I was walking home from the station and I heard this long, drawn-out cry, 'yakiimo-o-o-o! yakiimo-o-o-o!' with drums beating. It sounded very solemn and very Japanese.
My initial, ridiculous thought was 'is there some kind of religious procession happening? Is this like a call to prayer?'
My second thought was 'no, it's a "song" being broadcast through the neighbourhood, therefore, most likely it's some kind of truck going around collecting garbage. (There is an unnecessarily large number of unexciting trucks which broadcast music to announce their presence.)
Then I realised what they were singing; it was a sweet potato truck, selling hot sweet potatoes baked right there in the truck. Apparently the Japanese equivalent of an ice cream van.
If I hadn't just had dinner five minutes before, I might've gone and tried one.
You can hear the song yourself in this YouTube clip.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Yakiniku
Today Pete and I went out for dinner with a bunch of students. It was a group we don't usually hang out with but all very nice people. ^_^
We went to a yakiniku (Korean barbecue) restaurant near Kawasaki station. This restaurant is great because it's cheap - beers and sawas are less than 300 yen (cheaper than a cappuccino); meat dishes are not much more!
In yakiniku, a burner is put in the middle of the table, and you put various items on the grill to cook them. So you can order various cuts of meat - they're thin and cook in a couple of minutes - and barbecue them, dip them in sauce, and eat them. They are *so* good. You can get other things too. For example, we got some vegetables, some mushrooms (they came in foil, with butter - you wrap them up and put them on the barbecue for about five minutes, and they come off oh-so-tender), and some flavoured corn, which was like eating corn on the cob. We also got this awesome Korean soup which I shall certainly have again. ^_^
This is one of my two favourite restaurants in Kawasaki; the other being an Indian restaurant with superb curry.
I had a very nice evening.
We went to a yakiniku (Korean barbecue) restaurant near Kawasaki station. This restaurant is great because it's cheap - beers and sawas are less than 300 yen (cheaper than a cappuccino); meat dishes are not much more!
In yakiniku, a burner is put in the middle of the table, and you put various items on the grill to cook them. So you can order various cuts of meat - they're thin and cook in a couple of minutes - and barbecue them, dip them in sauce, and eat them. They are *so* good. You can get other things too. For example, we got some vegetables, some mushrooms (they came in foil, with butter - you wrap them up and put them on the barbecue for about five minutes, and they come off oh-so-tender), and some flavoured corn, which was like eating corn on the cob. We also got this awesome Korean soup which I shall certainly have again. ^_^
This is one of my two favourite restaurants in Kawasaki; the other being an Indian restaurant with superb curry.
I had a very nice evening.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Losing money
Today I got my details for my new account. This lets me transfer money from my Japanese bank account to my Aussie one.
And according to Reuters, the Australian dollar has just today 'hit a 4 1/2 month high vs yen'.
Nice timing, economy. >_<
And according to Reuters, the Australian dollar has just today 'hit a 4 1/2 month high vs yen'.
Nice timing, economy. >_<
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Teaching sarcasm
Today I taught the same lesson to two different classes, and the topic was sarcasm. How does one teach this? I'll go through my lesson with you. I've had trouble getting students to use this successfully in the past so I was pleased that it worked out well today, even with some students I thought would struggle.
"You're waiting at the movie theatre," I began, "and your friend is late, as usual. What are you going to say to them?"
I got one student to be the late friend, and gave some examples of rather peeved sarcasm ("I'm so glad you finally arrived", "I didn't want to see the first half of the movie anyway", etc), and then had them try. The first lady up got completely stuck and couldn't think of anything at all.
"Okay, think," I coached, "a good tip is to try thinking of the opposite situation. Let's imagine your friend is always on time, and they came early, and you're going to enjoy the movie. What could you say?"
A long pause.
"How about, 'I'm glad...'," I prompted.
"I'm glad we can enjoy to watch this movie," she said, at last.
