Tabemono to Ketai

I knew that the food here in Japan would be different (duh), but I didn't realize what an adjustment it would be.

In a lot of ways, I'm eating much better here. Meals are generally cheaper; at local restaurants, I can get a pretty large meal for less than $10, sometimes less than $5. They usually come with side dishes, like rice, miso soup, and some kind of vegetable. Here is a Korean beef bowl I had the other day:

(I have no idea why it's sideways. I can't fix it. Sorry.)


However, other foods are much more expensive than I'm used to. Because Japan imports most of their fruits and veggies, they're quite pricey. A small bunch of bananas cost $3, and an apple (yes, one apple) costs $1 or more. I'm used to having fruit several times a day, so this makes me extremely sad. However, if you do buy produce, the quality is excellent compared to the states, where it's very hit or miss. I bought a package of plums and they are really good!

Drinks are a bit different, too. Something really convenient about Tokyo is that there are drink vending machines EVERYWHERE. Like, literally every 50 feet there is at least one vending machine. At first I thought this was weird, but after walking all over town in 85 degrees, I understand.

I was somewhat confused at first about the brands of vending machines, though. Just like Pepsi or Coke machines, the brand appears on the machine and related products can be purchased. However, many machines here have brand names like Kirin or Suntory, famous beers and whiskeys. At first I thought, "Oh my gosh, you can beer in a vending machine!" but on closer inspection, I discovered that most of these alcohol companies also produce water, softdrinks, and coffee. It would be like going to a vending machine in America and buying Budweiser brand water! I'm still getting used to see people with water bottles that say "Asahi".

Last week, my friends and I went out and bought cell phones. Maggie, who has three years of language experience, did most of the talking, but we all agreed that a phone that would work in our home countries as well as Japan would be best. We went through the AU phone company; their plans were very affordable and if you're under 22 years old, they give you $100 back. That will really come in handy when we have to cancel our 2-year plans in a year: it's roughly $160, much like US companies.

I don't know if it's the group mindset of Japan, but we all got the same phone and the same voice/email package. The phones were free and the plans are $30 a month- a great deal! They're super awesome Sony Ericson phones, and we all got to choose different colors. Here's my ketai:















My favorite feature of our phones is the profile exchange. You press a button on your phone, hold it up to someone else's, and your profile information gets exchanged and put into each others' phone book. Since we have an email address as well as a phone number, this is much more convenient. American phones really need to catch up!