A few comments on Food in Japan

       Ok, so we all know that Japanese food is great! Or at least the kind we can get back in our home countries, and let me tell you it CAN be pretty delicious, but there are some weird traits of Japanese eating habits I would like to point out.
       First off, let me start by talking about presents to bring your host parents when you come to Japan. You should always bring them a present even if you are only staying a week, because it is common courtesy here. But let me give you a few warnings! When I came to Japan, I brought my host parents some home made jellies and butters along with some maple syrup, a rare and expensive thing in its own. I thought these would be great gifts because they really represented the type of town I came from and what good-old farm America is like. I was wrong though. My host family doesn't really like sweets, so instead of eating it for themselves, they give it back to me to eat and rarely touch the stuff. It was such a loss. So before you buy your host family, food or even coffee, send them an email asking what kind of food they like. It could really save you some money.
       Sweets are a very common thing in Japan though, although I tend to find them not as sweet as what I am used to. Japanese people tend to like salty things better, as they prefer dark bitter chocolate over milk, etc. Even the doughnuts, have barely any sugar in them. If you have a sweet tooth in Japan, my advice is to buy a little box of sweets for yourself, or get some ice cream, as ice cream seems to be a number one treat around here, especially the decadent parfaits you can get.

       As for main dishes of japanese cuisine, don't be surprised if you receive really small portions or a lot of vegetables with your meal. Sometimes, vegetables and rice is the only thing I get in my meal, which is when I get meat deprived. If you are a vegetarian, you might like this aspect of japan. They love to eat their vegies! But one thing I noticed is that they rarely eat them plain. There is always some sort of dressing or mayonnaise on top of it. They sometimes put so much on  that it ruins the purpose of eating a health vegetable in the first place. Commenting more on the mayo, if you come to japan, you will find that Mayo to the Japanese is like Ketchup to Americans. They put it on almost everything and eat lots of it. I have seen food with the top completely covered in mayonnaise before. To me, it is just disgusting and is even worse for your health than eating a lot of ketchup! This interesting fact is something I never knew about Japan before I came here. I couldn't possibly imagine how common using mayo is.

As for fruit, you may know that the apples are huge, the pears delicious, etc. But did you know that they don't eat the skin on grapes? They consider it dirty and bitter, so they will spend hours peeling off the skin on all the grapes before they eat them. I personally don't mind the skin, so I pop them in my mouth and finish my portion way before everyone else. Also, I want to comment on Apple Juice. Apples in Japan may be different, but I personally think the apple juice tastes completely artificial. To me, there is not one ounce in the juice that comes from a real apple. I am unsure though, as I have yet to read the box.

As my mind was wondering as to what else to type about, I remembered the problem I have with milk here. It is not that it tastes different or anything. My problem is really with the way my host mother abuses milk. Let me tell you, I have seen that milk carton sit out overnight and then get put back in the fridge the next day for someone to drink!! To me this is a big EWWW! You would think it would get spoiled! This has happened in my household more than once! I just can't even imagine if it is a cultural thing not to waste milk or if my family is just forgetful, but I can just say that I will never drink milk in this household.

Now, If you are planning to study abroad in japan and live in a Host Families house, let me warn you that many households don't have ovens. They only use special microwaves to cook food. So if you were planning on cooking your own food, you can cut out the cookies, pies, pizza, or anything else that is larger than a microwave and needs an oven size.