This Is What Rural Japan Looks Like

Spring Quinoa Salad 
1 cup Quinoa cooked in 2 cups of water
bunch of asparagus, blanched in hot water for 10 seconds
punnet of green peas, blanched ” ” ” ” ” ”
punnet of snap peas, blanched  ” ” ” ” ” ”
1/2 cup cooked and shelled edamame beans
some red grapes, sliced
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup pistachios
bunch fresh parsley, torn small
bunch fresh mint torn small

Dressing:
juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper

Combine all salad ingredients together and gently mix.

Combine all dressing ingredients together in a small jar and shake shake shake then mix through salad.

Refrigerate.

Spring Has Come!

Hi lovely followers! Just posting to let y’all know that spring has come to Japan! It was 19 degrees this weekend! 19! After being in the negatives, with snow only a few days ago. And personally, I am feeling much better, much less blue. Which I think is due to a combination of the spiritual powers of the fast, and the beauty of these blossoms! Oh the blossoms! Only three more weeks and they will be even more beautiful and I will be sight-seeing them with my parents. Can’t stop day-dreaming over here!

“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”…
“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest.”
― Ernest Hemingway

“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. (Sonnet XCVIII)”
― William Shakespeare

“That is one good thing about this world…there are always sure to be more springs.”
― L.M. Montgomery

“Too much sun after a Syracuse winter does strange things to your head, makes you feel strong, even if you aren’t.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson

“Spring is a powerful spell. The blue. The clouds high up and puffy. The air warmer than it’s been for weeks.”
― Jenny Downham

“The first real day of spring is like the first time a boy holds your hand. A flood of skin-tingling warmth consumes you, and everything shines with a fresh, colorful glow, making you forget that anything as cold and harsh as winter ever existed.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich

“In the winter you may want the summer; in the summer, you may want the autumn; in the autumn, you may want the winter; but only in the spring you dream and want no other season but the spring!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“I want to do with you what spring does with cherry trees.”
― Pablo Neruda