My nose is cold to the touch and kabocha tempura is wildly yum.

Herro darlings.

I have a flaming crush on this band here called EGO-WRAPPIN'. I have to admit I don't know too much about Japanese tuneage of the here and now.
J-Pop is not my cup of o-chya. Japan does, however, have its more hidden gems, and I am very happy to have stumbled upon these crazy cats:






Aren't they good and plenty? It looks like they perform often at different music festivals, etc, in Tokyo, and I am definitely going to try to get my leafy stems on some tix. Mix. Chex mix. EGO WRAPPIN'!

Do you feel Christmasy yet? I've been wearing a lot of red and green lately, kind of not on purpose.

DO YOU WANT SUMMUH HUMMUS?

Alas, I have none. However, in that question I do have an awkward palindrome that is up for grabs. It came to me while I was in the shower. I'll tell you what isn't, and didn't:

Feast upon with your eyes! Can you figure it out? This edgy polygon is called the Sator Square, and it contains within a mind boggling Latin palindrome--Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas. It's like, palindromic in every way possible. Even if you take the first letter of each word, and then the second letter of each word, and so on, it will not disappoint. Absolutely crayfish, yeah? The interweb deities say it could mean "The sower Arepo holds the wheels with effort". Humans are wondrous, wondrous beings. We're such a dog!

Honestly, this kind of stuff makes my head explode with awe. Somehow it's mostly when I'm in the shower that I think about these things. Maybe it's the suds, maybe its the steam, maybe its the warm water in my eyes, temporarily blinding me, maybe it's the nakey, but more so than not I'm standing there like, "how the fluff did people figure out and organize TIME?" Or counting systems, or complex languages, or that you need to soak beans for like a million hours and then apply heat before they are digestible? I wish I was there with the first person (primate?) that discovered coconuts had an edible interior. The pyramids in Egypt exist, and that shiz is crazaay.

I've always thought things taste better in Japan, whether it be oreos (vegan! and they totally do), Japanese food, apple juice...
Cucumbers are definitely rolling with the in-crowd on that one; Japanese cucumbers are skinnier and therefore crisper and somehow more flavor concentrated than ones I've encountered in the West.
BAH that's what she said.

I recently bought two cucumbers and here is one of them:
Um, forgive the ambiguity of this photo. Crunch.

I'm absolutely in love with Japanese pumpkin, kabocha. It is sweet and velvety and beta-carotene abundant and I could bathe in it. It's autumn, and they are in season, yay! You can eat the skin, which is a pretty forest green color. There's a farm in Maryland that grows and delivers them to a Japanese market in Narberth, PA (Maido), and supermarkets in Hawai'i often have them, so I can get my paws on it when I'm home. A popular cooking method--and my favorite-- is to cut it in slightly larger than bite sized chunks and simmer it in soy sauce and sweet rice wine. I like to add a little grated ginjyaaa. It's also yummy just steamed and as is. Here, in its motherland, I have no kitchen, but there are two microwaves on the first floor of my dorm building. And I am a man with a plan. I bought some thin slices of its goodness:

I figure with some water and my steaming-veggies-in-microwave-friendly tupperware I can make it happn', capn'. Stay tuned, and sexy.

Konyaku Dreams

I am wearing both plaid pajama shorts and plaid socks right now. Overwhelming? Maybe. But I feel like a rebel, and so in this way I will remain.

Have you ever had konyaku? In English it's called "devil's tongue". Unfortunately its not so naughty-naughty as that makes it sound, it's basically this clear-grey-spotted jelly like substance that is packaged usually in the form of noodles or a thick cake. It's made from a sort of potato-like plant indigenous to Indonesia, or something? All I know is, it's good stuff. Weird as fluff, but good. It doesn't really have a taste, its just kind of refreshing and has this peculiar yet pleasant gelatinous-rubber bite. It also is supposed to have magical wonder super health food powers, which I guess can do no wrong, amirite!? Making its welcome appearance in many hot Japanese simmered dishes, konyaku is a common and cruelty-free ingredient.

