horse. it's what's for dinner.

Let's talk about the past week and a half of living in Japan.  Basically, I'm trying to squeeze in as much time as possible with my colleagues in these last few days.  I'm spending my days in the Ibaraki office and not traveling too much.  I can't remember anything remarkable about last week other than some sightseeing in my city and hanging out with friends.  

Finally bought nail polish after almost two months of being here.  My feet look like a girl's again.  Bet your nail polish doesn't have a name.

Tried a new kind of ramen with a friend.  Spicy sesame with some fresh garlic that we added in.  Very nice.

Another trip to rolling sushi.  Again, seven plates for me.  Consistency.  

Photo shoot with my coworker friend outside the office.  So precious.  Love the matching jackets.

Train station at night.

I took an after-work trip to Osaka one night to do some Christmas shopping.  I haven't done much shopping during my time here so now I'm feeling the shopping pressure to pick up Christmas gifts.  I've been making mental (and real- in my little red notebook) lists on ideas for gifts as I see things.  But now I'm deciding what I want to get and going back to some shops to pick things up.  This shopping center is near the main train station in Osaka.  It's so gorgeous with the greenery and even nicer all lit up for the holidays.

I've had a really fun time shopping for my little cousins and family especially.  There are just so many beautifully made things in Japan.  Like, we have the same things at home but it seems like goods are made with more detail, care and beautiful design in Japan.  

Another Engrish tee for your enjoyment.  

Sometimes I'll find out after the fact that a colleague saw me shopping at the local mall or supermarket but didn't say hi because he or she was too shy to say anything.  So one day during the morning coffee break I was downstairs talking with some coworkers.  One of the guys has seen me (twice!) while out shopping so I asked him where he actually saw me so I could try and remember if I noticed any familiar faces.  I was thinking maybe the produce section in the supermarket or maybe a clothing shop like GAP at the mall.  He quickly answered, "the liquor shop".  Of course, it would be the liquor shop.  The liquor shop is actually a section of the supermarket that is a little bit off to the side.  You have to check out from this area separately from the main supermarket and it sells things like wine, imported foods, beer and of course liquor.  On the day that he spotted me, I was picking up a bottle of wine to give a colleague as a gift.  But of course, I think it's so funny that he happened to spot me on this day at the particular moment that I was perusing the "liquor shop".  

On Saturday night I went into Osaka with a friend to hang out and sightsee a bit.  I took this photo in the Namba area from a really famous bridge just to show the sheer magnitude of people that are constantly moving through this area.  The meaning of "crowded" has really taken on a new meaning since my stay in Japan.

On Sunday, a colleague and I went to our company softball team's last game of the year.  It was a really fun game with a 7-0 win.  After the game, we went out for Korean bbq at the same restaurant where I had my first lone dining experience.  The chef remembered me and told my (Japanese) friends that he was really glad that I decided to come back after my first experience.  

I could probably be happy eating Korean bbq everyday.  Just saying.

Chef = photographer.

After lunch, we headed to the countryside to visit a small farmers market and do a little hiking.  I use the word hiking hesitantly because as you can see, we weren't exactly dressed for any kind of intense physical exertion.  Maybe "strolling" is a better choice.  This is my office friend, Miho. 

Shrine in the woods.

These two dog statues were guarding the shrine.  One says "a" and the other "hum".  They're called koma inu.  Of course, I had to do the tourist poses with the pair of dogs.  Actually Miho made me.  But I didn't really protest.

Sunday evening, we met another coworker for dinner at an izakaya.  I forgot to take photos of the food (fail) but I tried one notable new thing.  Raw horse.  Yep, you read that right.  Horse sashimi.  Please don't be too offended.  They're farmed here for meat.  And the meat was actually really delicious.  So.  

