more pics

about a 30 minute bike ride over the river and you're in farm country. all that's rice, which is one of the main exports of this prefecture. that doesn't go very far in explaining why it so so darn expensive. the smallest bag of fresh, uncooked rice i've found costs about 2800 yen, or 28 dollars. so i've yet to use the rice cooker that is in my apartment. instead i buy these little trays of precooked rice you microwave for 2 minutes, perfect. much better than the rice i cooked back home in a pot anyway.


we cooked udon for lunch one day at school with natto [fermented soybeans- gross] and okra [in japanese it's okara]. the teacher on the far right is Uchiyama sensei. her english is super and she's helped me out quite a bit; telling me where the bike shop is, taking me to lunch, bringing me flyers for festivals, calling and reserving earth celebration tickets for me. she's a lifesaver.


a wild and crazy night at our favorite little karaoke bar, PTA. the master, which is what they call the people who run bars and restaurants, is super nice. it stinks i end up taking all the pics...that explains the weird arm thing.


the chefs at a great restuarant we've been frequenting, yagaiya [which means outdoor food]. this is the place where they all get out their dictionaries and help us decipher the menu.