All-American meals

Who says there's no good American food in Japan? If you look hard enough, you're likely to find places that serve a decent hamburger (a.k.a. "hambaga"), but make sure you're ordering a hamburger and not a hamburg which here means a patty steak covered with a teriyaki-ish sauce. Not far from our little town we managed to find a hamburger spot that's pretty tasty. They have four burgers to choose from: bacon egg hamburger, pork burger (layers of pork meat on top of a patty), Koroke burger (my fav, mashed potato breaded and fried on top of a patty) and another burger named after the restaurant which we haven't tried yet and can't quite figure out. You can order a set ("set-o") which comes with crinkle fries (!) and a tiny glass of soda. It's delightful.


Donuts are readily available at bakeries and grocery stores and they're pretty decent. There's also a chain called Mister Donut with fresh, but pricey donuts. They have the usual glazed, chocolate, and strawberry flavors, but also some unique Japanesey flavors like green tea and sweet bean. Wow, I just found the Mister Donut site and discovered it was originally an American chain... it all makes sense now...


Pizza ("peeza") still remains a mystery here and often has corn and mysterious meat (sometimes bacon is bacon and sometimes it's slices of ham) on it or is plate-sized. Granted back home, they're a little too large for our own good, but it's nice to be able to order a box and eat cold leftovers for breakfast. If there's one thing we miss, it's a hot slice of pizza and a good hot dog with the works. That's something that just can't be translated.

Crazy kids

Kooky stuff always happens at school and around town, but I don't always end up writing it out though I have been keeping some lists! Like a couple months ago I was having lunch with some second graders and I heard them say to each other, "What should we talk to the English teacher about?" I thought maybe they'd ask my favorite food or the usual chit chat, but they blew me away when I heard them say, "Hmm... well, what about Obama and Clinton? Who do you think is going to win?" And then the other kid gave some serious thought and said, "Hmm... yes, it's hard to say at this point." Second graders!! Though it has been all over the news here since the start and adults have been asking me about it often, I didn't expect 7 year olds to ask me about it!

Today one fourth grader told me his Uncle opened a Japanese restaurant somewhere in America and that it was written up in the New York Times. These are some sophisticated kids, eh?

On the other hand, I also watched a bunch of second grade boys on the swings (they call swings "blanco" here... I believe it's a Portuguese influenced word), standing on them and swinging really high and this one boy fell off 3 times! It was amazing. I think he was trying to do a trick but it wasn't going so well. It was hilarious to watch though. The new first graders are adorable as well. They're fresh from kindergarten and are still tiny and uncoordinated, and it doesn't help that their backpacks are bigger than themselves. They're always falling over and knocking into things. It's so adorably hilarious. Aww!

I'll have to elaborate on crazy T-shirts with English printed on them, but today I saw a kid with a World Industries shirt on! I wish I had my camera. On any given day there are kids with New York or Brooklyn shirts on and they have no idea what they're wearing. REPRESENT!

Hawaiian style

Part II: Kashi family trip to Hawaii

When we got to Hawaii, it was so much warmer and humid than we expected. It was a nice warm though and good to be back in good ol’ USA (even if it wasn’t on the mainland). The first thing we did... ? Got to a mall and ate some Taco Bell. Was that so wrong? Actually, just looking at the picture kind of gives me a stomachache. We've definitely gotten a new perspective on American meals after living in Japan. Everything is so absurdly massive! But it was fun to gorge on fast food and giant sodas.



We stayed in Waikiki in Honolulu which seemed to have fairly recently turned into a manmade tourist area. There were tons of hotels and restaurants along the beach and malls and mini malls. A lot of the shops were big name brand shops, very catered to Japanese tourists. Some shops even accepted Yen. The beach was beautiful though, calm blue water and Scott and my mom skipped some rocks there.