On Monday, our company had a kind of R&D conference at one of our head offices.  There were a bunch of people from our locations all over Japan so it was really fun to catch up with some colleagues that I probably won't see again before I leave Japan.  The conference included a full day of presentations and an evening reception.  After the reception, I joined a group of guy coworkers at a Chinese restaurant for more food and some funny conversations.  I think everyone in Japan has some level of English speaking ability but it seems like especially with the guys, they don't want to speak English in front of each other unless they're confident in their ability to speak well.  So for me, that usually equals a lot of Japanese conversation going on around me with little punctuations of English questions and exchanges.  I don't mind at all but I think the whole thing is pretty funny.  Luckily, I work with so many nice people so I always end up having fun no matter the amount of talking that I can understand :)  Also lucky for me, I work with nice guys that will pay for my dinner when I run out of cash (again).  Not recounting this story since you're probably tired of hearing it.  Unfortunate mistake or lucky coincidence?

On Tuesday, I had a meeting with some of the management team to discuss my Japan trip so far and our next steps for my project.  I did a short presentation and basically just led a discussion on next steps to get the input of the team.  It went really well and it was nice to feel like I'm on the same page with our management regarding my work in Japan.  I know this is really vague and abstract but suffice it to say, work is also going well!

After the meeting, I headed back to Osaka to meet up at Miho's house for her birthday party.  I found out a few weeks ago that her birthday was coming up and suggested to her that we celebrate and have some kind of get together.  Well, apparently there is a kind of protocol in Japan for planning this type of thing. The birthday person can't actually be the one to plan the event.  And since I'm not Japanese, can't speak Japanese, and generally don't know how to coordinate this kind of thing in Japan, Miho had to find someone else to make a plan.  So I helped as much as I could but pretty much just ended up just showing up.  

We had a takoyaki and nabe party at her house with a small group of office friends.  The evening was SO fun and I really liked spending (away from work!) time with my colleagues.  I think things are always just so much more relaxed and fun away from the office, no matter where you work.  

Takoyaki grill.  Where the magic happens.  

Batter + ingredients.  In this case, chunks of raw octopus, shredded cabbage, minced pickled ginger, and fried tempura flakes.  We also made another version with sausage and corn.  My colleagues called this one "weineryaki".  Very nice.

Here's the weineryaki cooked up with cheese.  Once the batter starts to cook, you flip each ball (nugget??) until each one is cooked through.  It's a really fun group activity as everyone has their own opinion about takoyaki cooking technique.  We also had nabe which is a heavy pot heated over a gas flame filled with a kind of stew of meat and vegetables.  

I thought these looked pretty great compared to the takoyaki that I had from a street vendor in Osaka.  When I asked what kind of sauce this was (so good!), I only got an answer of "takoyaki sauce". Helpful.  Maybe I can pick some up at the grocery.

Best gift of the night.  When I asked who this was, my colleagues' translators came up with "peeing boy".  Specific, at least.  Apparently he's a famous character in Belgium and known for his... accuracy.  We filled him up with tea and let him do his thing.

He does the dishes, ladies.  But unfortunately, no hablo (much) ingles.  

Precious birthday cake.  I supplied candles from the 100yen shop. 

Precious birthday girl.  Love this lady.

Takoyaki masters.  Such a fun evening with really fun friends.  And a very accurate peeing boy.

New words: I've learned how to say "you are" and "I am".  But the only adjectives that I know are hot, cold, cute, good looking and dangerous.  So, not super helpful.  I'm also practicing "I like" and "do you like" statements.  Ooh and I learned "I understand" this week.  And "see you next time" or see you later.  Katakana is coming easier but I'm still really slow at reading it and don't always know what the actual English word is.  Also learned some color words- color is "iro" and most colors are a word with -iro as the suffix.  Akairo ("ah-kah-ee-roh"), red; orangiro, orange; aoiro ("ah-oh-ee-roh"), blue; kiiro, yellow.  These words came up as we were driving through the country and talking about the changing colors in the trees.

Exciting things:  Found out my colleagues are planning a going away party with lots of people.  Maybe I already mentioned this?  These kinds of get togethers are always fun so I'm definitely looking forward to it.  Although it will mark my last night in Japan :(  I had the chance to skype with a few friends and my family this past week.  This is always fun for me and the time goes by SO fast when I'm talking with friends.

super mario brothers and the (almost!) ground golf champions

First up, a few more photos from sightseeing in Nara with coworkers.  Nara is the hometown of the colleague that organized this trip and invited us to visit.  He gave me these photos today at the office.

