A Day at the Beach

I made this. No recipe. Just a taste profile in my mind, some readily available ingredients, and a Japanese inspiration. Cajun Paella.

I am pretty proud of myself. It needs a few tweaks, but it stands as yet another reminder of how much I have grown since I moved to Japan. Before Japan, I had to have a recipe (as I have mentioned). I could never create a dish like this. Not just because I wasn’t brave enough, though. Before Japan, I didn’t know what paella was!

And I wouldn’t know what paella was if it wasn’t for a certain seaside adventure in Wakayama.

“OK: Which sounds like more fun

Digging for clams or Oktoberfest in Sakai,” Ling’s message read.

It was late afternoon on a Friday, and we were trying to decide what to do with the approaching weekend.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Oktoberfest with lots of bratwurst and lederhosen, but I just wasn't feeling it.  Maybe it was because Japan isn't always good at international festivals.  They tend to revolve around what Japanese people believe happens in those cultures. Or maybe it was because drinking beer isn't my thing and I was assuming that would be the main focus of a German themed event in Sakai (see hesitation one).  Either way, digging for clams just seemed like way more fun!  Ling thought so too.

According to the website, the beach offered people the chance to dig their own clams for a reasonable ¥1300 (plus ¥100 for basket and rake rental).  After you had dug your last clam, you turned in your basket and however many clams you caught for 700 grams of clean, ready to cook clams.  They also offered grill rentals to cook your catch right there on the beach. 

It sounded like an amazing afternoon.  Plans were made, train schedules checked, and supplies purchased.  We hadn't had too many adventures like this before, so there was a need to purchase a cooler and the cookout goodies to fill it – drinks, mushrooms, corn, green peppers, and watermelon. 

At the appointed time, loaded with food and smelling of sunscreen, we departed for our unique adventure.

The beach was already crowded when we got there in the late morning.  Tents and grills were already up.  We were amazed at the amount and quality of the Japanese beach gear.  These people did not mess around when it came to beach time fun! 

You know the tents in Harry Potter? The ones where Mr. Weasley fits like the whole house in his bag?  This wasn’t just going to the beach, this was making the beach your b***h.  People had set up whole living rooms.  There were tables, chairs, and very well stocked coolers. 

The amount and range of grillables roasting over charcoal were astounding.  We saw prawns, meat, hamburgers, hot dogs. There were veggies I hadn’t ever seen in the grocery here.  And more of it than I had seen at any event sort of school lunch!

Not that I am all that dark myself...

Children, and some adults had all the latest technological gadgets and games.  They lounged in the shade updating Facebook or playing 3DS between bouts of sand castle building and tomodachi burying.  It was an interesting mix. 

Perhaps the second greatest shock was the fashion choices.  There was almost no skin!  I was wearing a thin shirt over a swimsuit top and felt so completely naked next to people in hoodies, sweaters, long pants, and high boots.  You’d have thought it was still winter rather than full on summer! Some people had shed a layer or two, one guy was already turning red from the sun, but for the most part, it seemed Japanese people must be a nation of mildly UV tolerant vampires. 

  

Ling and I found a bare spot of sand among the Bedouin palaces of the other beach goers.  We didn't have an umbrella, a pop-up picnic table, or any of the bells and whistles our Japanese neighbors did, but we still got big smiles as we spread out our towels.

Smaller children were already laughing and squealing at the water’s edge.  The adults were a little further out, knee-deep in the cold water.  Everyone was bent double, bucket in on hand, the other sifting through the sand at their feet for the elusive seafood prize.  Eager to try our own luck, Ling and I charged in, buckets and rakes ready.  The water was still very cold, but the sand felt good, and soon we were literally raking in the clams. 

It was an interesting experience - the cool water on your legs, the warm sun on your back.  You rake through the sand, desperate for that slight bit of resistance.  Ling was off to a good start.  But since I brought the veggies, he agreed to share.  Our buckets were soon half full and our legs and muscles burning from the back breaking labor.

We decided to take a brief rest to soak up some of the sun. 

As we watched the incredibly clothed Japanese people still at it, we realized why there were so many clams.  Turns out they seeded the beach.  A little john boat puttered by with a man throwing out clams by the handful.  The hunters swarmed, catching the clams before they even had a chance to bury themselves.  It was like a maritime version of Mardi Gras.  But knowing why there were so many clams in this little area didn’t diminish the thrill as we waded back into the hunt a little while later.  The eager diggers hadn’t captured all of our prey. 

