Earthquake

I just experienced my first earthquake in Japan. It only felt like a little guy. At first, I thought it was just my washing machine kicking into the spin cycle. That impression didn't last long however. Everything in my kitchen was shaking, and looking outside I could see the powerlines shaking, too! My spices all got knocked over in the cabinet, but it seems everything else stayed just where it was.

It was kind of a strange sensation, but nothing too out of the ordinary, I guess. It was like a very big truck rumbling the floor of the house. . . but just a bit too much.

Earthquakes are so common in Japan because it is located on, and was formed by, 3 major tectonic plates, the Pacific, Eurasian, and Philippine plates.

The Japanese use a different system for measuring the magnitude of an earthquake, the shindo scale, in addition to the Richter scale.

As I was writing the post, information was posted about the earthquake on the internet. Its epicenter was located off the coast of Japan. At its epicenter it had a magnitude of 5.0. It didn't feel like anything that strong here however. I don't see the shindo scale listed anywhere yet. But I will update the post when I get that information.

Updated, Wednesday October 19 at 10:20 pm
Since this post, there have been two more earthquakes. One on Monday, which I did not feel, and one of a magnitude of 6.5. Again, not scary, just thrilling. As Ayako, my student, says, "They make you feel alive!" The last link listed above will take you to a page which displays info for the most recent earthquake in Japan.

Chili Dinner

Last night I cooked an American meal for my neighbors (the French girls, Marie and Perrine, and the Taiwanese girl, Marion) and a Japanese friend, Kayo.

It took me awhile to decide what to make. But last week I decided on chili (with vegetables, sorry Hellmer.)

It was a little difficult finding the kidney beans, but I got them. (The grocery stores here are set up a bit differently.) I even found cheddar cheese and good sized chili bowls!

The chili was able to simmer for about 2 hours before we sat down to eat. It had just a bit of kick to it, and I really have to thank my predecessor for having left me hot sauce and chili powder, along with the other spices. Here's my serving:


Everyone loved the chili, especially with Ritz crackers.

The biggest hit, though, was the dessert! I wanted to make rootbeer floats (not too much more American than that) but couldn't find any rootbeer for any price. So I made iced coffee floats instead. Here is Marie enjoying hers and saying "cheese" for the camera: