Dreaming in Japanese

I woke up at 5am and realized I had been dreaming in Japanese. This had also happened a few times when I was in Japan. I would wake up and find a particular Japanese phrase repeating in my mind over and over again. This time, I remember the dream more vividly. I was in some sort of underground tunnel, and I wanted to get back to the surface, but I wasn’t sure if I needed to pay first before I left (like in the subway). I was trying to figure out how to ask someone this, and I came up with “Sumimasen, harawanakereba ikemasen ka?” (Excuse, do I need to pay?) This phrase kept repeating in my mind as I woke up from my dream. I’ve only been home for one day, and it seems my brain still thinks I’m in Japan.

I think the reason I had these dreams is because all day I would struggle mentally with the language – I would listen to people’s conversations on the subway and try to understand them, I’d read street signs and practice my katakana and kanji, and I’d talk with my homestay family in Japanese. I just read a Slate article that said that worrying and thinking about certain problems during the day increases your likelihood of dreaming about them. Furthermore, dreaming about these problems increases your chances of solving them. Supposedly, the scientist August Kekule dreamt of a snake eating its own tail before he hypothesized that the molecule benzene has a ring structure.

I wonder if dreaming in Japanese has also helped my language ability. In any case, it was somehow fun to wake up this morning and be thinking in Japanese, and it was a pleasant reminder of my trip.

Biggu Makku wo onegaishimasu (I’d like a Big Mac)

A few months ago, when I first found out where I my homestay family’s house was, I looked up the area on Google Maps. I saw that there was a McDonalds just a few blocks away from the house, and I thought, “If I don’t like Japanese food, atleast I won’t starve.” Therefore, you can imagine my excitement when I visited the actual Japanese McDonalds I saw on street view.

The Texas Burger is the newest offering at Japanese McDonalds, but I didn’t try it.

After I entered the store, I approached the counter and waited patiently, as a father was ordering for himself and his two young children. I didn’t completely understand what they were saying, but there seemed to be some confusion about one of the combos. The woman working at the counter spent about 5 minutes talking to the man, and the entire time I was thinking about how people would not stand for this delay in an American McDonalds!

After I finally placed my order, I received a large paper bag. The large bag had two smaller paper bags in it, one for my food and one for my drink. A paper bag for my drink? This was actually pretty cool! I was also surprised at the size of my cup. Although it may not look like it from the picture, this “regular” sized soda was much closer to a small at our McDonalds.

The main event! I ordered what I think is the equivalent of the quarter pounder with cheese, and it tasted basically the same as its American counterpart with a few small exceptions. The bun was considerably drier and overall not as good as the American hamburger bun. This came as a surprise, as the bread in Japan has typically been better than American bread. Burger = B

The fries were considerably different. The Japanese ones were cut more thickly, and the potatos were more oily than usual. Overall, they tasted more like American Wendy’s fries than the McDonalds fries that everyone loves. Like Wendys fries, but worse. Fries = C+

Overall Grade = B- . I thought that typically foreign McDonalds tasted better than American McDonalds – I remember when I visited England, the McDonalds was considerably better. In Japan, you pay more but end up with lower quality food. Nevertheless, it was fun to eat a burger and fries again.