Things we’ll miss/Things we look forward to (Part 2)

Things we look forward to

While there any many things we will miss about Japan and hold dear, there are other things we have missed and look forward to now that we have returned to the US.

1) Centralized heating and AC

Chris dying from the heat

I have lived through the heat and humidity of two Japanese summers, one in which I did not own an AC, in addition to the cold cold temperatures of a Japanese winter without a heater. I have realized how lucky I have been to live with centralized heating and cooling, and I look forward to returning to it!

2) American appliances

I look forward to large America appliances and the luxury and convenience that they offer. I missed owning an oven, dishwasher, a decently working washing machine, and a clothes dryer. Over the past year, Chris and I have worn and washed the same clothes over and over again, and they have become stretched out and worn out. Laundry day occurred multiple times per week and our dining room was often filled with clothes hanging to dry. When it comes to food, Chris and I would often go grocery shopping every few days (at least), to accommodate our small mini fridge and to prevent food from spoiling. Not to mention, “doing the dishes” was a never-ending chore. I missed going on one large grocery run per week, which can accommodate a week’s worth of meals, and doing one big load of laundry, which carries us out until the next week.

3) My bed

While I am grateful for the experience of living in Japan, where Chris and I have eaten our meals on our tatami floor, entered and exited rooms from sliding paper doors, and slept on a Japanese futon, my back cannot is grateful to reunite with my comfortable American bed.

4) American breakfast foods

Japanese cereal box

Traditional Japanese breakfasts are hearty meals, usually consisting of soup and rice. While you can buy cereal in Japan, the options are rather limited. Chris and I have gotten pretty tired of eating knock-off frosted flakes and over-priced granola every morning for the past year. I missed having variety of cereal options, and most of all, eating my precious, precious instant Quaker Oats oatmeal. (This was the first thing I bought when I arrived in America.)

5) American bread

Contrary to what I was led to believe, you can find bread in Japan, it just isn’t as good as American bread. I missed American bagels, donuts (particularly Voodoo Donuts), and good, hearty loaves. I also missed American sandwiches, which Chris and I agree are much, much better than what we can typically find in Japan.

6) Meat substitutes!

The “Katie sandwich”

I never ate a lot of fake meat, but I really missed my Morning Star maple sausage patties and fake bacon. Today, I finally made the “Katie sandwich”, which i have been looking forward since long before I returned to America: toasted everything bagel, spinach, tomato, cucumbers, bell peppers, smoked Gouda, fake bacon, mayo, and Goddess dressing.

7) More carefree vegetarian living

While living in Japan, I was able to find vegetarian food options (and even vegetarian food that was traditional Japanese-style), but it wasn’t without its challenges. So many things in Japan have animal stock in them. In particular, dashi, fish stock, seems to be in EVERYTHING (even things you wouldn’t expect). In fact, we had a whole kitchen drawer labeled “the Chris drawer”, which housed discarded foods/sauces that end up being non-vegetarian.

I missed being able to read food labels when grocery shopping and not being concerned if a dish was or wasn’t vegetarian when I went out to eat. I also missed people being familiar with the concept of being vegetarian. So many places in Japan do not offer vegetarian options, do not understand a vegetarian diet, and several have flat out refused to omit meat from a dish (because “it won’t taste good”). Over the past year, I had to explain what being a vegetarian is more times than I can count, and often, it was often still misunderstood. In fact. I remember one day ordering a cup of vegetarian soup, after confirming that is did not contain any meat, chicken, or dashi, just to find whole fishes floating in it!

8) Cheap produce

Farmer’s market bounty (picture from the internet)

While Chris and I learned where to find the cheapest produce, fruits and vegetables are still rather expensive in Japan (sometimes 3x their prices at home). I missed going to my local grocery store and buying delicious fruits, such as raspberries, blackberries, peaches, and pluots, and going to farmer’s markets on weekends and taking home beautiful heirloom tomatoes and other veggies.

