Land of Mikan

Last weekend was spent driving down to Oshima to celebrate Thanksgiving, family style. Paul and Elissa, an American couple had their second annual Thanksgiving party. They were recently in the States so they were able to pick up some things that they just don't have in Japan (cranberries and stuffing!!). We arrived and immediately started eating. I was in awe with the amount of food that was prepared. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, lasagne, kougel and of course rice, were some of the items on the menu. A whole room was devoted to dessert! Carrot cake, yellow cake, coconut cake, pumpkin pie and probably 5 kids of cookies and muffins. Bet you can guess where we ended up hanging out. There was a nice mixture of western people and Japanese. The Japanese people all being excellent English speakers (many of them were English teachers). The conversation was excellent, especially by a rather drunk Japanese man. We introduced him the the term 'wino' and he told us how he was a very shy 'drunk monkey'. I think he got the meaning of shy mixed up because he was anything but. There was also a funny and genki little three year old named Yukito there. We all had lots of fun wrestling with him and playing games. He would say 'kiku' which apparently means kick and would kick you and attempt to tackle you. He was lots of fun!

The next day we headed off to the onsen on the island. It was nice and relaxing but very unusual. The water looked as though it was stained with rust. Apparently the iron and salt content in the water is to do something good for your skin. I noticed no difference in my skin's texture and really didn't enjoy the smell. But, I am willing to try anything. After that we went to a Jamaican Restaurant owned by a Japanese Rastafarian couple. They, as well as their gorgeous children, have the most amazing dreadlocks. They are even featured in a book about dreadlocks. They moved to Jamaica for a year (about 5 years ago) to celebrate Bob Marley's birthday. They took all their savings and up and moved. When they came back they started this restaurant that makes the most amazing jerk chicken and Caribbean rice. We ate outside under the sun on this warm fall day. Couldn't have asked for a better time.

Oshima is known for their mikan (or clementines, mandarin oranges, whatever you all may call them). In Tamagawa, rice fields cover the empty terrain however, in Oshima mikan orchards are seen everywhere. It is really pretty now that they are ripe and ready to pick. We stopped off at a stand on the side of the road and bought the most delicious and fresh mikans I have ever tasted. Cheers to food!