After another twenty minutes, Ling and I had filled our daily quota (and even given some away to the children like gaijin clam fairies).  Triumphant, we traded our catch for a large bag of cleaned clams.

The next part was what we had both been anticipating and dreading since we decided to try this adventure.  Neither of us had been clamming before, but we knew even less about how to cook our catch.  Ling claimed he understood the gist of it, he had even googled it just to make sure, but I wasn't convinced.  I have no experience grilling (a skill I am content not to level up in), and when the grill turned out to be charcoal, I gave up any pretense of helping.

Ling soldiered on and, despite the fear of food poisoning, we took our first slurp of our hard won lunch.

It was far from the best bbq I have ever had.  The clams were super salty, the veggies needed some kind of marinade, and the charcoal was difficult.  But for a first run, it was great.  Grabbing clams hot off the grill with pilfered chopsticks.  Laughing as we ate our prizes.  It was a great end to a wonderful adventure. 

Smelling of sun and surf, we returned home.  We were sandy and exhausted, but also incredibly happy.  We had spent an amazing afternoon doing something we had never dreamed of doing in Japan.  Something we couldn't wait to do again. 

But with more friends and preparation. Our packing list for next time…

-umbrella or other shade

-chopsticks

-plates

-MEAT, MEAT, and more MEAT

-speakers and tunes

-volleyball or other toys

While there were many things I missed about Osaka, I realized that Wakayama would be filled with quiet, low-key adventures I would never find in the big city.  Afternoons lounging on the beach, hiking through cool, shady forests, enjoying friends and nature simultaneously.  It made me glad to know I had a year for all kinds of adventures.

Wait, great story, but what does it have to do with paella? Well, I’m not done yet.

Ling and I couldn’t possibly eat 1400 grams of clams in one afternoon. We were both still dubious of food poisoning, too, so we decided to take our maritime bounty home and deal with it later. Fresh clams are easy to freeze.

When I got off at Kinokawa Eki, tired and a little sunburned, I walked away with all the clams! Now with double the haul (Ling didn’t want them back), I needed to figure out double the recipes! And that is how I learned about paella. 

World History

Recently, I have been watching a show with footage from WWII that had been remastered in color. Unfortunate timing, given my growing belief that the world has lost its damn mind and we are heading toward Orwellian levels of fear mongering, hate, and government control. Based on my Facebook feed, at least. But that is a topic for some other time.

No, what struck me, as I was watching, was how little I actually knew about these important events. Did I sleep through world history?

Living in Japan, interacting with people from all over the world, I came to realize just how one-sided my education had been.

I don’t mean that in a negative way. My British friends had an equally nationally-centered world view. As did the Australian, Danish, German, Chinese, Korean, and Italians I met. Not to mention the Japanese. Everyone is taught history with themselves (or their country) at the center. The American Revolution isn’t the American Revolution to the British.

Before I moved to Japan, my knowledge of WWII history was very, very basic. Hitler. The Holocaust. Then the Americans saved the day.

I knew about Pearl Harbor, my grandfather was there, but I didn’t understand the skirmishes, sanctions, and politics that led up to it. I also didn’t understand the mindset of the Japanese people. Or any people other than my own.

I didn’t realize that Asia was fighting its own world war at the time. Or that they had fought the same war, over and over, for thousands of years. That the hatred between Japan, China, and Korea was as thick and deep as any European feud I ever studied. Maybe deeper.

Living abroad opened my eyes to just how small my world was. And how much I have left to learn.

It also makes me worry for those who don’t have the opportunity or desire try it themselves. They say that those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. But I would argue that those who don’t study ALL of history are equally doomed. We can no longer afford to look at things from a single perspective. We must open our eyes wide.

Yes, Hitler was a demon. But how did a demon come to power? Yes, Pearl Harbor was a tragedy. But how could two cultures see the world so differently that such an event was logical for one and incomprehensible for the other?

We must look past our self-centered version of the world. We must realize that there is always another side to the story. We must understand that others don’t think the same way we do, believe the same things we do, or hold the same values as we do.

