Baseball is the first sport shown on the sports section of the TV news, but it starts with coverage of the Japanese players in the US. Ishiro (Yankees) in particular seems very popular, and they show every pitch to him along with interviewing him every night (even if he makes no hits). Only after they get done showing the US players do they cover the league in Japan.
My meals here have been based around takusan gohan (lots of cooked rice). My breakfast is generally misoshiru (miso soup), bowl of gohan (cooked white rice), and usually an egg dish (such as a fried egg and piece of ham). Ocha (green tea) to drink. Photo of breakfast is above. I have lunch at school, and often go to the kisaten (coffee shop) next to school and get the se-to (set meal), which is some sort of meat dish, rice, miso soup, and a side dish or two. Photo of a kisaten lunch is below. Dinner with the family is rice, a meat dish or two, and side dishes. More ocha to drink. All very tasty, though I think I may get tired of the rice and miso soup thing pretty soon.
Ok, I mostly put the hot dogs in the subject because it flowed well, but I have actually been eating some. Haven't had any hoto dogu (similar to American style hot dogs) yet. But the sausages here are basically small hotdogs, and have shown up in various dishes. The other night, we had egg rolls which had these sausages and cheese inside of them. Will see these sausages also at breakfast on some days as a side dish.
I am not cooking my breakfasts or dinners. Part of the homestay arrangement is that my hot family provides breakfast and dinner each day. Okasan (mother) has made very tasty meals and provides a reasonable variety of main dishes, ranging through various Japanese and Chinese cuisines.
A bit of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) update. If you've been watching the news, you know that many parts of East Asia, especially China, Hong Kong, and Singapore, have been effected by the virus. Japan is not located anywhere near these places, and so far Japan has no confirmed cases of SARS. The health ministry of Japan is taking measures to prevent any spread to Japan and is using high-tech equipment to deal with the problem. It has already equipped Narita airport in Tokyo with a special camera that measures body temperatures of people entering Japan and passengers arriving at other airports are monitored closely for any signs of the illness.
Part of the reason why Japan hasn't been hit like other areas in Asia is their cultural obsession with not wanting to impact the group's harmony. It shows up in this case in how they use the face masks you see on the street. In other areas of Asia, you now see them on people who don't want to catch SARS. In Japan, they have been using these masks for many years, but those wearing them are folks who have a cold or other illness and are wearing them to prevent other people from catching their illness.
The school here has seen an impact of SARS, and I am benefiting from it. It seems that many students have cancelled plans to come here out of fear of SARS. This is mostly the short term students (which is the program I am in), so I have smaller class sizes than I had expected. I am in the largest class (7 students) of all of the short term classes, but that is only because there happens to be that many students of the same level as I. 3 of the students in my class leave this week, so I likely will have a smaller class next week.