Thursday, May 08, 2008

farewells and butter shortages

I just made a quick lunch of sesame chickpeas in tofu pockets (aburaage) and I realized how much I'm going to miss fresh Japanese tofu, in all its glorious forms. The chewy, stinky, processed stuff (or boxed silken type) available back home just canNOT compare.

Why am I thinking of this, barely two years into our four-year posting? Well posting season is almost upon us (July) and that means there're a lot of folks who are preparing to leave and newbies about to arrive. This year's gang is even bigger than the year we arrived (last year saw a tiny turnover). Anyway, I'm already dreading the loss of a couple of really good new friends and a few nice others, so I'm feeling nostalgic.

Speaking of nostalgia, a little blip caused by various food issues occuring here and abroad has hit Tokyo. Butter has become very hard to come by. Yesterday I paid about seven bucks for a pound when I happened upon a stock at a bakery (most grocery stores have holes on the butter shelf). Makes me that much more conscious of how priviliged we are in comparison to those facing the real crisis.

Oh and in case anyone heard and worried about the earthquakes northeast of Tokyo last night, please know that nobody was injured and we were only woken.

Comments:

Hi Carol,

Yes, this morning in the metro newspaper I saw the news about the earthquake and I thought about you. Thanks for giving us a sign.

And yes, about the food, we are lucky. When I think about at least half of the world population.... sometimes I cry.

Here we don't really feel yet any shortage in food, I just hope I won't have to pass again in my life through times like the communist period in Romania, almost 20 years ago.

Just for you to know, as a gossip: after he signed the CEC offer of employment, Scott Vaughan cancelled it for another job. Today in the metro newspaper they announced his nomination by Sheila Fraser as Commissaire a l'environnement et au developpement durable.
Give a little kiss on the nose to miss G and another one to Mr. Aran.

Kisses
 
oh my god, aburaage! i didn't know what to call those slices of tofu on kitsune udon, but now i know - thanks carol! i would kill to be able to eat that on a regular basis - maybe i am a fox demon?
 
hey girlie
so, we've totally not connected..
we need to make a date.. like as if we're getting together but we'll do so over skype. by the way, we have a webcam now, do you? so much to share.. unless you've left for your trip..
by the way, any decisions about coming home in august?
love you and would really like to try and connect
kim
 
miss you tons
how was your other trip to thailand?
*hugs*
h
 
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