恥の朝ごはん (lit. "Breakfast of shame")

This right here.

Alright, so if you're pretty familiar with me, you know I don't eat a lot. Yeah, I'm skinny, and my weight's hovered around the same mark since high school. I haven't really changed my diet much, either. So now that I'm in a totally new environment, with different foods and proportions, it's understandable that it'll take some time for me to get used to it. On the other hand, someone who doesn't know me might take one look and worry that I'm not eating enough (note: I'm within the healthy weight range, according to my doctor. Maybe the fat all goes to my brain). I think that was the situation I faced with my host family: they wanted to feed me because they thought I wasn't eating well. It makes sense, since usually people will find it hard to sleep or eat if they're facing a huge life change like traveling thousands of miles across the world. Thing is, I slept really well up to the night before I left, and kept eating the same things as usual, so when I arrived I couldn't handle the sudden influx.

Since then it's become better. My host family will ask what amount I think I can handle, especially of rice (that stuff is filling!). But before that point I would feel really bad about not finishing the food, even more so when I was told that rice holds a special significance to Japanese people and that, out of courtesy, I should at least finish the rice bowl, if not anything else. I have to really thank my host family for explaining it to me in as understanding a way as they did, plus continuing to handle all of my nuisances (I can't slurp soup or noodles! I make a big mess because I still can't use chopsticks correctly! Sometimes I need a fork anyway!). On one night, since I had so much left over I suggested that maybe I could finish it the next morning, so my host mother showed me how to use the microwave and set it out for me before she left for work. I ate it alone, in the dark, since I couldn't work the lights, as quietly as I could. That was not a good day for me.

I do have to mention that the food tastes fantastic. Don't think I didn't like the food that was leftover: it was curry udon. I've been told that in the Kanto region people will make curry rice two nights in a row, but in Kansai they will use the leftover curry from the first night to make udon. Man. Is. It. Good. Then there was a fried potato I had only eaten half of and my host mother threw in an onigiri, which are always fabulous. Every night has been something different, as far as I can tell (but always with a bowl of rice), and in the mornings I usually default to toast because I need something familiar once in a while. People, if you haven't tasted the seafood of Japan... just do it. Just hop on over here and grab a bite. I haven't even tasted takoyaki and I'm already hooked. The only thing I wouldn't recommend is natto, although one of my French classmates thinks it's utterly delicious so at least try it once.

If you've been told that prices are much higher here than in the US, you've been lied to. It really depends, though; go to a regular grocery store and you'll find ingredients for Japanese cuisine for cheap. If you want to make American food items, though, you might have a harder time. Vending machines dispense 100-yen ($1) coffee, juice, soda, and beer. I don't drink alcohol, but one of my classmates was talking about a 1000-yen ($10) all-you-can-drink bar, probably only at certain times but still. Whereas a complete meal at my home university would be around $6-8, on the campus here it would be $4-6, but usually I spend more like $2-3 because I'm cheap and, like I said, the rice is plenty filling. Today I walked around the neighborhood and found a few cute little shops, plus one sweet lady who coerced me into buying an apple for 50 yen (about $.50, but I could've had 5 for 100 yen so maybe I'll go back later and stock up for the week's lunches!) and a cafe where I got a chocolate croissant for about 120 yen. It's really nice to just walk around, and today's weather was fantastic. Yeah, I feel pretty good. It feels like that "breakfast of shame" was a whole week ago...

Airport Adventures! (And How I Got Here)

Alright, let me try to break down my trip. It went something like this: drive to the airport around 7 in the morning (~30 mins), take the first flight to connect in Chicago (~2 hours), take another flight to Narita in Tokyo (~12 hours), one last flight to Itami near Osaka (~2 hours), a bus between Itami and Kansai International (~1 hour), and a free shuttle to the hotel where I would stay with members of my school program (~15 mins). I think I was experiencing too much stimulation to realize what was going on most of the time. I do remember almost missing the bus between airports because I misread a sign and the driver ushering me and another student to board because they had to "keep schedule".

And then the driver of the hotel shuttle maneuvered around town like a pro. Who needs red lights and stop signs, anyway?