After a little more conversation, I had them switch, and the other girl said, "it's such a nice day to be stand outside waiting for you to come".
(Today the weather actually was very nice, so in terms of sarcasm, this didn't make sense.)
So this is not the most withering sarcasm you've ever heard, but it was their very first try. And they acknowledged that sarcasm is not very common in Japanese conversation - whereas it is very, very common in English.
***
We did some listening practice. In the listening, one character (Japanese) didn't understand another's sarcasm. It reminded me of last week in our office. Pete, very unusually, had a day last week with only two classes. He said to our manager, 'I'm sorry, but I'm so busy today, even with only these two classes, could we postpone our meeting'. I knew he was being sarcastic; but he was so deadpan that the manager (who hears his sarcasm every day) took him seriously!
Then we practiced some scenarios using sarcasm. They were just reading the lines from their books, but it was a good chance to teach the importance of a Good Sarcastic Voice. We practiced:
1. The low, harsh, drawling voice ("Yeah, that's a reeeally good idea...") and
2. The fake enthusiastic voice ("Wow, that was the best movie I've ever seen!")
On the rare occasions a student has tried to use sarcasm with me before, I've usually been confused about how to take their statements; they just haven't gotten their voice quite right. I've been confused about whether they're joking or being sarcastic; this confusion never happens with native speakers.
(The exception is my advanced discussion class, one member of which is more sarcastic than I am. ^_^)
***
Anyway, after some preparatory stuff and more examples, we were ready to start them practising their own ideas. I had a bunch of scenarios for them, so I put one up.
"Your friend is going out with an incredibly boring person," I said, "what can you say? So first, let's think of the opposite. What could you say if they were going out with a fun and exciting person?"
"I'm glad you're going out with such a nice person," volunteered one.
"Good," I said, and started writing it, "but you know, someone can be boring and nice. It's better if you think of the opposite of boring."
"I'm glad you're going out with such an exciting person," she corrected herself.
So we put some ideas on the board - me changing their grammar to be more correct and a bit more sarcastic, and then they practised. (And I pointed out that while sarcasm can be quite mean, it can also be friendly and good-natured.) Then we tried another situation, and another. Each time, I got them to brainstorm example sentences, and then they could practice it more easily, without getting so stuck.
When we got the fourth situation, I didn't put any ideas on the board, but had them launch straight into it.
"You went to a rather pathetic party," I said, "only one other person came."
And they were off.
"Wow, what a great party that was," one of them said.
"It sure was," agreed the other. "I'm really glad we came."
And the next.
"You went to Niigata to go snowboarding," I said, "but the snow all melted the day before."
"Wow, what great weather it is," one of them said.
"It looks like perfect conditions for snowboarding," agreed the other. "It's a good thing I brought all these warm clothes."
***
Like I said, they're not going to be on The Chaser any time soon, but I felt excited to see them getting the hang of it. The second class I taught on this did well too. One of them surprised me by having a *great* sarcastic voice, it was actually kind of scary hearing this sweet lady suddenly busting it out, hahaha.
"You're waiting at the movie theatre," I began, "and your friend is late, as usual. What are you going to say to them?"
I got one student to be the late friend, and gave some examples of rather peeved sarcasm ("I'm so glad you finally arrived", "I didn't want to see the first half of the movie anyway", etc), and then had them try. The first lady up got completely stuck and couldn't think of anything at all.
"Okay, think," I coached, "a good tip is to try thinking of the opposite situation. Let's imagine your friend is always on time, and they came early, and you're going to enjoy the movie. What could you say?"
A long pause.
"How about, 'I'm glad...'," I prompted.
"I'm glad we can enjoy to watch this movie," she said, at last.
After a little more conversation, I had them switch, and the other girl said, "it's such a nice day to be stand outside waiting for you to come".
(Today the weather actually was very nice, so in terms of sarcasm, this didn't make sense.)
So this is not the most withering sarcasm you've ever heard, but it was their very first try. And they acknowledged that sarcasm is not very common in Japanese conversation - whereas it is very, very common in English.