Scott and I were pretty jetlag so we left the planning to my sister. She found a bunch of tours and sites for us to see. So the next day, we were up early and off to an Eco tour. A local guy named Dominic was our tour guide and he walked us through a little jungle and to a bunch of beautiful viewpoints and beaches. I wish I remembered his stories better, but most were about how superstitious the Hawaiian are and that the royals believed in keeping their bloodlines pure so there was a lot of brothers marrying sisters and hence, most locals are related to some extent so they often call each other, “cousin” because chances are, they probably really are.

We also got to swim at a beautiful beach along the way. The water was a pretty light blue and the water was incredibly calm. So calm that we were just floating on our backs and letting the waves bring us back to shore.



My mother also has a cousin living in Honolulu so we met with them for a lovely Dim Sum lunch. My sister and I grew up with their daughters so it was a nice reunion. We also got to meet my cousin’s new twin baby daughters. They were so adorable!


My cousins surf (I guess you kind of have to when you live there) and luckily we got to fit in a surf day with them. I always thought that if I tried to surf, it would be in Hawaii because the water’s so nice and not as frightening. Yeah! It came true! Scott did a lot better than I did and caught a wave and stayed up for a while on his second try. I did ok, but I did more of a kneel with only one foot on the board. It still felt great having a wave underneath you and pulling you out to shore. Can’t wait to try it again!


We did one last tour at a Cultural Center which was set up kind of like Disneyland with different Hawaiian tribes in each section. They showed us dances, foods, and music from each tribe and then we moved on to the next area. We felt a little strange having these young kids sell out their traditions to us tourists, but then we found out that the money from the tours goes directly to the tuition of the tour guides that work there and attend the Mormon college next door. In any case, we got a huge buffet dinner with Kalua pork and yummy fruits (though I got hives from my mango smoothie!), and an amazing Luau show to end the night. You gotta do a luau, right?


Another successful Kashi family trip, great to spend time together and be in America for a bit!

P.S. I took a ridiculous amount of pictures, more of which are on my flickr page if you care to dive in.

Part 1: The wedding

Now that I have a bit of time to catch up, I’m going to back track to our trip last month...

Part I: Masa and Maggie’s wedding in Tokyo

The weekend we spent in Tokyo was complete with a traditional Shinto-style wedding and complaints from women about how difficult it is dating and finding a mate in Japan.



We spent a couple days with my mother’s cousin Tatsuro in the Tokyo area. He studied physical therapy in California and decided to move back to Japan where physical therapy was relatively unknown. He now has his own clinic and many young students (who all happen to be women) who study with him. He lives alone with his daughter Kaguya so his students all take care of him and his house. They threw us a delicious Japanese-style BBQ and then we got talking about how hard it is for women to date in Japan.



Apparently you can’t just meet someone at a bar or party and ask if they want to hang out. Once you decide to go on a date, you’re dating and on your way to getting married. One woman was explaining how her parents are spending all this money on a matchmaker and that she’s been on a few dates but hasn’t met the right guy so she feels bad that her parents are spending all this money. Her parents aren’t going to stop until she finds someone though. She was pretty much crying when we were all talking about it!



I’ve heard this a lot from young women here, especially those in their 30s. I guess there’s more pressure to get married at that point and once you pass 40, you’re apparently considered a freak if you’re not a married woman. It’s rough!


But on to happier times... Masa got married! We were really honored to be invited to his wedding. It was nice to see friends from home and meet his parents and family. It was a Shinto-style wedding at a very famous temple in Tokyo called Meiji Shingu. Masa and Maggie were decked out in beautiful kimono. He looked so grown up! Masa was all mature and husbandry, he’s a new man! Maggie looked so elegant and beautiful.



We, the foreigner friends, were all a little nervous about what we were supposed to do, but it was very cool to be a part of it all. In the waiting room we had sakura-infused tea. It was a little salty, but tasty.



Then we paraded through the shrine garden (through masses of tourists taking our picture) into a special room where the wedding ceremony took place. There was chanting and bells and koto playing, and at points it was so quiet you could hear people’s stomachs growling. It was very elegant and peaceful though.


