omiyage Shae

Omiyage:

Gift given: Parasol

            I chose the fancy parasol/umbrella because it is one distinct images that come to mind when I think of Japan after this trip. I was fascinated with the beautiful umbrellas and parasols I saw everywhere and how pretty much everyone seemed to have one. And there were definitely points on the trip when I didn’t have one and really regretted it. I even started to notice how in most of the stores in Japan there were places to store your umbrella while shopping and or bags so it wouldn’t track water in.

            In the US parasols are seen far less frequently in my experience and it really does remind me of Japan. I wanted to get an especially cute or fancy one because I thought it would really represent the trip and be hard if not impossible to find something like it in the US at the same price.

            I also chose this gift due to the fact that it is potentially useful, though maybe less as a parasol and more as an umbrella. To find my gift I went back to Harujuku, which is a well-known area even outside of Japan. I actually found it in Bodyline, which is a store that sells cosplay and Lolita clothing. This seemed perfect to me because it combines mainstream ideas about Japan along with my personal experience in Japan on this trip.

            I hope that Angela can use this if for nothing else as a memory of our trip to Japan.

Gift Received: Bag of snacks

            This made a lot of sense to me because it reminded me of a Japanese convenience store which I really miss now that I’m back in the US. It had 3 bottles of Sake and an assortment of Japanese sweets. I have never really been one for sake, but from our readings, general knowledge, and just my experience it’s a pretty big Japanese thing. The snacks most of which I actually didn’t recognize are another big thing that I associate with Japanese culture. There are so many different and potentially strange snacks there. Things like melon soda and their wide variety of “soda” flavored things.

            Aside from the three bottles of Sake there were two kinds of chocolate and fruit cookies: strawberry and orange. Almonds covered in chocolate and mushrooms with peanut butter caps. There was definitely an interesting assortment and variety, which was nice. And I had never seen that flavor of the mushrooms before, it was actually kinda funny because we couldn’t figure out what they were so we asked Stanley and he couldn’t either. We decided it was peanut butter but apparently its creamy Kinako. Which is a Japanese sweet soy powder that when combined with chocolate tastes like peanut butter. Strange...

            I think this was a good omiyage because it really did remind me of the trip and the time we spent in Japan. I got to try sake again...still don’t care for it. And found some new snacks that I won’t be able to find in the US easily.