Gratitude

As I mentioned before, one of my students got into the college for which I'd been helping her prepare for an interview. I thought at the time that I should get her a gift to congratulate her but my numerous health issues as of late derailed that thought. After a 10-day break, she had a lesson with me again and brought me a gift (pictured above).

For those who don't live in Japan, most gifts from Japanese people arrive looking like this. That is, they are wrapped at the store in store-brand paper and often handed to you in a shopping bag from that store. It's pretty rare to get a gift from a Japanese person which they have wrapped by hand. In fact, I can't recall ever getting a gift which was wrapped by hand.

As far as I know, the etiquette for such gifts is to accept them graciously and set them aside to be opened later when the person who gave them is not present. I think they'd find it pretty embarrassing otherwise but this could be one of those points on which I'm uncertain of what to do. Even if I was told it was okay to open a gift in front of a student, I'm not sure I would as it would waste time the student is paying for.


The gift was these two bone china coffee cups. They're average in size which is to say somewhat large by Japanese standards. She told me one was for me and one for my husband (hence the pink and blue). They are Minton Haddon Hill collection china which means they are part of a proper china pattern (the sort that couples register for when they marry). I'm sure they were relatively expensive.

In the future, the lessons I do with this student will now turn to helping her pass her classes. She just started taking two of them and it's all pretty overwhelming for her now as her first class is about the justice system in the United States focusing on the juvenile court system. The funny thing is that I understand almost everything in her textbook despite never having studied anything about the subject. It's a real testimonial to the number of courtroom dramas on television in the U.S. and how they introduce us to a lot of the legal system's jargon and structure.

I Get Well, the Computer Gets Sick

I've been struggling to recover from my cold for nearly 3 weeks now. There was a secondary infection or viral issue that grabbed hold of me about 5 days ago because my immune system was down. I'm pretty sure this has something to do with herpes simplex (the cold sore virus) having infected my nose and possibly the lining of my throat as it flares up in precisely the same way when it happens. At any rate, it's really painful and causes swallowing to be extremely difficult but I think I've seen the last of it as of today.

Unfortunately, just as I'm well enough to really start getting back on track, my PC contracts a virus. I've dealt with lots of viruses on the silly thing before. In fact, Gaelicum.A seems to be a semi-permanent visitor despite my shooing it off the drive once a week or so. This time, it was the Parite virus and I wasn't able to clear it off my external hard disk.

You other computer geeks know all about this kind of external disk. It's the sort you buy because you have all sorts of crap you just don't want to throw out but aren't sure is worth burning into a permanent archive. You stuff it full of things you occasionally deal with or random back-ups and generally use it as the equivalent of a huge, messy closet. You know you should sort it out and back-up the important files but you can't be bothered because that sort of organization would actually negate some of the value of having such a drive.

Unfortunately for me, this drive developed some sort of problem awhile ago which I never got around to dealing with. It couldn't be defragmented and it couldn't have any disk checks ran on it from Windows XP. My sister tells me she believes it has a bad sector but the drive has never shown any difficulties aside from refusing to have checks and a defrag ran so I ignored it. Essentially, one of the shelves in my closet was broken and I ignored it because the other shelves were just fine.

This bit me in the ass today because none of the Parite virus removal utilities can run properly to clean the disk. They all hit the same roadblock because of whatever has gone awry. Now, I have to deal with it. Instead of spending my first day of near wellness playing Guild Wars with my sister as I'd been looking foward to since just before the virus reasserted itself, I'll be spending it trying to sort through and burn all the data on a 160 GB drive to DVDs. As it is, I've already lost some of the data to infected files which I removed entirely so I guess that's sort of a "plus" as I don't have to question what to do with them.

The annoying thing about this problem is that it's exactly the sort of issue that I used to be able to run to my Mac to fix. It was my knight in shining armor when the PC refused to fix itself. If the PC wouldn't fix a disk/disc error, a Mac utility would. Now that the Mac OS and Windows speak much more similar languages, it doesn't work. In fact, the Mac would see the drive as "read only" when I removed it from the PC and plugged it into the Mac. It also refused to let me burn files from the drive. When the PC and Mac were near strangers waving their hands at each other and using sign language to convey the general meaning of a problem, the Mac would just work out what needed to be done and fix it rather than get just as confused by the problem as the PC. Those days are gone thanks to Stevie-baby and Mac OS X.