Last week a few colleagues from our office in Germany were visiting and after a few days of meeting in the office, we traveled a bit around Japan to see some of our other office locations.  I think the cities where our other offices are located are really beautiful so I was looking forward to this trip.  Unfortunately for you, I took ZERO photos of all the loveliness.  One exciting thing that came out of the meetings is that I'm officially extending my stay in Japan until December 10.  Yay!

After spending the week in meetings, on tours, on trains and in taxis... I was really in need of some relaxing alone time.  For as much as I enjoy spending time with my coworkers, I think I also require just as much down time so that I don't get burnt out.  Enter Dogo Onsen.  Seriously, for what does Wikipedia not have a listing??

Instead of joining my colleagues for dinner, I opted to do some sightseeing and visit this famous onsen in Matsuyama.  I'm not sure if I've talked about onsen before but visiting one has been one of my Japan goals.  They're all over Japan and are basically a public bathhouse.  Some use water from natural hot springs and some use heated water.  So each one is different and there are many famous ones in Japan.  This one happens to be one of the more well known onsen.  So for a Japanese person, visiting an onsen may be a one per week type activity.  Not a big deal at all.  But for an American, it's a pretty interesting experience since we don't really have anything like this in the US.  And instead of explaining it in detail, I'm going to again defer to Wiki.

This is the entrance to the Dogo Onsen.  

After leaving, I took a streetcar back to the area of my hotel and then wandered around to find some dinner.  

Matsuyama at night.

I landed at Yoshinoya.  Yes, Matsuyama is famous for fresh fish and awesome sushi.  Yes, I chose instead to eat something familiar and delicious and quick.  Enter Japanese fast food- gyudon.  Rice bowl topped with sliced beef and grilled onions, raw egg swirled in.  A little miso soup and pickled vegetables on the side.  SO delicious.  So easy.  So thankful that my coworkers introduced me to this after the softball game last weekend.

Okay so I actually did take a few photos in Matsuyama.  The trees were all pruned into really interesting shapes and so I thought they should be documented.

Oh, wait a minute.  

Anyone else agree with me on this?  I'm thinking Matsuyama definitely inspired some Super Mario Bros. scenery.  Most definitely. 

The view on our flight back to Osaka, just before getting to the city.  I was amazed at the view from the plane of Osaka.  Literally concrete and buildings for as far as you can see from both sides of the plane.

Friday night was spent Skyping with my favorite family.  It was so nice to spend the morning (theirs!) with them and of course see my favorite baby girl.  Seeing everyone together really got me excited about being home with everyone for Christmas.  It really is my favorite time of year.  

On Saturday, the only plan I had was to make my way to Osaka in the evening for a Thanksgiving dinner with friends from church.  It was really rainy so I ended up having a really nice day consisting of sleeping in, taking a bath and going to the grocery in the rain.  On my bike.  I took my umbrella along in case I would have to try the whole driving while holding an umbrella deal.  But thankfully it was barely sprinkling so I didn't have to attempt it (could this be the dangerous thing?).  Going to the grocery is probably one of my favorite activities here.  Well, really anywhere.  If you want to make me really happy, give me $20 and take me to the grocery store.  Heaven.

Thanksgiving dinner ended up being really fun.  I (unintentionally) took the last train home from Osaka so I should probably be more careful about that in the future.  But seriously, one of the largest cities in the world and your trains stop running at midnight??  Even MARTA goes later than that and we all know how bad MARTA is.  At dinner, I talked for a long time to one of my friends about different social issues in Japan and differences in mentality between Japan and the West.  So after I got home I stayed on the computer another two hours researching the things we had discussed.  Needless to say, I didn't wake up in time to make it to church on Sunday :) 

The buses from the train station stop running at around 10pm.  So I frequently have to take taxis back to my apartment.  My ride on Saturday night was really entertaining because the cab driver had a little bit of a hard time figuring out where I live.  Usually, I just say the name of my neighborhood and apartment complex and hand them a map with the name written out and they know exactly where to go.  The problem when they're not exactly sure where to go is that I'm the only other person in the car and I'm no help at all.  This ended up happening on Saturday night.  So the cab driver kept asking me questions and I would just laugh and keep saying "English only" which would make him laugh and proceed to ask the question again, really slowly.  Of course this made me laugh even more because to me, Japanese is Japanese whether it's spoken at normal or super slow speed.  And I can't understand it either way.  We ended up making it to my apartment with no issues and I think he asked me how long I was staying in Japan.  I think I told him two months.  No one will ever know.

