Food Adventures

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First I was super happy to get a 100% score on my vocabulary quiz in my main Japanese class that we did on Monday and today I feel I did a pretty good job on my Peace studies quiz too. Normally the Peace Studies quizes are pretty tough. Also I felt like I understood and followed along for the entire class today in my main Japanese class which felt pretty good!

So so I found a really neat yakitori stand recently in my wandering a and getting lost. I’ve become a master at finding these little hole in the wall food places. These types of places have the best food though even though the menu is completely in kanji and has no pictures making it challenging to order. This yakitori place also had takoyaki (fried balls of batter with octopus filling and sauce on top), and okonomiyaki (kind of a seafood pizza type thing using the same batter as the takoyaki. Yakitori is basically flame grilled meat on a stick.

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The other day I had curry again at the most amazing Indian restaurant I’ve ever been too. It was so good! This was the second time I’d been there and I got a mango lassi, curry, and cheese naan bread.

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Another little hole in the wall place that I now frequent regularly is this ramen shop. This was negi ramen (green onion) and this shops’ ramen is truly the best!

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And last night I went wandering with some friends to find a place to eat dinner. We found this little restaurant in an alley and the waitress was so nice and so cute dresses in a maid outfit. (Classy version nothing sleepy or anything). I had Katsudon which is breaded pork cutlet over rice with onions and eggs. It was so good! And I stole my friends salad since she didn’t want it >.<

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After dinner we proceeded to wander around and I was trying to find Chinatown but in the end we got a little lost and couldn’t find it. We ended up in this weird “entertainment” area full of bars and snack venues and restaurants and clubs. If you don’t know what a snack venue is let’s just say they are a type of hostess club. You could say we accidentally wandered into the red light district. The only clue was the “snack” signs everywhere, but to a foreigner that wasmt familiar it really just looked like an area full of bars and clubs. I did walk by this one restaurant though that had an aquarium that you could see from the outside full of those fugu puffer fish that are poisonous and any chef that prepares them needs to be highly skilled. I thought that was cool being able to see them!

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Then after giving up on finding Chinatown we stopped at a place and had the best hot chocolate ever! Although I forgot to take a picture.

 

Emily Doyle

<i>*PDXAbroad Scholarship</i> ใ“ใ‚“ใซใกใฏ! (Konnichiwa!) Hello! My name is Emily Doyle and I am from Portland, Oregon located in the beautiful northwest. I am currently attending Portland State University majoring in Japanese Language, and working on my TESL Certificate to teach English as a second language. I am 34 years old and a returning college student. This recent switch from full time job status to full time student status has been a very challenging life change for me. However, it has been equally rewarding with my own personal development and meeting so many new wonderful people. In my free time I love to be outdoors and take advantage of my surroundings. I am a foodie and love to experiment with recipes and try all kinds of new food. I also have a passion for exercising and I lead online motivational groups to encourage others to eat healthy and exercise. My passion for exercising stems from my love of Martial Arts that was passed on by my father to me at an early age. My father studied and taught Martial Arts for many years, and he is one of my major influences fueling my desire to study other cultures. This September I will be studying abroad at Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies in Nagasaki, Japan for about 6 months. Studying in Nagasaki will allow me to immerse myself in Japanese culture, and improve my speaking abilities immensely which I could never replicate in my studies in Portland. This experience will be a once in a life time chance to learn about Nagasakiโ€™s rich and tragic history in person. I am extremely excited to learn in a new country and meet new people as well as sharing my journey along the way.