Strange fellow on the train yesterday.  He was wearing a jacket during this hot, humid weather.  Even stranger, there were exhaust vents in the jacket fitted with electric fans.  On the quiet train to work we could clearly hear the electric fans whining on battery power.  It is hard to believe that the jacket was actually cool inside, but there’s really no way for us to know.  Maybe the guy is an inventor genius.

Last night a huge thunderstorm came rolling through.  We had left our windows open while we slept, and the thunder was nice enough to wake me up so I could close the windows before the rain came.  Last night was the first night we’ve gone without air conditioning.  Mark this on the calendar for next year when I’m wondering when the heat will start to die down.

On Saturday, Kuniko’s parents and sister came over for dinner.  It had been a while since we had seen them, and we had to catch up on our summer holidays as well as receive a bunch of fruits, vegetables and goodies.  We cooked up an Indonesian-style dinner.  Nasi goreng, shrimp harumaki, and I slow cooked a pork roast all day and served it with a peanut, soy and lime sauce.

We had a nice evening hanging out with the family.  Usually we go over to their house by car, which means that one of us doesn’t drink alcohol while we are over there.  Saturday we both could drink and that meant a little bit of a wilder party.  It was fun.

My schedule this week includes a couple of events.  I’ll be going out to dinner with some students (both current and former) on Wednesday, and then on Friday Kuniko and I will go to a (new?) brewpub that serves local beers on tap.  This is a big deal – local beer is just starting to catch on, and there are all kinds of government regulations to make it very difficult for new breweries to start up.  A lot of these regulations were helped along by the big four brewers in Japan.  It’s even illegal to do home brewing in Japan.  Anyway, I’m hoping that the bar is a nice one – it could turn out to be my next hangout.

One of our favorite countries to visit was Germany.  During our short stay in Bavaria we ate some food that we still think about today.  Tonight after work we’ll head to a German restaurant between Kobe and Osaka to try to relive the culinary memories of Munich. It’ll be my first time to the restaurant, but Kuniko has been there before and gave it some good reviews.  Unfortunately they don’t take reservations on the weekend, but apparently Friday night is OK.  We don’t want to go all the way out there and then find that there are no tables available.

Tomorrow Kuniko’s parents are coming over for dinner, so I’m working on a recipe for Indonesian barbecued pork.  I’m envisioning an Asian version of pulled pork – something to go with nasi goreng and maybe some spicy spring rolls.  Some research will be required, but I already have purchased the perfect cut of pork.  Can’t wait!

This morning I don’t have much time to write.  I spent most of the morning setting up the laundry to automatically run while we are at work and be dried and ready by the time we get home.  This feature is one of my favorites – something that is impossible with a separate washer and dryer.  It is nice to come home to clean clothes that just need to be folded.

Last night we had some cold udon noodles for dinner.  It is one of my favorite summer dishes.  No meat, but we used kamaboko and green onions as a topping. Yum!  Tonight I’m thinking about making panini sandwiches again, but it’ll take me all day to figure out what to put inside them. Hmm…

Yesterday on the way to work the old lady who has been asking questions made a statement instead.  As we walked towards each other she pointed at the exposed skin of my arms and said, “You are so white, aren’t you?”

I was at first taken aback, and didn’t really have a response ready.  In the absence of my response, she said that her skin was very dark.  I just smiled and said goodbye, but only later when talking with one of my students did I understand what she was trying to say.  My student said that she was commenting that my skin hadn’t tanned in the sun compared to her.  I guess I understand.  It was an interesting topic for a walk-by discussion.

Other than that, it was a pretty normal day.  One of my students mysteriously didn’t come to class, so I’ll have to get his excuse later on.  Hopefully he didn’t just forget the class.

Over the past few days we’ve had some rainy weather around here.  The clouds are nice because they cool down the temperature a little bit, but all the moisture on the ground and in the air more than makes up for it.  We’ll be sweating for the next month or so.  I’m really looking forward to autumn.

Tonight after work we’re dropping by Costco to pick up some stuff for Kuniko’s class.  I also need to stock up on beer – it seems to go quickly around here with these hot temperatures.  Luckily I can catch a ride with Kuniko on the way home, and enjoy the air conditioning and music in the car on the way back.  It should be a nice evening on the road.

This weekend I spent some time setting up our new universal remote control.  For some strange reason I have had problems finding a good replacement remote control here in Japan, so while we were in the USA this summer I got one from Amazon.  Saturday, I got it all set up.  It was really easy, actually.  The setup was handled by hooking it up to the computer and using a software program.  Much nicer! Previously we had four different remote controls, which was kind of a pain.  Now everything is working through one remote, and we’ve just got to get used to using it.

I think Kuniko has one day this week where she’ll get home early, but other than that it is a standard week.  We are thinking about Mexican food tonight, and then it will be back to simple and healthy the rest of the week.  Friday we’ve got plans to go out at a German restaurant east of Kobe.  It is supposed to be pretty authentic.

