I get the news I need from the weather report…which said to expect windy conditions and below-freezing temperatures today for my and Chris’ first trip to Hakone. That seemed appropriate given the fact that one year ago we were freezing in Beijing. So we layered layered layered and were able to stay outside laughing and…
A Cold Beauty
Christmas Tea Party!
Would you like the house blueberry jam from Kyoto to go along with your scone? I love afternoon tea! I LOVE IT! And I love that there is a club in Tokyo to celebrate it. We joined this fun group for an afternoon Christmas tea party at the Lipton Tea House (1-3-1 Ginza, Chuo Ward…
Gee, I Wonder Why No One Likes The Dentist
Maybe because they stab you in the lip with the Novocaine needle by accident, making it bleed and leaving a scab, before filling the room with the smell of drilled tooth, followed by sticking some kind of dental pipe cleaner in your nerve socket and taking four x-rays, making you walk within view of the…
I Don’t Like Titles, or How to Survive Holiday Parties
To clarify, I don’t like titles for people. Titles for books are ok. Anywho, everyone in Japan has business cards, mostly done up with English on one side and Japanese on the other—cool! Well it took me more than half a year to order any because I was intimidated by that big blank space under…
A Choose Your Own Adventure Day
A certain amount of boredom is required to plan adventures, and now that we’ve been here long enough for schedules to fill up to bursting, boredom is a hot commodity. Fortunately, some cold, rainy weather this weekend and Chris’ need to study provided just enough idle leisure to concoct this plan for today: take the…
How to Buy Kerosene in Japan, or How to Not Freeze in Our Previously Cold Japanese House
Last winter was a chilly time in the Krueger house, you may recall. I’d heard horror stories of $500-600 electric bills, and without money to spare, I was…how shall we say…a heater Nazi. š My back hurt from shivering all the time, and we didn’t get completely unpacked from our move for nearly six months…
Mochitsuki, or Mochi-Pounding Party!
Heave, ho! That’s not what these Japanese guys were saying as we hoisted this very heavy mallet high before letting it rain down on the glutinous rice balled up in the usu, but maybe it’s close. What’s an usu? That thing with the rice in it that we’re hitting with the kine (mallet). Chris and…