What's New This Fall

Bread or Rice?
When I was at the hamburg steak restaurant recently, there was a choice of side with your meal: bread or rice.  As a foreigner, everyone assumed I was getting the bread, and they were shocked when I corrected them by asking for white rice instead.  Rice is my new staple food, and I think it's delicious.  Sure, I'd love a bun to go with my hamburger, but that's not what they were offering by way of "bread".  I saw crusty rolls at other tables, and I knew I didn't want that.  As an FYI sticky rice in Japan is totally better than the rice I eat in America...

Chopsticks can be your friend
Speaking of stereotypes at meal time, every once in awhile restaurants will bring a small tray with a knife & fork on it and set it right next to.  I should probably consider it nice that they want to accommodate foreigners, but it also gives me a complex like I suck at using my chopsticks or they assume all foreigners are idiots.  Which is not true on either account.  In fact, there are some foods I have discovered are actually easier to eat with chopsticks!  Like salad, cabbage, corn, peas, etc...

No thanks to dessert?!
I'm getting smarter regarding food in Japan.  This week, there was a special menu at one of my usual lunch spots.  The "special" part was you could order a slightly smaller portion of lunch and get a small dessert for the same price as a regular meal.  My lunch friends thought this sounded like a great deal, but I declined because I really like the regular-sized meal, and honestly I was wary about this "small" dessert.  (It's weird I'm turning down dessert though, right?!) 

Anyway, I made the right choice.  As it turns out the "small" dessert consisted of 2 grapes (with seeds), a half of strawberry, and a slice of orange that would be better suited on the rim of a cocktail glass.  Yeah... have I ever mentioned my strict policy against fruit as a dessert?!  It's completely unacceptable in my world.

Farewell Parties & Gifts
You may notice that I go to a lot of dinners with work.  They are usually to (1) welcome a new team member, (2) say goodbye to someone leaving, or (3) host a visitor.  I guess I've never mentioned how these things get funded.  Mitsui only pays for item #3!  When a new team member joins or one leaves, all of the dinner guests have to split the bill.  (This goes for farewell gifts and karaoke as well!)  You never really know how expensive things will be when you first sign up to attend.  (But no one in Japan really worries too much about money.)  The dinner organizer contacts you later to let you know how much you owe, and everyone pays promptly!  It's a handy, honest system but sometimes they delay in collecting money.  For example, I had to shell out over $140 one day this week to settle 3 different parties.  Good thing Japan is a cash society, and I always have plenty of money laying around...

Welcome to Fall!
I heard from the locals that Japan summer heat ends on the day of Autumn Equinox (September 23 this year), and I was doubtful.  How can they really predict the end of summer weather to ONE exact day!  But alas, it seems to be accurate... Sept 22 was over 90 degrees, and Sept 23 was 78.  It has never even reached the 80's since it "officially" became fall!  Usual high these days is 76, and low is 62.  (One weird thing is that Japan does not really have heat waves or cold fronts.  The temps vary maybe 1 degree each day.  It's really strange compared to the yo-yo weather I'm used to in the midwest.)

I'm loving the fall weather, but fashion has changed again.  I am enjoying my short-sleeved shirts (and finally slacks) at work, but I was recently scolded for still wearing my "summer" clothes.  When I looked around, yes, I am the only one wearing short sleeves, and everyone else has suddenly pulled out their turtlenecks and legwarmers again!!  WHAT?!  It's 76 outside, and 82 in the office...  these people are nutty!  I may not wear another long sleeve shirt before I leave just in spite of these rules!

The sun officially sets before 17:30 starting this week, so even if I leave work on time (at 5:30, which never happens) it means I am walking home in pitch darkness again.  Not so bad... at least the temperature is nice!

Fashion frenzy
11 months in Japan has made me bold with clothing.  I recently bought some jeggings (jean leggings) that I plan to bring back to the good ol' USA with me!  (They may be 2 sizes too small, but come on, they are supposed to be skin tight anyway, right?!)  And one day this week I accidentally put my shirt on backwards while dressing, but once I looked in the mirror, I decided I liked it that way and wore it for the rest of the day!

Favorite new word
At work they love to use the word ikemen, which means "most handsome guy".  The ladies are always talking about who is ikemen is certain departments.  When they announced that a new team member will be joining a neighboring department soon, the General Manager described his history, current assignment, and said he was ikemen!!  Everyone laughed, and then looked at me to make sure I caught that, even though it was in Japanese.  I assured them I knew what ikemen was!  How weird for a man to announce that type of description for a future male colleague...

Interestingly, there is no Japanese word for "most beautiful girl".  I've asked many guys, and they all think about it, and then shake their heads.  One clever guy said it was because "women are the ones who have time to sit around and judge the men and make up these new words".  (It's technically slang and became common around 2001.)

Everyone is a Sports Fan!
The Chunichi Dragons baseball team won the Central League pennant this weekend, and everyone in Nagoya was super excited!  Why you may ask?!  Because each year the Dragons win, the department stores will have 3-day sale following the final game.  This is a big deal because there are usually only two "sales" in Japan.  (January 1st for 5 days and July 1st for 4 days.)  Talk about a great way to get women excited about sports and have them follow the games... The ladies need to know if they should go shopping tomorrow!!