torakris

I don't have that much this year that I really want to buy, most is actually not even food related! Some things I won't go back without are couscous, bulghur, various baking chocolates and sriracha. I hope to get to Trader Joe's this weekend and who knows what I will find. The first thing I did the morning after I got here was go to the library and borrow a couple of cookbooks! and by the afternoon I had already added two to my bulging collection, Paula Wolfert's Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean and Steve Raichlen's BBQ USA.....

I am now in Cleveland, we flew in last night. I can't wait to get out and about, if my kids have their way though the first place we will end up at will be Chuck E Cheese.....

word for 7/8: アメリカ amerika (ah-may-rhee-kah) The United States, and this is were I will be heading in about 2 hours so I really need to get off the computer...... There will probably be a couple days of no Daily Nihongo until we get settled.

here are some pictures of bentos sold at Tokyo Dome: http://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/dome/fan_information/lunch/ you can pick your price range from about $8 to $20, you can probably find similar bentos somewhere else for close to half of that.....

good question.. I have only been to Tokyo Dome for football games (American football NOT soccer) and the menu is exactly as Jason listed. I don't think I have ever been to any other sporting events in Japan.....

good question. in this sense the kuchi is referring more to taste than the actual mouth, karakuchi when used in reference to alcohol means dry. In a different place though the same word can also mean spicy, look at the description of curry roux boxes from an earlier thread: mild--甘口　amakuchi -- sweet tasting (the second kanji means mouth, but in this instance, flavor or tasting) medium--中辛 chuukara -- medium spicy (the first kanji means middle or medium) spicy--辛口 karakuchi -- spicy tasting (the second kanji is the same as for amakuchi) The character kara 辛 (also read as shin) can mean anything from pungent to salty to spicy.

food will actually be the last thing on my mind once I get ready to board the 12 hour flight with a four hour layover and another 2 hour flight with 3 small children, all alone.....

yep! It is also the second character of my last name, the first being yama 山 meaning mountain. So my name looks like this Yamaguchi 山口 it honestly couldn't be any easier for a foreigner (or a child) to write.

just don't order the tacos.... I will be sitting at Narita airport exactly 48 hours from now, I guess I should start thinking about where to go for lunch.

word for 7/6: 口 kuchi mouth fish have mouths, right? Sorry I am stalling as I don't want to start a new fish since I am leaving for the US on Thursday and will be away from the boards for a couple days.

I also have no clue about differeences in barley in Japan and Korea. Many of the "Korean" restaurants serve it but since this is Japan, I doubt it is the Korean variety. All of my Korean friends though make the Japanese ones and I have never heard them complaining about a difference in taste......

word for 7/5: ひれ hire (he-rhey) fin This is just the general word for fin, there are of course different words for pectoral/dorsal/caudal/ventral/anal fins but since I don't really know them I don't think you need to either.....

I use ponzu with most nabes, especially with shabu shabu, yose-nabe and mizu-taki, or basically anything that is cooked in a simple broth.

lived in Cleveland for 25 years and never once been there...... I also forgot to mention that I don't (actually can't, for some reason it makes me vomit ) drink alcohol, so I have never kept up with the bar scene, but if they have good food..... I love Coventry, and will most likely hit most of the restaurants there, also want to check out the new Legacy Village, they were breaking the ground for it on my last trip. I think I am looking more for places to go for lunch, I have never been much of a night person. Now for the really embarrassing question... where is exactly is Ohio City? I don't think I have ever heard of it before...

what about ponzu?

I have never made ramen myself, not really a big ramen fan.... Check out worldramen.net's recipe links (left column near the bottom): http://www.worldramen.net/

word for 7/4: 独立記念日 dokuritsu-kinenbi Independence Day Happy 4th to my fellow Americans

Most places I will be heading out WITH OUT my kids! , this is one of the joys of having 7 siblings and all but one live within 30 minutes. Looking for anything new and interesting...

here is a nother nabe thread with a lot of chanko discussion: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=17115&st=0 I love nabe and chrysanthemum leaves are almost added to almost every one I make. I also like to add (depending on the nabe) thinly sliced carrots, thickly julienned daikon, shirataki or konnyaku, various mushrooms and various greens.

pumpkin lover, it is a good question, though not related to food! , but I will answer it anyway. The problem is though that this is a question you could ask a thousand foreigners in Japan and receive a thousand different answers, ask again in a couple years time and they may answer differently. I am the kind of person who could call anywhere home, I could care less of what other people think of men and if someone was making fun of me as I was walking down the street I probably wouldn't notice. In 14 years in Japan I have never experienced any type of racism (that I can remember and I am pretty sure I would remember it), but then again I am white and American to boot and if aything I would say I get more of a white glove treatment. Racism does exist (but then again name a country wher it doesn't), it is also in how you percieve it though, if you feel like you stand out everywhere you go then you may feel like every little bad thing that happens to you happened because you are a foreigner. I know a couple people who are like this, they think that everyone is out to get them. I am also respectful of the cultural differences and don't use my "foreign-ness" to try and get away with things. I have been in Japan since 1995 and I don't think that anyone that I have even semi-regular contact with even thinks of me as a foreigner any more. I am just Yamaguchi-san. Speaking Japanese can make the biggest difference, over the past 2 weeks I have dealt with about 10 different people in regards to an air-conditoner accident that ruined our 2 month old tv, from insurance people to service guys to real estate agents, no one even batted an eye as the foreigner opened the door and lead them to the mess in the living room, I am sure I was treated no different from any of their Japanese customers. I love Japan and really couldn't image living anywhere else any more. I do whatever I can to make myself a noticable presence at the schools my children attend and even in the community in general as I feel it is important for the kids to learn that we are all humans and that even though we make look different we are all the same. Even though it seems to be one of the biggest pet peeves among foreigners, I encourage question's from kids (and even adults) about various things like why do I have blue eyes, can I eat sushi or natto, can I speak English, do we have butterflies in America, etc, how are they going to learn if we don't teach them?

and traveling alone with 3 kids under the age of 8..... I am not really looking foward to the actual flight.

word for 7/3: 目 me eye medama 目玉　is eyeball, though the more scientific/medical term is gankyuu (眼球), and they both translate literally as "eye" "ball", isn't Japanese confusing...? Don't be suprised if you see 目玉焼き medama-yaki ("grilled eyeballs") on a menu, it is just a fried egg! medama-yaki: http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~yht/menu/menu04.htm

melonpan, I too have seen those tins in the stores and have always wondered why it costs so much, it it about $8 a pop in Japan as well. I have some friends who love it and use it in all of their Chinese cooking but I am not about to pay the price. I always thought it was just chicken stock granules, does it have anything else in it?

小さじ = 5 cc = 1/6 ounce 大さじ = 15 cc = 1/2 ounce Right, Kris? right. 小さじ　kosaji = 1 teaspoon 大さじ oosaji = 1 tablespoon EDIT and melonpan welcome to egullet the Japan Forum and the Daily Nihongo thread!!

word for 7/2: 頭　 atama (ah-tah-mah) head and in Japan you are more likely to find your fish still has it's atama connected when it is served to you, and in the case of fish about 5 inches and smaller it will often be eaten along with the rest of the body.