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YES, I must post about the cherry blossom viewing, or hanami. I learned about it from the Englishman in Osaka. He said that 2 years ago, the sakura police would have come to get me if I didn’t. Sure, the rule has been repealed, but I’m still nervous about being taken in the night. So, here is my obligatory entry - thought, admittedly, it wasn’t begrudgingly written. Anyway, if you enjoyed the pictures above, you might also enjoy the video below.
You may have noticed that the first 5 pictures are not from a hanami session. They are from a curry party that Will threw at his place for the Eikaiwa adult class. We all got together and threw some quick curry together. Well, ok, in reality Will and I prepped the food, and then Mimi came over and took over the kitchen. We let her, though, because she is a really good cook. She also happened to bring some pork cutlets, so we wound up making katsu-karee, or Pork Cutlet Curry, which is basically a lump of steamed white rice covered in curry sauce and topped with some crispy fried pork cutlets. Yum! Anyway, it was a good time, so I thought I’d incorporate it into this entry. Right, moving on.
We had really wacky inclement weather this past week. I had my first 黄砂 (kousa; “yellow dust which rises into the sky in spring and falls in northwest China which is visible as a haze in Japan”) experience. It’s hard to view the cherry blossoms through a yellow dust storm. Then it rained a few times. Did that stop me from partaking of the sakura goodness? Oh no. I went twice to Hirakiyama Park. It’s kind of famous around here - and by here I mean on my island. The view was great. I tried to film a 360 walk around the top of the observation deck at the park, but it turned out kind of funny because I was walking around a bunch of other tourists who were also viewing the cherry blossoms. The result is an awkward shot, but hey, what do you want for nothing? Rubber biscuit? (Anybody follow that? Emily?)
Both times I went I was taken by Yamaoka-sensei. We took the president of the student government along with us. It was really fun. I love hanging out with the students and talking about non-class stuff. This guy in particular is keen on learning conversational English. I taught him some common slang (that is useable and not impolite) - for instance, “raincheck.” He’s used it twice since I taught it to him. Anyway, the rest of the experience is visible through the pictures and video, so I’ll shut up now. One last comment - the song used in the video is Rains in Asia by Jump, from their album Between the Dim and the Dark. It is a great song, and I am proud to say that they first performed it acoustically at my university during a show I attended. Cool. Anyway, that’s all for today, I think.
Oh, sorry, I meant “Eureka!” Didn’t mean to imply that you smell. Although, seriously, just between the two of us, you kind of do. Might want to take a shower or something. Right, anyway. I just thought I’d share a happy accident that I had.
Last night I didn’t get around to making dinner until it was late. I wanted something fast, and the instant yakisoba on top of my refrigerator was calling to me. Then I looked in the fridge, at the half carton of milk and 5 eggs which have to be chucked because they are past their expiration dates and I changed my mind. There were other items in need of immediate use, or they too would join the queue, waiting around for trash day to come so they can hop in the lovely yellow burnable garbage bag and head to the incinerator. I thought I should make an attempt to use what I had and stop wasting money. So, I did something that I rarely do, and rinsed out a skillet then plunked it down on the gas range.
