Host Family

06/28/08 Sunday: Rainy

This week was pretty usual in terms of classes. A lot of homework. I started watching Japanese drama to practice my listening--or just using that as an excuse to watch Japanese drama. I've been watching this drama called "Beautiful Life." It's a wonderful drama recommended by Afua (aka sexy lady). However, I could only understand 45% of the Japanese in the drama. It's kinda sad that my Japanese is still terrible.

This weekend was my home stay weekend with my host family. I have to say, I fell in love with my host family. They were so nice and easy-going. And I really had a chance to gain an insight on the workings of a modern Japanese family.


First night, I had the best meal since my coming to Japan: Yakuniku, which means "grilled meat." It's similar to Korean BBQ: Galbi. Basically, you cook sauteed meat on a griddle, add some kimchi, then wrap it lettuce. It was so good. Along with yakuniku, I had some edamame and miso soup, and a can of Yebisu beer. Because I'd been eating bento boxes from convenient stores for 2 weeks, dinner was heaven. Heaven. I felt like I was at home, except I was in Japan. My host dad worked for Lehman Brothers so he wasn't there for dinner. God I don't want to be an Ibanker. During dinner, I had a nice, long and simple conversation with my host mom and grandma in Japanese. It further made me realized how terrible and retarded sounding my Japanese was. It would take me 30 seconds to think of what I need to say, another 30 seconds to conjugate the verb in my head, and after I would finally say it, it would still come out wrong.


My Japanese was hopeless when talking my host family. My host mother tried to talk to me like a 4 year old, and even then, every time after she spoke, I stared at her, dumbfounded, until she asked, "Wakatta?" "Did you understand?" I would then shake my head and apologize for my stupidity. They were very, very tolerant indeed. They not only didn't make fun of me, but rather often complimented me on my desperate attempts at speaking possibly the worst Japanese they've ever heard in their lives. "Suuuugooooiii" was what they said. I don't think there is an English word for it, but it means something along the lines of "Wow so good!" Except not. My Japanese was anything but sugoi. Nonetheless, I loved how nice they were to me.


For lunch the next day, my host mom taught me how to cook Takoyaki, which literally meant "baked octopus." It's batter, with octopus, ginger, and tempura scraps pan-baked then topped with okonomiyagi sauce, mayo, green laver, and katuobusi. It was also delicious, and I had a lot of fun making the takoyaki. And because I made it, it simply tasted better. But no really, it was really good. The only down side was that it was more like a snack rather than lunch, so I got pretty hungry in 2 hours.




Today, we went to Asakusa, a really famous touristy spot in Tokyo. The place was really cool, with a lot of foreigners, delicious snacks, and expensive souvenirs. However, because it was raining all day today, the place wasn't as enjoyable. I nevertheless got a really good fortune that claimed that all my wishes would come true. Let's hope so.

My host mom reminded me of my own mom, which kinda made me homesick. She was so kind and nice to her son. Such a lucky boy. It's weird because after staying with such a great family, I couldn't help but think what it would be like to have my own family. But I'm only 20, so no.

This weekend has definitely been the most rewarding weekends I've had in Japan. However, for the past two weekends, all I did was drink and go out, so not much of a competition there. By the way, the legal drinking age in Japan is 20, in case if you were wondering why a good citizen like me would ever disobey the law. Ha. Tomorrow is monday, and we don't have class....time to catch up on homework.

Until next time!
Hans Liang

06/22/08 Sunday: Rainy

I have just experienced my first week in Japan, and it has been absolutely amazing. First of week class was kind of intense, given that I forgot like 80% of the Japanese that I learned. However, the classese were a lot more relaxed than I thought they'd be. The senseis were actually pretty lenient when we forgot our vocabularies and grammatical structures. On weekdays, I didn't get to do much because after class, I would go home, take a nap, wake up, eat dinner, then do my homework and review for next day's class. On Wednesday though, I, along with Ben and Yu-han, to Harajuku. I swear I saw girls who dressed up in cartoon characters! I thought they were working, except they weren't. That's just the way they dressed. That was...interesting. On a random note, Japanese signs are hilarious.

Apparently, groping happens a lot on Japanese subways, so here is a sign that warns against groping.
















