Test Week

It's been a little while since I posted again, but I'm going to start posting at LEAST every other day again from now on- I promise!

This week has been pretty busy for me, thanks to 3 tests, all in my Japanese class. Monday and Tuesday are always really busy because I have class late, and don't get home until about 6:30. Tuesday was a really great night because we had Kimochi Nabe for dinner, which I think has become my favorite food. I had tons of veggies, tofu, squid, bacon, and to finish it all up- udon. Udon is a Japanese noodle that is circular and very thick. I didn't like it very much at first because it doesn't seem to have much taste, but it has really grown on me, and I like it a lot now. If I had to list my favorite Japanese foods that I never ate before coming here I would say:

1) Nabe
2) Yakiniku
3) Curry (I realize this didn't originate in Japan, but they eat it a lot here)
4) Udon

These are my favorites, but there are definitely some other things that I will be bringing back with me or eating a lot once I get back home like rice with every meal (or at least most), and Nori- seaweed. Mmm, soo good.

Tuesday night a famous Japanese magician セロ, pronounced Sero in Japanese but his actual name is Cyril, was on TV. I normally don't like watching magicians because they make me nervous, but I really like watching セロ because he is fluent in both Japanese and English and uses them interchangeably, often saying the same thing twice in each language. I think he was born in the US, so when I say he speaks English fluently I mean that he speaks with perfect pronunciation, which is extremely rare among English-speaking Japanese people.

Yesterday was Mrs. Yurikusa's birthday. When I came down in the morning I said Happy Birthday, and Mr. Yurikusa said 'It's your birthday?' This would obviously spell big trouble in the U.S. but birthdays don't seem to be a very big deal here.

***The MegaMac Challenge***
Meet, the MegaMac:

Think of it as a Double Big Mac. It comes complete with 4 patties and a guaranteed 6 month shortening of your life. For lunch today we embarked on the MegaMac challenge: to conquer a MegaMac, fries, and a drink. It was no problem to finish because somehow my appetite has gotten huge since coming here, but I dropped my very last fry on the ground and my friends were giving me trouble and saying that I didn't finish. It was surprising to all of us that they have something like this in Japan and not in the US because portions here are almost always small. For dinner tonight we had some tasty fried salmon with veggies. We always have really good salads with dinner and they are rarely the same. In fact, we have probably eaten a repeat dinner less than 5 times since I've been here. I really like the salad dressing that we use a lot. I might have to bring some back with me!

Today I had an oral exam for Japanese, so I only had 7 minutes of class for my 2 hour round trip commute. Kind of silly. I spent the rest of today relaxing and watching anime. After all my tests I'm ready for the weekend!! We haven't eaten dinner yet, but I think I eye some Gyoza (dumplings) waiting to be fried up- yum!

That's all for now, I'm going out with friends tomorrow night so I'll probably give a weekend update on Saturday!

Meg

Fact of the Day: In Japan you only eat leftovers the day after you eat them the first time. Most of the time we don't have any leftovers, but sometimes when we have Curry Rice we eat Curry Udon the next day. My host dad was surprised when I told him at home we stick things in refrigerator and eat them the next week!