CHALLENGE #7: How would you say, "My name is _____" in Japanese?

Well...there it is! The bullet train. This train can go up to 188 mph and is actually called "Shinkansen" by the Japanese. The trains were spotless and had lots more legroom than an airplane! We finally got to see some scenery a more countryside atmosphere during our trip to our host city. I posted a picture of the food items that are advertised as well. I thought the food advertisments were shockingly different from ours! The "Bento Boxes" contain a whole bunch of little items, which makes them lots of fun to eat. They tend to be a lot healthier too than our quick food.

After we got to Fukushima and checked in, we went back to the train station for dinner. Sounds strange, but everything was in the station from a vegetable stand to clothing stores on the second and third levels. The little stores or stands that are in the station were beautiful! Everywhere you look are "pastry" stores with the prettiest sweets. There is a lot more bread here than I expected as well. Anyhow, I finally got my sushi! We ate at a conveyer restaurant where the sushi is made by the chefs in the middle and they place each piece on a colored plate that comes out on a conveyor belt. You choose which dishes you want. The plates are color coded by price. Most of it was excellent but I went for the dish of the day and got myself into a little trouble LOL. I picked a pretty little roll that had some beans coupled with what looked like noodles. Well, it was the stickiest, gooiest, thing I have ever, ever, ever eaten....and the goo did not immediately go away. Unfortunately, I had the whole thing in my mouth and couldn't go back on that decision. I know how they feel on Fear Factor now. I found out later that the beans are fermented soy beans- "very popular and healthy." LOL- We decided they are healthy because you won't eat too many of them. I still don't know what the gelatinous "noodles" were and am probably better for that!

Monday morning we visited Fukushima University to learn about their teacher training program and actually got a very unique chance to see one of the chemistry professor's lab. Only two of us chose to hear about science and he happened to not be so involved with the teacher training aspect and so took us to his lab instead. He introduced us to several of his coworkes who then brought out the artificial heart parts that they are working on, the neuron stimulators for paralysis, and some liquid nitrogen just for fun! They were so enthusiastic and eager to share with us their research.

We then took an hour long drive through the mountains into our host city. We got to see a lot of rice paddies, which many were being harvested. They cut the "grass" down and then tie it up to dry so it looks like there are many "scarecrow" type sets of straw in the fields. The dried grass is then used to make tatami mats, which I'll tell you about later in the week when we get to visit a tatami mat factory.

Once we arrived in Minamisoma, we met with the mayor which is who I am pictured with above, to hear about their educational system and participate in a question and answer session. Our guide gave us a quick walking tour to show us the laundry, 7-11 (I told you they were everywhere), and grocery store. Five of us ventured out for dinner and found the most wonderful little restaurant. We met the owner of the restaurant, his mother who had pictures of herself in geisha dress, and a man who apparently "owned the street." They spoke very little English, but we had a great time figuring it out. The owner/chef kept bringing us more and more and more food! We had chicken on a stick, tomatoes with miso, cucumbers with miso, a potato stew type soup, fried noodles, a seafood and rice concoction, and my favorite, a large chunk of fried tofu in a soy sauce mixture. It was unbelievable! Then the chef's mother came over with origami paper and showed us how to make paper cranes!!!!! They were wonderful! We were there for over two hours!

We also got a quick lesson in Japanese for our school visits tomorrow. We learned how to say we are teachers, where we are from, and our names....have fun with your challenge! :0)