Yesterday was a busy morning, and somehow I forgot to blog as per my usual routine.  Must be a sign of old age.

Luckily there wasn’t anything particularly exciting to blog about.  I think we’ve finally nailed down the dates for our summer trip, and the next step is to get a flight there and back.  At work, several of my students are on business trips overseas, and it has been difficult to fill the holes that they have left in my schedule.  Part of the problem is that everyone there works so hard that they have no free time to join a suddenly open lesson, but also I think that my current pool of students is smaller than usual.  Next term it will be larger and it shouldn’t be an issue.

That’s about it from the middle of the week.  The weekend should hold a little more in the way of interesting events.

We had a pretty busy weekend with a party here at home on Sunday and a party over at the Fukumi’s on Saturday.  Luckily Monday was a holiday for most of Japan – unluckily it wasn’t for me.  I think Kuniko is well-rested this morning after the holiday, and I managed to get to bed last night around 10 pm, so six hours of sleep will have to do.

Fortunately I don’t have any social events on next weekend’s calendar, but Kuniko has a full schedule with work events on both days.  February is turning out to be a very busy month for us.

This weekend will be another couple of parties.   Tomorrow we’ll head over to the Fukumi residence for a small party with them, and then on Sunday we’ll host some of Kuniko’s friends for burgers on the grill.  Most people in Japan have Monday off, but my company has shifted the holiday to another day, which means I’ll have to be ready to be back in action on Monday.

Tonight we’re going to Costco on the way home to buy some supplies for the parties, but it should be a small bill this time around.  Mainly we’re there for the hamburger meat – it is 100% US beef.  At the supermarkets in Japan you can buy 100% Japanese beef but it isn’t practical for hamburgers and has way too much fat content (in my opinion).  They have a blended mix of pork and beef that is better for burgers, but there is something better tasting about the American ground beef.  Probably has horsemeat in it or something.

Work is entering an interesting stage.  My students in the group lesson are getting close to the point when they will make a presentation in English in front of a large group of their peers, bosses, and maybe one or two executives.  I’ve got to get them motivated and organized so that their presentation doesn’t suck, thereby showing that the lessons they are taking are useful, subsequently giving me a little more job security for the longer term.

So come on guys, let’s get to work.

Doing public speaking in another language is tough enough, but doing it in front of so many people that could potentially impact your lifelong career is another thing entirely.   For the next few weeks I’ll be stressing the feasibility of the whole situation, and try to break down the process into bite-sized chunks that they can manage without being overwhelming.   This point also marks the shift in when the attention is off me and onto themselves as they start the project.  Hopefully they take this seriously and do a good job.

Last night after work I was heading home and it happened to coincide with Kuniko heading home, which is quite unusual.  She sent me a text with the secret password, which meant that the top priority was to go out and get a drink ASAP.  This happens two or three times a year, I think.  We swung into action as soon as we reached Okubo station, and went over to the local yakitori for beer and chicken on sticks.

Turns out she had a pretty rough day at work, and so we talked it out, drank plenty of beer, did some drunken shopping on the way home, and I think we could back off of Defcon 1 for the evening.

We’ll get back on the healthy diet tonight – I’ve got to figure out what to do with some eggplant and tomatoes…

Yesterday I had to attend a consultation at my company’s health facility, because I set off some red flags during last year’s health check up.  Specifically, the combination of my weight, height and the measurement of my waist put me into the category of “at risk of developing metabolic syndrome“.

I’d heard that if you set off the red flags, you had to attend some kind of meeting, but this was the first time to see for myself.  I rescheduled one of my classes so that I could attend, and then went over to talk with the medical staff.

Before arriving I had to fill out a “lifestyle survey”, and then when I arrived they weighed me in and sat me down to discuss the survey.  To make a long story short, they wanted me to set a goal for the next six months, and to stick to it they would be checking in now and then to monitor my progress.  My goal ended up being lose 3 kg in six months, which should be a piece of cake (pardon the expression).

The staff were very friendly, and I think what they are doing is a good thing.  I was impressed that the company was trying to keep their employees healthy, even if it kind of felt like an intrusion into my private life.  It was a good experience overall, and so I’ll report the results in six months and see what happens.

On Saturday night Yoshi and Mamiko invited us over for dinner.  Akira was on an overnight trip, so we it was a little quieter than usual.

Mamiko knows a shop nearby that specializes in chicken, and previously they have done homemade yakitori using meat from this place.  The quality of the chicken is top notch, and it is sold to be either cooked or eaten raw as sashimi.  I’m just getting into eating raw chicken.  At first it was a little difficult to take the plunge, but now it is no problem.

But Yoshi wasn’t serving the chicken raw.  Instead they had a big pot of hot dashi broth, and we dipped very thinly sliced raw chicken breast into the broth until it started to cook, and then dipped the now white chicken meat into some ponzu and yuzu kosho.  It was fantastic.  There was almost no fat in the meat so it turned out to be very healthy, too.

We had brought some wine and cheese and we got into that as well, but I liked the idea of delicious and healthy party fare on Saturday night.

Sunday was Setsubun, and we ate a couple of upscale sushi rolls while facing south-southeast, and per tradition, not speaking.  This is one of the weirdest traditions that I participate in in Japan.  But I’m certainly OK with weird, and any excuse to eat some delicious sushi is good enough for me!  After dinner we supplemented a little with some takoyaki, and then finally had some soybeans, which is also a Setsubun tradition.  Yum!

