⋆⭒˚｡⋆The Trash Goblin✧˖°.

 

A special feature by Norah

 

[trying to abide by vicki's formatting]

[looove it]

∠( ᐛ 」∠)_

For twenty-two days, little piles of dirty garbage have been propping up all over the house. They wait patiently unattended until the resident Trash Goblin crawls by to snatch them. The fastidious Goblin takes its stinky treasures to an unoccupied corner and dutifully sorts them into categories for proper disposal…

🗑🗑🗑🗑

In the United States, you wail just about any kind of waste into a big green garbage bin and roll it out to the street once a week. Recycling goes out in the blue bin bimonthly (this stuff all ends up in the landfill anyways though, right🫥?). Got excess or stuff that won’t fit in your bins? Drive it to any one of those massive public dumpsters around town. Not much to it.

 

Moving into our house in Japan, we generated a lot of trash, very fast. Before we (as in I) could get a handle on the trash system here, we’d thrown everything into the same plastic bag. Containers, plastic and glass bottles, food scraps, cardboard, tissues, rags etc. all in one like the big green bin brained Americans we are. What wouldn’t be any cause for concern in the US was certainly an issue now. 

Here’s why.

 (~‾▿‾)~

An attempt at a brief breakdown of Japan’s garbage disposal system:

There are four main categories of garbage that get collected and disposed of separately here. Burnable (combustible) garbage, non-burnable (noncombustible) garbage, organic (food) waste, and recycling. Combustibles are incinerated and include waste like paper towels, paper, cloth, plastics, and rubber. Noncombustible can’t be incinerated and include metals, appliances, lightbulbs, and glass. Food waste is food waste and recycling encompasses roughly the same things as anywhere else in the world. 

 

At first glance this isn’t bending anyone’s brain backwards. 

 

Until you realise that PET plastic is different from PET 1 plastic is different from プラ(pura) plastic is different from burnable plastic and, oh, you thought paper was burnable? Nope. It needs to be recycled flat in even bundles not exceeding precise weight and size dimensions and tied crisscross. Same goes for cardboard boxes. Milk and juice cartons need the entire plastic cap mechanism removed (this goes in プラ FYI), cut open and laid flat, dried, bundled, and tied. If you think something is cardboard, chances are it’s 紙 (kami). Styrofoam can’t go in the blue bin back in the US but in Japan it’s recyclable. But keep packing styrofoam separate from styrofoam trays. For oversized items you’ll need to make some calls. Now, wanna know about steel and aluminum? 

[chef's kiss. that's some gorgeously sorted trash yum yummy]

 

To seal this magical deal, each type of garbage goes in its own designated bag issued by the town you’re living in. We’re in Niseko but if we were to purchase and use bags from neighboring Kutchan ten minutes away our garbage would not be picked up. Most frighteningly, if you’ve incorrectly sorted your garbage, it also won’t be picked up. 

[top to bottom→compost, non-burnable, burnable, recycle]

[compost bags disintegrate into liquid goop in the bin. 2/10⭐️]

 

Please, at least tell me that pickup is simple??

 

Sure. Combustible is every Thursday, noncombustible is the second and fourth Friday of every month, food waste is every Monday and Thursday, and recycling is every Wednesday. Trash needs to be dropped off in your designated shared garbage station before 8AM on pickup days.

[the pickup schedule]

When we arrived, nobody knew where our garbage station was. Not even the landlord knew where our garbage station was. He and his wife had to go walk around the neighborhood to find it. And if you think you can get away with tossing your trash in a different garbage station, think again because every garbage station has different pickup days. And if you miss a pickup day? Time to live in fear that your neighbors will know it was you who left a bag of raw chicken fat scraps in the station on a non-designated day. 

 

[the elusive garbage station]

 

[me pretending not to put raw chicken fat scraps in the station on recycling day]

This all has created a trash perfectionist in me—a Trash Goblin. Vicki, Wiley, and Tom leave their garbage all over at their convenience, claiming they don’t want to meddle in my system (which is partially fair. Because every time I look in the non-burnable can I start seeing red). But I’ve explained the basics enough times that the abandoned yogurt cups in the drying rack and the styrofoam trays on top of the toaster oven and the pile of tags and empty cookie packets on the dining table are beginning to worry me. 

