I bought imitation tofu today. I didn't even know that such stuff existed. I mean, imitation bean curd? What's the point? I was going to make miso soup for dinner, and you include tofu in the recipe for texture. At the grocery store I spent five minutes staring at the tofu blocks, having no problem at all with the 'tofu' part on the label, but wondering just what that ominous set of characters in front of it meant. So then, feeling rather tired of standing there like an idiot, I just grabbed block and asked, 'eh, what's the worst that could happen?' So then I get home, and decide that it just doesn't look like regular tofu, so to settle the issue once and for all, I taste it. And that's when I found out it was imitation (for those of you currently on the edge of your seats, don't worry. Imitation tofu is made from egg whites, instead of bean curd).

So as you might have gathered, I went shopping again today. Every time I go, I need to reevaluate my estimate of just how expensive buying food here is. If you're a smart shopper, you can probably keep food costs on par with being back in the U.S, but that is only is you are _the_ savvy_ shopper. Like my mom at the height of her grocery groove, i.e. coupon clipping, super saver sale searching. I, unfortunately do not have the patience or the tenacity to be that L33t when it comes to shopping. I do, though, keep an eye out for the real bargain sales. Like today, three fried pork cuts (probably about 8 ounces total) for 98 yen. Super, super deal.

Another up point, aside from my super sale searching, is that really, I only have to worry about feeding myself for another two weeks. Then I begin my home stay, and the onerous task of keeping my stomach filled technically falls to someone else (you know, that sounded a lot more selfish than I intended it to.). I'm hoping that my home stay mother will be willing to teach me all about cooking. Knowing how to make okonomiyaki is nice, (Miso soup doesn't count, since that kind's of the equivalent of knowing how to prepare oatmeal) but I really want to learn a lot more about cooking Japanese cuisine. Well, one of the points of doing home stay is the cultural exposure, and I would hope it to be a positive thing, express my earnest desire to create the food as well as to consume it.