Anyvazzz, the other day I went with some classmates to an izakaya, or traditional Japanese bar (they're great because they tend to offer a variety of unique veggie dishes), and a friend ordered dengaku konyaku on sticks. Dengaku is a sultry sweet miso sauce. And this combination was delightful. They were really yummy. Shy not away from its undeniable weirdness! For some reason, its color and rubbery earthyness combined with the sweet-salty miso made me feel like I was some sort of Japanese seaweed-haired swamp nymph munching eagerly on my findings. I wouldn't mind feeling like that again.
.
Konyaku kontakt.

Come to think of it, it has the perfect texture to cut out fun jiggly shapes with cookie cutters for absolutely no reason. I made BBQ tofu "hearts" this summer, and let me tell you, it was quite a strange and satisfying thrill. Darnit! If only I could now justify acquiring a big slab of konyaku and a cookie cutter in the shape of a cat or gingerbread man, or something. I'm SO doing this when I have a kitchen again. While I make note of this, please feast your eyes on some tangy but visually blurry eggplant pickles and some strange bedfellows/friendly classmates:

Eggplant, Hana, Hide, more konyaku, funny guy whose name I don't remember, and myself with shiso leaf.


Moving along!
I'd like to once more congratulate America and Barack Obama on our wonderful, wonderful decision. I believe it's a very positive moment for Americans, and we should all be reveling in a happy fuzzy unity. And of course this means everybody, all parties. It's sad, to say the least, when people express their bitterness or discontent or even anger with Obama. I don't mean to pick bones, but please, let's just love. As Palin said herself, there is no time or need for negativity. Let's love, we're in this together.


Sheriff Obama says: "There's more than enough room for the two of us in this here county."

LET US MAKE MERRY

FOR WE DID IT YO. What an incredible feeling. President Barack Obama. Mufassaaa.

I woke up kind of late, turned on the TV to see where we were, and proceeded to jig an ecstatic jig.


I just re-read his speech on the CNN website. I think he chose his words well. He was realistic, yet it made me feel warm and fuzzy and powerful and hopeful. (Saying this, I can't help but immediately think of a line from the Brad Neely cartoon on JFK: "He smelled like the future, his words were like flowers.")

I'm very proud of America.

Yesterday I had a pretty darn uplifting conversation with a Japanese student about the election. (I was giddy because I got to use some snazzy political vocab I had just learned in class). He is taking an American politics course and has been enthusiastically in tune with the happenings. He congratulated me and acknowledged the significance behind Obama's win. He said that he hopes he will see women and Americans of different ethnic background become president in the near future, and that Obama's win will inspire the somewhat stiff Japanese political regime to welcome more women--awesome.


That's a really neat thing about witnessing the election while in a different country alongside other exchange students; you hear very real and unbiased insight from people who don't feel tied by patriotism. I am the only American at my school, and it was a really happy feeling to have the other exchange students; German, Chinese, and Korean, recognize and share my excitement!

Which leads me to this charming little number: the townspeople of Obama (小浜, meaning "little island"), a small town in Western Japan, have been avid supporters of the prez elect since 2006! They raised the roof in hearty rejoice when the voting results came through.

The town has attracted alot of attention over the past year, making a profit in original "I Love Obama" T-shirts, Japanese confectioniaries with his face ironed on them, and other goodies. The mayor of the town Obama sent B. Obama a good luck present of special lacquered chopsticks and cultural information, who in return sent the mayor a letter proposing a friendship! Apparently, they are going to build an official statue of him AND make November 4th a local holiday.

A tasty morsel of news footage here.

Yes we did! Golden, daddy-o.

WHAT'LL IT BE, FELLAHS?

Post numero deux will have nothing to do with anything I talked about in my first one!