I almost believed I had some skill in Japanese when I asked a woman working at the airport where the buses to Kansai International were and could follow her directions, but, as you'll later find out (if I find the time to write about it) I was quickly humbled by, well, everyone. Still, the whole trip was pretty uneventful. Sure, one or two of the flights were slightly delayed, but I bought tickets that gave me 2 hours at each airport so I didn't have much to worry about. You see, I'm a severe worrywart; I even looked up the timetables and locations of the buses I would use at least a week before I departed. I triple-checked my luggage allowance and weighed my suitcase several times before I could go to sleep the day before the first flight would leave. Better safe than sorry, right? (Apparently I was right on the mark, weight-wise. Go me!)

I was really grateful to have someone to talk to (hi, Teresa from the Philippines!) and some English movies and shows to watch on the international flight. That mood of familiarity would quickly dissolve once I arrived in Narita, especially when I had to check into customs. Since they split everyone into Japanese and non-Japanese at that point I could tell this was the start of my "outsider" experience. From then on I thought, "Well, at least for a week I'll let myself speak in English a bit, just so there's no confusion for important stuff like registering my address and getting to the right accommodation." Aaand a week has passed. Welp.

Before I forget, I wanted to share a picture of something very Japanese: food previews. I don't mean the nice Photoshopped pictures you see on menus, I mean full-scale, looks-good-enough-to-eat plastic models that look like the ones below. This display was at the airport, but at a lot of different restaurants you'll find these. I guess it helps you estimate the portion size rather than guessing by the picture, but it seems a little overkill for me. The one place I found it very useful was at an ice cream shop where it showed the inside of a crepe so you know what ingredients are inside; for foreigners who can't speak the language very well I guess this could be really convenient if there's a food you don't like or are allergic to.

It may be plastic, but I still want to eat it.

Is it a 鳥? Is it a 飛行機? Or is it...

SuuPaa, as in "supermarket", also refers to the shortened form of "Super Pat", which is me. I'm super. I just flew to a country I've never been before and decided to live here for 10 months. That either takes someone extremely courageous or extremely crazy. (Maybe both?)

"Chan" would be the affectionate or familiar suffix one would add to a name in Japanese, usually for girls or babies. That's right: the country in question is Japan. Why? It'll make more sense as I go, I think, rather than spelling it all out upfront. In any case, Paa-chan was the nickname given to me in Japanese class (because Patricia was too long and the usual "Pat" or "Trish" would be too hard to pronounce).
(Update: the meaning of "paa" isn't very flattering, it turns out. Was laughed at by my teacher. He's a cool guy though. Anyway, I'll stick to Pat.)

Unfortunately, I haven't proven myself to be so "super" during my time here. For one, I can't seem to be able to finish a meal, whether that's because of remaining jet lag or unfamiliarity with the food or my inadequacy with chopsticks that causes me to eat half as quickly as everyone else and fools my stomach into thinking I ate just as much. With a fork you can just go ahead and shovel it all in, but with chopsticks there's only so much you can pick up in one go, at least for an amateur like me.

Another unwanted surprise came as soon as it came to actual conversation. And here I thought I did well in class! It turns out that, outside the classroom setting, even the vocabulary I know by heart is immediately rendered undecipherable. What? Crab? Club? Grab? Nani?? When you're living on your own in a place where your native language isn't spoken it's imperative that you grow accustomed to common phrases. My host mother has had to translate her own words into English every day since I've been here. I'm sorry, family back home: I bring dishonor unto thee. But let's be honest, I have 10 months; there's no way I'm going to keep bumbling around like a fool until the last day. Right? Eh? Anyone?

I am, indeed, in Japan. For real.

The garbage truck here sounds like an ice cream truck. I looked out the window one day when I heard the familiar chimes before I quickly realized an ice cream truck wouldn't make sense so early in the morning, for one, and squeezed between the narrow streets of the neighborhood, for another. That's probably the one disappointment I've had so far. Everything else has been pretty amazing: from a typhoon that arrived the day after I did to the views (I can see a mountain from my house!) to the food, which, although delicious!, has been far too much for me. I cannot understand how some people think the Japanese diet is small. Maybe it's just more filling?

I've learned to say "いっぱい" (ippai) to describe nearly everything. My stomach is full of food. The hallway is full of people. My life is full of confusion (pfft, as if I knew how to say that in Japanese). One thing is for sure: my experience here will be full of lifelong lessons. There will be disappointment. There will be heartbreak. Mostly, there will be ample opportunity to grow into someone who doesn't shy away from difficulty.

スーパー ちゃん, Go!