All of this was so frustrating that, once I finally got it set up to start doing burns, I decided to go off and do something more enjoyable, like clean the toilet.

Here's a fun geek fact, btw. "Disc" is used for CDs and DVDs (optical media) but "disk" is used for hard drives, removable media, and thumb drives. There is a spelling difference and it has meaning! It's not just some arbitrary difference.

Since the Police Have Nothing Better to Do

I've been reading in several different blogs about a general crackdown on cyclists who violate the rules in the smallest way and being fined as much as 50,000 yen (a little less than $500). These stories mainly revolve around drunken riding but also include having two people ride on the same bike, using a cell phone while riding, and riding without a light at night. The only one of these things I'm at risk for is riding without a light.

It's not that I have a problem with using the little friction-powered headlight that came with my bike. In fact, I'd be very happy to use it. The problem is that mine appears to have been improperly installed and won't work. The strange thing is that my husband has the same model bike and his is installed in the same non-functioning fashion. Since we both bought our cheap, houswife model bikes from Seiyu, the same person probably put each together.

In the past, I had an experience which led me to believe that the police target foreigners specifically when it comes to bicycles. My husband and I were riding to the local library in a perfectly normal fashion when a policeman in front of a police box waved his hands in such a way that he made it clear that he wanted us to stop. We stopped, of course. The policeman proceeded to question us in broken English about our bikes. He asked us where we got our bikes and if we could prove that we actually owned them. We told him where we bought them and said we had receipts but we had them at home. The way he continued to question and react to our replies, one would think that we were the strange ones for not carrying a receipt for our bikes with us at all times. At the time, I was pretty angry because I asked if he only stopped foreigners and asked if they were riding stolen bikes and he said that only foreigners were targeted.

Given that the police are inclined to stop foreigners on bikes anyway, I wanted to be extra cautious about this point. The last thing I want to do is pay some ridiculous fine over my non-functioning headlight. I figure, based on the prejudice I experienced before, that this may be an issue where a Japanese person might be given a warning and cut some slack but a foreigner may not.

So, I bought a cheap headlight from the local 100 yen shop and installed it. It's not a bad light in some ways. You install a little bracket on the bike and then slip the light on and off of it using a click-lock on the underside (pictured below).



The reason you have to be able to remove it is that it can't be left out in the rain or it'll stop functioning. It uses 4 AA battries and can also function as a nice flashlight if you need one in a pinch. I've decided to remove and attach mine as needed despite the hassle of doing so. My husband had me tie a plastic bag around his to protect it. We'll see if his gives out. We'll also see if someone steals mine next time I go into a grocery store and leave it attached. People in Tokyo will steal anything, no matter how low the value of that item is, so long as they think they won't be seen.


As a somewhat related aside, this truck was parked outside my apartment building. Because of the crackdown on illegal parking in Tokyo, it has a special permit displayed in the window so the fellow working on the building across from ours doesn't get fined while he does his job.

I realize that there are problems both with illegal parking and cyclists in Tokyo but I think the police have got to have better things to do with their time than deal with relatively benign situations like these.

100 Things About Me

I lifted this idea from Helen's blog but my husband tells me this is pretty common among blogs. I liked the concept because there are bound to be unusual things you wouldn't normally tell people and it gathers together all the bits of information scattered throughout a lot of varied posts. I'm guessing a lot of my friends who know me well probably won't know everything on the list (and probably will know some things quite well).

It's actually very difficult to compile this sort of list. Try it for yourself and you'll see.

100 Things About Me

1. I studied psychology in university.
2. I applied for graduate school in the social psychology program at Ohio State University and was accepted but couldn’t attend because of a lack of funds.
3. I worked as an assistant to one of my psychology professors in university.
4. I paid my way through school myself because my family was poor.
5. I worry a lot about money, live simply and try to save as much as possible.
   
