swimmingly

I spent the weekend at my little brother's state swimming competition. Watching people swim is relaxing-- kind of like watching fish in an aquarium, which I love to do.



Oh, and I should also mention that my brother is pretty awesome and brought home 4 1st places, 2 3rd places, 1 4th place, made his first AAAA time, will go to the sectional competition, and was really cute about shaking hands with other swimmers.

skype pal

Yay for skype! And Mixxer. I've been doing language exchanges with Japanese people that I've found through the site. Tonight was the first time I've gotten to talk to a girl, however, which I was really excited about. Japanese has feminine and masculine ways of saying things, and I'm afraid of picking up male speech patterns and making jaws drop when I talk (in a bad way.)

The girl I talked to tonight was super adorable in all the stereotypical ways of a Japanese girl-- our conversation started off with her being very nervous and giggly. When she was finally able to talk, she told me that my online profile was so cute and that she's been waiting for days for me to come online so she could talk to me. If it were a guy saying that I might be weirded out-- but hearing it from her made it cute. Another way in which talking to girls makes me more at ease. And after reading NANA I'm quite set on finding a female friend in Japan =) which I might otherwise have a problem with, working in an engineering research lab...

time to read

Airplanes are a good time for reading. Two books I've recently finished on flights are After Dark by Haruhi Murakami and Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. After Dark is a book with such vivid and haunting imagery, and such clever progression (there were not chapters, but rather, the book was divided into times of the night, how cute is that?) that I spent a lot of the time while reading just gawking at the beauty of it. Not an emotional or touching book. More like a painting of night time and the strange beings that come out at night. Also, makes me want to go to a Love Hotel in Tokyo with a friend just to see what they look like =P

I've heard so much about Cat's Cradle. It's very funny, and intelligent, and at the same time incredibly sad. I found myself feeling empty at the end of it, but also, laughing. I liked the occasional interjection of Bokonist proverbs, and also the fact that chapters were very short. I was amused that it mentioned ice-nine, since I just recently learned about the different crystalizations of water.

bananas flambe

Pierre Louis was a French grad student doing research at my dad's work place this past spring. One night, he cooked for my parents: ratatouille and bananas flambe. "No fair!" I whined to my mom when she told me. But luckily he left the recipes. I have yet to try the ratatouille, though.

Bananas Flambe

4 bananas, each sliced lengthwise into 2 pieces
3 Tsp butter
2 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 to 1/4 cup of rum

1 pan
1 saucepan

1) Melt the butter in the pan.



2) Sautee the bananas in the pan until soft and a bit golden brown on the outside.

3) Remove the pan from the stove.



4) Pour the rum in the sauce pan, and heat on med-high for about 2 minutes.

5) Remove the saucepan from the stove.

6) Light the rum in the saucepan using a long match or candle-lighter.

7) Quickly pour the flaming rum into the pan with the bananas. (sorry, no pictures of this, but it was a pretty, blue flame!)

8) Wait until the flame dies out. (Isn't the tiny rum bottle cute? It held 1/4 of a cup of orange flavored rum, which was plenty, actually.)



9) Serve with vanilla icecream.



Yum!

Ashamedly, lately I have not been forward to going to Japan. I was hit by a wave of dread and fear, I had never given too much thought before about how alone I would be on the other side of the planet, 12-14 hours ahead of my friends and family. What if I offend my coworkers with grammar mishaps? Will I meet females my age to become close friends with? (Thankfully I've been told Honda Research has a fair share of recent PhD and college grads, but I imagine that most of them will be male.) To further this, the one friend I've been counting on to help me get adjusted is planning a trip back the the US for the first 2 months I am there. All these things have made me wonder if I have been silly to insist and plan on this year abroad, which has complicated my life in many ways.

But my dad today, gave me a book that he had seen in a bookstore in Washington, while on a business trip-- a city guide to Tokyo, full of restaurant reviews, lists of must-see spots, a subway guide, and... get this-- a pocket restaurant map. My eyes watered a bit. I remember now why I've been wanting to go to Japan for most of my life, I remember why I've studied Japanese and found an internship, so that I could go there not as a tourist, but truly feel like I was part of this city of crazy fashion and technology. It won't be easy making myself understood and making new friends, it won't be easy living in a coffin sized room, it won't be easy never getting to talk to my friends on the Western hemisphere, but it will be an adventure, and it will be worth it. Thank you, dad, for making me remember.

Because I found this old journal entry and it amuses me

Tea (April 14, 2005)

It is something so cultured, enjoyed by so many societies. We partake in it to relax, we partake in it to connect to other people. We partake in it because it is a ritual and an art form.

I have always watched tea drinkers in awe. I have always loved the vivid pictures on Celestial Seasoning boxes. I have always found tea pots adorable. As many little girls, my stuffed animals had tea parties. As maybe less girls, I actually did not like tea. I found it bitter or tasteless, but dwelt on the hope that I would grow into it. For me, it was a sign of maturity.

I blame my dislike of tea for the breakup of my first relationship. After stressful days of class and school work, I wanted to come back to my room, unwind, and spend time with him. He also wanted to unwind, but did so with tea. I despised tea, so he would go and heat up a cup with one of my best friends. Needless to say, he was soon dating her.

Just the other day, an acquaintance invited me to tea. I agreed, since often "having tea" means having a hot drink, and I could sneak along a package of hot cocoa. But as she served me looseleaf tea from a trendy minimalistic teapot, with bits of blue flower petals in it and also chunks of caramel, an aroma as I had never experienced before filled the room, and my hot cocoa was forgotten. The taste was delicate, and not even bitter. While I sipped the tea accompanied by a petit ecolier biscuit, I knew that I had grown up.

a sunny day in boston

Last Thursday, Lindy happened to be in Boston on a job interview. We met up to try Berryline in Harvard Square, a new frozen yogurt place. I really love these frozen yogurt places that are cropping up now, which I think must take a cue from Korean patbingsu cafes, with the unflavored, sour yogurt, and fruit and cereal toppings. Lindy had blueberry yogurt with kiwi, and I had plain yogurt with strawberry, kiwi, and coconut (mmmmm!) By the way, Berryline was founded by Harvard and MIT post-docs! I think nothing is more refreshing than cold, sour yogurt, heaped with fruit. (If frozen yogurt is not your thing, then in this hot weather I'd recommend going to your nearest J.P. Licks and trying their new Fresh Banana Oreo flavor. Lip-smackingly delicious.)

Then we strolled for a bit around Harvard Square, stopping by at Tokyo Kid and Black Ink. It reminded us of the long trek we made to Harvard and Porter Square freshman year. It was nice catching up with my old roomie.

And since my friend Tracey works with Lindy's best friend from high school, Lindy got to have another surprise reunion. Yay for sunny weather, walks outside, and catching up =)