Hindsight is always 20-20. I say that a lot. But as I watched the young men and women – almost all dead by now, but still so alive on the screen – I felt very aware of my monumental ignorance.

Not knowing. Not understanding. Being blind to the feelings and values of our fellow man. That is how WWII started. Will it be the catalyst for WWIII?

I survived the 2016 holiday season! Give me a medal or something!

We did it, we survived 2016. And I don’t mean like everyone was hoping Betty White did (or all the other celebrities we were crossing our fingers and praying for as 2016 came to its sad conclusion with a rapid escalation of the death toll). No, Anata and I survived The Holidays! We made it through the obligatory November and December events, even added a couple extra and hosted two, yes, two, dinner parties! Well, to be fair, there was a blizzard on Christmas Day, so we didn’t actually make it to every event on our jam-packed social calendar, but I was still pretty proud when the last guest left at 2 am New Year’s Day, and I was still alive.

I really missed Japan this holiday season. Don’t get me wrong, I was so excited to spend the holidays at home with family and friends, but I found myself longing for the quiet, relaxed winter break I had as a gaijin in Japan.

Japan doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving (obviously), so my Novembers weren’t spent trying to cram and much turkey and mashed potatoes down my gullet as I could get a hold of. Otose did host a party around Thanksgiving each year to celebrate the anniversary of opening her clinic and to make the foreigners staying with her feel more at home, but there was no turkey or pumpkin pie. And there was just the one. This year I had two Thanksgivings!

Christmas was also a much more subdued affair. Not being a Christian nation, Japan doesn’t really celebrate Christmas. They still do some presents, but it is more a date night for young couples than a celebration of Jesus’s birth. There is cake and, surprisingly, buckets of KFC. That is the Japanese equivalent of Christmas Ham – KFC. I guess Colonel Sanders does kind of look like Santa (who does visit Japanese children, by the way)…

I have never been huge into Christmas, so I kind of enjoyed not hearing Christmas carols starting in October or seeing Santas on every street corner. It was nice to not have to decide between saying, “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” to friends and coworkers. There were sales of course (remember, I said it was a date night), but I felt that the Japanese were at least honest with themselves about the commercial juggernaut that Christmas has become. They weren’t trying to hide behind “Jesus is the reason for the season” or any other feeble excuse we offer up rather than admit that Christmas has become all about the gifts regardless of which happy holiday you celebrate. As a gaijin with a husband and family back in the states, I only had to worry about gifts for a very select few. It was amazing!

Not that I hate giving gifts (or getting them). I just hate how important they seem to have become.

Instead, I like the Japanese New Year gift giving tradition. They give kids money. Plain and simple.

And while we’re on New Year, I think it was one of my favorite holidays as a gaijin. For Japanese people, New Years can be super stressful. The family comes over and basically hangs out for three days. A lot like Christmas in America. Most families will visit the local shrine on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day to get the first blessing of the New Year. These can be crowded, raucous (in a Japanese way) outings. But for the most part, New Year’s is a time to be with family. To visit, play games, and just inhabit the same space for a brief time. With everyone running in so many different directions and for insanely long hours during the year, this is their time to relax and come together. I am sure daughters-in-law suffer through the same stony silences and critical looks, children get as antsy and tired of being scolded, and young people roll their eyes at Grandpa’s anecdotes (or want to) just as many times as Americans, but in my mind Japanese New Year is a wonderful time of family and togetherness. What I wish Christmas were a little more in this country.

I guess I am kind of jealous of Japanese New Year traditions. I would love to spend three days sitting around a kotatsu with Otosan and Okasan, without anywhere to go or anything to do. In America, we do nothing but run, cook, shop, and eat from November till the first week of January. I would much prefer to sip tea (or sake), share a bento with my loved ones, and just be.

I am sure I will get back in the hang of the holidays by next year. I was grateful for the time I got to spend with everyone, the meals we got to share, and the catching up on everything missed, I just wish we could have spread it out over a few more weeks (or months). Maybe next year I can convince Anata to try Japanese style holidays. Or at least build me a kotatsu so we can enjoy watching the snow in warmth and comfort.