After sleeping until after 10am on Sunday (so nice!) I mapped out a route from my apartment to the local train station area.   I didn't exactly have an idea of what I wanted to do once I got there, but I figured that I'd think of something during my 45 minute walk.  This route is similar to the one that the bus takes from my apartment so the scenery was familiar.  The bus route passes the public library and I've always wanted to stop in and check it out.  So during my walk when I realized that I was standing in front of the library, I took the opportunity to go inside.  After wandering for a bit, I sat at one of the touch screen computers where you search for a book and started touching commands until I got to a screen with an English alphabet search form.  I typed in a few book titles that I had discussed with my friend at Thanksgiving the night before and jotted down the reference number on where to find the book.  After some more wandering and trying to make sense of the cataloging system, I was able to find one of the three books that I had written down.  I had a small hope that I would find something in English since I was able to search with the English titles, but no such luck.  However on the way out, I did spot English versions of Time and Vogue magazines.  So maybe next weekend I'll go back to catch up on some fashion and news.

Next I landed in one of my favorite coffee shops and camped out for a while with coffee, a pastry and my book.  This is also one of my favorite activities.  If it involves good coffee, people watching, bread and reading something interesting- I'm in.

Next I headed to the nearby mall for some shopping and to meet a friend for a movie.  The above photos are from the pet store.  I debated picking up some things for Hershey and Cocoa but since I'm not exactly sure what DogBread Pumpkin is...

The movie ended up not happening but we did do a little shopping for my favorite niece and ate a fantastic dinner at a Nepalese restaurant.  

This morning's breakfast, since I haven't shown you nearly enough food lately.  Looks really strange but it's scrambly spinach, ham and egg with a side of sliced persimmon.  I found a new instant matcha latte mix at the grocery this week and this was the first trial.  So, so good.  And easy!  All it needed was a little more milk and some fluffing.

The temperature has been much colder these past few days.  

Cold enough for my big fluffy scarf to make its debut!  Thanks, Hannah.  Also, thank you pillow for that sweet sleepy face.  Ha.

Have I told y'all about ground golf?  My office held its annual tournament over the past two weeks and since I've mostly been gone because of travel, I haven't gotten to see many of the games.  Originally I was a substitute for one of the teams but when it came time for me to play, I chickened out for fear of embarrassing my team.  It also happened to be the day that my boss was visiting the office and would be watching the games.  That may or may not have contributed as well.

So today was the last day of the tournament.  I was looking forward to watching the final match from a comfortable distance on the sidelines.  Imagine my surprise when a colleague came into our office this morning and said, "Kasaleen-san, ground golf!"  Apparently it's important for everyone to participate in the games.  I figured that no one had noticed the fact that I hadn't actually played.  Should have guessed that I was wrong about that.

So I got placed on a team with two colleagues that I hadn't officially met before.  But I asked another colleague to tell me each of their names beforehand so that I could remember them and say hi before we started.  

Ground golf is kind of a mix between putt putt and croquet.  As you can see, you have to hit the ball into the wire cage.  The clubs are wooden and the ground golf balls are kind of rubbery and plastic-y feeling and about the size of a racquet ball.

The game was so fun and our team lost by one point.  

This is the top two teams.  Obviously I didn't help my team make it to the top but I'll still pose for the photo.  My team was so funny and made me laugh the whole time even though I didn't really know what they were saying.  But I think sports is a language within itself :)

Tonight I'm blogging and catching up on emails while the Japanese national volleyball team plays Argentina on TV.  

Heaven.

the chatter theory and one hungry deer

Picking up from where I left off last week, I headed into Osaka again on Wednesday to meet up with a colleague and head to some international standardization committee meetings.  It sounds fun, right?

