I've Never Been to a Japanese Steakhouse

I love food and I have been to many different types of restaurants, but I have never been to a Japanese steakhouse. I've wanted to try it since high school. Several of my friends attended one before going to prom. But seeing as how they drove an hour and a half to get there, it was not on the top of my to do list.



There is one in the town I currently live in, but I never gave it a try. The high school students I teach said it was really great, but that is also what they say about the Olive Garden. While I do agree you can't go wrong with the Olive Garden, it's not also not haute cuisine. My students also told me its expensive (which they also say about Olive Garden) and if I am going to spend a good deal of money I want it to be worthwhile. So again, not on the top of my to do list.



Another thing that made me a bit leery is the one in town is in a strip mall. Now I have been to some pretty good restaurants strip malls (Mama Ricotta's in Charlotte, Mellow Mushroom in Columbus, and this great seafood place in FL) but this is a strip mall in, well, how do I put this politely, the ghetto. There is a Subway, and a cosmetology supply place next door.



This Saturday our friends Mark and Anna were going to go out to dinner without their 2 girls for the first time in quite a while. They suggested the local Japanese steakhouse Shogun, because it is somewhere they definitely wouldn't take the girls. Mike and I said, "Great, we've never been." We got dressed up for a night out of just us grown ups.



I won't go into a lot of detail, but my apprehensions were warranted. The service was not great. The food was so so. There were definitely kids at the restaurant so we shouldn't have worried about that aspect. And we sat at the station with the least entertaining of the chefs at the place. He did his thing and that was that. It looked very much like what I have seen in movies. I didn't have an awful time, but certainly not a great time. Thank goodness Mark and Anna brought us a coupon to use!




Will I go back to Shogun? No way. I got sick when we got home. Will I try another Japanese steakhouse? Maybe. Will I keep trying different things? Absolutely.

I've Never Read a Graphic Novel

One of the extra things I do at school is to help out with our student book club. I don't really do much. Our media specialist Christina does all the hard work like getting the books for the kids, setting up the dates, and getting the word out. I mostly bring snacks.

But Christina lets me help decide what books to read. One of her latest suggestions was a graphic novel, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. For those of you who don't know, a graphic novel is a book that contains a story that is accompanied by some form of art. The term encompasses a broad range of works that can be fiction or non fiction. Think grown up comic book!

So this was a chance for me to try something I had never done before. At first I thought it would be a bit difficult. I never liked comics growing up so I thought I would not enjoy this read. But once I got into it I really liked the author's style. I thought the artwork might be distracting, but I found her story and drawings to go very well together to form a complete story.

The author tells her story about growing up in Iran after the Shah has been overthrown and replaced by religious leaders. Her family participates in protests against the new regime and she recounts the fear and uncertainty she felt as a child. As a history nerd I really enjoyed the topic. As an American who doesn't have a whole lot of knowledge on the subject I did find parts of it a bit confusing, and I found myself wondering as I read it how it was received in her country.

At our book club the girls gave it good reviews. For many of them this was their first graphic novel as well. They crack me up because they always love to read the books, but when it comes to discussing them they clam up. Little by little they are opening up, but it's pretty funny to watch them awkwardly not make eye contact when you ask them a question about the book.

I really enjoyed trying something new with one of my favorite hobbies. I got the second book at the public library as well as Maus by Art Speigleman. I am very excited to give them a try and I reccomend that if you haven't tried a graphic novel yourself that you give it a chance.

I've Never Been To Crowder's Mountain

I recently made my first trip to Crowder's Mountain State Park. I have lived in the area for over 6 years and have never made my way to the park. Locals often go to the park to hike on its many trails or fish in the lake. The area also has cliffs to do rock climbing... which I will not be trying any time soon! But it is definately a local thing. When I tell my students that I have never been, they always say I need to go.

A Sunday afternoon stroll seemed like the perfect way to go. Myself, Mike and our friends Mark and Anna with their two little girls Madeline and Audrey piled in our new 7 passenger Kia Sorento and hit the road (for only 10 minutes). Like I said, no strenuous hikes for me, so we took a leisurely less than a mile walk around the lake. Madeline was really cute pointing out ducks and geese along the way. We also told her that the rock she climbed on was Crowder's Mountain. I don't think she believed us!

All in all it was a fun afternoon and I got to say that I've completed something else I've never done before. The park is quite nice and it's great to have a piece of nature so close to home. It's not too ground breaking, but I am now one step closer to being a "local."