2017: The Year of Bamboo

Bamboo is flexible, bending with the wind but never breaking, capable of adapting to any circumstance. It suggests resilience, meaning that we have the ability to bounce back even from the most difficult times… Your ability to thrive depends, in the end, on your attitude to your life circumstances. Take everything in stride with grace, putting forth energy when it is needed, yet always staying calm inwardly.

                                                                                                            -Ping Fu

2016 was a turbulent year. I moved back across an ocean. I had to say goodbye to some wonderful people. I had to readjust from a life in a bustling metropolitan area to life in a rural agricultural area. There was more than an ocean between me and the friends and family I had left behind, but I had to find a way to reconnect. I made new friends, which has always been a little difficult for me. I had surgery, was laid up for months, and found myself drowning in the same dark emotions I had fled from two years before.  I floundered. I rallied. I floundered again. Like a small ship on a rough sea.

This sounds very negative. Did nothing good happen in 2016? It did. I am glad to be home with Anata and my puppies. I have a new job working for the local newspaper, which keeps me involved in the community and actually uses my degree. I picked up another new job writing English lessons for an online company. I get to read good books and think about them critically. But 2016 was also full of emotions that I am just now able to process.

And now it is 2017.

Study the teachings of the pine tree, the bamboo, and the plum blossom. The pine is evergreen, firmly rooted, and venerable. The bamboo is strong, resilient, unbreakable. The plum blossom is hardy, fragrant, and elegant.

                                                                                                            -Morihei Ueshiba

While many will celebrate 2017 as the year of the rooster (or the year of Betty White), I have decided celebrate it as the year of bamboo.

Did you know that bamboo, like rice, is not native to Japan? It was imported from China. But it didn’t take the Japanese long to integrate the bamboo into the very soul of their culture. With their trademark ingenuity, bamboo became indispensable. It was used for building, crafting, and every kind of utensil imaginable. It grew into a beautiful and symbolic staple in their literature, art, and culture.

Bamboo always thrilled me while I was in Japan. I loved to listen to the wind rustle through its leaves. To watch it bend further and further under snow and wind only to bounce back. Its green always reminded me of early summer, my favorite time of year. It was comforting. I took so many pictures of bamboo!

But it is more than the beauty of bamboo that made me choose it as my spirit plant for 2017. It was the strength and flexibility. I have always struggled with mental flexibility. I tend to get ruffled and stressed when plans are changed last minute. I had started to come to terms with this in Japan, but maybe not in the best way. I didn’t get flustered when people flaked out on plans, but I just did them on my own. I quit inviting people to do things and just tried to enjoy my solo adventures. It worked well, for the most part, but it didn’t really solve the flexibility issue.

And now that I have returned home to a spouse and responsibilities, just going on my own doesn’t really work. I also took two jobs that require a lot of flexibility. Sometimes have just a few hours to get an article done. So I decided to be more like bamboo. Bruce Lee said, “Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.” The bamboo can do this because it has strong roots, but a flexible stalk. I can’t control everything, there will be winds that blow me, snows that weigh me down, but I can sway with them as long as I have strong roots.

The seed of a bamboo tree is planted, fertilized, and watered.

Nothing happens for the first year.

There’s no sign of growth.

Not even a hint.

The same thing happens – or doesn’t happen – the second year.

And then the third year.

The tree is carefully watered and fertilized each year, but nothing shows. No growth. No anything.

For eight years it can continue. Eight years!

Then – after the eight years of fertilizing and watering have passed, with nothing to show for it – the bamboo tree suddenly sprouts and grows thirty feet in three months.

                                                                                                            -Zig Ziglar

For over thirty years I have been building my root base. I have been spreading in different directions, collecting experiences, ideas, and knowledge. My roots weren’t always spread in the best soil, there were weak spots; there have been times I got to close to the surface and got burned or went too deep and drowned. But I continued to grow. Now, 2017 is my year to sprout. To pull all of those things together and push upward toward enlightenment. It is time to try and realize the potential that so many have seen and nurtured in me – Okasan and Otosan, Anata, teachers, mentors, friends, and family. They have watered and fertilized me with opportunities, adventures, and education. They have been patient while I spread my roots, trying this and that, never faltering in their care. 2017 will be the year they see their labors pay off. It will be my year.

あけましておめでとうございます! I wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope that 2017 is your year too. Good luck and 頑張って.