MORE BEAR BELL!!!1

Hello blog.

In an attempt to update this more, I will... update this more.

So. I started my teaching work in the hot spring resort town of Jozankei.

This means:

In the mountains.

In the countryside.

Which means, hour-long one-way bus commutes every day.

But most importantly, BEARS!!!!

Well, this is not such a normal thing, but - this week, there were multiple "sightings" of a mother bear and her two cubs basically down the road from my school. So to ensure everyone's safety, special precautions have been taken, such as cancellation of after-school activities this week. In addition, the school apparently has their own supply of bells for everyone for when this situation arises. These types of bells you can carry with you and the loud ringing it produces (supposedly) scares off bears.

My co-worker told me it's called a bear bell, and said it's something like a cow bell. Haha... too bad so many inside jokes get lost in translation (or well, between cultures)...

Bear bell, bear bell, bear bell... try saying that ten times fast. I can't, and I can actually pronounce my Rs and Ls...

Crows: The Spawn of Satan

http://www.cracked.com/article_19042_6-terrifying-ways-crows-are-way-smarter-than-you-think.html

I always laughed at the "Beware of Crows" sign at the park near my house. But I was a fool to underestimate them. I did not realize until the current season hit how evil they can be. I attempted to enter said park one day while jogging, and promptly turned back around to leave, being chased by crows, swooping down at me.

Sometimes the bastards congregate near one of my windows, and I swear they try to intimidate me when I'm chilling on my own freaking balcony. Not only can they apparently remember your face, but one crow can tell his whole posse who you are, so they can all identify you and plot against you. Man. I never dealt with such aggressive mofos back in Portland.

Taishibouritsu

体脂肪率 たいしぼうりつ
(n) body fat percentage

One of the words I learned today. I heard it from a dancer I met on the street who was practicing near me in Tanuki Koji (outdoor shopping mall where Sapporo dancers tend to practice after stores close). This guy is intense - he practices 2 hours every day after work, works 7 days a week. And he was telling me he has 7% body fat!!

Well, I see a lot of this sort of dedication to particular things (passions or duties or whatever) among many Japanese people and I want to dedicate to dance more, too! I want to decrease my body fat like that guy, haha...

I'm here to talk about ICE CREAM.

Hi blog. I'm sorry I've neglected you for months and months. There are things I've wanted to write, yet when it came to writing them, I just didn't quite go through with it. I've actually wanted to write a lot about learning street dance in Sapporo, but it's kind of a niche thing that would probably bore my friends who are reading this (but could be interesting to random dancer people outside of Japan, if they were to come across this?).

But today, I went to Baskin-Robbins. OR, as I should say, SA-TEE-WAN (thirty-one), which seems to be catchier to folks over here than what we refer to it as in the States.

Speaking of, I went to BR/31/SAAA-TEEEEeee probably like only 2-3 times ever in Japan, and one of these times involved getting a crepe. That's right, unlike the States, Japan, with its love affair with European desserts, can't let them feel left out at an American ice cream chain. Because Japanese sweets are serious business. Suck on that, USA. And no, getting rid of Osama Bin Laden does not make up for your lack of crepes.

ANYWAY. Today, I once again experienced the joy of BR today, and their flavor of the month was annin doufu. It's based on this popular dessert that's really, really been my thing lately. So not surprisingly, it was super delicioooooouuuussssss. I guess I can't really elaborate any further.

BR describes it as (in my questionable translation):

We take annin doufu as it is, with its creamy, melt-in-your mouth flavor, and turned it into ice cream. We added aromatic, fresh sweet mango ribbon and texture-rich pineapple - this elegant flavor is rich yet leaves you with a refreshing aftertaste.

So BR in Japan is awesome for some great flavors based on old dessert favorites here you can't find stateside, such as matcha green tea, red bean and muscat. Which every foreigner and their mom in Japan has probably blogged about already.