It is around the third hour of the a.m here in Japan and I have been sitting on my bed, holding my knees up to my chin, furrowing my brows trying to understand the Japanese man (whose eyebrows seem perpetually furrowed) on this news program. This is no time to muse about simmered daikon radish; now marks a very important moment in American history!

The coverage on the election here is excellent; very detailed and informative. It's actually really intense, the newscasters keep lowering their voices and asking these suspense-laden questions on America's future while dramatic music plays in the background. I feel like I am keeping up with the election from the future--which MUST be true since I am 12 hours ahead of U.S. East Coast time. So far, and excitingly so, the future is looking hopeful and positive and BLUE. I would say donkey-flavored, but that is not very vegetarian.



Anyway, I am Obammin' like a mo fo, and while there is still a half day left of voting to be done over yonder, my fingers are crossed that most Americans are doing the same. It will be around noon here when the results are supposed to be revealed, so until then, happy, happy voting--do so for change! To my fellow Asia-based overseas American citizen absentee brethren folk: cross your fingers too, and isn't it awesome being in the future?

オバマ！

P.S. Apparently the Japanese youngn's are starting to use Obama's name to describe an older man that is found attractive. Fluff yeah!

Humble Beginnings Dipped in Shoyu

Good Evening, me hearties! Or "konbanwa", to those with whom I am sharing the soil of the mighty Nippon with.

Wide-eyed and new in this magical and mountainous world of blog land, I'm not quite sure how to start this off with a sha-bang, to be frank*, but maybe I should begin with introducing myself? Land ho!

*My desired desire is that someone, in real life conversation, appropriately tells me "I'm going to be frank..." to which I will reply, "Okay, but can I still be Brittany?", like in Wayne's World. ANYONE?

I'm an exchange student at Surugadai University (駿河台大学). Technically, I'm a junior at HPU in Honolulu, Oahu, where I am an international studies major. It is an exciting and diverse fruit bowl of a place to go to school, mo def.

I was born and spent most of childhood in Tokyo. At some point la famille moved to the suburbs outside of Philadelphia, which is where we've been ever since. I've learned to love and appreciate Sylvania of Penn for its charms and goodies, however, my heart lies with Tokyo I think.

Which is why it is AWESOME that I have the chance to study abroad at least close to Tokyo, really in Saitama (the boondocks about 40 minutes away from the city), but thanks to the Japanese train gods, getting into the familiar, delightfully over stimulating, and neon mecca of insanity is a snap. Of a carrot stick. It's where I spent my days as a young sprout, so it's very nostalgic, and now that I'm a tad older I can enjoy even more of what the city has to offer. *COlegaldrinkingageis20UGH*.

I still feel that I am adjusting to life at my university here. I went to international schools here before, so this is my first time at a completely Japanese institute. It's a very nice school, and so are the people, but it's a very different atmosphere and I often feel lonely. On a positive note,
I've been getting a butt-load of Japanese practice and that is why I'm here, so I'm grateful.

Another thing that's been a little bit of a hum drum on occasion is trying to be a healthy vegetarian when I am not cooking on my own. The prentals are also vegetarians, and while we lived here before, I was lucky to have them be able to provide nourishing cruelty-free vittles. I love Japanese food and could eat it every meal, miso-serious, but I like to eat a hearty, Paul Bunyan sized amount of fresh fruits and veggies of all different colors, shapes, and creeds. I am feeling a bit deprived these days of our leafy/crunchy/chewy friends, feral or otherwise. But not to complain too much--the kabocha is in season, the konbu is slippery and awesome and I am lucky to be here.

Hark, 'ramblings', indeed! In much needed conclusion: I am starting this blog as an outlet to organize my thoughts on the trials and tribulations of being an exchange student, exploring sexy yummy veggie offerings, living in Japan on my own, and hunting for fellow wild carrot beasts. Fangs for reading, my feathered friends.