Matcha tea latte in a Starbucks holiday cup.  Sipping on this and looking out over Osaka while hearing Jingle Bell Rock over the Starbucks speakers made me very happy :)  It almost felt like NYC with all the decorated storefronts and windows.  More on this later.  Can you tell that I'm addicted to these matcha lattes?  I Googled them and found lots of really negative reviews from the US.  Maybe Starbucks debuted these in the US stores and received some not so great reactions?  I'll check the Starbucks in Atlanta when I get back home to see if they make them.

After a really nice day of protective apparel standard meetings and tours, the committee held a dinner for the members and guests.  There were representatives from all over the world so I actually got to chat with people I'd met before in the American standardization organizations.  I love asking foreigners about their impression of Japan and the experiences that they've had here.  Everyone seems to have a different perception and it's really fun to hear lots of different perspectives.  Most business travelers have very little time to do anything besides working and having dinner with colleagues and unfortunately this was also the case for most foreigners at this meeting.  After staying in Japan for over a month (!), I just want everyone to be able to have the same experience and spend a little more time observing and absorbing the culture here.

Dinner was at an okonomiyaki restaurant in the Namba area of Osaka.  We took a big charter bus to the restaurant and spent a few hours eating and drinking.  Over the course of the night, we had teppanyaki (like what a chef makes at a Japanese steakhouse), sashimi, okonomiyaki, and citrus flavored ice cream.  This was my first time trying okonomiyaki and I'm still not exactly sure what it is.  It's similar to takoyaki which I tried from a street vendor in Osaka- but it's basically some combination of batter, vegetables and meat.  It's shaped kind of like a pizza and is usually piled with dried fish shavings, dried seaweed (sprinkles?) and then covered in some kind of sauce or mayo.  The above photo is seafood teppanyaki- scallops, shrimp and octopus.  

Okonomiyaki.  Really, really good.  Oh and egg.  There's also egg in there.

After dinner, a colleague and I took the train together since we were both headed in the same direction.  She warned me about keeping my bag closed on the train and said I should take a taxi back to my apartment instead of the bus.  Japan is really safe when it comes to crime and it's easy to let your guard down, but it's good to have a reminder to use common sense when it comes to stuff like that.  

The next day I didn't have meetings in Osaka until the afternoon so I spent the morning catching up on emails and getting things done around my apartment.  Somehow, I still ended up rushing out the door at the last minute.  This is almost always how it goes with me for some reason.  So if you're ever coming to my house to meet me to go somewhere, most likely five minutes before you arrive I'll still be in my pj's holding a curling iron in my hair.  I like to get ready slowly over the course of a morning and like getting dressed to be the last thing that happens.  I may or may not also have been Skyping with Hannah until the last possible moment.  The last possible moment being exactly seven minutes before the bus is scheduled to come at the nearest bus stop.  One day I actually made it in four minutes, but that was with some light jogging and perfect stoplight timing.  

I did have the foresight to cook some lunch before I headed to Osaka.  But with my impeccable planning, I didn't leave time to actually eat lunch.  So within ten minutes of boarding a bus that would take me to the train station, I grabbed a used coffee cup out of my trash and heaped in a few spoonfuls of lunch.  I also grabbed a pair of wooden chopsticks from my stash that I purchased for making caramel apples.  

Homemade lunch, to-go, on the bus.  Soba noodles, hijiki (brown seaweed), egg and some veggies in some kind of sauce.  Obviously, I made the bus.  I may have had to do a little light jogging in my dress.  

As a way to practice reading Katakana, I'm constantly trying to read every sign that I pass.  This one was posted outside of a coffee shop and was advertising beans from around the world.  I was really excited to understand "American" and "Italian" at the top.  Literally, a-me-ri-ka-n and i-ta-ri-ya-n.  

This week and last I'd been traveling with colleagues from our different offices.  One thing that has been really funny to me is how news seems to travel within and even between the offices.  Whenever I'm traveling between cities or to see customers, my colleagues tend to ask me really frequently if I need to use the restroom.  Now, I've never been one to turn down the opportunity to use a good bathroom so I never really gave this much thought.  But after experiencing this week of travel, I have a new hypothesis on this constant offering of the restrooms.  