9) Premade and boxed foods

I also miss pre-made foods, such as Trader Joe’s tzatziki and tabbouleh, Whole Food’s General Tso fake chicken, and boxed foods, such as Near East’s curry couscous. While Chris did great finding cheap meals on the go (he’s said he’d done better in Japan than when he was in America), it was very hard for me to find any cheap or premade vegetarian meals/snacks in Japan.

On the plus side, living in Japan has encouraged us to try out more recipes. For example, we now have great vegetarian pho and gyoza recipes under our belts, as well as learned to make things from scratch, such as salad dressings and dips.

10) Variety of drinks

Go to any Lawsons or vending machine, and you will find a variety of cheap teas, energy drinks, and coffee. I missed the variety of drinks that the US offers, including lemonade, cider, so many juices, and of course, root beer.

11) Breweries and accessible craft beers

Jeff and I at Spacebar (craft brews and fancy grilled cheeses)

Sure they are a few places in Japan that sell craft brews (Minoh Stout is my favorite), and sure you can find Guinness at many Japan’s Irish pubs, but Oregon has spoiled me for life. I missed drinking porters at Ninkasi in front of a fire pit, or attending one of 16 Tons’ wonderful beer and dessert pairing events, especially when they serve whiskey barrel-aged stouts and chocolate sweets!

Sally trying a sampler at Ninkasi when she visited Oregon

12) Wineries and a fantastic variety of wines

Wine in Japan is a lot like sake in America. You don’t have many varieties. In the US, you can have hot or cold sake; in Japan, you can have red or white. I missed sitting out during a nice summer evening listening to live music while sipping a glass of wine at Sylvian Ridge or attending our Friday night wine tastings across the street at the local hippie mart.

To celebrate being back in the country, and our 2 year wedding anniversary, Chris and I returned to Veritas Vineyards this week for our first bed and breakfast experience. Our time was absolutely lovely: wine hour on a porch overlooking the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, a phenomenal 4-course meal with wine pairings, and a delicious breakfast. We included a few pictures below.

13) Ethnic foods

Kyoto definitely has a greater variety of foods than I expected, but I missed the rich diversity of Northern Virginia: El Salvadorean pupusas and horchata; Ethiopian mesir wot and altkilt wot; Mediterranean meze; Vietnamese and Thai…

14) Spanish culture and influence

I missed Latin American culture. I missed salsa, reggaeton and bachata music. I missed shopping at my little Spanish marts and hearing people speak Spanish. I missed eating latino food at little locally-owned restaurants. I missed Spanish influence.

15) Nature of Oregon

Japan is beautiful, and Chris and I have seen some truly fantastic sites. In fact, I think this blog post serves as a great tribute of Japanese beauty. However, we have missed the nature and beauty of Oregon, such as hiking mountains in rich coniferous forests and visiting gorgeous water falls.

16) Playing in cities!

I missed visiting Portland on weekends, where Chris and I would eat brunch at LoveJoys, walk along the Columbia river, and visit the local craft fair and farmers’ market. I missed living in DC, where countless restaurants and museums are within an arm’s reach away. I missed going to concerts and listening to live music. I loved living in Kyoto, but the feeling is different.

17) Coffee shops

While there are Starbucks all over Japan, the experience is different. Not only is the coffee weaker in Japan, but coffee shops themselves are not the relaxing environment where you can pull out your laptop or grab a book and sit around for a few hours. Over the past year, I missed American coffee shops, as well as really good chai and peppermint mochas.

18) Napkins

I know this is a silly, small things to bring up, but I really missed napkins. Whenever you go to an American restaurant, there are stacks of napkins available. This is particularly helpful for someone like me. However, in Japan, there are hardly any napkins to be found. I’m curious- what do the Japanese people do? Are they just less messy than me? Probably, but it still bugs me that napkins are so seldom available.