And isn't this the cutest no smoking sign ever?
















This week, I'm going to focus on one of the most popular foods in Japan: Ramen. First I would just like to say that Japanese ramen is sooooooooooooooo outrageously delicious. Mmmmm, just writing about it makes me salivate. Ramen was first introduced to Japan during the Meiji era (1868–1912) from China. The men, or noodles, is made from four basic ingredients: wheat flour, salt, water, and kansui, which is essentially a type of alkaline mineral water. The ramen soup is generally made from stock based on chicken or pork, combined with a variety of ingredients such as kombu (kelp), katsuobushi (skipjack tuna flakes), niboshi (dried baby sardines), beef bones, shiitake, and onions, and then flavored with the likes of salt, miso, or soy sauce. There are generally four kinds of ramen (mainly based on their soups): Shio (salt) ramen, tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen, shoyu (soy sauce) ramen, and miso ramen.

There are a couple of characteristics about ramen that are worth mentioning here. First, most of the Japanese ramen restaurants that I've gone to were relatively small and cozy. The chief makes the ramen right in front of you. This creates a great ambiance because it feels like the chief is catering his cooking to you. Second, ramen is considered a kind of fast food in Japan. Most people who are pressed for time can enjoy a delicious meal in a short amount of time. Its fast food without the fast food taste :). And third, the service is great. If you want extra meat in your ramen, or do not want your ramen to be too salty, they'll gladly and politely make the ramen to your liking. I'll end this post with some pictures of the delicious ramens I've had.































Mata,
Hans Liang

Welcome to Nihon

06/14/08: Sunny
This is my first blog entry. Since my blog is titled hans eat japan, every entry will have something to do with food :) I will keep a detailed blog (along with pictures) of the delicious food that I will eat in Japan.

So, I arrived in Japan on 06/12/08 on ANA flight 952. However, within the first 3 mins of my arrival, I found out that ANA had lost my luggage--that my luggage, due to some computer error, was somewhere in Beijing. Great. I was pretty worried. However, thank god the airport workers all spoke English. They were extremely responsible in tracking down my luggage and delivering them to my apartment the next day. Whew. But I still didn't have fresh underwear to change into the first night =[. I arrived at the Prince Hotel at around 4pm, checked into my room, and took a nap. Although my room was terribly small given American standards, it was nonetheless very cozy. I have to say, Japanese are the most efficient people in the world. Every bit of space is perfectly utilized.

For dinner, I had a Big Mac, fries, and Japanese tea. I wanted some American junk food, and besides, I got 2 months in Japan, so I was gonna take it slow. However, even McDonald was more expensive in Japan than in the States. It's terrible. A Big Mac meal, with a medium drink (which was actually an American small) and fries, cost 680 yen, which was more than 6 dollars. With the depreciation of the dollar, US money got you nowhere these days, especially in Japan.


After dinner, I went back to my room and studied a little. I went to sleep around 11pm because I was exhausted.

Next day, our nihongo senseis picked us up from the hotel, took us to our apartments, then to school for our orientation and placement test (which I absolutely failed). For $2200 dollars a month, our apartments were DEFINITELY worth it. We have our own kitchen, bathroom, queen size bed, TV, DVD player, AC, and a toilet that washes your butt with water (although I have yet to try it).

For lunch, I had to buy a set meal from AM/PM. It was really good. I was pleasantly surprised. Japanese do a great job with their fast food. They are also very healthy--that most of their tea drinks do not have sugar in them and their foods are not loaded with saturated fat (although they can be pretty salty).




For dinner, our senseis took us to a Italian restaurant for our welcoming party and to meet our Japanese buddies. It's funny how our teachers took us, of all restaurants in Tokyo, to a Western restaurant. Maybe they thought we were spoiled Americans. We also met our Japanese buddies, except for me, because my buddy didn't show up =(. Yeah, I felt pretty left out. But it's ok, I met some cool nihonzin anyway.


So far, meaning my first 2 days here, my Japanese experience has been absolutely amazing. I am so thoroughly impressed by the efficiency, manner, and diligence of the Japanese society. There is definitely so much I can learn in Japan, other than Japanese. Thank you Light Fellowship!










Until next time,
Hans