Tonight after work Kuniko and I are heading into Kobe to buy a few choice items to bring along to Yoshi’s house on Saturday.  Yoshi and family invited us over for dinner on Saturday, and we’d like to bring some of our favorite items from Kobe to share with them.

In Kobe there is a new Mexican restaurant that opened up between Motomachi and Sannomiya, and it might be worth dropping in and seeing if it is any good.  Usually this kind of thing is just an exercise in disappointment, though.   Who knows – maybe it’ll be awesome.

The rest of the weekend should be slow and easy, however.  I’m hoping to do some reading and if the weather is good do some hiking.

Apparently this weekend is set to be the coldest weather of this winter.  Theoretically, every day after this weekend should be warmer until we bump into next autumn.  I’m hoping that it isn’t all that bad, but we’ll see. Yesterday was actually almost warm – nearly six degrees in the afternoon – which was a bit unusual.

As you can tell, I can’t wait for spring.

This morning, Kuniko is driving to work, and she’s giving me a ride to my office.  That means a warm car, good music, and maybe even some hot coffee along the way.  Hoo-yah.

After a carnitas feast last weekend I was back at it again making taco salad and putting them in baked flour tortilla bowls thanks to some pans I got from my parents for Christmas.  They looked nice, tasted delicious, and were easy to make.

Eating all this meat is really unusual for us.  Usually we eat meat once or twice a week, so I think the rest of the week we’ll get back to a healthier diet.  Maybe some nabe or other standard Japanese fare.

We walked to work yesterday in sub-zero temperatures, occasionally slipping and sliding on the ice and snow.  Luckily today won’t be a repeat performance.  It is indeed cold this morning, but no sign of snow or ice today.  Good news!

At work, most of my coworkers are waiting impatiently for the next fiscal year calendar to be officially published.   The next fiscal year starts in April, and it details all the factory work days until March 2014.   We have to wait for the calendar to be official before we can reserve some holidays  – and I’m dying to pull the trigger on some plane tickets that we found.  It would be good to get a good price on tickets, but at the same time I’d hate to commit too early and then not be able to use them because I can’t get some time off.

I’m 90% sure that it would be no problem, but even at only 10% the risk is a little too much for me.  Besides, these discounted tickets usually have restrictions on rescheduling, so if I miss I miss big.  But February is coming, and I think it is just a matter of weeks.

Last evening I threw together a dinner of grilled burgers and mushrooms and black eyed peas.  I walked in and out of our house on to the back patio to grill, and between the sun shining on the back of our house and the heat of the grill, it was a very comfortable experience.

Turns out it was just in time.

An hour after I wrapped up the BBQ in the cover and went back inside a sudden freak storm came through.  Thunder, lightning, and sheets of hard rain hit.  I’m glad I wasn’t out there in that.  And this morning I looked out the window, and everything is white.  Snowy white.

On Friday night we went out to see Life of Pi in the theater in Kobe.  I liked the movie – it was a good attempt to film the unfilmable and the writer of the screenplay wisely decided to skip a few choice parts.  Still, great movie – and beautiful.

Saturday night I was on my own for dinner, because Kuniko was eating out with Kori in Okubo.  I spent the day cooking up some carnitas, and they turned out very nicely.  In the end I baked them until the outside was crispy, but looking back I think I should have baked them a few minutes less than I did.  The result was awesome, however.  I’ll put that recipe away and maybe bring it back to serve when we host the Yamajis later this month.

OK, out to face the winter snow.

I had a nice time with the inspectors last night at the tachinomi.  They brought along two guys that work directly for one of Kawasaki’s customers, and they turned out to be good people to talk to as well.  It was interesting to have five Americans in the tiny little place.

During the conversation with the new guys, it slowly dawned on me that they were in some strange way my customers, and that I should keep that in mind while talking to them.  Fundamentally, we were all Americans staying in a foreign country, but during the talks I had to remember to be careful what I talk about and how I say things.  Just in case.

Tonight after work I’m meeting Kuniko in Kobe and we’re going out to dinner and a movie.  The dinner is not entirely set, but probably will end up being the Rokko Beer Diner in Motomachi  – the closest source of locally brewed beer on tap.  The movie will be Life of Pi.  I read the book years ago when it first came out, and it remains one of my favorites.  I’ve heard that if you watch the movie and take that as a separate experience, you won’t be disappointed.  We’ll see tonight.

Kuniko is working both days this weekend, and she’ll be going out with her friend Kori tomorrow night here in town.  I haven’t figured out exactly what I’m doing, but it involves a big basket of giant mushrooms that I bought at Costco a while back.  I need to research some interesting recipes for those…

Tonight after work I’ll head back to the tachinomi for a couple of drinks with the resident inspector at the factory.  I was there only last week with an ex-student, and visiting twice in two weeks vaguely makes me feel uncomfortable.  I’m not sure why.  The timing works out quite well, however, because Kuniko will be late getting home tonight anyway.  Bring on the quiche!

I’m focusing this week on rehabilitating my Spanish skills, but it is no easy task.  When I think in Spanish, if there is some word that I have forgotten, my brain doesn’t seem to realize it and helpfully (?) substitutes the Japanese word.  Only later do I notice that it is not correct.  I’m concentrating on conjugating verbs right now, but it is clear that I’ve forgotten important prepositions and adverbs as well.  This is going to take a while.

I haven’t stop studying Korean this week – I’m using flashcards to review reading skills and I’m getting a little faster reading Korean words.  Next week I’ll get back to writing and start memorizing my first few words to use in conversations.  I’m really enjoying the study so far.