Mushrooms and Sweet Potatoes

Today was so productive! I got up and did laundry, but since it was pretty cool and drizzly outside today it took a long time for my clothes to dry. My pajamas were smelling pretty unbearably funky, though, so I couldn’t delay it any longer.

This morning David and I did a Skype date and I had a bit of an emotional breakdown on him, but he was patient with me as usual, and now I’m feeling much better. Culture shock and long-distance blues seem to have arrived at the exact same time, and I got slammed with both of them over the past few days. He talked me through a lot of the mess, and now I’m feeling like I can handle it. So that was good.

One thing that made me laugh: he went on this really hilarious rant about Panera’s portabella mushroom sandwich, which had been his favorite but is now gone from the menu. “They said it was a seasonal product. Seasonal! You can’t &$@&^ tell me that mushrooms are seasonal. They grow underground. It’s always like 65 degrees and dark! How is that seasonal?! Just give me my *)!%# sandwich.” A man after my own heart, with ranting skillz like that.

I went to campus today despite the dreary weather so I could return some library books and print off some papers. I treated myself to some delicious McDonald’s for lunch, and did grocery shopping afterward. Top World, the full-blown supermarket that I use for stuff I can’t get at the QQ, was crazy today! There were all these sample-giving employees everywhere, and people standing at little special stations, which made it kind of like a market atmosphere. You could get some guy to put a really, really recently dead fish into a box for you, for instance. So some parts of the store were fishier smelling than usual, but it was cool to watch them fillet things. Anyway, after that I came home and napped before my Evening Plans.

Momoko had invited me to her home this evening for an okonomiyaki party. I met her at the front gate of school and we took the bus to her house. Her English teacher, who is from Ohio, was supposed to be at the party, but he couldn’t come. It was just me, her parents, her mom’s sister-in-law, and her young cousin. It was a really nice dinner party, and I had a blast. The food was so elaborate! For appetizers we had onigiri in the shape of stars, chicken katsu, these beautiful scallops with asparagus spears stuck right through the middle, and some sort of fried thing that was pretty tasty but unidentifiable. The main attraction, though, was the okonomiyaki. It was delicious! I had mine with cheese, squid, and yakisoba. Yum! Dessert was divine, too. I had my first tapioca, which was so-so. Kind of a weird consistency, if you ask me, like fish eggs in bad milk. But I also had some sort of sweet bean budding, and the most delicious strawberry mousse concoction. And we also had fruit—persimmons, strawberries, and what were either really big grapes or really small plums, I’m not sure.

The dinner conversation was interesting; there were a lot of blank stares and much use of the electronic dictionary, but it was fun. We talked about how Japanese and American aluminum foil and Saran wrap are a little different, and what Japanese movie stars I knew, and if I was happy about Barack Obama, and baby carrots. They were really impressed about the baby carrots. A lot of Japanese people don’t like carrots, like a lot of Americans don’t like fish. So they were really surprised when I told them that schoolkids often like to get carrot sticks in their lunchboxes.

After we finished eating, Momoko, Ayaka (the cousin; she was probably about seven), and I played Wii. I was pretty bad at the fishing, but I kicked butt at the shooting game. Momoko said that was because I’m American. I know she was kidding, but I was a little offended, actually. >.< Yay. Statue of Liberty, Abraham Lincoln, hamburgers, and shooting things. Anyway, her parents gave us candy as prizes, and now I have a boatload of little sweets to snack on. It was a lot of fun.

They sent me home with all my candy loot, the leftover appetizers, and three sweet potatoes. I’m not sure what to do with the sweet potatoes; seems like a weird parting gift, but whatever. They’re often sold at convenience stores where they’re grilled on coals, but I’m not sure how you eat them. They still have the skin on them and they’re kinda dirty, so I’m really perplexed. Any tips? In any case, it was a really, really enjoyable party, and I feel bad that all I brought to it was a potted plant. They were so kind to me. I’ll have to write them a really nice thank you note.

Tomorrow I’m going to Kyōto with Daniel to see Fushimi-Inari Taisha for some hiking, leaf-viewing, and kitsune udon.