 

I’m planning to make a big unavoidable poster for my uncooperative housemates. I will let you know if that quells the burdens of the Goblin or if I end up taking the mess-makers out with the trash on food waste day. 

[trash & me]

[trash & me pt.2]

[trash & me pt.3]

[it's me & trash against the world baby]

༼ ಠل͟ಠ༽

Fun fact. It's been 54 days since i wrote this and nothing has changed.

Sapporo Jazz

 Bossa Nova in Hokkaido

[ Jazz night life ]

I had read about the jazz scene in Sapporo so Norah and I went looking around the Susukino Station near Odori Park where several clubs were playing on a Saturday night. I had emailed Slowboat earlier in the week to reserve a table for the first set so we headed that way at about 7:15 p.m. We found the sign for the club in front of a dark store front so we tried the door. It was open. We went inside. There was a stairwell, and we could hear some people talking, so we went up. Nothing on the second floor. Nothing on the third floor. Then, I saw some bicycles stashed on the stairs leading to the 4th floor, so we kept going. At the top of the steps there was a door half open and as we approached, the door opened and a woman looked at me from inside and said, "Victoria?". We had arrived. 

[ getting ready for the first set ]

Arrived to a tiny room, with six tiny tables and a well-stocked bar. Five of the tables were occupied and Norah and I were seated at the sixth, in the front corner near the musicians who were tuning up when we arrived. We were handed a drinks menu by the owner, Yasuko Fukui, who had met us at the door. She and her late husband Ryo-san, who was a jazz musician, opened the club 25 years ago. 

[ so many choices ]

It did not take long for our drinks to arrive with the loveliest bowl of salty snacks and chocolates, artfully arranged and abundant. I think I gasped out loud. 

[ gin and tonic never tasted so good ]

[ a glimpse of the well-stocked bar behind me ]

The first set got underway and the two musicians played the complete Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto songbook. The guitar player, Ryoichi Hizawa and the singer, Siho Kodama, were really fabulous. They spoke to the audience between songs and paused to ask me where I was from (switching to English) later in the evening. Everyone was interested when I told them that Norah and I were living in Niseko!

[ Copa Doice sing Bossa Nova ]

During the second set, the audience changed a little. A few people left and a few arrived. A young couple from Israel who were on their honeymoon sat down at the bar, a young Korean couple sat next to us, and a guy from London, carrying his flute in a case, showed up hoping to join the set. The whole night was a wonderful moment of shared humanity together appreciating art. Such a great feeling. 

Friday is Bakery Day

 Fluffy bread in all its glory

[ Sweet bread with melon ]

Every Friday is Bakery Day. Close to noon, the local baker from Maitorie bakery located near the Niseko train station arrives with his wife carrying trays of freshly baked savory and sweet breads to sell to our students and staff for lunch. Students can buy two savory and one sweet bread and they come prepared with their change purses filled with 100-yen coins. 

[ Bringing in the bread ]

The baker's wife accompanies him, and she joins him to help serve once she has parked their pink Kei car in the parking lot.  Each week they bring a different variety of breads and I can barely take the anticipation on Friday morning with my coins jangling in my pocket. Here is a selection of what is on hand: 

[ Custard cream, red bean and raisin buns ]

[ Napolitan savory sandwich ]

[ Curry and potato pan ]

[ Yakisoba sandwich ]

Each classroom of students takes turn coming to the table to make a selection. They count out their coins and pay the baker at the end of the table. He makes change from a container of coins that he brings with him. 

[ That will by 250 yen please ]

[ This is the spirit of a young gourmand ]

Each week I counsel myself on limiting my purchases. I usually bring a normal packed lunch and promise myself to only buy one sweet roll. But it never quite goes as planned. This is what I bought this week. 

[ How many carbs can I eat in one meal? ]

My absolute favorite bread has only shown up once so far. It is a roll that is sliced open and stuffed with whipped cream and then sprinkled with powdered sugar. I mean, I cannot say no.

[ The creme de la creme ]

Gardening Hokkaido Style

 

Horticultural Shenanigans

[ This is serious business ]

It was time to admit that the weeds were actually coming for us. The heat, the humidity, and the unchecked growth of wild grape vines and unknown giant leafy foliage had been creeping closer and closer to all sides of the house since Tom and Wiley left in late July. 