19) Shopping

I actually missed shopping. After living in Eugene for 3 years, which isn’t exactly the fashion cosmopolitan of the world, I already shopped much less than I used to. However, while in Japan, I actually found myself wanting to visit Tyson’s shopping center (as masochistic and claustrophobic as fighting the crowds may be). I look forward to visiting American stores that carry clothes that fit my tall frame.

20) Gardening

I missed having a garden. This is probably a combination of missing fresh produce, missing farmers’ markets, and missing having a home of our own. I look forward to having a small garden once I return to Oregon and the joy of growing food of my own.

21) Baking

Relatedly, I missed baking. While in Oregon, I loved to bake desserts, such as cookies, brownies, and Magic Cookie Bars; however in Japan, our apartment, like many did not own an oven. I look forward baking again.

22) The holidays

Another thing Chris and I missed in Japan were the holidays we’d grown up celebrating. Sure you could hear pop Christmas music in every store for the month of October, or saw Halloween decorations in local restaurants, but American holidays aren’t really celebrated in Japan. Christmas, Chanukkah, 4th of July fireworks, Halloween, St. Patty’s Day, New Year’s Eve, and Christmas, we look forward to celebrating them again and enjoying holiday traditions.

23) Judaism

Our Japanese Passover

Relatedly, as you can probably imagine, there aren’t too many Jews in Japan. I dont even think there is a synagogue in the country, although there is a JCC equivalent in Tokyo. While Chris and I made the most of our time in Japan, such as using Buddhist temple candles to celebrate Shabbat and planning a Japanese Passover seder with my family, I look forward to having Judaism a greater presence in my life.

24) My friends and family in America

One of the things Chris and I missed the most in Japan are our friends and family back home. It has been wonderful to have visitors visit us in Japan (shown below) and we can’t wait to see everyone else now that we are back. We have missed you so much, and we are so grateful to have you in our lives!

Tommy, Daniel, Chris, and I in front of a temple in Kyoto

Chris, Dad, Mom, and I at a chocolate cafe in Tokyo

Chris, Alli, Geoff, and I at a sumo match

Carlos and Chris at a sake tasting

Zeenia, Vineetha, Chris and I at Anzukko, our favorite gyoza restaurant

25) Home

Chris and I really, really enjoyed living in Japan. This past year was been a fantastic experience (although it flew by), and I am so grateful that Chris and I could share it together. I know how incredibly lucky Chris and I have been, and we are very thankful.

Despite how much we will miss Japan, we are also glad to come back to America, simply to be “home”. We might not even know what “home” is anymore, but we have wonderful memories of our homes over the years.

I miss sitting on my porch swing in our old house in Eugene, Oregon with Chris and Zoe, just swinging slowly and taking in the neighborhood.

I miss hosting house parties at our old apartment in Vienna, Virginia and going out with friends in downtown Clarendon.

I miss spending time talking with my parents over brunch in their living room in Annandale, Virginia, and hanging out with Chris’ family while eating tapas in their home in Springfield, Virginia.

I miss talking with my brother and visiting new places like the grilled cheese bars in Falls Church, Virginia.

I miss staying up late talking to my Bubby in her kitchen in South Bend, Indiana and hearing stories of her past.

I miss grabbing mochas with my girlfriends and talking for hours.

These will all be home to me.

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This upcoming school year, Chris will be starting graduate school in Chicago (pursuing a Master’s degree in International Marketing!) while I continue graduate school in Oregon (I will continue pursuing a PhD in developmental Psychology while beginning a concurrent Master’s degree in Special Education and Early Intervention). We dont know all the details of where we will live, and the distance will certainly be hard, but that makes me even more grateful for this year with Chris. Thank you for sharing this adventure with me, love.

Chris opening a bottle of Vinsanto in celebration of our future trip to Japan

Celebrating our impending adventure to Japan, 1 year ago

Chris and I hanging out on our balcony in Kyoto

Our 2 year anniversary at Veritas Vineyards