The Story of the Lucky Cat
January 28, 2012
A very long time ago, or as they say in Japanese, “Mukashi, mukashi….”, A wealthy samurai found himself caught outside in a rain storm. He took shelter under the nearest tree.
This tree grew outside the doors to a small local temple. The monks of the temple were poor and did not have much money for its upkeep, including taking care of the cats, who had to fend for themselves by hunting mice who ate the offerings brought to the temple as well as the monks’ food.
Standing under the tree, the samurai thought he could see one of the temple cats beckoning to him from the gates. The man thought to himself, “That looks like a friendly cat, and I have nothing better to do but sit here and wait for the rain to stop. It would be okay to get a little bit wet in order to go over there and pet that nice cat.”
So, the samurai gathered his things and walked through the rain to the door of the temple where the cat sat waiting for him. No sooner had he reached down to pet the cat, than a giant bolt of lighting shot down from the heavens and stuck the tree where he had been sitting. The tree was engulfed in fire.
The samurai stood there for a moment silently watching the tree burn, and contemplated his avoided fate before speaking to the cat, “How lucky is was that I saw you beckon to me, for had I remained where I was I would surely be dead now,”.
“Meow!” said the cat.
“You truly are a cat of good fortune,” he said, “Since you saved my life, a debt which is impossible for me to repay, I will do everything in my power to make your life easier,”.
True to his word, the samurai used his fortune to endow the temple, so the monks were not so poor anymore, and the cats no longer had to fend for themselves. And when the lucky cat finally died of happy old age, the samurai paid for a proper funeral and memorial to the beloved “lucky cat” who had saved his life.
Generations of cats at the temple benefited from the samurai’s generosity and it is said that the cat who saved his life was actually an incarnation of the Buddist goddess of compassion, Kwan-yin.
Story notes:
According to one version of the story, the events in question took place at Goutoku-ji Temple, and the samurai was Li Naotoka.
This story is said to be the origin of the figures of “maneki neko” commonly found in businesses around Japan. Cats with their right paw up beckon money, left paw-customers. Black maneki neko are particularly in favor with women because they are said to drive away stalkers.
Dedicated to “Midori” the squeaky cat who got left behind while I was in Japan, and to “Aya” the Japanese cat who came back with me…
The JET Thing: my arrival journal 2007
January 28, 2012
For anyone who has ever wondered about what its like joining the JET Programme, or picking up everything and moving to a very foreign country, here’s the journal I kept of my first week in Japan four years ago…
July 26 2007:
Left home in Vermont, the only time I came close to crying was when I gave my goodbye petting to my cat Midori. She was sleeping in a ball on the spare bed in my youngest brother’s room, blissfully unaware of what was really going on. Her biggest concern was that my aunt, who had come to visit, had brought her geriatric 19 year old cat Sasha to visit. Midori thinks that all cats want to be her friends, but Sasha is not a friendly cat.
Mom baked an apple pie at the last-minute, stuffed it in the car and drove it to Albany with us where we had lunch, pie and Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. Felt kind of like the last supper.
July 27, 2007:
My aunt and I lugged my heavy bags to the Amtrak station to take the train to NYC. I would be staying my last night in the US with a new friend I met at one of the pre-departure activities. I arrived at Christine’s apartment to discover that she also had a cat, Malka, whom she was leaving behind with a roommate. Another round of suppressed tears… It did not help any that Malka was also a love bug.
Orientation: received our flight tickets and everything. They threw a big farewell reception for us at the Japanese Ambassador’s residence. I lived in NYC for 2 years and always wondered what the inside of those ultra-expensive townhouses near 5th Ave. really looked like on the inside, now I know…
There are a lot of rumors about JET application and acceptance rates. At orientation we gleaned a bit of info: Of about 420 applicants to the NYC consulate only 123 were accepted. I met the nice Japanese lady who took part in my interview, she said that of all the interviews she did that day, only 3 (myself included) did her group recommend.
July 28 rented a car to JFK. Christine and I would be separated by flights. She was on an American Airlines flight and I was going JAL. The last-minute departure mystery was why the JAL tickets cost $1800+ while the American ones cost only about $875. Apparently back in the day they used to fly all the JETS over business class. Not anymore.
Bad case of vertigo on the flight for about 1 hour. 13.5 hours of torture. Decent food though, and the game console made things better.
July 29, 2007:
Arrived in Tokyo 3:30pm. Eight or nine hours disappeared into the oblivion of time change. Susan and I, we were both going to Okinawa, roomed together. We went to our room and passed out at 4pm Tokyo time. I awoke at 3:30am. Would repeat this pattern the whole time I was in Tokyo.