I was in the car with a colleague and our customer, who was driving us to visit fire stations around Osaka.  My colleague asked me what I wanted for lunch and then quickly said, "Don't worry, I already told him (the customer who was driving) that you don't like olives!"  Now, while it is true that I don't really care for olives, I could only remember maybe one instance of sharing this little detail of information with someone in Japan.  And I knew that it definitely wasn't the colleague that was with me on that day.  So I just started laughing and asked him, "WHO told you that I don't like olives??"  I never got a straight answer but suffice it to say, this proves my theory of the interoffice chatter that takes place in Japan.  

Immediately, my colleagues' insistence on regular bathroom breaks made complete sense.  During my first trip to Japan, I was basically traveling to a different location every day and spending a lot of time in train stations and generally in-transit from place to place.  In Japan, most public bathrooms have Western style (regular toilet seat) stalls along with the common Japanese style (remember this from our park tour?)  Well during my first trip, we were traveling through a lot of smaller towns and many of the bathrooms that I encountered only had the Japanese style toilets.  I don't mind using them but on that trip I was wearing a suit the whole time and let's just say that it's a little more complicated for me to use this other style.  So it would not be uncommon for me to duck into a restroom in one train station, only to come back out a minute later.  Then after I spotted another restroom, maybe fifteen minutes later, I'd try that one.  Since it was difficult to explain this whole situation to my colleague that I was traveling with, I just didn't say anything and I guess he came to understand that I just needed to use the restroom.  A LOT.  So combining this experience with my chatter theory, I can safely assume that all of my colleagues in all of our offices here think that I have some kind of unusual bathroom issue or maybe just an over the top fascination with Japanese restrooms.  

There are quite a few examples of this whole telling one person something and then hearing it from someone in a totally different office or department.  It's probably just a product of being the foreign guest but it's definitely funny.  This phenomena is also currently playing a role in the spread of my Japanese coworker blog readership.  I'll probably hear about this on Monday.  

From someone in a completely different department.

On Friday I took the Shinkansen to Tokyo for a meeting.  I ended up being in Tokyo for around two hours and on the Shinkansen for around five.  But lucky for me, I love the solitary quiet that comes with riding long distance trains in Japan and really enjoyed this relaxing day.  Breakfast may have been a matcha latte and some snacks from Starbucks.  

The matcha latte love has made it into my apartment.  So good.  I probably make one of these everyday. Also pictured is a dish of soba noodle and vegetable (pumpkin! kabocha!) stir fry leftovers.

More Engrish nonsense.  This time on clothing hangtags!  Love it.

Over one month in Japan and I just finally got an Osaka train map in English.  

Remember I told you about trying natto a few weeks ago?  Well I bought a little tub of it at the grocery store but never really figured out how to eat it at home.  When I tried it for the first time at a sushi restaurant, it was served with raw slices of tuna.  My colleagues also told me that it's commonly eaten on rice for breakfast.  Since I don't make rice at home and don't buy sashimi all that often, I went to the internet for help.  Natto is fermented soybeans so it kind of has a similar smell to strong cheeses like bleu and a beany/nutty flavor.  I decided to treat it kind of like a stinky cheese and eat it on apple slices.  So this is one of my favorite snacks now.  The natto has a strong flavor and I think goes really well with apple.  Maybe pear would be even better?  So if you can get over the weird texture, smell and taste, please give natto a try.  Ha.

Look who came to visit my apartment!  And no, this is not a Snuggie, I already asked.  Apparently it's cold in Seattle??  Who knew.

Something I've been wanting to do since I got to Japan is to spend time sightseeing in my "hometown" of Ibaraki.  I spend most of my time here but haven't really spent much time leisurely walking around and checking out the different markets and shops.  I finally had a chance to do this last weekend and really enjoyed this relaxed Saturday morning.

Covered shopping market.  This style is really common in Japan and I've seen it in a lot of different cities.

I wasn't sure if I could walk into this area so instead I just kept my distance and took creepy telephoto pictures of the cute little kids.  But I later asked my coworker and he said that this is a public shrine (not sure if this is the right term) so next time I'm in the area, I'll go in and have a look around.

