Sticker shock

During my teaching days in Japan, students of all ages and from all walks of life took my classes. But the majority were high school and university-aged girls. Teaching them was so much fun because they were so enthusiastic about everything. A few would always stay after class to tell me about their plans for the weekend, share their accomplishments of the week - and show off their latest set of print club stickers.

I couldn't believe the thick notebooks some of the girls toted with them everywhere, filled with page after page of custom-designed stickers featuring images of themselves, their friends - and sometimes even their pets! Print club stickers were a great way for the girls to commemorate the fun times they shared with one another - and print club machines allowed their imaginations to run free. Depending on the machine, one could have a picture taken with celebrities (Brad Pitt and Nakata were especially popular)or in exotic locations (everywhere from Paris to the African savannah) - or even create a unique dream world of fluffy clouds, vibrant rainbows, or anything else that came to mind. It was always fun to see the creative new stickers the girls would bring in each week - and even more fun when we had the chance to go to print club together! Yes, I started my own little collection too - but it was miniscule compared to the print club collection of some of my most genki students.

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In search of sunshine

Today ended up being cold, gray, and rainy - one of those days when the best thing to do is just sit at home and drink hot tea. And as I sip my tea, I try to think warm thoughts. And I think about one of my favorite places, where the weather is always hot and the sun is always shining. I'm curious if anyone can recognize where this is...



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Sushi dreams

I don't know what it is, but everytime I eat sushi too late at night, I end up having very strange dreams. Earlier this week, we went to a reception here in Chicago and the buffet dinner featured platters upon platters of sushi. I was in heaven! Unagi, maguro, tako, ebi... I ate several pieces of my favorite types of sushi and every bite was delicious. But dinner started a bit late, so we came home not long after eating - and I was soon fast asleep.

I don't normally remember my dreams, but that night they were so clear and colorful - just like any other time I eat sushi at night! I wonder why this happens? Is there sort of natural chemical in the raw seafood which triggers something in my brain? And does this happen to other people? Or maybe it's just me.

Oh, well - at least sushi doesn't give me nightmares!

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The third beer

I'm not really much of a beer drinker, but I do like hearing about new products. I was surprised to read today about the latest beer trend in Japan: beer brewed with protein from peas or soybeans instead of malt. Apparently by lowering the percentage of malt in the product, breweries can create a beverage which falls into a lower tax category - and can be sold at high volumes for a lower price than normal beer. This category of beer is referred to as the "third beer", following normal beer and happoshu, another low malt alcohol beverage.

I have to wonder what soybean beer - like Kirin Nodogoshi Nama and Asahi Shin Nama 3 - tastes like? The ads I've seen promise a refreshing, crisp taste. But I don't think I believe it. To me, normal beer is bad enough, and these new products almost sound worse. Are they here for good - or are they just a passing trend?

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Wrigley scenes

Baseball is back in Chicago after a long winter! And the Cubs did a bit of spring cleaning over the weekend, holding the Wrigley Field garage sale on Saturday. During the sale, the "new" bleachers were open for fans to explore - and for the first time ever I got to stand under Wrigley's vintage hand-operated scoreboard. Maybe only a Cubs' fan can understand how exciting that is!




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The second season

Don't believe anyone who tells you that Chicago has four seasons. I used to believe it myself, but now that I've lived in other places during different parts of the year I know that the old joke about Chicago having only two seasons (winter - and construction) is probably more accurate. Chicago's weather always seems to jump from extremely cold to extremely hot and back again, without much time for transition. One day a blizzard, the next day the beach.

But this weekend, we did have a couple of days that truly seemed like spring! And to prove it, the trees started budding - and I even saw plum blossoms, which I remember fondly from Japan (although うめ usually appear around February or March in many areas of Japan - yes, winter is long in Chicago).

The city is finally coming out of hibernation!

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Strange pink food

I’d like to think of myself as an adventurous eater. I am usually willing to try pretty much anything at least once. But in Japan, there was one food which I could never give much of a chance: kamaboko.

Kamaboko is a thin fish cake usually served as a garnish on bowls of noodle soup or with a rice ball. Kamaboko do not have a particularly strong flavor. Instead, their purpose is mostly to aid the presentation, helping the dish look more appealing. Kamaboko are quite pretty, often cut into the shape of a flower or a swirl – and outlined in pink.

But that color is exactly why I could not eat them.

I always wondered – why are kamaboko so pink? Is it some chemical that gives this garnish such a deep, vibrant color? And how is the pink so perfectly separated from the inner white part of the kamaboko?

I just couldn’t eat a food that made me think about it so much.

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A happy place in the sun

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From one world to another

Everytime I think about the time I spent in Japan, I still have to smile. How in the world did I go all the way from Chicago to Tokushima, Japan? Of all the places I could have ended up after graduation, I would have never imagined that I would be living in this small coastal city in Japan. Like most people, I had never even heard of Tokushima before!

But now I will never forget it.

As I ride around Chicago on buses or the “L”, I think about how I could get around Tokushima with nothing more than a bicycle. And as I walk along Chicago’s lakeshore, I recall crashing waves of Tokushima’s beaches. I also think about how Chicago’s height comes from its tall buildings – unlike in Tokushima, where a mountain called Bizan is the highest point.

Tokushima could not have been more different from Chicago! But I loved it just as much as I love Chicago – if not more.

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Spring, where are you?

Well, the temperature here in Chicago has finally broken 40 F (just barely), but with the brisk winding blowing off the lake and the persistently cloudy sky, it couldn't feel less like spring. So much for the arrival of April!

But today I noticed that Starbucks is trying to get its customers in the spirit of spring with the relaunch of the green tea (or as I like to call it, 抹茶 - there are some Japanese words that I absolutely prefer to English) frappuccino and green tea latte. Whereas in Japan, these beverages are available year-round, they are only available seasonally in the US - much like the pumpkin spice latte in the autumn, and the egg nog latte and peppermint mocha around the holidays.

I wouldn't say I necessarily associate 抹茶 with spring - but at least it's green! And besides, what else would Starbucks launch this season instead - the jelly bean latte?

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