Happy Halloween! Unfortunately, Halloween is not a big thing in Japan. The people who celebrate it most are the gaijin (foreigners) who have Halloween parties and dress up as if they were little kids again. Although trick-or-treating does not occur in Japan, I thought that this would be an appropriate time to let you know about some of the Japanese candy eaten at all other times.
Japanese candy is generally called wagashi. The ingredients most used are rice and beans. Now, this may not sound very candy-ish, but there are some very sweet beans in Japan. Here are some favorite wagashi:
Mochi: Mochi is a special kind of rice beaten into small glutenous globs. From there it is used much like we would use a bread/cake. Mochi is filled with mame (sweet beans) of all sorts, jelly, chocolate cream, or just eaten plain. There are also specialty mochi which are grilled or covered with sauce.
Beans: Instead of fruit snacks, the Japanese have little packets of dried, sugared beans, which serve basically the same function. Good stuff.
Manju: These are little snack cake-like treats made of a light custard, but I think they taste like sponge cake. On the inside is once again sweet beans.
Dango: I am not quite sure of the difference between some dango and mochi, although I guess they are made of something different. Dango are filled more often with other things like, wine or milk cream, chocolate, or jelly.
Pocky: This is not a traditional Japanese candy, but it is one of the most popular. It is sticks of a pretzel-like substance covered with all different flavors of chocolate: strawberry, dark, green tea, milk, white..the list goes on and on.
All in all, wagashi is very tasty. It has a distinctively different kind of sweetness, but a very yummy one. If you ever have a chance to have some, I highly recommend it, especially anything with mochi.
Happy Trick or Treating!

The seasons in Japan change suddenly. Two days ago fall was in full swing with light breezes, warm days, and cool nights. Yesterday, we hit winter. It is suddenly cold all the time, the skies are overcast, and it is snowing in northern Japan. Now, this would normally not bother me, because I usually do not mind the cold. However, Japanese houses have no central heating. That is correct. Even when I am in my house, I am cold. The living room is heated only to the temperature that we do not freeze (my toes get close to frostbitten), and I am only allowed to use my heater when I sleep. So, presents of long, warm socks, and comfy sweatshirts will always be appreciated. Somehow I will manage to not freeze myself in the morning on my trip from the second story to the shower and back. At least the toilet seat is heated.

It has recently come to my attention that my birthday is quickly arriving. And at the request of a few of my readers, I will print a list here of things that I wouldn't mind receiving... (my address is on the left hand side of this page)
1. FOOD. specifically, American sweets, like cookies, cakes, icing (or mixes), or snack foods.
2. thick, warm socks. There is no central heating in Japanese houses.
3. light reading materials. magazines, short books
4. DVDs and CDs (anything, really, but special requests: Pride and Prejudice DVD, 'The Piano' Soundtrack)
5. money is always welcome...
6. just a card saying 'hi' would make me really happy

So, I am back. I had an amazing time. Beautiful mountains, insanely nice Japanese people, and relaxing hot springs.
I have updated all of my pictures and adventures webpages, however, BU has not provided me with enough space for all of my pictures in a large form. So, you will have to make do with the thumbnail versions for a little while until I can beg some more space of them. I'll let you know when you can see the full beauty of a sunrise over the mountains.
Enjoy!

Tonight is the beginning of aki yasumi - fall break. I am packing and gathering the final things for my week long hiking trip in the mountains of Kyushu. Here's to green trees, tall mountains, hot springs, and one change of clean clothing!

Last night I finally ate the infamous Japanese natto. It is a bean, with an extremely strong smell, of the nasty variety. I guess that natto is something that you either like or don't like. People either gag or want more. I ate it, didn't throw up, and had a little more. But it is not something that I would ask to eat again. It tastes like a combination of coffee, spit, and bean paste. There is nothing like it anywhere else, I think. But I don't really want to find out.