July 30, 2007:
Orientation: they served us Western style food for breakfast. Everyone was asked to assemble in one of the ballrooms to listen to the opening speeches given by government big-wigs. We assembled at 10am. The visiting dignitaries arrived at 11am. Clearly they told us to be there so early so no one had to suffer the embarrassment of having us Americans, etc… show up late.
All the prefecture JETs got together for a night out drinking at a local restaurant. Restaurant theme was “Hell” or “jigoku”. It was an all-you-can-drink for 2 hours. After 2 rounds they gave up on us and brought big pitchers of Kirin over. What do you expect with an Irishman, a Scotsman, a South African and a Kiwi?
July 31st more orientation.
August 1, 2007:
Boarded a bus for Haneda airport to take the plane to Naha, Okinawa. The municipal JETS got greeted at the airport by small crowds of people with signs and cheers. Our tight-knit group of 2 days was being split up it seemed permanently. Some of the participants had been placed on remote outer islands. Okinawa was not my 1st 2nd or 3rd choice place to go, but I was glad I was going to be living on the main island.
The prefectural JETS, those of us placed in senior high schools or BOE offices (there was only one) were handed a cold beer and taken to the local hotel or youth hostel to spend the night and have more orientation. The hotel was dingy and hot! There is air-con almost everywhere here but it does not make the rooms cool. Because the outside temp is like 90F and the locals have a very skewed idea of what constitutes “cool”.
August 24,2007
Japan was the last country I would have ever thought I was going to be learning to salsa dance in, but there I was at 1am taking lessons from a E. Indian-Canadian fellow JET named Kadija.
August 26, 2007
It’s Okinawa Obon. Dates are slightly different from the mainland. I do not have to go to work tomorrow. The grocery stores were busy with people buying those pre-packaged gift things that are at the front of every store here. Also the stores have a very nice selection of little mochi tea cakes and pastries out for sale. I have discovered that anything with anko on the inside is my friend!
On the way home I took what I thought was a shortcut. I wound up in some small back alley with a lot of single family homes and apartment buildings. It was dark so I could see inside. It seems this weekend is a time for families to gather together. I could see groups of people from children to obaasan and ojiisan gathered around tables watching TV. There were lots of cars outside the houses.
It seems nice but I felt suddenly lonely, as if I was missing out.
That was only my second disappointment for the day. I took the bus down to Plaza House. They were all out of JLPT test applications.
Ginseikai
January 28, 2012
Originally written 6/30/2008
I learned a new word yesterday, “ginseikai”. I was practicing the kanji for silver and this rather interesting reading popped up. It literally means “silver world”, but is used to describe a landscape covered by ice or snow. A more accurate description of my home state than its actual name of “Vermont” orGreen Mountains. Vermont is only really green from late May through mid September. And there’s the very real possibility that it can be entirely covered in snow from late October to early April.
Speaking of snow, I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I’ve seen the stuff. Or that the vast majority of my students and colleagues here on Okinawa have never seen it! Okay, there are some things I don’t miss –like driving through it, or leaving the house when it’s minus 20 degrees outside. But growing up in and living my whole life the northern latitudes, its something that I’ve come to take for granted. Something that Okinawa is seriously lacking. And my world seems strange without it.
When one of my students or colleagues here tells me they’ve never seen snow, I usually respond by telling them they should travel. Not necessarily as far as America. Japan being a country of almost infinite latitude, finding things like fluffy white ice crystals is as simple as a long weekend and a 4 man airplane ticket to the snow festival in Sapporo.
GF Shopping In VT
January 19, 2012
I can’t tell you how much easier GF shopping is in America compared to Japan, where awareness of these things is next to non-existant. And they throw soy sauce in everything (instead of salt) which is all contaminated by wheat.
Lots of GF product can be found in regular grocery stores, and lots of products are now labeling themselves as GF, like Helmanns Mayo and Wishbone salad dressings. However, for some replacement items and other stuff its still best to visit one of the natural, health or organic grocery stores.
Whole Foods is awesome for a bigger chain. Alas, we do not have one in VT at this time. The nearest outlet being somewhere around Springfield, MA.
What Vermont does have are three local (somewhat smaller) alternative stores in the greater Burlington area where one can buy various assortments of GF products (or not). Here, I am going to briefly run through the pros and cons of each location and some general ideas about what you can or cannot find at these locations.
