Friday, October 5, 2012

One Month Reflection

I was curious after one week how my attitude would change after a month of being here.  Would I miss the same things?  Would the list shrink or increase?  Here's what I've found.

Things I no longer miss:


1) My Car: Now that we have our couch and Drew's computer desk, I no longer wish I had a car to haul items around.  I've had a great time on my bike and haven't had one moment of road rage (something I felt all too often stuck in the bottleneck of the Cincinnati/NKY bridge).  Drew and I went on another bike ride this past weekend.  This time I made it 26 miles.  We were able to track our journey on Drew's GPS which can then be uploaded to Google Maps/Earth.  Here is the link.  It's even more detailed on Google Earth, showing which direction we were moving and how long we stopped in each location.  Nifty.


There is a good possibility that I will be singing a different tune about my bike once winter comes.  Thank goodness I was given some heavy duty long underwear for my birthday.  I may be using it for more than just camping.

2) Dryer:  It isn't that big of a hassle to hang our clothes.  I'm over it.

3) Large refrigerator: I've become an expert at situating our food items for maximum capacity so it hasn't been a big problem.

4) Sushi:  Even though my own attempt at making sushi wasn't aesthetically pleasing, it tasted just fine.  I think it will hold me over until I visit home and indulge in a decadent roll.

Thing I miss:


1) Dishwasher:  Yup, this one is never leaving the list.

2) Food processor/blender: Recently I've been finding recipes where I need to be able to blend ingredients together.  It's driving me crazy that I don't have these tools.  All I want is some darn hummus!  I can't find it anywhere.  The garbanzo beans are staring at me in the store but I have no way to turn them into this wonderful dish.

3) My spice collection:  To keep things interesting I would like to be able to cook non-Japanese dishes in addition to what I've been cooking.  However, those recipes usually call for different spices.  There is an international store where I can find things like cumin, oregano, etc.  but I know I have a huge spice collection sitting at home.  It pains me to spend any money on it.

4) Friends and Family:  I would love for everyone to be here with me.  Yesterday I really had the urge to meet up with someone for lunch, but everyone back home was asleep.

5) My bread maker:  See a theme here with kitchen items?  I can't find a good piece of bread here.  All I've seen are thick slices (twice the size of ours) of plain, boring white bread.  I want something more interesting than that.  Once again, my bread maker is sitting at home taunting me.

Cravings


1) Brownies:  Anything that says "brownie" here is really just chocolate cake in disguise.  A true brownie lover knows that this will not satisfy.  It's like offering Mello Yello when you want Mt. Dew.  Not buying it.

2) Homemade pizza:  For some reason I would very much like to make my own pizza.  Probably because Drew and I had gotten into making bread and pizza dough before we left.  It would have spinach, mushrooms, and feta cheese...yum.

3) Sausage balls: This is one of the appetizers that my family sometimes has at various gatherings.  It sounds really good right now for some reason.  Hint, hint, when I come for Christmas!


No comments:

Post a Comment