So, I went to IKEA with my girlfriend the other day — there’s one in Osaka, which is the closest. We had to take a train, then switch trains, then take a bus — all in all, it took us nearly 2 hours to get there.
I only really wanted to buy sill and maybe bread while there, but we both wanted to look at furniture, since IKEA is in Sweden too (considering it’s Swedish, that’s not surprising) and the furniture is the same regardless of the country you’re in.
I don’t go to IKEA very often, personally, but when I do go I like it a lot. I love the way they market their stuff, setting up little pretend-rooms throughout the store, and letting people sit down and check things out at their own pace. It definitely gives you a good idea just how well this and that would fit together, and testing beds is *always* fun. Bouncebounce.
The store was pretty damn big on the outside, but on the inside it was smaller than I expected. It was two floors big, and it took us just under an hour to go through the whole thing. We had sort of expected to be there for quite some time, but in the end, at 2.30 pm, we had seen everything we wanted to see, and I’d bought my food that I wanted.
Speaking of food, the “market” they have there is quite nice, but small. I found lots of Swedish food that I really wanted, among them Swedish bread (tears of joy… Japanese bread sucks…) , sill (fish in glas jars, sort of like marinated, I guess?), Swedish beer, glögg, smoked salmon, etc. And the prices were actually comparable to the Japanese stores, amazingly enough.
Anyway, since it was so early we decided to not eat dinner there, but instead decided that we should make a Swedish dinner at my girlfriend’s parents’ place to let them taste “Sweden” once and for all. So we bought more sill, more salmon, and meatballs, lingon jam, and Swedish beer. No glögg though.
It turned into sort of a christmas dinner thing, in the end. The salmon and potatoes are kind of one dish by their own, as are the meatballs and potatoes, so people sort of just picked and tried stuff from the table. Surprisingly everyone liked it a lot — even my girlfriend’s mother, who usually hates potatoes (I made mashed potatoes, which might have done the trick — the cream sauce might have done the trick too).
In any case, that was my IKEA day. It’s always great fun to cook dinner for lots of people, even though it’s not usual for guys to make food in this country. The girl’s dad always seems a little unsure how to take this all — his daughter’s boyfriend swings by and whips up food for one and all. Must not be a very common sight in Japanese households, but noone is discouraging in the slightest, so I’m gonna continue making weird dishes from my northern origin in the future. (Next up is this chicken + curry + rice thing that I love. I already have the recipe, but I’ve never actually prepared the dish myself. We’ll see how that goes…)
I love IKEA. Whenever I find myself missing Sweden, I head there (fortunately we have one just an hour drive away). And most of our house is furnished by IKEA.
Do you know what I miss? Lingonberry saft.
And I think the only meatballs I had in Sweden were made of moose meat. My host father was a moose hunter and so all the meat we ate at the house was moose.
I wonder if you read previous comments? I decided to comment on your latest post just to be safe; considering that no one likes to be neglected! (=
Shiho is actually just a nickname I use. It’s like one of those online code names everyone has so they don’t get stalked down by their classmates & such.
I actually am Japanese; I tend to keep that quiet unless someone asks, though. Last time I told this forum I was Japanese, I started getting topics dedicated to me & I was also peer pressured into joining a fan subbing group…It was an anime forum, no doubt. There’s nothing “special” about being Japanese, and I don’t want to sound snobbish, but yes, I hope you understand why I like to keep it quiet.
Uhmmm, yes, unfortunately, I don’t live in Japan. Maybe it’s a good thing lol? I am actually quite fluent in Japanese. My writing & reading is a bit weak, though =/. But yeah, after all, I am surrounded by the English language every day, so I can’t be blamed!
I love IKEA! I never get weird stares for testing out beds & couches and things. I slightly find that their furniture is a bit fragile? Maybe I’m too violent LOL.
I love their three dollar breakfasts <3.
Haha, yes, having a daughter’s boyfriend drop by and make food for everyone is not a common sight in Japan. Nonetheless, I am sure they appreciated it!
Annie~ you were lucky! I think the northern cooking is what makes Swedish food special. I live in the mid-south so we have literally no food culture … except Swedish pizza, which is indeed glorious. I’ve tasted northern-Sweden food a few times only and it tastes fucking awesome imo.
Shiho~ yep, I have comment notification enabled for all posts, so if someone replies to a really old post, I still notice it and see the comment in my email inbox.
*giggles at the forum story* That’s quaint. What silly people there are out there. Personally I love Japanese people, but you know, there’re lots of very objective reasons for that. For one, they tend to give me the opportunity to speak the language I love, which is quite the gift if you’re studying hard and trying to learn well. But I don’t think of Japanese as better or worse than any other — that’s just silly.
But there’s this growing group of young anime/manga lovers who seem to think quite highly of the Japanese. But hey, they’ll grow up too some day.
IKEA furniture used to SUCK back in the days. You’d buy something and get it home and things’d be missing, the furniture would break as soon as you sat on it, etc. They’ve gotten better, but they don’t have a very good reputation in Sweden, even to this day. Personally I’ve got some bad experiences, but they’re cheap and they do have some pretty kick ass stuff, so I tend to buy there when I need new furniture myself.
IKEA roxors….. enough said!
Go you making dinner and breaking out of the Japanese paradigm!
I wish I could have been there. When are you leaving Japan?
*laugh* I know you like IKEA, Gaby. ;P
From the looks of things I will be leaving in March 2010.