I Eat Everyday

     So many things happened in a week.       We are waiting for a business visa for my dad because he established a company in Japan. We have been waiting for a year. Yet, we still have to file for taxes and even pay local city taxes.       I know it is weird to pay tax on a company that cannot operate because the person who established the company hasn't gotten his visa, yet. We cannot open even a company bank account because Japanese banks ask for the owner's residence card. There is no residence card if you don't have a business visa.       In Japan, if you are a business owner, you must file for taxes 3 times. First, it is the national tax. You or an accountant prepare the financial statements and you go to the national tax office for tax filing. You may or may not pay taxes because it will depend on whether you had a good year or a bad one. Second, it is the city tax. It is the tax you pay where you have yo...

     I have been teaching English where I worked part-time as a student. I accepted a position at another company where I worked (part-time, of course) during the pandemic before moving to my current employer (non-profit organization).       For a couple of years in the beginning, I learned a lot. It is a set of skills for navigating tantrums, conflicts with a toy, or whatever the situation may be. The skill set you have relied on might not work on the next kid. You have to update and refine the skills constantly.       Don't get me wrong, it is rewarding to work with kids, and I am humbled (thankful for their trust) by the fact that the parents are leaving their kids in my care (there are other teachers, of course). However, after a while, once you have gotten the basics of child care and development, everything you are (I am) doing becomes routine. That's where I struggle.       Last week, I had a meeting with ...

       It has been a busy week. My parents went home after a sudden trip to Japan. A friend and I helped a co-worker move (which they forgot to get me lunch when I said get me something on the way back). It had been a long tiring week. This week is going to be a busy one as well. However, my friend from Australia and I are gonna catch up when she visits.       It had been a few weeks since I last checked my weight and BGL. However, everything that I am eating is sugar-free. From next week, I am cutting out flour.       Finally, my foot feels like my foot. My calf muscle hurt so much this week. My thinking is that my leg is starting to relearn how much I move. Also, the shittiest part of recovering from a foot injury is that your toenail will bother you so much which it hurt so much this week.       On the positive side, I swam 4 times a week and I didn't snack much. Yesterday, I had a big bowl of salad for d...

     For as long as I can remember, Mongolia celebrated March 8th. In my teenage years, I found out that it was the International Women's Day. The day that women fought for their rights, today my rights.       On a personal level, I don't care much for celebrations. Basically, I treat them as any normal day.       In Mongolia, celebrations are on different levels. That celebration always means excessive drinking. If the celebrations are about women, that means women expecting, more like demanding, some kind of gifts from their significant others. I find that whole thing bizarre.       Yesterday, my dad was reading the news and pointed out that in Mongolia more than 700 women spent the night in a place we call, eruuljuuleh tub or sobering up centers (roughly translating into English). Based on that, I am amazed at how low Mongolian people get.       It is not just this day. The majority of cele...

     Getting home on Sunday evening from our Lunar New Year celebration, I started to feel sick. The funny thing is that I know what I ate that made me ill. It was the good old lamb meat.       Living in Japan, I mostly eat beef, pork, and chicken. Sometimes, I cook internal organs such as the liver or heart.       For the celebration, my cousin and his girlfriend cooked some lamb meat. I had a few pieces along with the famous buuz. Halfway through the dinner, my stomach started to bloat, and it began to feel very uncomfortable. Right then, I knew I was going to be sick.       I got home fine and started to continue working on the small gifts that I was making for my students, who were graduating in a couple of weeks. Slowly, my stomach started to act up. My visits to the toilet increased and I felt sick every time I sat in front of the toilet ready to vomit. After a couple of hours, it happened, everything that ...

     Like many Asian countries, Mongolians celebrate the Lunar New Year or we call it Tsagaan Sar.      We put an elaborate centerpiece, aka tavag, which consists of long-shaped fried dough with engraving. The number of layers depends on the household head or the elder. For example: If the head of the household is in their 30s, the layer would be three. If the person is in their 40s, the number of layers would be five. If the person is elderly, then the number would be nine. The centerpiece layer number cannot end in an even number. That is also reflected in the gifts that the guests receive, hence the guests would receive usually 3 pieces of things. On top, we put candies, aaruul (my favorite snack made from milk), and anything (people usually put white edible things).       Another thing we put on the table is an almost whole sheep, obviously cooking either steam or smoking. The "almost whole sheep" means that the front portion of the ...