Busy day

Today was a good day. I had an interview regarding Japanese lessons. I never realized you had to be interviewed before starting lessons, but with this company you do. Don't really think they would tell me I failed and can't take lessons from them especially since Mike is taking lessons from them and well, that just wouldn't be nice. I apparently passed and am scheduled to start my lessons next week. Every Wednesday and Friday from 10-12, I will be learning Japanese. The lesson coordinator, who will not be my instructor, already told me that my teacher will be mainly speaking Japanese so that I can learn. I was like wait a minute, what if I don't understand and she clarified at first speaking English is ok, but will not happen all the time. I am kind of scared (not really). She did leave me some books, "First steps in Japanese" and "situational expressions for survival" I will be speaking Japanese in no time.
I also went to the Minato-ku City Hall to apply for my alien registration card. There was hardly anyone there, maybe b/c it was Friday afternoon at 4:30pm. Anyway, the process was simple and I can pick up my official card in 2 weeks. They gave me an important papaer and a time frame as to when I should return. Look for a goofy picture of me when I become official.

Now to the picture above. I figure while in Japan I should learn about sake because that is what they drink along with beer. Today I bought my first sake bottle, pictured above. I liked the green bottle and when you invert back and forth, the sake looks like potion, or what I think potion looks like!!! Not really sure if it tastes good or not, but I am going to find out. Since sake is served cold and warm and since I can't read the bottle to tell me which way I should have it, I will try it both ways. Wish me luck.
In my adventurous state, I will be cooking lotus root or "renkon (in Japanese)" tonight, pictured below. What is lotus root, you may be asking and is what I asked when Mike said he likes it. Lotus root is the rhizome of the lotus plant. Apparently it is full of fiber, vitamins, and nutrients. Think of it as similar to a potato, with starchy qualities. I like it because it has holes in it and looks cool. There are various ways to cook it and the most popular I have found through my google search is boiling it in hot vinegar water. I will not be doing that today. I will be sauting it in some oil olive with garlic because yeah. Apparently, the way you cook lotus root also changes its texture from crunchy to sticky to starchy. I'll let you know which one we have.
Now time for some sake and the start of the weekend. Sayonara