Natto, and Art with Klaus

I've eaten some weird things since I got here (see previous entry, re: fish noodles), but I think I have found the undisputed king of weird, why-the-hell-would-you-eat-that Japanese food. It's called "natto", and it is made of fermented soybeans. The fermentation process turns them from regular, inoffensive beans into a sticky, stringy, bubbling mass of nastiness that smells like something between a ripe fish and old gym socks. Of course, I tried some.


It doesn't taste nearly as bad as it looks, which is good, because if it did taste that bad, I probably wouldn't have survived. I'd place it somewhere between a really stinky blue cheese and Kraft Singles slices. It's a strange taste experience. Especially since when you stir it up, it starts bubbling. Weird.

Interesting side note - does anyone else remember Orbitz? It was this ridiculous novelty drink from the '90's that consisted of super-sweet sugary juice with little globules of corn starch or gelatin or something suspended in it. They had the same density as the liquid, so they kind of just sat there in suspension. I don't think it lasted too long in Canada, but it's still going strong here in Japan as "Capsela".


If a weird novelty product has ever existed anywhere, it's probably still wildly popular here. I think I saw some Tamagotchi a few days ago.

The cherry trees blossomed this week, which means the whole city now looks exactly like I pictured Tokyo in my mind, minus the giant monsters.



Another side note - here's a picture of Kaspar, my Swiss roommate who hasn't been in any of my previously posted pictures. He is a very cool dude.


We went to a recycling plant yesterday that processes like 1000 fridges a day. It was pretty cool. We also got to wear the dorkiest hard hats ever made.


Well, everyone looked dorky except me. I was pretty stylish.


Last night, as part of the creative portion of the course, I spent about an hour and a half painting part of a giant (wood) canvas with a German artist named Klaus Elle. He is a super cool dude. He supplied beer and music, which he considers "essential supplies for creativity", and his musical taste was amazing. The first song on his playlist was "Only Time" by Enya, followed by System of a Down. It was at that point that I knew Klaus and I would get along just fine. Here's the canvas so far. My contribution is the abstract-ish looking factory, turning into a bunch of green swirls. It symbolizes both recycling, and my inability to draw real things.