Unbelievable!

So it is tax time in Japan....(actually if you owe money, your taxes are due today) and every year in January I have received my tax papers with my name and address filled out in Japanese and the tax book written in English etc. But this year I didn't get one. So I waited a bit. Then finally we phoned the tax office and we explained that I should have received my tax papers etc. The guys phones us back with this explanation. Based on last year's papers and the fact that I got a refund last year, they didn't send me any papers because they assumed I would get a refund and they don't want to pay it to me. WHAT??!!! Seriously, the guy said I didn't have to fill out my tax papers and he said that the government paid out a lot last year and they didn't want to this year so they didn't send the papers!!

FYI-in Japan, most people don't fill out their tax papers...their employer does (as long as they only have 1 job and no other income). In Japan, there is a tax book and your boss figures out to the last yen how much to take off each month based on your salary so refunds are not normal here. The reason I have one is because 2 years ago when the government changed the tax amount, I told my boss to continue taking off the old amount so that I would get a refund. He was very confused but I said it is kind of like forced savings and since you get almost no interest in a bank account here anyway, I figured why not!

So back to my story. We insisted on getting papers because um...hello!!....I want my refund. Thankfully they have to give it to me! I'm so glad that starting next year, I hand everything...personal and business tax stuff to our accountant!

Japanese pizza

Japanese pizza is an interesting thing. The basic ingredients are the same for making dough, tomato sauce etc and yet it tastes radically different. Even a pizza made with "normal" ingredients like ham, pepperoni, mushrooms etc still doesn't taste like ours do in North America. I have to say that while I have eaten my fair share of pizzas over the last 10 years I would never have said that I LOVED them....until last night!! (now for those who read that I don't eat wheat/gluten....that is true for 99.9% of the time but occasionally due to lack of choices and whatnot, I breakdown and eat something with wheat).

In the picture above is the pizza I ate last night. The bottom half has chicken, red peppers, mushrooms, onion, nori (seaweed), mayo and mustard sauce. It was good BUT the top half was divine and totally weird in terms of what we are used to in North America. It has "mentaiko" which is spicy fish eggs (the red stripes) , "mochi" (chewy rice cakes)(the white lumps) , corn and nori (seaweed). I love all those items but I wasn't sure about it on a pizza but OMG!!! It was sooooo good. The mochi was chewy and I don't know how to explain it but it just worked!!

Things you probably didn't know about pizza in Japan:

Pizza in Japan is expensive. Forget 2-for-1 deals etc. The biggest pizza is 35 cm or 14 inches and can cost up to $38!! Needless to say the average family doesn't eat pizza for dinner often!

These ingredients are common on pizza:
mayo
potato chunks
ketchup
pasta
seaweed
sausage-not like ours but like long sausages kids would eat
squid
tuna
scallops
crab
And even though Japanese love fish....I can't find anchovies!!

So, if you ever come to Japan...I highly suggest you try some Japanese pizza!!

Any advice?

I haven't blogged again lately and that is because I have nothing much to blog about. I go to work Monday to Thursday. Before and after work I work on my businesses (shopping, convoing, preparing orders, etc). I basically work at either my business or job from noon~3am. Friday~Sunday I get a bit of space and go down to my studio in my office and work on my newest etsy shop. I love working down there. It is amazing how time flies.....5 hours feels like 1. The other night I finished down there at around 2 am but I wasn't tired. Working down there refreshes me and gives my honey and I some space. The thing is.....I realized I'm becoming too much of a homebody (don't get me wrong....I LOVE my businesses and my job). I realized that I haven't left my little town in forever!! I do go out shopping but I do a fair bit around here or near here. This is what worries me about doing this full time. We are not ready for that yet (he is full time with our businesses but I'm not) but it still worries me. Am I the type that is ok to work from home only? I'm a pretty social person or at least I used to be....man when I first came to Japan I spent every Friday and Saturday night dancing at a local bar...for at least a year! Sadly, there are no good bars where I live now but that isn't really the point. I guess I'm wondering how you all do it! For those of you who stay home and work...how do you deal with it? My honey is a very shy quiet guy so he is LOVING staying at home and not dealing with people but I'm not that way. Do you go stir crazy? Any advice?

Bentos And Blogs

As you probably know I have 2 stores and one of them sells bentos. I recently started advertising on a bento blog called "Adventures in Bentomaking". She is also doing a series of reviews of some of my products. I love this because people can see the products "in action" so to speak. To read the review of the "food toppers" I sell, please click on the picture.

If you like "bentoing" or just like looking at fabulous pictures of great (and cute!) food you will love her blog!!

This past week.

It's been a week since I blogged. I love blogging in general but I just haven't felt like it lately. Been fighting a cold and feeling in a funk some days...maybe it is the weather. Anyway....

