Dating resume

So while I was at home in LA, my brother brought an interesting topic to the dinner table conversation: a dating resume. So, Boy, this post is mostly for you.

My chances of finding a husband drastically dropped by moving to my tiny village. There's eight times as many cows as people...EIGHT! Not to mention, there's only 8,300 people here.

Mom mentioned that I needed to be eating better while I was living alone. So I've taken up baking and cooking during these lovely cold winter months. I thought baking and cooking were two desirable qualities to throw on my dating resume upon my return to America.

But baking in Japan can prove quite tricky. Considering my measuring spoons consist of "big" and "little" (those are the characters on them). And my "oven" is like baking in an Easy-Bake oven that married a microwave. But challenges are always fun. Mom bought me some lovely US measuring spoons and cups and silicon muffin cups. Let the baking begin!

Challenge #1: Finding flour.

For some reason, asking for "flour" took me all over the market and involved 3 different staff members frantically running around the store. First, the lady took me to the flowers. Then, we asked another man who took us to the boxed cake/cookie mixes. Finally, the three of us followed a different lady to the flour section...which was next to soy sauce and oil. I don't know how they organize these places.

Challenge #2: Finding baking soda.

But flour was not nearly as bad as baking soda (which is "tansan" or "jusou"). I asked a lady for baking soda, and she took me to the drink aisle. Not wanting to be rude or seem inconsiderate for her services, I grabbed a Coke and bowed. I found a man unpacking boxes and asked him for baking soda. I told him it was an orange box and sometimes used for cleaning. I was led to the laundry detergent aisle. Not helpful at all. So I gave up and tried substituting baking powder for the baking soda. Flatest, crunchiest chocolate chip cookies ever.

I did some research last night (yay Google!). I took my little paper with Japanese scribbled on it and took it to church. The ladies laughed and said, "You can buy it anywhere!" And I told them of my mishaps yesterday. One lady said, "Ask the store man for "jusou" and he will take you to it. Maybe say for hotcakes because sometimes we use it for cleaning. Maybe you can use cleaning "jusou" for cooking, but I don't want to kill you." I thought that was very considerate of her especially since we were still in church. Sure enough, I found my baking soda without even having to ask a store clerk.

Challenge #3: Wooden spoon?

So in a country that loves chopsticks and doesn't even use spoons for soup, it was highly unlikely I was going to find a wooden spoon. I never really used wooden spoons in America until a friend came over in high school to bake cookies and asked for a wooden spoon. I had always used a regular metal spoon. But since then, I've always used a wooden spoon. Lo and behold, I don't have one in Japan. And I couldn't find one. So instead, a wooden rice paddle. Yup, some things need to be compromised. Luckily this compromise wasn't as detrimental as the baking powder-baking soda compromise.

You might be saying, "Well, your mom said to eat healthier, but all you made was chocolate chip cookies." You're right--not quite healthy. So tonight, I made blueberry muffins. Gotta love the internet.

Challenge #4: Snow and milk.

It wasn't snowing when I came home from town. I kept thinking, "I'll stop and get milk later," even though I stopped at 2 different supermarkets in town. So I came home and leisurely unloaded and unpacked and leaned my shelves and just putts around the house. Then I think, "Oh man, I need to get milk to start baking my muffins. I better go now before it gets late." I open my front door to a giant snow storm. These aren't like cute snowflakes falling; it's more like God's dandruff...it's massive. Somehow in 3 hours it managed to snow about 6 inches on top of my car and blocking my driveway. To get a quarter cup of milk required me to shovel my 20 feet long driveway and dust off my car.

And since this post is mostly for you, Boy, this is what I ate for lunch:

McDonald's Big American 2 Texas 2 burger

Under the first bun: bacon, "chili" with A kidney bean and some diced onions.

Under the patty: American cheese and...mustard.

I'm not sure what the Idaho burger is, but I'm really hoping they just stuff a Big Mac with french fries. I'm definitely going to be trying all of these. Thank you, McDonald's Japan for stereotyping American culture to the max.