Recently I have been exchanging morning greetings with a really nice old lady on my walk to work.  It started weeks ago when she nodded to me and I smiled back, and slowly we have come to say hello to each other.  But the last few days, she has asked me one question.  Since we’re walking in opposite directions there is only time for one question.  Wednesday she asked if my work was nearby, and I replied that it is “a little far”.  Yesterday she asked where I was coming from, and I told her from Akashi.  What will today’s question be?

It is Friday, and I’m very happy about that.  Can’t wait to relax this weekend.  The humidity is still over the top, but once things cool down I’ll be back out on the mountain walking around every weekend.

One of my students yesterday told me about a great deal that he found on a flight to Okinawa using a “LCC” (low cost carrier) in Japan.  LCCs are trying to break into the Japanese market which until now has been held captive by the overcharging domestic airlines JAL and ANA.  With a tough economy the LCCs are hoping that the time is right.  My student got a flight for about 30% of the price of regular airlines, and I think a lot of people in Japan would probably follow his lead.  I’ll have to spend some time looking at flights.  We’ve pretty much put domestic trips on hiatus – for the same price we can fly to somewhere in SE Asia and enjoy low prices on everything from hotels to beer.

Tonight I’ll do a little research and see what I can find…

My students at work yesterday were especially talkative.  Sometimes this isn’t the case, but when it happens the classes become much more productive.  Generally my target at work is to have the students speaking 70% of the class with me carrying the rest, but of course some students are more shy or thoughtful.  Several of my students have yet to break the 50% mark.  But talkative students are my favorites, because they push themselves to try new vocabulary and learn new things.

For dinner last night we made panini sandwiches with a salad.  I bought a new pan to cook the panini, and I’ve been wanting to try it out.  It worked beautifully – I just used another heavy iron pan to press the sandwiches down as they cooked.  The result was perfectly crispy bread with lots of grill marks and wonderfully melted cheese inside.  Yum!  Costco had plenty of panini bread so I look forward to future experiments in this category.  What kind of fillings go well in a panini?

During one of my classes yesterday I suddenly felt some itching on my left arm, and when I looked down at it I had five little bites along the arm.  What the hell was that?  They got more and more itchy and swelled up a bit, and became hard to ignore.  Finally after about 30 minutes they calmed down, but oddly they are still around this morning.  It was no ordinary insect bite!  Expect Spiderman-like deeds to follow soon…

Last night we started working on the somen noodles that we received from the Yamaji family while we over there this weekend.  The noodles are really good – last night we had the buckwheat ones.  We are trying to continue to eat healthy during the week, but we may make a slight detour to have panini sandwiches tonight or tomorrow.  Provalone cheese, ham and avocados are calling my name from the fridge.

This weekend Kuniko had to work both days, but luckily she got back from work each day relatively early.  That was good news because it gave her some time to recover her energy and do some active relaxation (which usually includes tipping back some sparkling wine with me).   On Saturday evening we were invited to join the Yamaji’s for a BBQ over at their place.  Mr. Yamaji recently bought a nice BBQ and I’ve been eager to see it in action.

We sat outside, and he kept the meat coming.  He grilled some chicken, steaks, along with a mixture of mushrooms, asparagus and bacon, as well.  We had discovered Aidells sausages on sale at Costco, so we brought along an assortment (Habanero and pepper jack cheese, mango and jalapeno, and chicken apple) for them to check out as well.  As usual we drank a lot and ate a lot, and had some good conversations.  They are really nice people.

Now we’re prepping to get back to work.  I finished my book during the weekend (Cloud Atlas – excellent) and I’m moving on to another (One Man’s Wilderness).  Maybe this week I’ll have some time to work on the book during my lunchbreak.

We’re at the end of the week, and true to form, Kuniko has to work both days this weekend.  Hopefully all that beach time will keep her energy levels up until December.

I have no such responsibilities this weekend, and I’m looking forward to relaxing at home, with no bigger plans than maybe barbecuing something outside and doing some work around the house.  I’m in the middle of a good book, and it’ll be good to finish it up…

Yesterday during one of my classes, we got a visit from a magician.  It sounds a little strange, but he was paying a visit to our office because he actually works for Fuji/Xerox, and they have an office within our office building.  The Fuji/Xerox guys that work here thought I would get a kick out of it, so he dropped by and did a very short magic show.

The guy was really good.  I think his best trick was asking me to verbally name any card I liked.  Then he flipped over half the cards in his hand, shuffled the deck together until half were face up and half were face down.  He commented that it would take a long time to get them all facing the right way again.  And then he laid them out on the table and they were suddenly all face down – except for the card that I had said out loud.  Great trick!

The student that I had at that time was also impressed.  It made me want to watch some more magic in the near future, and it was a nice break from my regular routine.

What a trip!

I wrote up a summary of the trips – in reverse chronological order below.  Also, you can see the pictures from the trip here.