Noah Canton
Class of 2001

All of the snow melted away a few months ago and it's beginning to slowly warm up. The rainy season started about a month ago and it's not too bad. My Japanese is slowly but surely coming along. I'll spend 2 weeks up in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in August, attending a Japanese language course. It ought to be a good time. A couple nights ago some friends and I rented out an old style thatch-roofed house in the middle of some forest where we barbequed, indulged in some of the local drink, and watched dozens of fire flies flying about a rice field. Just too beautiful.

Allow me to update you on my current Japanese food adventures. I've told you before, I believe, that I had eaten cooked horse and raw horse, but I think I have become a little bolder these days. A few months ago I traveled down south to visit a friend and I tried raw chicken, a southern delicacy. And up here in the north (Akita Prefecture) I can say that I've eaten raw sea cucumber, raw whale (I know, I'm going to hell), and a little something called 'shiraou,' which is a bowl of small, live, eel-worm looking creatures that you pour a little soy sauce on and swallow live. It was pretty bizarre. I also ate a q-ball-sized tuna fish eye from a tuna's head the size of a basketball. That was a memorable experience if I've ever had one. I'm convinced the Japanese will eat just about anything and everything. I sure miss the flavor of Indian food though, don't you?

Last month three of my California friends came to visit. We hit up Tokyo, Kyoto, karaoke bars, and plenty of onsen (bath houses.) Next month another friend will visit, and another friend the following month. Then in December I'll be back in CA. for a couple weeks holiday.

All in all, things are going splendidly. The junior high school kids I teach are great, the town's folk are genuinely kind, and I'm learning about a beautiful culture. Not to mention, the small mountain town of about 3,000 people I live in is a green paradise, filled with monkeys, waterfalls, rivers, streams, and a ski slope. Hope all is well with you and your family on your side of the planet.

Enjoy your holiday. Until next time.

Peace,

Noah

Noah Canton
noahcanton@hotmail.com
[Posted July 14, 2003]

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