***
We did some listening practice. In the listening, one character (Japanese) didn't understand another's sarcasm. It reminded me of last week in our office. Pete, very unusually, had a day last week with only two classes. He said to our manager, 'I'm sorry, but I'm so busy today, even with only these two classes, could we postpone our meeting'. I knew he was being sarcastic; but he was so deadpan that the manager (who hears his sarcasm every day) took him seriously!
Then we practiced some scenarios using sarcasm. They were just reading the lines from their books, but it was a good chance to teach the importance of a Good Sarcastic Voice. We practiced:
1. The low, harsh, drawling voice ("Yeah, that's a reeeally good idea...") and
2. The fake enthusiastic voice ("Wow, that was the best movie I've ever seen!")
On the rare occasions a student has tried to use sarcasm with me before, I've usually been confused about how to take their statements; they just haven't gotten their voice quite right. I've been confused about whether they're joking or being sarcastic; this confusion never happens with native speakers.
(The exception is my advanced discussion class, one member of which is more sarcastic than I am. ^_^)
***
Anyway, after some preparatory stuff and more examples, we were ready to start them practising their own ideas. I had a bunch of scenarios for them, so I put one up.
"Your friend is going out with an incredibly boring person," I said, "what can you say? So first, let's think of the opposite. What could you say if they were going out with a fun and exciting person?"
"I'm glad you're going out with such a nice person," volunteered one.
"Good," I said, and started writing it, "but you know, someone can be boring and nice. It's better if you think of the opposite of boring."
"I'm glad you're going out with such an exciting person," she corrected herself.
So we put some ideas on the board - me changing their grammar to be more correct and a bit more sarcastic, and then they practised. (And I pointed out that while sarcasm can be quite mean, it can also be friendly and good-natured.) Then we tried another situation, and another. Each time, I got them to brainstorm example sentences, and then they could practice it more easily, without getting so stuck.
When we got the fourth situation, I didn't put any ideas on the board, but had them launch straight into it.
"You went to a rather pathetic party," I said, "only one other person came."
And they were off.
"Wow, what a great party that was," one of them said.
"It sure was," agreed the other. "I'm really glad we came."
And the next.
"You went to Niigata to go snowboarding," I said, "but the snow all melted the day before."
"Wow, what great weather it is," one of them said.
"It looks like perfect conditions for snowboarding," agreed the other. "It's a good thing I brought all these warm clothes."
***
Like I said, they're not going to be on The Chaser any time soon, but I felt excited to see them getting the hang of it. The second class I taught on this did well too. One of them surprised me by having a *great* sarcastic voice, it was actually kind of scary hearing this sweet lady suddenly busting it out, hahaha.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Snowboarding
As a follow-up to my last post, one of my students told me yesterday that she'd gone to Hokkaido last weekend. It was her first time trying snowboarding. She tried, but it was so hard, and so difficult to stand up, that after two hours she gave up and went into the resort to the cafe.
Exactly the same as me, except that she did all her practising at the foot of the hill, where beginners are supposed to...
I suppose it was bad, but it made me feel very happy to hear this. ^_^
Exactly the same as me, except that she did all her practising at the foot of the hill, where beginners are supposed to...
I suppose it was bad, but it made me feel very happy to hear this. ^_^
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Snowboarding trip
So, I went snowboarding last weekend, in Yuzawa (Niigata prefecture). This means I've now been to 12 prefectures in Japan. (Out of 47, so still a ways to go...)
I went with Pete, his friend Mark, and a teacher at our school, Maya. (I know, there's probably no need to keep giving people fake names on this blog. I guess I've gotten into the habit of it.)
