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Exhausting week! I only had one day off last weekend because I had some training on Monday. The week actually went by really fast, but that extra day of work/lack of a full weekend made me extra tired. Happy to enjoy a full weekend now! Today I’m lazing about and doing laundry and heading to Shinjuku for a little bit. Mostly I want to relax! Tomorrow I’m checking out Asakusa. Should be fab.

(Work is super great, by the way. I know I haven’t talked about it, and I know that some of you are curious. Sorry! It’s not really kosher for me to talk about work in such a public place - mostly for privacy reasons, I think - so I’ve been hesitant to say anything about it. But I can say that it’s been great - my co-workers are fantastic, my students are fantastic, and it’s super fantastic to have a job where I can talk to people all day! If you want to know more, e-mail me - I’m happy to supply details. Still without internet at home though, so an immediate response probably won’t happen.)

Gross Things That I Consumed This Week
1. Some weird pudding drink from a vending machine. It was late! I was tired! It seemed like a good idea at the time to get the can that looked like it was pudding-flavored coffee! I was curious! Yeah, it literally had chunks of pudding in it. WHAT. The flavor was fine. The texture was unexpected and unpleasant.
2. Natto. So I was at Yayoiken (one of my favorite places to eat here - cheap and delicious!) and I accidentally ordered something that came with natto. I was like, “Maybe if I mix it with a bunch of delicious food, it will be okay!” IT WAS NOT. It’s not the smell (which isn’t that bad) or the taste (which isn’t bad at all) that make it so unpleasant, but the texture. It took everything in me to swallow it. I think people who can stomach natto are very admirable!

Things That Are Really Delicious In Japan (A Very Incomplete List)
1. Pudding (as long as it’s not in drink form). Pudding here is like flan. It’s YUM YUM YUM.
2. Potato salad. WHY SO DELICIOUS, POTATO SALAD? The cucumbers! The carrots! The crazy good flavor! Seriously, I don’t even like potato salad at home, but I could pretty much eat it for every meal here.

Things That Were Really Delicious In Japan That Are Now Unavailable
1. Honey Orange Latte and Honey Orange Frappuccino. ENDLESS SADNESS. Oh, Honey Orenji Latte, how you were the most delicious thing I've ever had at Starbucks. How tragic it is that you have been replaced! I will never forget you.