Too much beef

Last Friday I went to eat yakiniku (grilled beef) with my friends. On Saturday I didn't go anywhere but instead stayed home watching Noh theatre on TV while crocheting, just as if I were in my seventies. But I had fun, which come to think of it is probably the most disturbing thing. That evening I made from scratch a steak and cheese pie, because I really do crave those from time to time. At nine I watched the last episode of 'My Boss, My Hero,' a TV program I have been watching recently. It is a school / yakuza comedy drama, which sounds like it wouldn't work but does. I am sad that it is over. Maybe I will buy the DVDs when they come out. Afterall, I didn't see all the episodes, and they may come in handy for studying Japanese some time in the future *innocent look*.

On Sunday I went with Sumiko and Atsuko to Akita AEON Plaza. I bought a new pair of jeans because my old ones have about 10% the pigmentation they used to, and a new pair of trousers for work. I also bought muesli, Twinings tea and cheese. And what wonderful cheese it is: feta from Greece, Edam from Holland and blue cheese from Denmark.

On Monday I went with Atsuko to a concert in Kisakata that I had received a ticket for. The person playing was Karen Nunis Blackstone, who lives here in Akita because her husband is a professor at Akita International University. She is from Malaysia, and apparently is fairly successful in her home country. She is a singer/songwriter who sings the blues and other jazz related stuff, although there really are a lot of influences in her work. Playing with her were two professional musicians from Malaysia, a base guitar player and a percussionist who played rare folk instruments. There was also a guy who might have been a professor playing the electric violin and the banjo, and Professor Blackstone on the harmonica. Billie Nunis Blackstone (11, daughter of Karen) entertained the audience from time to time with cute spontaneous dances of the type only children can do. The concert was spoilt for me slightly by Atsuko laughing hysterically at a song about Namahage.

After the concert finished, everyone was invited to stay and talk with Karen over snacks and drinks. Most people left. Atsuko and I were going to as well, but first Billie stole Atsuko's cellphone, and then right after the confusion ended the base player Adrian came and personally invited me to stay. I talked with all three of the Malaysians. They are all very nice people.

After I had finished socialising, and Atsuko had finished fighting with Billie, we went to meet Toshi and eat Shabu-shabu. It was my first time to eat it. Shabu-shabu is food that you cook yourself by holding it with your chopsticks, swirling it in boiling water, dipping it in sauce and then eating it. Foods available were leeks, tofu, mushrooms, cabbage and lots and lots of beef. It was delicious, but very expensive for food that the cook only had to chuck on a plate raw and give to us to deal with.

On Tuesday I watched the last episode of 'Kekkon Dekinai Otoko,' a TV program I have been watching lately (TV programs here run quarterly on fixed seasons, so everything finishes about the same time, and soon). The name of the program means 'the man who cannot get married,' and is about a man who cannot get married. A very strange man. Very strange, although in truth I have known stranger.

So in summary, my last week has consisted primarily of music, TV, shopping and beef.