We took the shinkansen up there and it wasn't until we were right in Yuzawa itself that we started to see snow. It had been a warmer-than-usual winter, so I was a bit apprehensive about the weather and snow quality, but all was well. The first day was sunny and actually no colder than Kawasaki - about 8 degrees. On the second day there, it was -3 and it snowed! ^_^ ^_^
I *love* snow. ^_^
Anyway, snowboarding was notable mainly for how bad I was at it. I was probably the worst snowboarder in the history of snowboarding. I am not even exaggerating.
General consensus before we went was that a first-time snowboarder should always take an introductory lesson to learn all the important basics. However, on realising there would be nothing in English, Pete and I decided on a more 'oh, whatever, we can figure it out somehow' approach.
Mark was going to just ski, and Maya opted out of any snow sports, so accordingly Pete and I headed up to the slope together.
I've never been to a ski slope before. Basically they are snow-covered mountains - with a minimum of trees etc - and chairlifts going up them at various points. There can be various runs on a single mountain, and each has a difficulty rating. So you might take the first ski lift up, then get off and take another one up to try a different run. Around the bottom of the runs were restaurants and gear rental places.
We started on a beginner's hill (and were later told that usually beginners don't start on a hill but at the bottom, hahaha). We hired gear beforehand. The first challenge is to actually get onto the chairlift. So, you have one of your feet strapped firmly to the snowboard, and the other foot is free. Thus, you can theoretically 'walk' in an awkward, shuffling fashion, dragging the cumbersome board with you. For me, this was very slow, and very difficult to walk up even the slightest slope, since the board tended to naturally slide down.
I think part of my problem here was also my extreme unaccustomedness to snow. I can't recall the last time I actually walked in snow - probably in London as a 7-year-old. (I've seen it since, but usually streets have been cleared off or only have a thin layer of footprint-encrusted snow.) I hadn't found my 'snow feet', so to speak. I almost feel like if I'd waited until later in the day, I could have picked it up slightly more easily.
Anyway, thankfully Iwappara resort was very un-crowded that day, so we were not holding anyone up. I managed to get into the lift - the snowboard hung heavily from my foot, uncomfortably so. But the lift ride was awesome, going up this beautiful mountain, seeing all these people skiing and snowboarding down, and the mountains all around us. There wasn't even a safety rail though... o_O.
So we got to the top and naturally I fell off, getting off the lift. Didn't matter; snow is soft. It was to be the first of many, many, many falls!!
Anyway, I'll spare you most of the details, but suffice it to say, it took me about 45 minutes to figure out how to stand up on the board. After 2 hours of trying, I had made it 1/3 of the way down the hill. Yes, one hill. I told you I was bad!
Standing up was hard because both your feet are strapped into the board. If you are standing up on a slight slope, as soon as you push yourself up off the ground, your board starts to slide forward down the hill... I eventually got the hang of it (by shoving the front side of my board forward into the snow before standing). But even once I was up, I'd often fall down straight away, or after only a couple of seconds of movement.
Actually, the moving was fun, but I couldn't keep the board straight. It kept pointing forwards and I had absolutely no control over where it was going. Again, thank goodness the slopes were not crowded. I would have been a total menace. I never stayed up long enough to actually gain too much momentum. And fortunately, falling didn't hurt, because of the snow. But it become a grind after the 60th, 70th time... it took some physical energy to keep getting up so many times. (Also, if I fell over forwards, I'd have to swing my whole body and the board around so I could get into the right position to stand up. So it was tiring.)
I was amused at the bland Japanese pop being piped through speakers on the slope. 'Only in Japan', me and Pete said - but Mark said he'd encountered music on ski slopes in New York state.
On the bright side, Pete and Mark were really nice and encouraging. We got our only snowboarding advice from Mark, who had never actually done it himself... however, Pete picked it up quite quickly. He said that he fell down a lot on his first descent, but it got progressively easier. And in fact, this weekend, Pete's gone snowboarding again!
Anyway, after two hours and 70+ falls, I finally got tired of it. It was lunch time, so I just gave up and walked down the hill the rest of the way. It felt such a relief to finally have my feet out of that blasted board.
