut butter, the non-existent tortilla chips, and the essential -- cheese). so most nights it's usually something easy, like pasta or salad or a quesadilla or some kind of mix of beans and vegetables. i've experimented a bit here and successfully made a pesto pizza (can i stop to say that i've been salivating and envious reading my friend Lisa's posts about her adventures in Italy and all the pizza she's eating... pizza here is crazy expensive and strange. a large dominos pizza... which may be like a little over 36cm will run you 3500 yen. that's 30 bucks my friend. and that's highway robbery). i also tried making yakisoba this past week which wasn't as successful, but i think it's just because i overspiced it.

also, in case any of you are weirded out by my move away from meat, i haven't found it that difficult. granted the temptations i have in america... like chili dogs or pulled pork barbecue, are not to be found here, but still i think i've been doing ok, though i definitely notice that i still need to work on my food choices -- i generally don't think i'm getting enough protein, so i often have peanut butter cravings. i actually went to a vegetarian/vegan restaurant last week called cafe peace and had a veggie burger there and must say that it was better than any cow burger i've ever had. i was surprised, and i think if i can teach myself to cook well, i'll be eating better tasting, healthier (for the planet and me) overall. maybe that veggie burger woulda made a convert out of you. it was delicious. my meat eating friend kara agreed that the food was delicious, so this was not some kind of meat-deprived induced delirium i was experiencing.

well, that's all i feel like rattling off for now. i'm sorry i've been doing such a horrible job keeping this thing up, but i'll try to put in another post tomorrow, hopefully finishing off spring break and hopefully i'll have another one before week's end catching y'all up on all my other trips since then. it'll include things like a castle i visited, cherry blossoms, romance, you know, all very good things all very spring things. a new flower comes out of hiding every week.

peace and love,
Evan