Weekend Update

With only four weekends to go, I have been doing my best to make the most of each. With the help of a few friends, we have done a pretty phenomenal job. This weekend consisted of multiple awesome restaurants, park days, a Saturday night party, lunch with a visiting BFF and a late Sunday afternoon beer outside. 

A few pics from Ari during our afternoon at the Imperial Palace. 

Thanks, Ari!

Hope you all had a great one as well!

xoxo, 

Kate

Rising Sun Wanderings: Video

I finally finished the little I was working on. 

Here it is if you'd like to see!

Rising Sun Wanderings from Kate Bohan on Vimeo.

xoxo, 

Kate

Throwback Thursday

Today at school, the Backstreet Boys made an appearance. 

I don't know the last time you watched six classes of 40 Japanese students sing along with Howie, Kevin, Brian, Nick and A.J., but let me tell you, it was pretty adorable. 

I want it that way, 

Kate

P.S. This original music video is pretty winning too...

Veggie Pasta

I have made a batch of this once a week for the past few weeks, dividing it up to create four or five lunches. It's quick, healthy, colorful, and works served hot or cold.

I whipped some up last night and took a few pics throughout the process.
*I apologize for the poor picture quality. 

[1]
I sauteed some garlic and pepper in olive oil, while I boiled pasta.

[2]

I chopped up a few of my favorite veggies.

Asparagus, bell pepper, eggplant, mushrooms.

I also added almond slivers and a few pieces of salami that were on their way out. 

[3]

Added a touch more olive oil and sauteed the veggies in the pan for a bit to let all the flavors come together. When the pasta was done I threw it in and cooked it for a few more minutes just to make sure the flavor dispersed evenly. 

Bon Appetit!

Veggie and Carbo Loaded, 

Kate

Right Now

I have six weeks left in Japan. Five in my apartment. Four at school.

Whoa.

In an effort to capture the moment, like I did back here,
I'm listing a few fun facts about my day to day life...

-Summers in Japan suck.

-The Co-op has the best flowers.

-The Tobu store now sells tortillas!

-I absolutely adore Miyu in class 1-3.

-My friend at Starbucks' name is Yuki.

-Love the light that pours into my room in the morning. 

-I've weened myself off Facebook and on to The Guardian.

-I love that the teachers I'm close with call me Keito-chan.

-Since my arrival, I'm proud to say, I have never worn a scrunchy. 

-I have worn my grey wind breaker every day since I purchased it.

-Pasta with veggies has been my go to meal for the past few weeks.

-The crossing guard I chat with every morning is going to Turkey next week.

-Jessica comes to visit this weekend and I'm over the moon excited for her arrival!

-My favorite word in the Japanese language is sasuga.

-My least favorite word is Irasshaimase. More the way it's screeched as a welcome to every establishment than the word itself. 

-My purse can rest on the back of my chair in a restaurant without any concern it will get stolen.

-8 tracks in constantly playing in my apartment and I have compiled an excellent list of tunes for my summer playlist.

-Without thinking, I will join the crosswalks as they make their 'pew pew' noise signally to visually impaired people that it is time to cross. 
-I quite enjoy flipping my name plate to white to show my attendance when I walk into school. I enjoy it even more when I flip it to red to show that I'm leaving. :)

-I love running around our shaded little lake, pausing to look at the turtles and getting a nod of approval from another runner in the park.

-I love it even more when I go running on Saturday mornings and the group of eight, 70 year old men sipping their canned coffee and chatting, cheer me on as I circle the lake and run the stairs. They may be my biggest fans. 

-Takahashi in class 1-6 learned the word 'poo' and while the child is terrible at English, he can form perfect, complete, sentences with the word 'poo'. I will poo. This morning I went poo. Do you poo? Yesterday, he shared with me that 'pee' and 'homeless' have been added to his growing list of 'vocabulary words not taught in textbook.'

Here and Now, 

Kate

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful Dads out there!

Honored to have had this wonderful man in my life for 26 years. 

I'll take quality of years over quantity, hands down. 

Undergrad Graduation Celebration 2009.

Father's Day 2010.

Ice Cream Dates.
Every Friday for as long as I can remember.

Thanks for making every day count, Dad.

Your little girl, 

Kate

Rough Day Remedy

Because sometimes after a rough day all you need is to make dinner with your neighbors while singing along to tunes from 90's, followed by a coloring sesh, Disney movie and homemade cookies. 

Bring back childhood, and for the moment everything is just perfect.  

We love you, Rachel, 

Kate

Words

Simply love this. 

xoxo, 

Kate

Post Office Pals

My neighbor Kim and I took a little trip to the post office last week so I could mail home a package of winter clothes. I wanted to make sure it went by sea in an effort to save myself a few bucks/yens, so Kim and her flawless Japanese came with. She also served as moral support as we somehow managed to shove the 20 pound box in my rear bike basket, and I successfully (albeit unsteadily) biked the 7 minutes to the post office.

The post office is probably my least favorite place in town. 

It seems every time I go there is some sort of problem. I can see it on the employee's faces when I walk in, "Oh, there is that white girl again and her weird packages." To their credit, they have a point. For some reason I am always mailing unique stuff. An oddly shaped post card, a package that is too heavy, a letter to a US military base with an elusive address and no clear country (that was a fun day), something that once had batteries in it which caused a whole issue and resulted in a highlighted map of a post office in another town 20 minutes away by train, a magical place where apparently packages with batteries could be mailed from.  

I hate the post office.

Apparently the feeling is mutual.

Kim and I filled out the appropriate form and got in line. When our turn came, the lady working tried to be as smooth as possible as she put up her, NEXT WINDOW sign. We waited for the man next to her to finish with his customer. As soon as he started to help us, her sign came down. Ouch. 

Kim turned to me as we left, "Well, that wasn't even subtle." 

Not so much. 

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, 

Kate

Weekend Update

Highlights included...

[1] A night out a Le Baron with our fab new French friends. 

[2] 4am ramen never tasted so good.

[3] Sunday afternoon spent reading and sipping coffee in central Tokyo.

[1]

 [2]

 [3]

Hope you all had a great one as well!

xoxo,
Kate