After the ceremony, we went to the reception. The food was beautiful and so good. I knew the drinks and food would be delicious and endless, but I didn’t expect so much crying! There was no crazy partying or dancing, but instead a lot of heartfelt speeches.



The speeches were poignant, not only because they were grown up and married, but also because they would be moving back to NYC together. So for Maggie, this was goodbye to her friends and family. One of her best friends made a sweet speech about their friendship and could barely get through the tears to finish it. Maggie also made a sweet speech to her family thanking them for their love and support through her life. I looked around the room, and all us girls were sobbing!

It was a beautiful wedding and a wonderful experience. CONGRATULATIONS MASA AND MAGGIE! THANK YOU!

Spring festivities

We're back from Hawaii! It was nice to be in the States for a while though Hawaii was so catered to Japanese tourists that it almost felt like we never left! More of that trip soon. I'm trying to catch up with all my photos so I'm sort of going to be blogging out of order. It'll all make sense at some point, I promise!

So before we left, April had us surrounded by cherry blossoms. I'm used to catching cherry blossoms (sakura) here and there back home, but in Japan, they really are everywhere and it really is so pretty. All of my schools had trees blossoming and all around town, the fluffy flowers were everywhere. Mostly in pinks, white, and red.



In Japan, they have Sakura Festivals where the main event is to picnic and drink beer under the beautiful blossoms. Ah, the simplicities of life. We partook and enjoyed the festival food and booths. One of which was this old-fashioned rice popping machine. It was so loud!




Yesterday was Children's Day, part of Golden Week celebrated in May. Golden Week is a 3 day holiday for everyone in Japan so it's one of the few times families actually are free to spend time together. So of course, it's the busiest travel time of the year. Luckily we got a head start with our trip so we just enjoyed the days off and relaxed with neighborhood BBQ. The weather has been great and everything is all shades of green here. I've never seen so many different shades of green. I took this pic with my cell phone so it's not the greatest, but hopefully you can see the shades and the koi fish flags that are out for Children's Day. More here and more to come soon...

Let the Sho(gakko) begin!

Spring break has come and gone for the kiddies and teachers here. Though, of course we all still show up to school for work and the kids for various club activities during break. It's also an emotional and big transition time for everyone because in April, the new school begins. So there's new staff and kids moving on to their next grade. I feel a bit renewed and a little more like I know what I'm doing and my first weeks of classes have been good. The new staff has been friendly though I miss my super funny/crazy Kyoto (VP) Sensei at the junior high and some of the other staff that departed. The "ohayogozaimasu"s in the morning just arent the same (sniff sniff).

It is adorable to see my old 6th graders now in uniform at the junior high. Granted some of their uniforms are huge on them, especially the smaller boys. So cute! They look like dresses on them. I'll have to sneak pics of them at some point.

The big vacation/trip time here is coming up. Golden Week, is an accumulation of different holidays including Boys Day (which is now called Childrens Day) so people are decorating with big Koi fish flags around town. Instead of waiting though, Scott and I are heading back to the States! Well, kind of. We will be meeting my family in Hawaii for a week! Its our first time there so I'm psyched and psyched to have a little break on American soil. So if you don't see me online for a bit, just know I'm soaking in the sun somewhere on a beach in Waikiki.

Doggie rescue

Yesterday we were on the highway on our way to a cherry blossom festival and Scott noticed a sad dog on the side of the road. He made me turn the car around and we pulled over while Scott got out to check on the dog. At first, we thought it might've been hit or hurt, but it didn't seem to have any injuries. Scott comforted the dog for a bit and it seems that it got lost and trapped on the side of the road. The dog was shaking and terrified, it even peed itself. Aww. Scott decided to name her "Pisser".

She was a very pretty dog with light brown eyes and looked like a puppy. Scott carried her into the woods a bit and we hung out with her. She wouldn't go off on her own for a while and kept following us, but finally she started jogging up the road... hopefully back to her home.



Dedicated to Angela Lopez Compa