Saturday, September 17, 2005
No Such Thing as "TV Dinner" here
Wow, looking back at last night's post feels weird. I wasn't drunk or anything (far from it) but I have trouble remembering how I got to feel so angry and upset over something that was, honestly, pretty stupid. I think my sister's comment was especially apropos. There's absolutely no reason to get bent out of shape over this even if I assume that I was lied to, which is not even a given. After all, who is this person anyway? Nobody! So why care what she thinks?
I didn't sleep much last night, despite staying up past 1AM while doing Internet things and listening to my modest collection of music. I think I am still having trouble with the whole sleep-on-the-floor thing. Yeah, there are tatami mats on the floor and a cushion underneath my futon but it is still very rigid compared to an American bed or couch. Not only that, but I spent all summer sleeping on a waterbed in my dad's place; that's a rough transition to make.
While I went through my usual AM hygiene routine, I remembered that Saturday morning in Japan equals Friday night on the east coast, so I could expect to find some Yankee baseball on TV. Sure enough, I got to watch a few innings where the Yanks were doing very well. I ended up turning it off once they had an 11-4 lead, although the Blue Jays eventually came close to tying the game.
I had some takoyaki for lunch on my way to the local supermarket. Now that I have some food to cook it was time to try my hand at shopping again. This time, I did a little advance research to try and educate myself about what items I needed to buy. It helped a lot, although much of the food in the supermarket is very confusing to me. For example, I learned the Japanese for "low-fat milk," 低脂肪牛乳 (teishibôgyûnyû) but in the store there were three or four different containers with those words on the package, all different colors and prices. I think some had extra nutrients but the ones that mentioned bitamin D or karushiumu ("calcium" ^_^) seemed to cost less than the ones that didn't. I ended up picking the one that said "牛乳 (milk) 100%" since that seemed like the safest choice. It was reasonably priced as well. There was also a surprising variety of eggs which I hadn't fully anticipated, but I did enjoy the clear plastic packaging that allows for easy inspection of the contents without actually opening them and handling each egg.
One thing that didn't go so well was my search for more deodorant. I used up the last of my solid and I'm just using the spray-kind which doesn't really feel as good. Using the Internet, I thought I had found the right word to use, 消臭剤 (shôshûzai) but that turned out to be the stuff you leave out to make the entire room smell nice, not the kind of thing I could rub under my armpit. I eventually found some deodorant in the store pharmacy but it was ludicrously expensive: 600 Yen for a container the size of my thumb. Don't these people ever sweat? Or maybe they just let nature run its course? I tried that once and the results were not to anyone's liking.
So that's been the day so far. It's only mid-afternoon right now and I'm posting, evidence that I've got nothing more important to tend to at the moment. Somehow I've got to find myself a social gathering tonight; I still have an itch to drink that last night did not sufficiently scratch.
I didn't sleep much last night, despite staying up past 1AM while doing Internet things and listening to my modest collection of music. I think I am still having trouble with the whole sleep-on-the-floor thing. Yeah, there are tatami mats on the floor and a cushion underneath my futon but it is still very rigid compared to an American bed or couch. Not only that, but I spent all summer sleeping on a waterbed in my dad's place; that's a rough transition to make.
While I went through my usual AM hygiene routine, I remembered that Saturday morning in Japan equals Friday night on the east coast, so I could expect to find some Yankee baseball on TV. Sure enough, I got to watch a few innings where the Yanks were doing very well. I ended up turning it off once they had an 11-4 lead, although the Blue Jays eventually came close to tying the game.
I had some takoyaki for lunch on my way to the local supermarket. Now that I have some food to cook it was time to try my hand at shopping again. This time, I did a little advance research to try and educate myself about what items I needed to buy. It helped a lot, although much of the food in the supermarket is very confusing to me. For example, I learned the Japanese for "low-fat milk," 低脂肪牛乳 (teishibôgyûnyû) but in the store there were three or four different containers with those words on the package, all different colors and prices. I think some had extra nutrients but the ones that mentioned bitamin D or karushiumu ("calcium" ^_^) seemed to cost less than the ones that didn't. I ended up picking the one that said "牛乳 (milk) 100%" since that seemed like the safest choice. It was reasonably priced as well. There was also a surprising variety of eggs which I hadn't fully anticipated, but I did enjoy the clear plastic packaging that allows for easy inspection of the contents without actually opening them and handling each egg.
One thing that didn't go so well was my search for more deodorant. I used up the last of my solid and I'm just using the spray-kind which doesn't really feel as good. Using the Internet, I thought I had found the right word to use, 消臭剤 (shôshûzai) but that turned out to be the stuff you leave out to make the entire room smell nice, not the kind of thing I could rub under my armpit. I eventually found some deodorant in the store pharmacy but it was ludicrously expensive: 600 Yen for a container the size of my thumb. Don't these people ever sweat? Or maybe they just let nature run its course? I tried that once and the results were not to anyone's liking.
So that's been the day so far. It's only mid-afternoon right now and I'm posting, evidence that I've got nothing more important to tend to at the moment. Somehow I've got to find myself a social gathering tonight; I still have an itch to drink that last night did not sufficiently scratch.
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I'm glad you're feeling better about that whole Craiglist debacle. You have to have a pretty thick skin when dealing with strangers. It must be hard to be over there and have to be navigating new social situations all the time. From reading your posts, though, you're slowly but surely doing more and more. I'm sure it's just a matter of time until you have a whole new group of friends.
Oh, and I'm also glad you got the Yankees and some milk! Let us know if you find anything fun to do tonight.
(What's the time difference between Japan and NY anyway?)
-h
Oh, and I'm also glad you got the Yankees and some milk! Let us know if you find anything fun to do tonight.
(What's the time difference between Japan and NY anyway?)
-h
You bet your ass I had fun tonight - I just posted the story. While it wasn't necessarily the kind of fun I was "looking" for, these kind of unexpected moments are the best reasons for travelling in unfamiliar places.
Right now, Japan is 13 hours ahead of NY, although once Daylight Savings ends it'll be 14 hours.
コメントがあります？ Type something, please. It's less work for me.Right now, Japan is 13 hours ahead of NY, although once Daylight Savings ends it'll be 14 hours.
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