Gorging and Purging

On of the many strengths of Japan in general, but Kanazawa in particular, is its delicious food. I cannot think of a single meal I've had here which disappointed me. Even when I have to eat a conbini bento, I find that I am quite satisfied afterwards. During the school week, PII students have to fend for themselves during lunch, and many stick with the fare at the nearest Family Mart. However, I have found it quite worthwhile to branch out every once and while (or everyday), and try the restaurants within a ten minute walk of the school building. There's a single counter place, with a solitary old cook on a small street opposite Rifare. He makes the best Katsudon(fried pork, egg, and rice) I've had here. The meal comes with soba (being hand made in the picture by yours truly), veggies, and miso soup, and it only costs 600 yen. Since the whole operation is run by one old man, it takes him about 3o minutes to make it, but the food is well worth the wait. There are a multitude of restaurants in the nearby Forus Depaato, as well as in the Porte Building's basement, and they are all good. Even El Torito, the only Mexican restaurant I have seen in Japan.
Lunch is great, but the best food I have had in Japan has been shared with my host family. Anything my host mom, Eriko, cooks is delicious, but at dinner time, I'm a particularly big fan of her sukiyaki. For breakfast, she makes me salads, crepes, banana stuffed hot cakes, and my favorite food before coming to Japan, cold cereal. Although it is usually only my host mom and two younger siblings at dinner, it is always an excellent opportunity to practice both my Japanese, and my Sumo wrestler impression. According to my younger brother, Kouji, instead of saying gochisosama deshita after a meal, Sumos say gotsusan. Whenever my extremely busy host dad, Ken, and elder younger brother, Yutah, find time to make it back for dinner, we all go out to eat. In the picture, all of us, including Rio, my younger sister, are awaiting a meal featuring the best tuna sashimi I have ever had. Which means it is probably the best food I've ever had. I'm a glutton here in Japan. I stuff myself at every meal, and within a half-hour I'm salivating at the thought of the next one.
Of course, with all of this eating, I have to do something to keep my figure. Luckily, in the Porte building (the same place to get cheap ramen for lunch), there is a perfectly good gym. Sports Central takes up the fourth and fifth floors. With the exception of cable cross, it has all of the exercise machines I'd expect, as well as a free weights, a pool, saunas, massage chairs, a driving range, and squash courts. I've been able to go four days a week pretty consistently. The staff is friendly, although one personal trainer seems to have a weakness for gaijin, both male and female. Some may pause at the price, 16000 yen for two months. But with all of the food I've been eating, what was once a luxury is now a necessary expense.