Have you ever seen radish paste? It took a long time for us to figure out what it was, but my friend described eating it "like drinking white bread."
Most meals in Japan reflect what I eat in the dining halls, but usually have even more dishes. All of the food outside of the main entre has its own little dish or bowl, and is sometimes meant to be added to the other dishes. A soft-boiled egg is often added to white rice, and slivers of spices or vegetables can be added to yogurt. Whenever I am eating outside of campus, I usually guess at what to put where and don't know a third of what's on my plate. There is a feeling of adventure that goes into eating Japanese food when it isn't just the basic meal with a main entre, rice, miso soup, side dish, and dessert. I ate at an izakaya (japanese pub) and most of what was on my tray I could not identify, but it was very good.
Japanese food is certainly not limited to meals, and some of my favorite foods are snacks. Conbini (convenience stores) in Japan sell a wide range of quick-to-buy foods like onigiri (rice balls) and sandwiches. Snacks commonly found outside of conbini are gyouza (pork dumplings) and takoyaki (octopus balls).
Overall, I am really enjoying the food in Japan, but it is not all sunshine and rainbows. The portion sizes are often much smaller than in the US, and meals are generally much lower in protein and higher in carbohydrates. I’ve gotten used to eating rice every meal very quickly. Often dinner on the meal plan consists of a plate covered two-thirds of the way with cabbage and a small chicken breast.
