Eggs and technology

This will be a musing of a bunch of things. First, I took a picture of the egg on the right, sitting alone in it's plastic tray, for Pete. I wanted him to see that some of the eggs here have little stickers placed oh so gingerly on top. The Japanese pride themselves on their fresh eggs. There are many dishes here that include raw egg as a dipping sauce. They crack whole eggs into ramen, on top of rice, or on top of just about anything. Eggs are a big part of their cuisine. When I went out with my friends for dinner and karaoke, one of them said the eggs here are so yellow (and some of them are a deeper, darker yellowish orange than I'm used to) because they are so fresh. I immediately chimed in with my suspicion that it was probably due to the breed and the feed. To make my claim sound more legitimate, I told them all of our family's long-standing relationship with "my friend who is a chicken farmer." They found this to be interesting, and asked everyone at the table that has a friend who is a chicken farmer to raise their hand. When you move in circles such as these (even the ones from Minnesota- and there are oodles of 'em) having chicken farmer friends is an oddity. I proudly raised my hand, and thought warmly and happily of Peter and Joel.

Last night, the boys and I met Robin at the Tokyo Dome to see and hear The Police. Great concert. I had my ear plugs in the whole time (old fuddy duddy!) and thoroughly, comfortably enjoyed the entire concert. There were 25 thousand people there with me. It was amazing to see the sea of heads and arms clapping to the beat. Sting looks fantastic. He's still got the voice. The drummer was amazing. The guitar player hasn't aged quite as well, but he's still got it. The amount of high tech at the concert was fascinating. But really, yesterday it was the technology of Facebook messages that amazed me more.

Around noon yesterday, I sent out several Valentine's messages to some of my friends on Facebook. This would have been at 10:00 p.m. in Trumansburg, prime time for on-line activity for teenagers. I was so completely delighted to hear back from some dear students in a matter of minutes. I feel so connected. I called my Mom and Dad on skype to wish my Dad a Happy Valentine's Day/Happy Birthday, and had a chance to talk to one of their guests, my friend Melinda's Mom. But I already knew they were going to be there, because I had heard about it from Melinda on Facebook. When I think about how it must have been for expats to come to Japan even 20 years ago, it must have seemed like a different world. I know it was a much more isolating experience for them. No skype, no email, no Facebook....how did they ever manage? In some ways maybe it was a better, more authentic immersion into Japanese culture. Sink or swim. But I'll take my technology thanks, and am grateful for the opportunity to blog, skype Chris in Montreal, call Cathryn in the hospital, check the weather in Upstate NY, and stay on top of the news from friends and actually sometimes see their faces while I hear their voices. Very cool. Maybe this is the best of both worlds?

I hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day willed with love and fun. I must sign off now. I need to do some serious grocery shopping today, (perhaps 2 trips!) for Art Sullivan and Trevor Scheer will be here this evening, and will be staying for a week. Genevieve, Art's sister told us we aren't allowed to have TOO MUCH fun without her. So I'll be posting more this week, and will be taking pictures of the guys as they have a cultural experience. Enjoy your winter break, Upstate New Yorkers!

Cheers!