Today the smells of simmering nashi (Japanese pear) and butternut squash suffused our apartment. We drank hot green tea for the first time in months (as October brought a blissful rush of cool air) and lit pumpkin-shaped candles. I made butternut squash stew and hummus. I feel the need to be poetic- can you tell? Lately I’ve been dreaming of dysmorphic squash, sitting on front decks like colorful, twisted mutants, and pumpkin seeds spawned from grinning orange gourds. Today welcomed long-sleeves and rich and earthly aromas. I love fall and its prickling wind, watching red leaves turning on their bellies.
Fall also brought visitors! Last week we visited Nara, Osaka and Kyoto with Stephen's dad and brother, Bill and Travis. Together we were harassed by brash, uncomfortably domesticated deer (that enjoyed eating maps), sang karaoke, burned our mouths on takoyaki, and enjoyed raw wagyu beef and tongue. We stayed at the Apple House in Kyoto, a traditional Japanese home with a small tatami room, kitchen, a second-story bedroom with four futons, and apple paraphernalia everywhere. Together, over the course of the trip, we managed to eat soba, tempura, udon (thick noodles), oden (a convenient-store speciality), conveyer-belt sushi, raw meat of all kinds, ramen, takoyaki (Osaka's fried octopus balls), matcha (finely-milled green tea) tea and ice-cream, donburi (rice bowl topped with beef and egg), okonomiyaki (Osaka's "pancake"made with cabbage, flour, and egg), nikuman (meat-filled dumplings), motchi (Kyoto's sweet specialty), nabe (meat/vegetable hot-pot), and yakitori (fried chicken). As Travis and Stephen were ready for action, that's only a small sample of the menu. It was a great trip with the Morrissey monkey men and watching them in their natural environment was very interesting for an outside observer. You can check out the photos on Facebook!
Our next major adventure will be to Hokkaido, Japan’s northern most island, for winter vacation. We’re going skiing for four days, staying at a lodge, and then heading to Sapporo for New Years. Apparently Hokkaido has some of the top powder in the world- as a first time skier, the softer the snow, the better!
Today we've been invited to lunch by one of Stephen's students (he gets us a lot of home invites) in Arimatsu. She kindly offered to cook us a traditional Japanese meal at her house. I can't wait!
Stay wary of hungry deer,
Claire