Sushi, phones, and Japanese Pizza?!?

Kari Writes:

Why hello there! You're probably thinking "what have Kari and Ian been up to lately??"  Well you're in luck!  Here's what we've been doing:

Every so often the Kotoura International Committee holds events and invites us foreigners.  Last weekend was just such an event.  It was held at the local Okonomiyaki restaurant.  Okonomiyaki was initially described to me as Japanese Pizza . ..

This is apparently "Japanese Pizza" don't be fooled -
there aren't any pepperonis hiding in there!

It's actually shredded cabbage, ginger, various veggies, and maybe meat.  Then you mash that all up with an egg - stick it on the SUPER hot cook surface in the middle of your table and let it cook.  Once it's all cooked you put on a bunch of different sauces and cut it up (kinda like a pizza).  It's a fun and interactive food process!  And super Japanese.  And of course after we ate our fill there we went to Karaoke!


I've started practicing with the girls 7th/8th grade volleyball team after school.  And man oh man was I sore after I joined their first practice!  If you want to feel old . .. do sports with middleschoolers!  And for some unexplained reason the way I do their blocking drill is particularly hilarious to them.  Apparently I'm very "cute-o! cute-o!"  But aside from them laughing at how old and American I am it's super tanoshii (fun).  And of course they think it's way cool to hang out Ian-sensei's cute-o wife!

Ian has been busy busy busy every day after school working with the Speech team.  They have a big English speech competition coming up and he is helping get them into top shape!  But this means he hasn't been home before 7pm for the last week!   Ian-sensei is very dedicated to his work!


I got the craziest, pinkest, most Japanese-y phone ever this week!

Ya!  The front has a sweet LED display that you can make do all sorts of patterns.  It's pretty hilarious.  And actually PINKER in person.  I figure if I'm going to get a phone in Japan I better go all out and make it the coolest memento of all time!!!  Also the best/funniest thing about Japanese phones is how incredibly tall they are!  The phone in its closed state is actually a bit bigger than Ian's American smartphone.  Sooo take two smart phones and stack 'em up to get an idea of the tallness.  I can't imagine that Japanese people have longer faces than Americans . . . . why such tall phones??!?

Seriously!  So much bigger than my face.

Today we went to a Kaiten Zushi - aka conveyor belt sushi.  The seating is "diner style" and there is literally a conveyor belt that runs in front of you and it's full of different types of sushi. .  You just grab whatever looks good to you when it passes.  In the middle are the sushi chefs makin' everything fresh right there.  The color of the plate indicates the price of the sushi.  At the end they tally up your plates and that's your bill!

One of my sashimi choices.

It's a fun experience - but I think i prefer the Mos Burger next door :)


So there you have it!  Consider yourself updated!

-Kari (and Ian)

See? Happy and healthy!