i was dragged to a kangen water gathering and ended up missing shamisen class. my mom said she had to go to the party and we'd only stay there for a little bit; i'd go to shamisen 1 hour late but hey, it's a 3 hour class. i should've known better than to carpool together--my mom never stays at parties for a little bit. i ended up missing the entire shamisen class. we must've been at that party for 4 hours. the reason they had gathered was to discuss the recent trip to japan. it was weird to be in a room full of women twice my age. (that is a synopsis of the majority that attended.) since they're all into kangen water, they think they are so health conscious. not to say that i know much but i'm also so damn tired of people who think nothing of eating fish. i think they understood the no meat, no eggs, no milk part of being vegan but japanese think that being vegetarian is to stop eating animals that walk the earth, not animals that swim. and of course, that everything associated with food choices is because someone's on a diet (temporary means to reduce mass), not that it's a way of life (permanent eating habits). whenever my food habits come up with japanese, i feel like they are seriously looking down on me like i'm crazy because i should at least eat fish. no matter what the crowd, someone in the room is always gonna ask you about protein but at least japanese don't do the annoying thing americans do, which is to hold up plates of food and say, "doesn't that make you hungry?" and shit like that. you know, i don't even see it as food anymore. it's like holding up a plate of rubber tires.

someone asked me if i stopped eating meat as a diet and then i think if it was for the animals. fuck the animals! no, i didn't say that. i said for my health, for the earth's health--animals are the last reason why. i said, you know, i just want to live longer than my father did. he died when he was 33 and i'm almost 30. i lost her at that point because she thought my japanese was poor and i must've said the wrong age. i could see it in her eyes. so i said, yes, i'm 29 and will be 30 this year. turns out, she didn't believe my dad died when he was 33. she had to turn to my mother and verify it with her. this really knocked the woman over. she then had to go on about how wonderful my mother was for raising me on her own and pointed it out to others. hey, it wasn't just me, she had 2 kids, a little more applause please! no, i didn't say that. actually, my mom didn't want praise, being that she carries that typical japanese trait of modesty, so this conversation ended quickly.

there was 1 lady in particular who pissed me off but i shouldn't be mad about it. a group was huddled near me and i started to overhear them talking about vitamins. one lady was talking about the supplements that she takes are so wonderful and giving the purchasing information to another lady. i just had to butt in because i don't believe in taking pills at all. japanese who live in japan think taking vitamins is crazy so why don't these women feel the same way? i simply said that vitamins are ok but it's really best to get all your nutrients from your food if possible. that japanese are lucky because of our longevity and already know a lot about food. but if you're really interested in food choices and how it affects your body, that if you like to read books, then i recommend reading some on macrobiotics. that it's getting popular in america and the teachers are japanese so i read books in english but i'm sure there's many in japanese. that i learned a lot from such books and it's really interesting. plus, my cousin's wife has been macrobiotic for a few years and her eldest son never gets sick. also, that i can't speak too well about it in japanese but there are 2 basic types of vitamins, water-soluble and oil-soluble. it's important to eat foods rich in water-soluble vitamins everyday but you don't need to eat foods rich in oil-soluble vitamins everyday. the lady then turned to her crowd and said, "half of what she said is correct" in a kind of belittling tone like 'half of what that child said is crazy talk.' what do you expect from someone that owns several sandwich shops? she probably makes commission off those vitamins too.