December 27, 2022

Happy holiday, everyone. My Christmas was very quiet. My plan for this holiday was to do a lot of cleaning around the house. I’ve been mostly lazy and relaxing. But I did get rid of a few things and today I worked in the yard for about two hours cleaning up.

I’ve also spent time looking back at this past year. It is so easy to feel sorry for myself with pains here and there, minor surgery, visiting doctors more this year than I have in the past ten years, etc. BUT I actually count my blessings. I am very fortunate to be rather healthy and able to do things that I enjoy, such as golfing. Two of me relatives and three good friends passed away in the past 12 months. I have other friends that have different health problems and limited on what they can do. I know that I’ve said it before, whenever I feel down because of my aging condition, I know there are many others who have worse conditions. I am very lucky to have many students whom I also think of as friends. I wish that we could spend more time together talking over some home-cooked food and a cold beer. I have offered to have cookie baking parties at my house, but I guess you all are too shy to ask. (smile). I also have two frozen turkey roasts that I offered to cook for anyone who wanted them. Again, y'all are too shy. I really enjoy doing things like this. Well, I guess that I can enjoy eating a lot of turkey someday.

I originally planned to visit my daughter and grandkids for Christmas. For several reasons, I decided to stay here this year. I’m kind of glad I did. Earlier this week, Anacortes had about 60 cm of snow in one day. The kids enjoyed sledding down their steep driveway. I had a video chat with them on Sunday, Christmas day in Japan, and on Monday, Christmas day in Anacortes.

Overall, 2022 was a good year for me. I’ve met new friends, I was finally able to have a couple of parties at my house, and many other good memories. I hope that 2023 brings all of you much happiness, good health and prosperity.

Happy New Year, everybody!

How do you peel a mikan? It’s a question you may have never thought to ask before, but here in Japan it’s something that’ll come to mind during winter, when people up and down the country peel the sweet citrus with neat precision.

Usually, the main course of action is to peel the mikan in segments from the bottom outwards, leaving the peel intact at the bottom so it branches out like the petals of a lotus flower

However, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) recently suggested a new way to peel a mikan.  They shared the “mamechishiki” (“bean of knowledge “), as tidbits of trivia are known in Japan.

As the accompanying image shows, the way of peeling a mikan here looks very different to the method we’re used to seeing. Instead of the fruit sitting whole, surrounded by peel, the top and bottom of the peel is removed first, allowing the middle section to unfurl like a belt. It’s arguably a better way of peeling a mandarin, as it cuts out the additional step of tearing individual segments of the fruit away after it’s been peeled.