Another weekend gone in the blink
of an eye! What did I do this time? Let me answer that question with another
question:
What comes to mind when you think
of “The Karate Kid?”
Right. Mr. Miyagi. (For the sake of
argument, let’s just say you were thinking of Mr. Miyagi. Make my life a little
easier.)
Now, what do you think of when you picture
Mr. Miyagi?
Right again! Bonsai! (Work with me
here.)
The Japanese are seemingly born not
with green thumbs but green thumbs, hands, limbs (nyuk nyuk) and an overall
green spirit. Almost everyone is a gardener of some type!
Whether you’re a farmer with vast
rice paddies or you’re like my friend, Harue, and you garden your own veggies
(then generously offer them to your veg-lovin’ foreigner friend); whether you
meticulously tend full-size trees or tiny hedges into breathtaking bonsai;
whether you have a magnificent garden or a cactus on your bookshelf…everyone
has the green stuff.
Groceries, home improvement
store and farmer’s market sells every kind of plant imaginable! You can buy
seeds or trees, roses or moss, ferns or herbs, annuals, perennials, tomato
plants and blueberry bushes. It’s Eden. Really, that’s what it is.
And this weekend, I finally hopped
the fence and have become a part of the agricultural paradise that is Japanese
domesticity. Investing just a few hundred yen actually yields some impressive
results. It’s been a while since I’ve tended anything more difficult than a
spider plant, so we’ll see how this little venture progresses. With any luck, I’ll
have some delicious cherry tomatoes later this summer!
So my apartment is on its way to
looking more like a home. It’s a thin line I’m walking though: I might be a
couple ceramic deer, a windchime and pink flamingo away from Apple Pie Town,
Central America-ville.
Once I was done, I had some time to
sit and relax on my front steps. This week, I have an extremely heavy work
load to contend with and while I embrace the challenge, I also embrace the
chance to literally stop and smell the roses…
Or in the case, the impatiens. Or I
will. At this point, they haven’t bloomed yet. I am patiently awaiting my
impatiens. When they do come out and if I survive this week, (whichever comes
first) I might treat myself to a little stoop-sittin’ and Franzia sippin’…oh
yeah, that’s right.
Japan has Franzia. It’s not in a
box, but it’ll do.
I’ve got a few things in the works,
besides that. My friends Chisa and Harue introduced me to the “jokai” meaning “girl’s
party” or what Americans call “girl’s night.” Last week we had dinner and
drinks at an Italian place, just us ladies, where Chisa taught me the art of
chopstick rest folding. We also quickly decided that we’d have a cooking party
together soon! The main event will be making homemade gyoza, but I’m secretly
hoping there’s a little potluck element because I am dying to use some Old Bay!
There are no blue crabs in Japan, but of course when life gives you riceballs…
This weekend I’m going to Morioka
for Chagu Chagu. Stay tuned for the deets!
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