Of various and sundry

Today was a day full of accomplishment, I feel; since Thursdays are one of the two days of the week where I start an hour later, I have more space to get things done, and life feels a little less rushed.


This morning, I went to the Skyle Kurinikku again because my onaka ga itai-n desu, still. The doctor is still of the opinion that it's the physical manifestation of my stress, culture shock, and oft-grinding unhappiness at being alone and separated from my family, and I'm inclined to believe her. I was going to set up a date for a scope into my stomach, but I think I will leave it alone for now. If nothing has changed within six months, then perhaps it may be something more serious, but as it is, they took a blood sample just to check my liver functions and make sure I don't have any of the various permutations of hepatitis; this is for my peace of mind, as my main concern is that this could be something with potentially long-reaching consequences, and I don't want to have to live with an ailment simply because I didn't act soon enough to prevent it.

At any rate, I had brunch (I hadn't eaten breakfast) at this adorable little omuraisu* cafe on the ninth floor of the department store (the clinic's on the eleventh), then went to work and taught some lessons, and chilled with my coworkers. It was a pretty cool day; I managed to get out of work not early, but on time, and it wasn't quite as hectic as my Thursdays have been previous to this. To add some contrast to my figurative use of adjectives, when I got home, my apartment was broiling hot; it's been an hour and a half and it's finally cooled down enough in here that it's slightly more comfortable to be alive. Today hit record temperatures, or so I was told; I certainly believe it, as when I went outside at 5pm to grab some food from the convenience store, the wind was hot. Of course I've read of this phenomenon, but never actually experienced the novelty of walking into a wind that feels as though a thousand oven doors were opened simultaneously in some sort of hellish bakery.

Speaking of which, I'm making cornbread in my rice cooker right now. Or at least, I'm trying to - I can't get the timer to work (I press the on button and adjust the time, but then it kind of... sits there and does nothing), so I'm just putting it on the "rice" setting and hoping it works. In about 20 minutes I'll check on it... not sure how I'm gonna get it out of the bowl, but adversity is the mother of invention or something like that. I of course researched this on the internet beforehand; there exists a recipe for cornbread, and a recipe for bread baked in a rice cooker, but, like some unhappy Venn diagram, ne'er have the twain met. Until now. As an additional bonus, the cornbread is gluten-free; instead of "all-purpose flour", I simply substituted 1/3 cup of rice flour and 2/3 cup of corn flour. Not being well-versed in baking, nevermind gluten-free baking, I'm sure that I've committed some grand error of omission in order to make up for those flours not being, well, real flour, but I will bravely soldier on, somehow. Watch this blog for updates, true believers!

Tomorrow I'm gonna go to the gym for the first time in more than six months, and it will be glorious. I think it'll also help me get rid of some of my stress load; I always feel better physically and mentally after gym-going. I checked out the local sports centre on Wednesday; it's a really nice place, and there was a super-nice, English-speaking staff member who showed me around and answered my questions to the best of his ability. I feel very much like a large inconvenience whenever I show up somewhere and have not the faintest idea what the word for "lockers" is, or how to ask if there are showers, and so I take it as a sign of good fortune whenever someone happens along who can answer my most mundane inquiries. I mean, really, I should have looked up the vocabulary in my dictionary beforehand, but that had completely slipped my mind at the time. I will do so tonight, though, just in case. It helps to have a little card with phrases and words on it, so that I'm not completely floundering in a sea of blank incomprehension.

In any case, I should check my cornbread and start packing for my excursion tomorrow! Oyasumi nasai!


*Omuraisu is the weirdest, most delish brunch food: it's basically an omelette with rice inside. I had the basic one; rice, ketchup, and little bits of meat wrapped in a yummy outer layer of scrambled egg with a generous dollop of ketchup on top. I think I'm addicted, and this must now catch on in the west before I go home.