I came across this flea market setup on a public sports field and may have found a super cute dress for AB.  Sadly, I still haven't found a stash of amazing used Engrish tee shirts that I'm hoping exist for despite checking multiple "recycle" shops.  They have to be hiding somewhere.  

This... makes me want to mail a letter??

I would have posed with these but didn't have anyone to take my photo.  Next time I'll just ask a stranger.  Right.

After my sightseeing tour of Ibaraki, I headed to Osaka to run a few errands and meet up with friends for dinner.  

Looks like Osaka is in the mood for Christmas!

We passed this shop on the way to finding dinner.  I love these old buildings and this one was especially magical at night.

Curry and naan.  Possibly my favorite food combination of LIFE.  This was my second time at this Nepalese restaurant in Osaka.  I'm forever indebted to my Osakan/German friend for introducing me to it.

On Sunday morning, I met my colleagues at the office and we piled into one car to go see our company softball team play!  I took so many photos (imagine that) but here are a few of my favorites:

Okay this guy was obviously on the other team but he gets the award for best hair.  I was making mean faces at him with my lady coworkers because he was yelling things like "slow pitch!" and making ugly noises at our team.  Funny how you can tell that someone is being ugly even when you can't understand a word they say.

A dispute.

After the softball game, we piled back into the car and headed to lunch at a rice bowl fast food restaurant called Yoshinoya.  And I just learned that there are apparently restaurants in the US??!  Why is there one in Dallas and not in Atlanta?  Who eats Japanese food in Texas??  

At Yoshinoya, you can get delicious rice bowls with thin sliced beef plus miso soup and some veggies for under 500 yen.  So cheap.  So good.  I may have already been to a second location in the past week.  After Yoshinoya, we got back in the car for a long drive to Nara for sightseeing.  I may have fallen asleep.  But not long enough to miss a sighting out the window of Universal Studios Japan!

Nara is famous for its shrines, temples and deer.  There are deer everywhere and they're really domesticated from being fed by all the tourists over the years.  There are lots just laying around or walking through the crowds of people.  A very strange sight.  

Also note the great Engrish on the girl's sweatshirt in this photo.

In the middle of our trip, I was getting hungry.  Being the perpetual snacker that I am and generally disliking the feeling of being hungry, I usually have some kind of snack food with me.  On this day, it happened to be an apple.  Well I'm not sure if it's a universal fact, but apparently the deer in Nara really like apples.  About two seconds after I took the first bite, I felt a soft nose nudging me in the back of my leg.  The same nose then started pushing into my bag and trying to find the source of what I guessed to be a sweet smell coming from the apple.  After I turned my back to the deer and blocked the apple in my hand with my body, I felt a short but firm bite on the back of my leg.  I'm sure my little scream surprised all of my coworkers as I quickly jumped away and hid behind one of the guys.  On the way out of the park, a sign reminded me that "The deer of Nara Park are wild animals.  They can occasionally attack people so please be careful."  Truth.

Todaiji, largest wooden structure in the world apparently.

Incense lighting.

I should have asked this guy where to shop for good used clothing.

There's a really big Buddha behind me.  Sorry that you can't see him.  At least you can see me, right?

Some of my crew.  A few of the softball players even came.  So nice.  

Being a good tourist with my colleague.  I love her.

We shared some local handmade sweets and sat around for a while enjoying the evening in the park.  After driving back to Ibaraki (where again, I may have fallen asleep in the car), we met up at a steakhouse where I had my first Japanese "steak" at a buffet type place.  I won't directly compare it to Golden Corral because it wasn't that big.  But you ordered a main dish (the most popular choices were steak or hamburger) and then could also help yourself to a buffet of salad, rice, curry, bread, soup, drinks, dessert and fruit.  This dinner was different than anything I'd had in Japan so it was fun to try a new restaurant.  My colleagues are all so nice and I really enjoyed our (long!) day together.  I hope the softball team likes their glamour shots.

I didn't take too many notes in my little red notebook this week and sadly I don't remember too many awkward moments or exciting learnings since over a week has passed.  Next week!