10,000 yen for gear hire, lift rental, etc, and it was kind of a waste of money for my two hours. Still, I was glad I tried it. Better to go and fail than not try it at all, right? ^_^
***
Anyway, apart from snowboarding, how was the trip?... well, for once I wasn't staying in some cheapy backpacker's hostel, but we got quite a nice hotel, right at the bottom of the ski hill. This hotel came with dinner included - shabu shabu (a kind of hotpot ^_^),
When we checked in, the hotel was empty and the clerk seemed somewhat po-faced and didn't seem especially delighted to see some customers come in. After, I commented to Maya that he hadn't seemed very friendly. Seconds later, he emerged from behind the desk and started asking me where I was from. Oh, Australia? It's summer in Australia, right? Take care that you don't catch a cold.
As it happened, hours later I did develop a cold, but I assume this was a coincidence and not some kind of unintended jinx. ^_^
It's fun to be in a hotel in yukata. (These yukata are like a very very casual kimono... too casual/pyjama-y to be worn out in public, but within the hotel it's okay). We had dinner and played cards. The guys had continued snowboarding/skiing for some time after I'd returned, so were feeling a bit stiff. I'd done some tramping around in the snow; gone up the lift again sans snowboard, just to enjoy the ride and take some photos.
The hotel also had a hot spring. From the hot spring you could see the snow-covered trees and mountains outside, so it was really beautiful and relaxing. There was a little waterfall inside the hot spring, and both times I went there there was nobody else in there. I could even sit there and watch the snow falling outside.
I thought we were getting a breakfast buffet included, but what we actually got were pre-prepared full Japanese-style breakfasts, when we went down there at 7:45am. This was a shame, since Mark didn't come down for breakfast. The restaurant dude expressed concern about whether we foreigners would be able to eat a Japanese-style breakfast. I wanted to prove him wrong, but it would have been impossible to finish all of that breakfast. As when I had stayed at ryokan in the past, it was about 3x as big as I could've eaten at 7:45am...
Anyway, breakfast consisted of:
pickles
some kind of sodden dried tofu that tasted like very soggy wet bread
pineapple
ham and green salad
potato salad
Natto (fermented soybeans)
tofu
a raw egg
very salty salmon
seaweed
a half-cooked fried egg
steamed rice
miso soup
And a few other bits and pieces.
It was my first time eating a Japanese breakfast with a Japanese person present. Pete quizzed Maya about how it should be done. With her advice, he made a small depression in his bowl of rice, cracked his raw egg into it, mixed it, and added natto (fermented soybeans). Let me tell you, that is not a nice combination. Pete, who likes almost every Japanese food under the sun, was virtually gagging with every runny, sticky, glutinous, yolky mouthful. Yuck.
***
The second day, we went to Gala Resort, the most famous/popular ski resort in Yuzawa. The guys went off to ski and me and Maya stayed in the resort building. First it was lunch and an Irish creme cappuccino. Then we took the gondola up the ski hill. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in my life. (See my Flickr page for pictures. ^_^) We had another cappuccino, and dessert, in the cafe at the top, with the most stunning snowy mountain view spread out in front of us.
We also went to the hot spring in Gala, which was also very relaxing; again we could see snowy scenery out the window. I have gotten the hang of hot springs now - where to put my belongings, what etiquette to follow - and I have to say, they are very relaxing and enjoyable when they are not scaldingly hot. These Yuzawa ones were a perfect temperature.
I also tried out a massage chair, which came complete with a screen that came down in front of your face and played soothing images of tropical beaches, dolphins, etc. The soothingness was slightly reduced by the 'Odotte Pikachu' game machine shouting 'ikuze Pikachu!' and 'Pika pika!' a few feet away. Hahaha.
***
Anyway, it was a really good weekend, except that I had a slight cold and I couldn't snowboard much. But I got to see SNOW and enjoy the company of some nice people. ^_^
I went with Pete, his friend Mark, and a teacher at our school, Maya. (I know, there's probably no need to keep giving people fake names on this blog. I guess I've gotten into the habit of it.)
