Fun with Japanese Friends

It's Tanabata time!  The decorations are out and the city looks very colorful and festive!  The past month I really made an effort to make and keep Japanese friends.  It's been really nice and very refreshing.

Thanks to the International Center, Aaron and I have met several Japanese people.  All very nice.  There is one girl that I have been meeting regularly for dinner.  She introduced me to a Korean restaurant underneath Sendai Station.  It was the first time I've had Korean food in Japan so I was really curious.  I ordered Aaron's favorite dish -- bibim naengmyun.  I wanted to try it so that I could bring Aaron one day if it was really good.  Well, it was definitely not up to Korea's standards or even Hawaii standards.  But for being a Japanese place, it was not bad at all.

Bibim Ngaemyun!

I also met a college guy who is very talkative for a Japanese person.  It was a nice change to not always have to lead the conversation.  Aaron and I met him for a second time this past weekend for lunch.  Where did we go?  To the Korean place of course!  Aaron ordered the bibim naengmyun.  He actually thought it was good!  I ordered the kimchee jigae.  It was not bad either.  It had more of a fishy Japanese taste to it, but still not bad at all.  It came with a side of bibimbap which was unfortunately too sweet for my (and Aaron's) taste.  But we were glad we found this place.  Especially Aaron!  I was a little worried about our friend feeling like a third wheel, but he said that next time he would bring his friend along.  Good idea!

Vindome: the restaurant we tried.

Yoko and I also had a mini-adventure together.  She took me to her hot yoga class.  It was my first time doing yoga ever.  I was surprised by how not so hot it was.  I was expecting it to be much hotter.  But I guess after living in Arizona for 10 years, I've been conditioned pretty well.  A summer's day in Arizona is still hotter!  But having to stretch and balance and PLANK in 100 degree heat... there was much sweatage.  Luckily they had individual showers!  It was really nice and refreshing.

Afterwards, Yoko took me to an Italian/International restaurant. It had nice decor set up with indoor and outdoor tables.  The food wasn't bad either.

Sayaka's on the right!

Chee-hoo!

This Sunday, one of my students (Sayaka) had a hula performance in downtown Sendai. Yoko, Aaron and I rushed to go see her.  There was really heavy traffic due to the rain.  It's also a real pain trying to find parking near the station.  But we finally made it just in time to see her dance their last dance.  Aaron and I were curious to see how their hula would stack up to Hawaiian halaus.  Aaron thought they were a little stiff, but I thought they did a good job.  Sayaka was definitely the best dancer of them all!

Before heading downtown to see Sayaka, Aaron wanted to check out GEO (the dvd/game store).  We stepped in and it was Nerd Heaven.  Tons of video games, game systems, dvds, manga, and there were even walls of game cards displayed!  Aaron couldn't believe it.  That's when it got far too nerdy for me.  Directly behind the walls of cards were tables where nerds could play and talk and I dunno what.  But there were some there playing their cards.  When Aaron and I got to the back of the store, I jokingly said to him, "You're the only one in this store with a girlfriend!"  Eventually it got too nerdy even for Aaron and we left.

Aaron geeking out in front of the card display.

Oishiiiii!!

And finally, I had a day off yesterday.  So, I headed over to Nobuko's house and they prepared a wonderful dinner feast for me.  It was incredible!  Toru (Nobuko's husband) is such a great cook!  He prepared an amazing soup.  I have no idea what it's called.  But it had pork, tomato, onions, okra, squash.  It was soooo good.  He also made some veggies, yakitori, shumai, scallops, and clams!  I really wish I had a bigger stomach so I could've eaten everything up!  But it was too much for me.  Afterwards they tried giving me three types of dessert -- peaches (which I don't like), mochi, and chocolate cake.  They really overstuffed me.  But it was so good.  It was one of the best meals I've had in Japan. I only wish Aaron could've been there with us.

Nobuko wants to plan another dinner with me, Aaron, Yumi, and Manabu again.  It's so hard with my work schedule and Aaron's work schedule.  I'm praying that God will give us another opportunity!  She's also wanting to take me to Yumi's new soba shop that just opened up recently.  She said she's been there three times already.  It's really good and really cheap. I can't wait to try it!

Baseball done in Japan

This past week has been very frustrating and exhausting for me.  I haven't been sleeping well since coming to Japan.  But it was really bad this past week.  I only slept 4 out of 7 days.  On the nights that I didn't sleep I usually found some time to nap in the morning or afternoon for up to an hour.  But this Friday night I didn't sleep at all.  I was really grumpy because of this.

That Saturday I had plans to go to a Rakuten Eagles game.  This was something that Aaron and I had planned months in advance.  Aaron especially was looking forward to it because it was an event planned by his coworkers at MeySen.  I rarely get to see him and his MeySen coworkers/friends together.  And I also was looking forward to this because I love baseball, and I had never seen a Japanese baseball game before.

Well, I was super grumpy that morning from not sleeping.  But I met Aaron that morning and we, along with his MeySen coworkers, took a bus to the ballpark.  Fortunately it took some time for the bus to arrive, so I was able to take a short nap on the way (about 15 minutes?).  When we got there, I felt better from that short nap.  I didn't have such a headache anymore.

Our seats were located in left field.  I'd never been seated in the outfield at a baseball game before, so it was a new experience for me.  The players seemed so far away.  But it was still fun.  Aaron and I were surprised at how small the ballpark was.  I wouldn't even call it a stadium!  It was smaller than even UH's baseball field.  And UH is a small college.  And definitely much smaller than a Major League baseball field.

The view from LF.

EVERYONE was wearing Rakuten Eagles gear.  They all had hats, t-shirts, jerseys, and ponchos.  We were the only ones not decked out in Rakuten Eagles paraphernalia.  (Except, of course, the other team's fans.  Which were seated in Right Field all wearing blue.  They were extremely loud and organized.)  It was also a rainy day that day.  Luckily, Aaron brought an umbrella.  Most of the MeySen staff hadn't brought anything.  We were surprised when EVERYONE pulled out their Rakuten Eagles red raincoats on.  EVERYONE had one!  Some of the other MeySen staff ended up buying their own ponchos as well.  The rain did not stop the ball game.  At one point, it was raining kinda hard.  But the game still went on.  Eventually the rain stopped.

We were hungry, so walked around the very small park checking out different vendors. I'm used to the idea that baseball is an America classic and an American tradition. So I'm used to having hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, cotton candy at baseball games. But instead we found vendors selling sushi, beef bowls, yakitori, takoyaki (octopus balls), and other Japanese foods. Can you imagine waiting raw fish on a hot summer day?  Yuck!  But it wasn't a hot summer day. It was a cloudy, rainy day. 

Some stuff were sold from trucks. The above photo is a vendor selling frappacino-like drinks (all the flavorings and whipped cream minus the coffee) from a pink VW bus. 

American traditions such as the seventh inning singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" were also absent. Instead they were replaced with cheerleaders (yes, at a baseball game) who just waved their pompoms and jumped up and down. And there was singing in unison. I was surprised when I saw everyone blowing up very peculiar shaped balloons. Very oddly shaped. I really can't believe no one thinks this (other than internationals). After lots of cheesy singing and jumping cheerleaders everyone released the balloons at once. The result looked pretty cool. 

Usually I think of baseball as an American tradition but it was cool to see how Japanese people do it. It made it new and kinda exciting. It was also cool to have that first experience with Aaron. I'd like to do it again but hopefully when it's not raining.