[ Flora looming ]

[ Wild grape vines gone mad ]

The local farmers had already gone by our house three times with a giant blade extending from the side of their tractors to hack back the stuff growing along the ditch at the edge of the road. I was starting to have nightmares about getting trapped indoors by a jungle of vines and large scale bug wildlife. It was time to do something. It was time to go to the local hardware store for some rubber boots and Dickies. 

[ Let's get this party started ]

I have to say, I was really excited about my outfit. However, looking back on it now I am noticing that Norah looks like she is preparing for an instagram shoot and I look like I belong on a WANTED poster for a Slender Man sighting. 

[ We tried to recreate American Gothic ]

We did get down to business eventually. Norah took the dangerous job of cutting back the brush with a very aggressive weed wacker that has a jagged steel blade. She steered that thing around the perimeter of the house like a pro chopping back all manner of four-foot stalks of large leafy predators. 

[  Taking back the car park  ]

In the mean time, I was relegated to pulling weeds around back and wading knee deep into undergrowth that could possibly house large beetles and a poisonous snake. I used all available tools in my hand-to-weed combat. 

[ Okay, I went too far and pulled out all the plants ]

We worked for a few hours until the sun made the situation begin to feel untenable. We got enough done that I think we are good for at least another month. We wheelbarrowed piles of greenery down over the ditch at the back field hoping that we did not get the weeds too close to the farmer's soy beans. 

[ A friendly gastropod ]

I did not come across any snakes in the end, but we did relocate a pleasant little snail who was not pleased by the reckless weeding that I had done to the back garden. 

Green Acres is the place to be!

Farm living is the life for me!

Land spreading out so far and wide,

Keep Manhattan just give me that countryside!

Japanese BBQ

 

A charming night out

[ Grilled lamb, onions, and bean sprouts ]

Last night Norah and I spent a charming evening at a local yakiniku restaurant nearby our house. We finally both have a working phone and we are finally able to call and make a reservation for dinner (required at most places no matter how casual the restaurant might be). Well, one of us can make a phone call - that is, Norah can make a phone call. Her two years of Japanese language classes at UNCW are really serving her right now. She is able to make a reservation over the telephone for a specific date and time and then able to answer a barrage of questions regarding the details from the person on the other end of the line. I am super impressed. 

[ ニセコジンギスカン Niseko Genghis Khan Restaurant ]

We arrived at the restaurant, a small geodome on the outskirts of town, just as the restaurant opened. We had reserved a table at the counter and we were welcomed inside by the chef and waiter who were just turning on the lights of the dining area and turning the coals on the small grills prepared for each table. The restaurant is tiny - there are three tables and a counter - and the interior is lined with wood floors and wood paneling. I can imagine how cozy this place must be in the winter with snow reaching up to the windows. We were seated at the counter right in front of the kitchen. 

[ I immediately ordered a Sapporo Classic beer ]

The waiter brought us the menu, which Norah had perused in advance online, and she ordered our dinner with authority. Besides fresh lamb which is a house specialty, we ordered mushrooms, pumpkin, corn, and kimchi as sides. Everything arrives at the table raw and we grill everything from a hot coal fire placed at our counter space. The waiter brought a dipping broth, serving bowls, and a tray of accoutrements. I was really enamored with the small, white porcelain salt cellar and tiny spoon on the tray. 

[ A medley of accoutrements and the salt cellar ]

We seasoned the grill top with a chunk of pure animal fat provided on our plate of lamb. Then we placed the meat and vegetables on the grill, turning it on the grill until cooked. This took just minutes. 

[ The BBQ mise-en-scene ]

[ Magnificent kimchi in a beautiful ceramic bowl ]

[ The menu ]

Norah was an excellent dinner companion. She grilled our food with a certain expertise that I rather enjoyed. As we cooked our meal, the other tables in the restaurant filled and there was a general atmosphere of indoor picnic that was communal and inviting. 

[ Grilling expertise on point ]

At the end of our meal the waiter and chef struck up a little conversation with us. We spoke with a combination of English and Japanese - their English quite good, Norah's Japanese doing well, me smiling. They asked us if we could help them write a sign to put on the door next week for English speaking customers when they needed to close for a lunch time shift unexpectedly. Norah wrote it out for them and we thanked them many times for the wonderful meal. We are looking forward to another visit sometime soon. 

[ Thank you for a lovely evening ]