I Look Dandy Today and Other Myths

To say that I can't see the screen very well as I type because my eyelids are that swollen from crying all day is not much of an exaggeration.
But it's not what you think.
Yes, I'm a bit sad about leaving Tokyo in two and a half weeks. But there's plenty about being back in Chicago to look forward to. Here is a totally random list of examples:

After eight p.m., or whenever Koji goes to bed, I won't have to function via flashlight. I'll be able to let this weird muscle that I've developed on my left shoulder (from clenching the flashlight between my jaw and collarbone) go back where it came from.

When I need cilantro, I'll drive to Marketplace and buy it for cheap. I won't wonder what it's called in Japanese, search fruitlessly (vegetable-lessly?) at many markets and then resign myself to a cilatro-deprived life.

We won't be limited to two at a time when we feel like inviting friends over. And we won't have to hint that they should go home when it gets past 9, because we'll be able to put Koji to bed in his very own room...this is back to reason number one up there. Maybe I should just come out and say that I'm deliriously happy about putting Koji back in his own room.

Did I mention driving? This list is not in order, but reason number one may well be, my car, my car, my car...and yes, I read the news and I know that gas prices are up and President Bush wants me to cut down on driving. Fine. Even a little more driving than NONE, which is the amount I do now, will be great. Did you know that I like to drive? It's true! Let me know when you need someone for a road trip, I'm in!

I'll know how my phones work, both cell and home phone. The phone we were provided with here in the Room is nice looking but has never been easy to operate. So, I went from being a rather reluctant phone user to a complete non phone user. I'm ready to reach out and touch someone again.

Speaking of someone, the thought of living so close to friends that I can walk to some of them if I want to (better yet for me, drive in 10-15 minutes!!) is fabulous, glorious, wonderful! I have exactly one friend here that I can walk to, and she has been a great blessing. But the Lord knows I need more than one friend! The rest of my friends here live at least an hour away on the train.

Maybe Aogu will be able to come home before Koji goes to bed and we'll all be able to eat dinner together. It doesn't even have to be every night, but more often than never would be a dream.

Back to my swollen eyelids, I have been crying all day but that is because I have a beast of a cold! Likely I've had this kind of cold some other time in my life, but I can't recall it at moment. The main three sources of my misery are all in my face: my eyes have been weeping all day, my nose won't stop running (and yet I'm oddly congested) and I can't stop sneezing. Ugh.

So today is the second day that Koji and I stayed in the room. He was awake for about 12 hours today and we watched TV for about 11 1/2 of them. Maybe a little less than that but not much. Actually, this morning I had a little more energy, so we turned the TV off after our standard Thomas fix (yes, I said "our," I like Thomas too these days!) and played golf and football and read some books. We play golf with a long handled wooden rice spoon and a long handled shoe horn and golf balls. Good times.

Oh, I guess we were also artistic! We got out some paper and spongy shapes that Grandma sent over awhile back and made some creations. As Koji was creating and then coloring in a coloring book, I was sorting through some cooking magazines and cutting/ripping out recipes. Suddenly, Koji picked up his coloring book and ripped out a six page section and then said, "Mama, kitte kudasai" (please cut this). Initially I was astonished at his sudden destructiveness! But then it dawned on me that he just wanted to do exactly what I had been; ripping out pages and then cutting them. Silly boy!

After he woke up from his nap, I succumbed to the lure of the TV pretty quickly. I flipped through the channels and waited for him to say "kore mitai!" (want to watch this!). Aogu's influence was apparent when Koji stopped me on a Japanese Pro Bowling Association Senior Tournament--and he was serious! So serious that he got out his little plastic bowling set, lined up the pins and went at it himself!

Meanwhile, I had gone to another channel and gotten sucked into the story of a Korean man who came to Japan 30+ years ago to help his uncle with a restaurant. He couldn't speak Japanese and he worked very very long hours, so it wasn't a great life. The lone bright spot was his only friend, a girl who also worked at the restaurant. Eventually they wanted to get married, and did, but sadly without her parents' blessing. They continued to work in the restaurant business with the dream of owning their own restaurant. They managed to have three children while working and working. One day, just as they were very close to making it with their restaurant, the wife (by that time maybe in her 50s?) collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with her but in any case, she almost died. There was nothing the husband could do but keep working to show her that the dream was coming true. By the time she got out of the hospital, he had remodeled the restaurant and his menu, and the place was full of ravenous patrons. Cut to the beaming family, surrounded by their lovely children and grandchildren...and toasting one another with big glasses of vile-looking green juice?!

That's right, the whole thing was an advertisement for aojiru, a juice that's made of kale and/or a variety of other green, leafy vegetables. They tricked me! But they won't catch me drinking their potion, no matter how healthy Mr. Restaurant's Wife was at the end of the show!

Maybe another sign that it's OK for us to head back to the U.S. of A. for now is that I actually feel a little tired of Japanese food. I never ever thought I'd say that, and it'll probably be a matter of weeks before I'm cursing myself for ever taking all these lovely Japanese meal ingredients at the tips of my fingers for granted. For whatever reason, what I want now is Indian food. Huh?

So yesterday I made some keema curry (clarification: I didn't actually use the exact recipe I'm linking to here; this is the recipe I would have used if I had access to all the ingredients! The recipe I used was a bit simpler). I let it "age" until today, then I added some more curry powder, chili powder, coriander and a bit of water. I served it to myself--but not to Koji, his dinner was 9 potstickers--over rice with cucumber raita on the side. This is how I made it:

Peel and grate at least three seedless cucumbers. Squeeze out the juice. If time permits, sprinkle with salt and let sit at least 10 minutes, then squeeze again and rinse. Mix with one cup of plain yogurt, 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, coarse pepper and coriander. Add a random amount of dried basil. Stir and refrigerate for at least an hour, but longer is better.

I wouldn't be bothered posting the recipe here except that I was pleasantly shocked by how well this little side dish turned out! It was extremely tasty, and even more so as a combination with the curry. Can't wait to try it with mint or cilantro or those other leaves that are for sale at Marketplace!

In other news (why am I so chatty today?!), I read two books recently. I read them between last Wednesday night and this Monday, to be precise. One was good and one not so. The good one was Seabiscuit. Though I fell asleep during the movie and remember exactly nothing about it, the book was quite interesting. The author made many asides into the history of the day, which could have been annoying, but I didn't know anything about it and I was willing to learn, so it worked out for me. Bonus: I bought this book for 105 yen (about $1) at Book Off. I could kick myself for not thinking of shopping there a lot sooner. I've been buying brand new books on sale for 700-1000 yen and they don't last any longer than Seabiscuit did! I won't be such a fool again...for the next two and a half weeks...

This is the other book I read: Cross Bones. It cost me 250 yen but I'm not sure it had that much value, for me at least. The premise of the story is that someone has found bones that may belong to Jesus in Masada, which is scandalous and will surely debunk all major world religions!! Um, except I don't believe that. So, it was mildly interesting as a not so well written mystery. Don't run out and get it.

Good night.