Sunday, September 30, 2007

Work Work

So i just finished my second day of work. Not too bad. Most of the time it is easy, but students can ask tough questions. It is hard to explain what something like "convincing" means, without using any more complicated words. But the workday seems like it can go by rather quickly.

The Mall
The Mall


There is a pet store right across from the school. They have... baby bunnies!! Um, Im not sure how many days it will be before I take one home. I am using all my strength and intellect to keep myself from getting one. But I go there on my breaks and squeal at them.

There is a coffee shop on the bottom floor, that sells soy lattes. Only 370¥, less than Id pay at home I think. So I really have all I need here. Except a good mixer. I cant find cranberry juice at all.

Oh and today when I was on my dinner break there was a festival going on outside The Mall. People were dressed up in different costumes and dancing and there were tables with people selling different foods and cotton candy. I wish I had my camera.

So after spending 2500¥ last night on dinner (and beers), I tried to cook tonight. Didnt go so well. I had a potato and onion and some broccoli to fry up, and I went to the 7-11 to find some tofu. I dont know if it was tofu I bought. It wouldnt fry. It seemed like egg or something. So when it wouldnt do what I wanted I chucked most of it and put a bit into my fried potato/onion/broccoli thing. It was OK. I guess I cant really cook.

Last nights food was good though, I went to a restaurant (I have no idea what it was called) with my neighbor after work. I got some weird purple vegetables, yellow vegetables, french fries, and edamame beans. The place was close by, and the menu had pictures. He ate squid. Little baby ones. The legs wiggled as he slipped them into his mouth.

I guess the toughest thing about being vegetarian here is not the lack of options, but not knowing what my options are. For all I know they have veggie-dogs and seiten kabobs but I just cant read anything. And most of the vegetables are so foreign I dont know what to do with them if I bought one. They have a lot of leeks here. I need a leek recipe.

The fruit is small and sometimes expensive. But I find most stuff to be on par with prices in the US. The things I buy, anyway. I havent gone clothes shopping or anything. But lattes, they're the same price. That's my point of reference.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

lol im eating edamame beans and drinking beer reading this. well if thy have a seiyu store it should have a market in the basement. and i was going to make a list of things most americans like but i x that cause i see ur a vegggy and all things i was going to say had meat. but ramen noodles or udon or soba noodles u might like and just ask a clerk in seiyu store for them, u can cook em with veggies and the ramen come with a sauce but the soba and udon u have to make ur own. oh that purple veggie was japanese egg plant (nasu) and the yellow was probably a squash. and i know they have all kinds of tofu there better to buy at seiyu then 7-11/oh my wife said 7-11 rice balls are good the'yre called onegiri and u might be able to get veggie monju. there a steamed bun with veggies or meat inside. tofu (とふ, 豆腐 ) one is in hiragana the other kanji. all so u can buy curry which is a sauce to make veggies with and mabo tofu which is a sauce u can mix with tofu and veggies カリーサースミクス(curry sauce mix).
learn how to cook else u'll go broke. eatting out everynight gets rather expensive there. or it use too. hope some of this will help u.
michael dailey

rama hughes said...

i'm vegetarian also, jeannette, and love japanese food. but i sympathize entirely. even in america, it's hard to explain that vegetable udon means NO fish cakes.

LSL said...

OMG, I can't believe you're a vegie. I was a vegie when I went to and lived in Japan. It's hard to do it there, unless you like weird food, but I don't. I'm a picky eater. I did it for 3 of my 4 years, though, (I finally caved in the end), and you'll find little snacks and things that you can eat, too. You can ask any Japanese person on the street if they'll write "I am a vegetarian. I don't eat any meat or fish. Can you please help me?" or something on a piece of paper and they'd fall over to help you. That's what I did, and then I'd show it to my waiter in restaurants, and it ended up helping me meet all kinds of people, and helped me to avoid eating squid and crap.

You're going to make it!

Alessandro Echevarria said...

you're a vegeterian?

Wow, I think it's impossible to do that here... it's so expensive... I'd die, but I wish I could do it, I hate factory farming, and I wish it didn't exist, I guess I'm just not comitted enough. I know how difficult it is to explain concepts without using big words, cause I had an italian girlfriend and she'd ask me all the time what words meant... and ugh...

Steve said...

This is all good reading. Although you sound less street-smart and somehow 'younger' in this blog than your wise-cracking illustration ones.

But then I guess you are. Not a criticism mind you.

Think I'm gonna have to link to this from Pville. Not that you visit anymore...beeyatch.

Digital Scott's Illustrationblog said...

How fun to read about your adventure! Cooking, like art can be a lifelong pursuit. I like it. Epicurious.com is a pretty good site. You can go there and enter "leeks" and find recipes. I've also enjoyed chowhound.com a lot lately. You could make a post there saying "I have leeks, eggs and potatoes and I need a recipe", and kind folks are inclined to help you out! It's cool. Or you can ask for restraunt advice too. Lots of that. I don't know how far it reaches though.

I look forward to reading more about your journey.

Jeannetto said...

Yeah Im a better drawer than writer, Pville. So far on this blogging Ive just been kind of going through my day-to-day stuff in Japan. Of course, a lot goes on that I dont write about. And it doesnt help that my mom keeps yelling at me and sending me emails to quite "cursing" here.

josh pincus is crying said...

I think it is very interesting how you mention "squealing at the bunnies" and then you go on about cooking and not knowing what you are eating.
Are you thinking about bringing home one of those bunnies to eat it?
Just wondering....
and being a smart-ass.....