We took the shinkansen up there and it wasn't until we were right in Yuzawa itself that we started to see snow. It had been a warmer-than-usual winter, so I was a bit apprehensive about the weather and snow quality, but all was well. The first day was sunny and actually no colder than Kawasaki - about 8 degrees. On the second day there, it was -3 and it snowed! ^_^ ^_^
I *love* snow. ^_^
Anyway, snowboarding was notable mainly for how bad I was at it. I was probably the worst snowboarder in the history of snowboarding. I am not even exaggerating.
General consensus before we went was that a first-time snowboarder should always take an introductory lesson to learn all the important basics. However, on realising there would be nothing in English, Pete and I decided on a more 'oh, whatever, we can figure it out somehow' approach.
Mark was going to just ski, and Maya opted out of any snow sports, so accordingly Pete and I headed up to the slope together.
I've never been to a ski slope before. Basically they are snow-covered mountains - with a minimum of trees etc - and chairlifts going up them at various points. There can be various runs on a single mountain, and each has a difficulty rating. So you might take the first ski lift up, then get off and take another one up to try a different run. Around the bottom of the runs were restaurants and gear rental places.
We started on a beginner's hill (and were later told that usually beginners don't start on a hill but at the bottom, hahaha). We hired gear beforehand. The first challenge is to actually get onto the chairlift. So, you have one of your feet strapped firmly to the snowboard, and the other foot is free. Thus, you can theoretically 'walk' in an awkward, shuffling fashion, dragging the cumbersome board with you. For me, this was very slow, and very difficult to walk up even the slightest slope, since the board tended to naturally slide down.
I think part of my problem here was also my extreme unaccustomedness to snow. I can't recall the last time I actually walked in snow - probably in London as a 7-year-old. (I've seen it since, but usually streets have been cleared off or only have a thin layer of footprint-encrusted snow.) I hadn't found my 'snow feet', so to speak. I almost feel like if I'd waited until later in the day, I could have picked it up slightly more easily.
Anyway, thankfully Iwappara resort was very un-crowded that day, so we were not holding anyone up. I managed to get into the lift - the snowboard hung heavily from my foot, uncomfortably so. But the lift ride was awesome, going up this beautiful mountain, seeing all these people skiing and snowboarding down, and the mountains all around us. There wasn't even a safety rail though... o_O.
So we got to the top and naturally I fell off, getting off the lift. Didn't matter; snow is soft. It was to be the first of many, many, many falls!!
Anyway, I'll spare you most of the details, but suffice it to say, it took me about 45 minutes to figure out how to stand up on the board. After 2 hours of trying, I had made it 1/3 of the way down the hill. Yes, one hill. I told you I was bad!
Standing up was hard because both your feet are strapped into the board. If you are standing up on a slight slope, as soon as you push yourself up off the ground, your board starts to slide forward down the hill... I eventually got the hang of it (by shoving the front side of my board forward into the snow before standing). But even once I was up, I'd often fall down straight away, or after only a couple of seconds of movement.
Actually, the moving was fun, but I couldn't keep the board straight. It kept pointing forwards and I had absolutely no control over where it was going. Again, thank goodness the slopes were not crowded. I would have been a total menace. I never stayed up long enough to actually gain too much momentum. And fortunately, falling didn't hurt, because of the snow. But it become a grind after the 60th, 70th time... it took some physical energy to keep getting up so many times. (Also, if I fell over forwards, I'd have to swing my whole body and the board around so I could get into the right position to stand up. So it was tiring.)
I was amused at the bland Japanese pop being piped through speakers on the slope. 'Only in Japan', me and Pete said - but Mark said he'd encountered music on ski slopes in New York state.
On the bright side, Pete and Mark were really nice and encouraging. We got our only snowboarding advice from Mark, who had never actually done it himself... however, Pete picked it up quite quickly. He said that he fell down a lot on his first descent, but it got progressively easier. And in fact, this weekend, Pete's gone snowboarding again!