6. I have no debts whatsoever.
   
7. I have long, strawberry-blonde hair which has gotten “blonder” as I’ve gotten older because of a steady infusion of white hair.
8. Everyone in my family has dark hair except me.
9. I was a serious KISS fan from the ages of 13 to 27 or so and used to sell KISS collectable items by mail order from Japan as a moderately profitable “hobby.”
10. I have only once dressed up for a Halloween party (as an adult) and I dressed as Gene Simmons.
11. I rarely listen to any music now.
12. My first job was at a half-way house for mentally ill people who were transitioning between being in a mental hospital to reintegrating with society.
13. Legally insane people have threatened to harm me twice.
14. I worked part-time at a home for children with Cerebral Palsy concurrent with my first job.
15. I lived in California for 10 months before coming to Japan.
16. I worked as a coordinator for those who wanted to rent out rooms to boarders in the high cost of living areas of the Bay Area of California.
17. I worked at Nova conversation school, possibly the worst school in Japan, for 2 years after arriving in Japan.
18. I worked at an English correspondence school in Tokyo for 12 years but quit for health reasons in 2005.
19. I fell off of my bike somewhat over a decade ago and have had serious back problems ever since.
20. I was born with a congenital defect in my spine which also causes back problems but I was unaware of that defect until I fell off my bike and was X-rayed.
21. One of my sinuses is underdeveloped and causes me to have headaches and problems with one of my eyes on occasion.
22. I had my gall bladder removed in Japan 14 years ago by arthroscopic surgery before it was commonly done in Japan. The doctor who did the surgery on me was an American teaching the Japanese doctors.
23. I love to write non-fiction, especially instructional or text materials.
24. I’m a big fan of Adobe software, especially Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator and am an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop.
25. While I’m super at Photoshop and image manipulation, I’m a poor photographer.
26. I have one sibling, an older sister, who I talk to nearly every day via GoogleTalk or other voice/chat software.
27. I love multiplayer gaming and spent about 4 years engrossed in Diablo 2.
28. I’m a dual-platform user but prefer Macs overall.
29. While most people assume my husband sets up and maintains our computers and LAN, I am the one who takes care of everything and I know a lot about both Macs and PCs.
30. I hate jewelry and the only piece I wear is my wedding ring.
31. I hate perfume of all types.
32. I dislike shopping, especially for clothes.
33. My philosophy on material possessions is ‘mending is better than ending’.
34. I only have 5 pairs of shoes and only wear 2 on a regular basis – tennis shoes and Birkenstocks.
35. I love scented candles, particularly those which mirror delicate natural scents like vanilla, cinnamon, pine, holly, etc.
36. I’m from Pennsylvania and lived there until I was 23.
37. My husband is from California.
38. My husband and I met as penpals in 1987 and met face-to-face for the first time in Tokyo while he was working here on a 1-year contract with a language school.
39. I got married at age 24 in 1989 and am still passionately in love with my husband.
40. I tease my husband mercilessly but he puts up with it with good humor.
41. My husband was the only boyfriend I ever had (and I’m grateful for that).
42. I prefer men with beards.
43. When I was 18, I had 17 penpals and was a prolific correspondent.
44. I dislike people who think they are smarter than others.
45. I strongly dislike people who think being rude is equivalent to being assertive and “tough” and being polite and considerate of others feelings is a sign of a neurotic need to be liked.
46. I dislike people who think they are superior to others for any reason.
47. I believe actions speak louder than words when it comes to a person’s morality.
48. I love spicy food, especially curry.
49. My favorite color is dark green.
50. My favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut.
51. My favorite book is “This Perfect Day” by Ira Levin.
52. My favorite genre for books is anti-utopian novels.
53. I don’t like T.V. shows where people get laughs by being cruel to one another or offering nasty put-downs.
54. I love old sitcoms that are goofy or good-natured in their humor such as the original Bob Newhart show.
55. I love British comedy, especially Black Adder and Monty Python.
56. My favorite animated series is Futurama.
57. I wore contact lenses for 16 years but had to go back to glasses because of a worsening astigmatism.
58. I hate wearing glasses.
59. I don’t wear make-up.
60. I never wear skirts or dresses.
61. I’ve never drunk any sort of alcoholic beverage in my life (and it’s not against my religion).
62. My cousins first introduced me to smoking when I was 10 and I never tried it again.
63. I’ve never sampled a recreational drug but believe in legalizing them.
64. I love hazelnut-chocolate sweets but only occasionally indulge in them.
65. Texture is more important to me in food than taste.
66. I love croutons, Triscuits and other dry, crunchy, salty food.
67. I love almost all types of cheese but Havarti is my favorite.
68. I don’t like most Japanese food and rarely eat it.
69. I love both tea and coffee as long as they have milk and artificial sweetener.
70. My favorite dessert is cheesecake.
71. When eating with others, I always give the best/biggest pieces/servings to others.
72. I like to cook but dislike cleaning up afterwards.
73. I dislike driving.
74. I had my first car wreck at 15 when I first attempted to learn to drive.
75. When I was a teenager, I painted murals on the walls of my bedroom.
76. I used to be a pretty good artist, especially when drawing people and objects, but haven’t kept up practicing since marrying. Now, I’m not very good.
77. I practiced calligraphy, drew with ink, pencil and charcoal, made montages, did batik, embroidery, and 3D artwork cut from layered cardboard when I was younger but no longer have the energy or time for crafts.
78. I like pirate movies and all things pirate-y.
79. I love to buy and look at furniture and rearrange it far too often given the small size of my apartment.
80. I hate hot weather and would rather be freezing cold than baking hot.
81. I am meticulous about recycling as much as possible.
82. I hate clutter and am very organized.
83. I love web comics and try to support the artists who do them by sending small donations.
84. I read several on-line advice columns but I’m more interested in the problems than the solutions the columnists offer.
85. I was raised a Christian in the Church of the Nazarene but do not believe in any Christian dogma now.
86. I believe in the basic notion of reincarnation though I don’t believe in the concept of time.
87. I don’t believe in the existence of true “evil” or the devil.
88. I know more about sumo wrestling than most Japanese people and have seen sumo in person at least 8 times.
89. I have trouble relaxing and doing nothing.
90. I love cats.
91. I’m a homebody and dislike going out.
92. I have a relatively large DVD collection of around 250 titles.
93. I like old, classic Sci-Fi.
94. I love old movies from the 30s and 40s, especially those with Bette Davis.
95. “Zeitgeist” is my favorite non-English word (because of its meaning and how it can be used to talk about history).
96. “Zuibun” is my favorite Japanese word because I like the way it sounds.
97. I dislike anime-style drawing and manga.
98. I am not the least bit maternal.
99. I’ve lived in the same apartment in Tokyo for 17 years.
100. The word “Carl” will always hold a special meaning to me for reasons that involve national security and therefore cannot be divulged.

