Ehhhhhhh? Moments

One of my favorite Japanese TV shows used to be the ヘ？ehhhhh game show. On this singular program, a group of panelists would be shown an assortment of very odd things, and they would press a button labeled "ヘ？" as many times as they thought the object strange. The oddity that incurred the most ehhhs won. I have been seeing so many things here that would do great on an American spin off of this TV show so I think I will dedicate several blogs to its noble purpose. My awesome friend Sarah Richcreek gave me this idea- so this blog is for you, girl!



I thinks Japan`s advertising motto should be "If there is a need we will fill it. If there is no need we will make one and make it cuter". I mean seriously. Chair socks? With daisies on them? I had a sudden and irrational urge to buy these for my chairs, lest their tiny wooden feet get cold in the harsh winter. Luckily, I resisted.

For emphasis, the sign for this museum literally says "Abacus and Craft Museum". I had heard that abacus were popular in this part of Japan, but I didn't really believe it. Until I saw this museum. What? What is an abacus museum? Why are there crafts involved? I think that metal diamond is actually supposed to be an abacus block- classy touch. I am not joking when I say I must go to this museum

Although the most unassuming of the three pictures, this product actually has the funniest story behind it. Since coming to Japan I've been drinking mostly green tea, water, and a Diet Coke once a day. In the States I like to drink a lot of different things so I thought I would expand my repertoire of Japanese beverages. "I know Japanese" I thought to myself. "I will use my skillz to obtain a tasty tasty treat." I really enjoyed all those powdered drinks you could put in water bottles from back home, so these guys caught my eye. I knew the kanji on here too- the one that looks like 梅 means plum and the one that looks like 茶 means tea. Plum tea?! Delicious! Perfect! Unfortunately I overlooked the stuff in the middle of those two characters because I didn't know what they meant. Turns out it was a contraction for Konbu- a particularly odious kind of black seaweed. So when I took a swig of my new drink it tasted like plum flavored salt water with seaweed. I almost choked. Just goes to show you the pursuit of tasty treats in Japan is not for the weak of stomach.

Yesterday I went to the Yokota preschool to play with the kids. We had so much fun. One of their favorite games was one where a gaggle of girls would lead my by the hands over to the shoe cupboard, which they reassured me did NOT, in fact, have any ghosts. Then the boys would jump out and yell and I would run away for my life from the "scary" ghosts. This continued for a good hour, at which time we were all sweating like crazy and laughing so hard our sides hurt. Then decided to turn into a dinosaur, and walked around "chasing" the kids. They just ran around the place thunderously- I didn't even have to really chase them. Those genki genki kids.