The temperature is slowly rising and we’re starting to get a little more comfortable walking to and from work. But it is still definitely cold, and even though spring is around the corner we were eating steaming hot bowls of oden last night. Actually it was the first time this year for oden, and it really hit the spot. It was a good way to kill off the potatoes and daikon that we got from Kuniko’s parents, and with a simple kit from the supermarket we filled it out nicely with other items. It was the first time for me to try “hanpen” ã¯ã‚“ãºã‚“ – an airy piece of fish cake that floated on top of the boiling soup. Very good.
At work yesterday there was a big revelation from one of my students, but unfortunately I can’t discuss it here. Hopefully when the time comes (maybe this fall) I’ll be able to talk about it more. Sometimes it’s a bummer to keep all these secrets…
Tonight I’m headed to Junpu to meet the Denya gang for dinner. The other day I stopped by Junpu and reserved a table for 8. The guy was really happy – the economy is bad here too – but after I left I wondered if I should have told him that it was going to be mostly Japanese people. I hope he doesn’t spend a lot of time studying English in preparation for a bunch of foreigners showing up…