Homemade Tortillas

If you're in the mood for Mexican food in Japan, you have some limited options for getting what you want. There are a few Mexican restaurants but most of them sell dishes altered to suit Japanese tastes. A few exceptions are La Jolla in Hiroo and El Torito. The food at these places is typical American-style Mexican for the most part though it's a bit pricey.

If you want to make your own, some local markets carry limited amounts of Mexican ingredients. For instance, you can get powdered seasoning mixes for tacos, guacomole, and Mexican rice. Taco shells are sold in most places which have foreign food sections though you can't get them at the average local market. A few also carry tortillas in the freezer section or packaged for long-term storage in plastic bags. Most of these tortillas are ridiculously priced (about 80-100 yen per tortilla) and not all that good because they're meant to sit on the shelf for months, not taste fresh.

If you're ambitious enough, you can make your own tortillas with easy to find ingredients. It's not difficult but it is somewhat time-consuming. The main benefit besides better taste and texture (because they're soft and fresh), is that you can make them with wheat flour instead of white. That makes them somewhat better for you as whole wheat flour has a less detrimental impact on blood sugar levels than white flour.

I usually make mine with a mixture of white and whole wheat since using only wheat flour tends to create a dough which tears apart rather than stays together as a cohesive ball.

Here's the recipe:

ingredients:

3 cups of flour (I use 2 cups of wheat, 1 cup of white)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4-6 tbsp. vegetable shortening (Crisco) - do no use lard!
about 1 1/4 cups warm water

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the vegetable shortening. Use a fork or pastry cutter to cut in the shortening or just mix it with your hands until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add warm water a little at a time until the dough is soft and not sticky.

Pull off pieces of dough until you have 12 small balls (make fewer if you want larger tortillas). Let them rest for 10 minutes or more.

Roll out each ball of dough until very thin and cook each tortilla in a medium-hot skillet for 20-30 seconds on each side. Be careful not to overcook them or they will dry out and be tough. If you make the tortillas with whole wheat flour, they will not brown the same as those made with white flour.