Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!
I spent this year's festival of gluttony at a conference for Ishikawa ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) in Hakui, a small city about an hour north of Kanazawa. The conference ran from Thursday to Friday, so Thursday night (Thanksgiving night) found me on the floor, contorted into the most uncomfortable position, trying to squeeze my legs under an individual sized floor table. (Note to 6' women every where: pencil skirts are not made for dining on the floor if you have any desire to retain a semblance of grace and/or dignity.) As the blood flow trickled to a bare minimum and my right foot began to look positively vampiric, I eyeballed the dinner they had prepared for us.
It eyeballed me back.
Nestled cozily amongst other slices of raw fish flesh was a whole raw shrimp, in all of it's raw translucent glory. It's eyeballs were an eerie bluish gray. And they were looking at me. In the spirit of adventure, I had previously eaten one of said Japanese delicacies (called "amai ebi", literally "sweet shrimp" a winter delicacy in Ishikawa, lucky me) and found it palatable. However, I am not particularly interested in shrimp even when it is breaded and fried, so raw and leggy is not on my list of favorites. I traded it for a clementine and enjoyed the rest of my meal... well, except for the fishy custard.
Later that night I had my first onsen experience. (Click on the word "onsen" for an excellent Wikipedia article detailing the history, etiquette, etc. of onsens.) Though there was a little akwardness as we attempted to maintain normal conversation all the while getting naked under fluorescent lights, once we entered the steamy shower room and were presented with the prospect of relaxing in an outdoor bath under the moonlight, the awkwardness drifted away with the steam. It was lovely.
More later on baking apple pie in a microwave and trying to approximate Thanksgiving in Japan. For now, check out my latest Facebook album: Senmaida Wedding
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