What I love about Spring in Japan (even more than the 花見) is that once it’s spring, it’s spring. None of the fluffing around that Melbourne weather does, trying to decide whether to commit to warmer weather or keep up the frigid wind and drizzly rain. No, none of that. Once spring has properly arrived, you can safely put away your winter clothes and luxuriate in the knowledge that they won’t be required until October. Of course, I have not done this yet. I’m a Melbournian through and through – complete with total mistrust of the weather. Still, it’s nice knowing that I could put away my winter warms safely, if I wanted to!
It just occured to me why I’m having a difficult time at my schools, well part of the reason anyway.
I usually take a few months to relax into any new position, after which I gain some confidence and am able to work to the best of my ability. But with changing schools ever three to four weeks, I’m not getting a chance to relax into any one position. Not only that, but teachers have also changed (so I’ve heard) during the spring break yet I won’t finish meeting all my new teachers until mid July.
It’s like I’ve been in a new job for the last eight months, and will continue to feel so at least until summer break.
No wonder it’s been getting me down and stressed.
I only just worked this out because one of the teachers at my next school e-mailed me (a surprise in itself) telling me he has been made head English teacher and he wants/needs my help. I immediately felt nervous and was filled with a feeling of ‘but how can I help, I don’t know the text fully, I don’t know the curriculum’ etc etc. Yet with my private classes I mainly feel excitement and anticipation at the prospect of new students and challenges. Very little self-doubt creeps in _because_ I’m relaxed and confident in that domain. I’ve been there for six months and no longer feel like I’m treading on eggshells.
So maybe my challenge here is to learn to be comfortable and confident in a position much quicker, like within a week. Can this be done? Well, I’ve got a year and a bit to work it out.
Of all the new wierd and wonderful pizza toppings I’ve seen here, lettuce takes the cake.
(Chicago Tarebien pizza: oriental pork, onion, double corn, lettuce, mayonaise, sesames, double cheese, parsley, teriyaki sauce)
Errhhh!
I don’t know what’s worse, lettuce or corn.
I love salads, but on pizza?
Bring on more weird Japanese food stories!
The corn is surprisingly ok on pizza. Other popular toppings include halved hard-boiled eggs, brocolli, potato, and asparagus. Mayonaise features a lot, but it’s totally dif from ours, more creamy and still tastes ok after being baked.
For some wied food photos, check out
Dried squid as beer snacks, also good with sake.
corn flavoured ice-cream.
fermented soy beans (indescribably horrible)
um, will think of some more
or…axolotl_eyes
I had soy sauce ice cream last week. Though surprisingly tasty, it was in the top position of ‘strange things I’ve eaten this week’ for about an hour and a half until I was served this .
Re: or…axolotl_eyes
eek…brain dead…knew your username looked wrong somehow, but even with flicking back to check I managed to get it completely wrong.
Soy sauce ice-cream…where did you have that? Sounds very dodgy. I’ve heard there’s a new ice-cream out that is gooey like mochi. Am on the lookout!
Oh, I did have scorpian and crickets while in China! They were crunchy, very similar to the small crunchy bits of chips always left at the end of fish’n’chips.
Soy Sauce ice cream
…at the soy sauce museum of course. Ice cream like mochi? As long as it doesn’t taste like mochi, it should be all good.
Re: Soy Sauce ice cream
You can buy the mochi icecream in little boxes in combinis, etc.
Can’t remember the name of it but basically it’s balls of mochi which is filled with vanilla icecream – so the two exist seperately.
Surprised there’s an icecream-related dessert you haven’t tried Nick!
I personally haven’t had it yet either… don’t actually know why! I guess it’s just cause I’ll always choose the Turkish Icecream option – you know they make yoghurt flavour now? Refreshing, but nothing on the vanilla!
Re: Soy Sauce ice cream
Of course. Silly me *grin* And where, pray tell, is the soy sauce museaum?
Re: Soy Sauce ice cream
Yeah, I’ve had the mochi balls with ice-cream in them. Apparently this is something different. I had the name written down, but then silly me didn’t charge my pda and hence lost all recent info, the name of the icecream seems to be part of the missing stuff (still working out what is missing) Moral of the story, always keep PDA charged, travel with charger and back-up more than once a month!
Baskin & Robbin have just brought out cinnamon roll flavoured ice cream… will be trying it soon 😉
Re: Soy Sauce ice cream
I went to one on Shodoshima, but there are apparently a couple of good ones in Kobe as well as in one of those towns down south whose name I can’t remember. I don’t know if they sell soy sauce ice cream though.
Re: Soy Sauce ice cream
I have had those…on several occasions. From Amber’s description, I was imagining an ice cream that was as gooey and thick as mochi but with none of the ‘chewing on paper’ aftertaste one often gets when eating regular mochi.
One can dream I suppose.
Okay, what’s mochi? (forgive me, so ignorant…)
Crickets, Amber? Bah, you could get cricket lollypops in Perth! (Crikit Likits, if my memory serves me well and they were sugar free, which was the icky thing about them).
Saw the anemones, curious. I’m glad my distaste for meat doesn’t extend to things I haven’t yet eaten, a clause in the vegetarianism, if you will. I’d tried them.
I’m just wondering how much soy sauce paraphenalia there could be for there to actually be a Soy Sauce Museum?
Oh, they could make a museaum out of an ant hill here!
Mochi is made from sticky rice, which is pounded until it becomes smooth. It is eaten in oh-so-many ways here, sometimes savoury, sometimes sweet. It’s quite gooey and can be fun to eat, with melty cheese-like texture.
Cricket lollipops, in Australia. Wow. Could you actually see the cricket? How the hell did they sell?
The cricket was intact and suspended in a pale bland tasting lolly.
A novelty store in Perth used to sell them, I used to get them for my younger siblings. Don’t know if they still have them.
My arms are aching and I have bruises and lumps on thighs and tummy but I’m very happy. Took my poi 花見 (cherry blossom viewing) last night. Wheeeeee……. Blair brought along his too, and there was a busker doing poi, juggling fire and breathing fire as well. I got terribly excited and asked him what he used for fire breathing here and where to get it. Turns out he uses good ol’ kerosene. Not sure I want to go there. Doh.
We spent many happy hours under the cherry blossoms at the castle, spinning fire then doing ‘Quila shots. T’was quite the evening and we plan to do it all again sometime soon.
The poi I have here are round in shape, and heavier than my poi back home, hence severe bruising accompanied by swelling where I managed to hit myself well.
When I grow up, I want to spin poi like Blair!!!
Oh, and in two days I received both the dvd and soundtrack of Once upon a time in Mexico. Shanta and Mike officially ROCK!
It’s ok…I can teach english…*phew*
Ooo, me too!
I wish it showed all of the answers once it was over – I’m sure that I made a couple of mistakes.
Yeah, me too. There were some I’d love to know what the correct answers were.
