These are a few of my favorite things...

I absolutely adore musicals. (My life is kind of like one since I sing and dance a lot, haha.)

My favorite musical is The Sound of Music. I now have a cassette of the soundtrack (thanks, Mom) that I enjoy listening to in my car as I "climb every mountain," and I have the movie on DVD to watch (thanks, Grandma).

A few days ago I found out that my friend Lauren is going to Beef & Boards to see The Sound of Music live! And "I have confidence" that she's going to think it's "something good." :)

Because I've had The Sound of Music on my mind, I think it's only appropriate that I share a few of "My Favorite Things" in Kuji. In case you are unfamiliar with the song (heaven forbid!) or need a reminder of the tune, click here. And now, without further ado, I present a verse of my version of the song:

Children on a stage and brown boots on my feet.

Dancing and tofu and crepes that are so sweet.

Making new friends and the joy that it brings.

These are a few of my favorite things!

Let me do a little explaining...

Children on a stage -- Today I went to Amber Hall and watched elementary school students perform some songs they've learned. Some of the girls wore pigtails and some of the boys wore red bow ties. :) As usual, they were SO adorable! I could write a whole post on cute kids. (Oh wait. I already have.)

Brown boots on my feet -- I think it's so funny that of all places, I finally found a pair of cute, affordable cowgirl boots in Kuji, Japan. Yeehaw! They were 50 percent off and I couldn't pass up the bargain. (So Dad, I'm ready for a dude ranch adventure when you are!)

Dancing -- I'm currently addicted to watching clips of the show Dancing with the Stars on YouTube. Seriously. I'm also continuing to enjoy my Japanese dance practices every Tuesday night. PLUS, a few ot the other ALT's and I will be dancing to songs from Grease for a charity event next weekend, so we've been making up routines and practicing the hand jive. So yeah, there's a lot of dancing going on these days, and I love it!

Internet photo of "Dancing with the Stars." Helio Castroneves is still my favorite to watch!

Tofu -- Well, it hasn't quite reached the status of being a favorite food, but I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with it. I appreciate the tofu tips and recipes that you've shared with me. I enjoyed eggs with tofu (thanks, Grandma) last night for dinner, and tonight's dinner is vegetable stew with tofu. (thanks, Wendy)


Crepes that are so sweet -- There is a crepe shop down the street (YES!) from my apartment where the sweetest lady makes the sweetest crepes! So far, I've had a banana/chocolate/custard crepe and a banana/caramel/cream crepe. (pictured below) These are just two of probably 25 combinations that she offers, and my goal is to try them all before I leave Kuji. (I have to balance out all that tofu I'm eating, HA).


Making new friends and the joy that it brings -- Always a favorite thing! As I suspected it would be, this is one of my favorite aspects of living in Kuji. I enjoy trying new things (crepe flavors!) with new friends (like Ayaka, who loves crepes, too).

Of course I have many other favorite things, but this is all for now. Thanks for reading, and "so long, farewell."