As I write this post at just after nine in the evening on Sunday night, I am eating salami and dry Italian cheese from Vella’s on top of fresh homemade French bread, and I have an extra $200 in my pocket.
How the heck did that happen?
Today I worked at school interviewing students for the STEP English proficiency test. The interviews were very traumatic for some of the students, and for others it was easy. For me, it is largely a no-brainer. The test is very easy to administer, and the time passed quickly. I enjoyed my time quite a bit, and I even got to meet a few other Americans that are living in Japan and doing the test to earn some spare cash.
When we finished up at the end of the day, Mr. Hayashi paid us in cold, hard cash, and then we were off to Kobe for the traditional post-exam dinner at Graciani’s. I had a steak tonight, but other people had pigeon (!) and beef tongue. I tried both the pigeon and the tongue, and they were tasty. They were prepared in a French style and served along with warm, fresh French bread.
French bread is something that seems impossible to find in Japan. The bakeries have something that looks like French bread, but the outside is soft, sort of like a Dutch Crunch roll. It doesn’t have a sour taste at all like some of my favorite sourdough French rolls. Graciani’s bread is pretty good – as close to Sonoma French as I can get here.
On a whim I asked if I could buy a roll to take home – I have some salami and cheese that my folks sent, and it would be a great way to soak up the leftover carbonara sauce that I have in the fridge. The waiter asked in the back, and then brought out a fresh loaf for me as a present. Yes!
Tomorrow it’s back to work – it seems like this weekend went by way too fast. Next weekend is a trip to Osaka with Antoine to visit some friends of his.