City Market Onion River Co-op
While they have a reasonable selection of GF product they are my least favorite option for GF shopping for several reasons. Location and parking: downtown Burlington, -got it… Maybe for someone living there or in Winooski it is more convenient, but for those of us driving in from the ‘burbs this is the most difficult store to access and I tend to only go there when I’m already in the ‘hood, so to speak. Also, while they stock many GF products there does not seem to be a dedicated section for GF. The products are all mixed in with their regular categories, including so-called “replacement foods”, or items that usually contain wheat. And bulk buying from bins, forget it. I have been warned by a friend about the cleanliness, or lack there of, of their bulk buying area. A family she knows got a weevil infestation from their bulk items. and worse for those of us who are GF, there is no section for GF items, and they store their scoops in bowls of wheat flour. I always have to hunt for someone to give me a freshly washed one when I go to buy their genmaicha tea, the only thing I will buy in bulk there.
Healthy Living
Probably the best option for someone looking to do their GF buying “all at once” and get a large quantity and wide variety of items in one place. Also seem to have the only GF beer options beside Bard’s and Redridge. Healthy Living currently carries St. Peter’s and Green’s GF beer, fellow beer snobs please note these are stocked in the regular beer section not the GF isle. The GF isle is currently located at the front of the store between the register and the produce section. My only criticism of their new location is the byzantine, maze-like way the store is organized to help you get lost. that, and the fact that the parking lot can get crazy-full at peak hours like lunch time.
Healthy Living is also one of my favorite places for GF dining, if you don’t mind eating in the middle of a supermarket. They usually have one GF muffin, dessert, and flatbread pizza option available, plus on other items they do a very good job of listing all ingredients, great for people like me with multiple food intolerances and allergies. They will also make deli sandwiches on GF bread. One caveat I should mention is that this is a “shared kitchen” where they do use and make wheat containing items. The dining atmosphere improves exponentially during the warmer months when they open up their outdoor patio to guests.
They do have a dedicated GF bulk buying area with GF pasta and granola, etc. In general their bulk area seems much more clean and has wider, less crowded isles than City Market, but I haven’t actually bought anything from there so this remains an idle observation.
In my next post, I will tell you all about a new and somewhat hidden gem for GF shopping out at the Lang Farm in Essex, Sweet Clover Market.
Katz GF apple pie
January 19, 2012
Yeah, my first GF product review…
Wheat and gluten-free replacement products are generally so expensive that I restrict myself from buying the fun stuff (i.e. junk food and sweets) unless they go on sale, well the local organic grocery store Sweet Clover seems to have overstocked on these prior to the holidays. Voila! Katz GF apple pie on sale for $4.99
They come in blueberry and apple. Not being a blueberry fan I got an apple one to try. Now my mom makes excellent homemade pie which this doesn’t stand a candle to, but seeing as she’s been trying and failing to get a GF crust to come out right for the past half-year. But this is a worthy alternative to wheat containing commercial pies.
I should warn you that its small. about 6″ diameter. And probably feeds 2-3 modest serving slices. It comes in the frozen section, but a minute in the microwave per slice warms it up nicely. Apples are firm and not soggy. Crust is flaky and chewy -hard to do GF, where everything tends to be gritty, sandy or crumbly.
Verdict: good replacement for commercial pie. Somewhat expensive for size.
GF in VT
January 18, 2012
I started doing gluten free while I was still living in Japan after doing battle with some digestive problems. At some point celiac disease was suggested as a possible diagnosis. unable to get a diagnosis from the Japanese medical system, i decided to go gluten-free to see if it helped. While it didn’t solve the problems I’d been seeing the medical community about, it did remedy the day-to-day pattern of constipation and diahrhea I’d lived with my entire adult life. At some point I’d mentioned this pattern to a medical professional and they said it was a normal fluctuation with a woman’s menstrual cycle. Now that I know I can go without this discomfort I’m never going back to eating wheat/rye/barley again!
I’m now back in VT and I can tell you, it’s far easier to go GF in the States than in Japan where there is relatively little awareness of allergies and none of things like celiac disease. Although I miss Japan terribly, I do not miss sending lists of grocery items via email and them waiting very impatiently for two weeks to get one very expensive flat-rate mail box from mom, only to then suffer great disappoint when the GF bread inside is moldy.
I should warn those reading this blog that I’ve subsequently tested negative for celiac. If anything I’m gluten-intolerant. As such I’m not in the “extremely sensitive” category. Things like “shared kitchens” don’t bother me. Still, I hope some of the information I provide is helpful in at least pointing people in the right direction.
Welcome
January 18, 2012
As a writer by avocation, I think it’s high time I finally started a blog. My goals for this enterprise are to document the progress of my writing and my goal of getting my fiction published. Also to get some subjects off my chest, like an analysis of my four years spent living in Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher with the JET Programme in Okinawa. finally I intend to write interesting reviews of my recent culinary experiences going gluten-free, as a largely self-diagnosed gluten intolerant person. I hope to provide helpful product reviews for wheat-gluten free products, places to shop and dine.
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