Anyway, after two hours and 70+ falls, I finally got tired of it. It was lunch time, so I just gave up and walked down the hill the rest of the way. It felt such a relief to finally have my feet out of that blasted board.
10,000 yen for gear hire, lift rental, etc, and it was kind of a waste of money for my two hours. Still, I was glad I tried it. Better to go and fail than not try it at all, right? ^_^
***
Anyway, apart from snowboarding, how was the trip?... well, for once I wasn't staying in some cheapy backpacker's hostel, but we got quite a nice hotel, right at the bottom of the ski hill. This hotel came with dinner included - shabu shabu (a kind of hotpot ^_^),
When we checked in, the hotel was empty and the clerk seemed somewhat po-faced and didn't seem especially delighted to see some customers come in. After, I commented to Maya that he hadn't seemed very friendly. Seconds later, he emerged from behind the desk and started asking me where I was from. Oh, Australia? It's summer in Australia, right? Take care that you don't catch a cold.
As it happened, hours later I did develop a cold, but I assume this was a coincidence and not some kind of unintended jinx. ^_^
It's fun to be in a hotel in yukata. (These yukata are like a very very casual kimono... too casual/pyjama-y to be worn out in public, but within the hotel it's okay). We had dinner and played cards. The guys had continued snowboarding/skiing for some time after I'd returned, so were feeling a bit stiff. I'd done some tramping around in the snow; gone up the lift again sans snowboard, just to enjoy the ride and take some photos.
The hotel also had a hot spring. From the hot spring you could see the snow-covered trees and mountains outside, so it was really beautiful and relaxing. There was a little waterfall inside the hot spring, and both times I went there there was nobody else in there. I could even sit there and watch the snow falling outside.
I thought we were getting a breakfast buffet included, but what we actually got were pre-prepared full Japanese-style breakfasts, when we went down there at 7:45am. This was a shame, since Mark didn't come down for breakfast. The restaurant dude expressed concern about whether we foreigners would be able to eat a Japanese-style breakfast. I wanted to prove him wrong, but it would have been impossible to finish all of that breakfast. As when I had stayed at ryokan in the past, it was about 3x as big as I could've eaten at 7:45am...
Anyway, breakfast consisted of:
And a few other bits and pieces.
It was my first time eating a Japanese breakfast with a Japanese person present. Pete quizzed Maya about how it should be done. With her advice, he made a small depression in his bowl of rice, cracked his raw egg into it, mixed it, and added natto (fermented soybeans). Let me tell you, that is not a nice combination. Pete, who likes almost every Japanese food under the sun, was virtually gagging with every runny, sticky, glutinous, yolky mouthful. Yuck.
***
The second day, we went to Gala Resort, the most famous/popular ski resort in Yuzawa. The guys went off to ski and me and Maya stayed in the resort building. First it was lunch and an Irish creme cappuccino. Then we took the gondola up the ski hill. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in my life. (See my Flickr page for pictures. ^_^) We had another cappuccino, and dessert, in the cafe at the top, with the most stunning snowy mountain view spread out in front of us.
We also went to the hot spring in Gala, which was also very relaxing; again we could see snowy scenery out the window. I have gotten the hang of hot springs now - where to put my belongings, what etiquette to follow - and I have to say, they are very relaxing and enjoyable when they are not scaldingly hot. These Yuzawa ones were a perfect temperature.
I also tried out a massage chair, which came complete with a screen that came down in front of your face and played soothing images of tropical beaches, dolphins, etc. The soothingness was slightly reduced by the 'Odotte Pikachu' game machine shouting 'ikuze Pikachu!' and 'Pika pika!' a few feet away. Hahaha.