This weekend was another holiday weekend. I love Japan, they have holidays for the Aged, for Equinox, and yesterday for Sports. I took full advantage of the weekend by spending it doing anything other than schoolwork. Saturday I experienced a traditional Japanese party with my frisbee team, which involved two hours of all you can eat and all you can drink in a tatami room at short tables. Sunday I went to with my Art class to Daitokuji Temple where they had a yearly airing of the hanging scrolls. This is a literal airing, because the scrolls are stored for the entire year and only taken out once to make sure they are not being eaten by bugs and such. Then we went to the Kyoto National Museum to learn about tea, and then we went to Sanjusangendo, a temple with 1001 statues of Kannon. Very impressive.
Monday was the 13th anniversary of my host mother's mother's death. In celebration her family members came over, and a priest from the local Pure Land Buddhist temple came over and chanted her mother to the next level of Paradise. This celebration only occurs on certain years, until 50 years after the ancestors death, at which point they are completely free of the worldly attachments. I helped to serve tea and pretended to be a good Japanese Buddhist. It took at least 3 hours before my legs returned to normal after sitting on my knees for an hour.

Things I learned last night:
1. Foreign language proficiency increases with alcohol consumption.
2. The world 'chotto' (technically meaning 'a little') can actually mean anything you want it to depending on how you say it. If you use it frequently, you start to sound like you know what you are talking about.
3. Japanese students love to ask the same three questions of American students. What school are you from? What state are you from? And how many years have you studied Japanese? No matter the answer to the last one, they are always impressed, because you at least answered the questions in Japanese. Which makes you 'jouzu' (skilled).
4. It's good to have friends who are fun to party with and willing and to help with the clean up.

A little bit ago my mother sent me a wonderful care package which included one of my favorite foods ever: icing. I had been saving this lovely sugary substance for the day when I could bake cookies and pile it on. That day finally came. However, we'll just say that the icing turned out better than the cookies. People don't bake in Japan, so there are no ovens, and, in the kitchen I was using, nothing that measured in cups, teaspoons, and tablespoons. So imagine cookies made by guessing amounts and baked in a toaster oven. It was not all a loss, though. Having used up most of the icing, two of my American-sugar starved friends proceeded to turn the baggie inside out and lick up every vestige of left over icing. (Japanese sweet substances are made primarily of sweet beans, a slightly different kind of sugar). Many thanks to my mother who provided this wonderful treat!

Every morning there are men who stand on the platforms at busy train stations directing people in and out of the trains. However, I rarely notice them except at one station. There is always this one man with a distinctive voice yelling, "Omiya! Omiya de gozaimasu!" (The name of the station is Omiya). Funny little man.

If you haven't noticed, I have put some pictures up on adjoining pages. They include pictures of my house, where I've been going, and my frisbee team. I'm a little behind, but after midterms I will be adding quite a few more...

All in all, the trip to Okayama was a very pleasant one. Saturday evening we drove to a nearby park in Hiroshima Prefecture to watch the hanabi (fireworks). Not spectacular, but lovely. My host mother packed a wonderful bento dinner with all sorts of delicious food that I couldn't name, because it was so dark I couldn't even see what I was eating.
Sunday we watched the beginning of a local matsuri (festival) where young people dressed up traditionally and had a parade of taiko drums and dragons. And then it was time to go. All of the host families lined up next to the road to wave the bus goodbye. It was very nice. My host family gave me omiyage to take back home, like manju, motchi, and soba snacks. Good Japanese candy things.

It is 1:15pm on a Saturday afternoon, and I am sitting in the brand new library of Tessei, a town of 3000 people. I just finished making my own soba (a Japanese noodle) and eating it next door. Although it wasn't perfect, at least it was thin enough to get thoroughly cooked. I think that getting it thin enough was the hardest part.
This weekend I am in Okayama prefecture, a 5 hour bus ride from Kyoto. It is a rural area, hence the small town with a one room train station, and the fact that when I walk out onto the street, everyone who sees me knows where I am from. Also, the rice I ate at dinner was grown by my host father.
Yesterday when we arrived we were greeted by the Tessei Junior High School, who lined up in front of their school waving American and Japanese flags. After the welcome ceremony, we spent the day in their classrooms, and playing games with them. Last night and tonight I am at a homestay with Emiko, a student, and her family. I think I ate enough last night at dinner to see me through for the next week.

Japan has a tree called a kinmokusei which releases a very fragrent odor in early fall. Although this is my first time to Japan, I recognized its pungent aroma at once, however, with a slightly different connotation. It is the sickeningly sweet scent used in almost all American public toilets and restrooms as an air freshner.