When I went to work last week I told lots of students and moms that I got married and they were so happy....very cute!! One class of ladies gave me gifts....my boss was shocked. People don't really give gifts here and of course, I haven't had a party so I kind of understand. But these 2 women I have been teaching for over 10 years....their class is more like sitting in a cafe and chatting. I love it and I love them.

My little students were trying out my new name...sofia takami or takamisan or takami sofia etc. It was very cute and I didn't have the heart to tell them that I won't be changing my name. Socially I answer to takamisan but if I have to sign any legal documents I have to use my real name.

I'm not sure we will have a party....I don't think my honey wants one. But we will see. All week we have been joking about the fact that nothing feels different. We keep asking each other "did we really get married"?

Yesterday was Valentine's day and I totally forgot about it!! I said "I forgot about it" not "we forgot about it" because in Japan, the girl gives chocolate to the boy....the boy give something back to the girl in March on "white day" (white meaning they traditionally give white chocolate, white cookies or something with marshmallows). But yesterday I kicked my honey out for the day so I could have some space and I took a day off from the computer/business. I read, watched TV, cooked and worked on some new designs etc. It was good. My honey came home around 9...just in time to watch American Idol. We are a few weeks behind the U.S....totally forget what city they were in but man.....there are some weird people out there! My honey always asks me (after watching a weird person) "have they been watching a different show all these years.....don't they know Simon hates gimmicks?" He often sits watching the show with the remote in his hand and as soon as it is obvious that the person can't sing etc...he mutes it! Then he reads the Japanese subtitles!! He gets embarrassed for other people...it is very cute! I guess that is one reason I married him!!

We got married!! And other updates.

It has been 2 weeks since I last blogged and there are many reasons for it. The 2 main ones are that we got married yesterday and I've been working on opening a new etsy store which I just opened today.

Now before you all think we did some big wedding thing....we didn't. What we did was go down to city hall and "register". See...I have never wanted a big wedding. I don't like weddings. I didn't go to my brother's or my best friend's wedding. I haven't been to a wedding in over 20 years. Don't ask me why but I just don't like them. Thankfully my honey didn't want a big wedding and with my family and friends scattered all over Canada and the States and his family here in Japan it just got a bit complicated so we made it as simple as possible....we just "registered".

You might be wondering what "registered" means....I mean if you go to city hall in Canada you are getting married. But the thinking is a little different here (this is my take on it...someone else might have a different perspective about getting married in Japan). First the ceremony is basically a big party here....the white dress, the flowers, even the person performing the ceremony (oh and in Japan it is often a foreigner who is just pretending to perform the ceremony-guys can make money doing this and yes...it is legit) have no meaning because until it is "registered" at city hall you aren't married. I told my friend "I'm getting married" and he asked about the "wedding" and I said that we were going down to city hall to get married and he said "oh...you are just registering".....as if I were buying a clunker of a car instead of a BMW. Ummm....Hello?!!! Without "registering" you aren't married so....I'm getting married!!!

I told some of my older female students and one of them told me that her daughter "registered" 2 months ago but they aren't sure when they will have the ceremony. I said to my student that it means she is married and she looked a bit surprised and said "yes, I guess so."

So, yesterday my honey, my friend Phee (hi Phee!), his mom and I went to city hall to "register". We had already filled out many forms at home but we still had a few things to clear up when we got there. First it was important to know if I was "choujyo" which means first born daughter....I am so we circled that (still not sure how that is important). Then we had a piece of paper put in front of us that was about the "head of the household". See he moved in with me so I was the head of the household but once married it is assumed that the man would be the head....well.....we looked at each other and said we'd keep it just as it is .....I mean does it matter? But because we didn't change the title "head of the household" to him, we had to wait extra time while they changed his health insurance card so that my name would appear on his card since I'm the head of the house. I am pretty sure his mother wasn't too impressed that we didn't change it but hey....that's what we wanted!

So...we are now officially married! I called my mom after and she cried! (Hi mom!!) Hope she is ok now. So all day today I've been joking with my honey that I'm the boss since I'm head of the household and he keeps telling me that my butt is his because it is registered!

The other news is that I have opened my new handmade etsy shop called SouZouCreations. I'm a little nervous to do this because it is totally different from selling supplies. I mean if someone doesn't like a sticker sheet I don't take it personally because, after all I didn't make it. But if feels much much more personal (obviously) with this store. SouZou means both "creation" and "imagination" in Japanese and the Kanji (Chinese character) on my banner means SouZou. I have always loved making things so I now have a place I can sell them!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

As you can see from the pictures....it is snowing! It is "big" snow for this part of Japan. Last night my honey tried to get order pizza delivery but they said no. The problem here is that they don't have snow removal trucks or sand/salt trucks etc so it can be dangerous. When you walk down the street there is this strange "thump thump thump" noise as cars drive around with chains on their tires. I never saw chains on tires where I grew up in Canada....I'm not even sure you can use them. But here they are a must. And don't forget ....we have no central heat!!! The bathroom is freezing but it will be perfect for my hot hot bath tonight!!