***
Anyway, it was a really good weekend, except that I had a slight cold and I couldn't snowboard much. But I got to see SNOW and enjoy the company of some nice people. ^_^
Economic stimulation
So, I heard that Aussies will be getting $900 handouts as part of an economic stimulus plan. Sadly, I will not qualify for this. However, Japan has its own economic stimulus plan, which I am apparently eligible for. I can look forward to the princely sum of 12,000 yen (about AU $190).
That's right. Japanese consumers are not spending enough, so ￥12,000 is supposed to turn things around! It's a pretty weak plan. You could buy a family's weekly groceries with that. Or half a cheap digital camera. Or a one-way train fare to Kyoto. It's a safe bet that most consumers will do what they have been doing all along, and save it.
However, I am not complaining and look forward to my share, thank you. ^_^
Actually, now that the Australian dollar has tanked, everything seems more valuable/expensive here in comparison. Before, it was roughly $1 = ￥100.
Today I had a ￥520 cappuccino, which was already overpriced when it was worth AU $5.20, but now equates to $8.20!! It's no wonder tourism from Australia has declined in Japan recently...
(And no, it wasn't an especially remarkable cappuccino. That's what you pay when you go to non-corporate-chain cafes here.)
That's right. Japanese consumers are not spending enough, so ￥12,000 is supposed to turn things around! It's a pretty weak plan. You could buy a family's weekly groceries with that. Or half a cheap digital camera. Or a one-way train fare to Kyoto. It's a safe bet that most consumers will do what they have been doing all along, and save it.
However, I am not complaining and look forward to my share, thank you. ^_^
Actually, now that the Australian dollar has tanked, everything seems more valuable/expensive here in comparison. Before, it was roughly $1 = ￥100.
Today I had a ￥520 cappuccino, which was already overpriced when it was worth AU $5.20, but now equates to $8.20!! It's no wonder tourism from Australia has declined in Japan recently...
(And no, it wasn't an especially remarkable cappuccino. That's what you pay when you go to non-corporate-chain cafes here.)
Homestay
A young student of mine just did a homestay in Melbourne. Sadly, she arrived one day before the 48-degree day... More sadly, though, her homestay parents had friends die in the terrible bushfires. Her host father even took her along when he visited one of the burnt-out towns.
However, apart from this tragedy happening, she did enjoy her time there a lot. She thought Australians were very warm and friendly, couldn't stomach Vegemite (and couldn't believe that everyone she asked said they liked it), thought fish and chips had way too big a serving size, loved the icecream and desserts, and thought the 'Japanese food' and sushi there tasted nothing like the real thing. Hahaha.
She agreed with me that Australians are a lot bigger than Japanese people; I said this was because Australia had a lot of excellent junk food. (Japan has some very good junk food. But Australia beats it by a mile, which is probably not a good thing, really. ^_^)
A lot of people asked her if she was Vietnamese or Chinese, for some reason. And she said that Australians say "fantastic" a lot. She and her friend got in the habit of saying it. ^_^ She said that after being in Australia, I was very easy to understand, because I spoke so much more clearly than most people.
I'm glad she liked it. She brought me back a Furry Friend and some Smiths chips. ^_^
However, apart from this tragedy happening, she did enjoy her time there a lot. She thought Australians were very warm and friendly, couldn't stomach Vegemite (and couldn't believe that everyone she asked said they liked it), thought fish and chips had way too big a serving size, loved the icecream and desserts, and thought the 'Japanese food' and sushi there tasted nothing like the real thing. Hahaha.
She agreed with me that Australians are a lot bigger than Japanese people; I said this was because Australia had a lot of excellent junk food. (Japan has some very good junk food. But Australia beats it by a mile, which is probably not a good thing, really. ^_^)
A lot of people asked her if she was Vietnamese or Chinese, for some reason. And she said that Australians say "fantastic" a lot. She and her friend got in the habit of saying it. ^_^ She said that after being in Australia, I was very easy to understand, because I spoke so much more clearly than most people.
I'm glad she liked it. She brought me back a Furry Friend and some Smiths chips. ^_^
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