Ugly Betty / アグリーベティー もう一つの人気ドラマ

One of my favorite TV dramas is "Ugly Betty" which is broadcast at 8 o'clock on Thursday on ABC.
In the first episode, the main character comes on with a Mexican poncho on which is printed GUADALAJARA. I love this scene! The short scene from Spanish TV drama (Telenovela) which frequently appears in the stories is very funny! Now the first season's re-run started last week and its DVD went on sale on Aug 21st with the second season starting from Sep 27th! In Japan, the first season will be on NHK BS2 from Oct. 1st. Don't miss it!!! !No se la pierda!



The first season earned a "Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series" and "Best performance By an Actress in a Television Series". The main character, Betty, had been dreaming of getting a job in the publishing world, but could not get it because of her looks. However, the owner of the publisher of the first class fashion magazine,"Mode," hired Betty as an assistant to his son Daniel, who is a playboy and the chief editor. In the world that gives importance only to appearances, Betty helped Daniel with her smartness and sincerity, and fought against the people who wanted to take over the company's management.

In fact this TV series is based on the popular Colombian telenovela "Yo Soy Betty La Fea". ( In Japan, it was on cable TV.) The producer is also from telenovela. Betty is second generation Mexican/American. Soon after she knows that her father is an illegal immigrant and serious problems occur. The theme is people caught in a uniform sense of beauty, superficial relationships and material wealth and prejudice and sexism based on race and class etc... This is the first time ever for the Mexican immigrant to be the main character on American TV series.

Yes, This really is a comedy. We can enjoy these stories!

Heroes / 日本人が出ています

I heard that HEROES is the most popular TV series now and I checked it out yesterday. It is broadcast at 9 o'clock on Monday on NBC. Even if I don't understand English very well I can enjoy it, because there are many scenes with Hiro Nakamura , the Japanese actor Masi Oka, who talk in Japanese.
Today the DVD of season 1 has been on sale here. This seems to be starting in Japan in October and Masi Oka visited Japan yesterday. I think a lot of Japanese are waiting for the start.

Whole Foods Market / オーガニックスーパー

I went to a Whole Foods Market in Ridewood , NJ. I thought this market was only in Manhattan, but it's not so. I found some in NJ and got happy to know it. Whole Foods Market was founded in 1980 as one small store in Austin, Texas. It is now the world's leading retailer of natural and organic foods, with 199 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. The atmosphere of the market is just like Kinokuniya, full of posh people. Because of Ridgewood's good character, the number of posh people goes up. We can find fresh and beautiful displayed vegetables, bakery, hams, cheese and prepared foods which are good with wine and beer. Also they have supplements as a line of Whole Body. Among them, their private brand, "365 organic items everyday value" is my favorite. Even with being an organic product, the price is very reasonable.

On the left is a Whole Foods brand organic chocolate soy milk 946ml(@USD1.49) and rice drink.They have a lot of line ups for soy milk and rice drinks. I've never tried rice milk and bought it, but it is sold in Japan. On the right is a "365 everyday value" brand cranberry&peach juice measuring 1.89L(@USD2.99).


I wanted a Whole Food's green Eco bag, but it was out of stock. So I got this cooler back.
←Cute!

Krause's / いちごチョコ

Krause's is a shop for home made chocolates. There are many kinds of chocolate. The most famous one is a chocolate-covered fresh strawberry. This was so fresh and juicy! The sourness of the strawberry goes with the milk chocolate. I think this was the first sweet to wet my appetite in the U.S.

Target / 何でも売ってます

I go to Target at least 2 times a week. Target is a discount store of the second level in the United States following Wal-Mart. In New Jersey I go to Target more than Wal-Mart. We can find almost all daily goods, kitchenware, clothes, toys, cosmetics etc. except groceries at a good price.
I checked Billy's Boot Camp dvd today. It was USD29.99 including Billy Band!!! I bought it in Japan for JPY9700. Watching TV shopping, Billy's TAE BO is now on sale! The exercise members of the DVD are almost the same as Billy's Boot Camp. They do exercises using TAE BO AMPED instead of Billy Band. The price is USD39.95 against the original price of USD150.00. Will the next craze be TAE BO???

ESL Registration

Today, I went to Johnson Public Library in Hackensack City to apply for ESL(English as a second language) class. In the United States, many public libraries offer ESL classes for immigrants. The courses seems to be 2 or 3 times in a year. Otherwise, this library said that it would not offer the class from September this year and it will be only from January of next year. The reason why they don't have class seems to depend on the library's financial standing. They introduced me to Bergen County Community Center that also offers an ESL class. This Center was very close to the library, so I went straight there. One black woman attended me very kindly. She said "there is an ESL class 2 times a week for a total of 10 weeks from October, there are day and night courses, the levels are 3, beginner, intermediate and advanced and also these are free." She said "there will be an application and level check at 1 o'clock tomorrow. Otherwise SSN or tax payment certificate holders have priority so there is a possibility not to be able to take the class." I don't have SSN yet and just applied for SSN on 14th and will be waiting for about 2 months. I informed her of my situation and visa status and she instructed me to bring my passport and a regular mail showing my address. I don't have any mail because I came here just last week. It is only the SSN application receipt that certifies my address so I will try to bring it tomorrow.

Enormous Shopping Mall 2/ 日本未上陸ブランド

I'm out of touch with fashion, but hearing some brands are popular in Japan but don't have shops yet in Japan, I checked out 3 brands in the picture here. After checking I found many people, irrespective of age or sex, who are wearing Hollistar.

Abercrombie & Fitch

RUEHL No.925

HOLLISTER Co.

Enormous Shopping Mall / 買物天国です

I found an enormous shopping mall, Garden State Plaza Mall, in Bergen county. I was surprised that they have almost all the brands which are in Manhattan. There are 369 stores in total, including dining. It is so comfortable to do shopping there as each shop has a large space and a good atmosphere. I thought that this is much better than Manhattan to do shopping. Furthermore, we don't have to pay any sales tax for clothes in New Jersey. The sales tax in New York for clothes is 8.25%(In case you buy less thanUSD110.00, the tax is 0%), so shopping in New Jersey is much more reasonable.

LOST / LOSTです

We can't go anywhere without a car in New Jersey as expatriate employees have to drive a car to go to the office. My husband's co-worker, Mr. H, was assigned to work here and this is his first visit to the United States. Furthermore he hadn't driven for years in Japan, what we call a paper driver. But he had the courage to start to drive himself from the second day here. This morning he telephoned my husband to tell him that he went back to his apartment and wanted to take the day off today. That's because he got lost on the way from the office to his apartment yesterday and he was driving around NJ and NY all night. Hearing his story, he went to Brooklyn. he didn't know where he was driving. When he was at a loss at a Seven-Eleven somewhere one kind American talked to him and led his car with his own car part of the way to his apartment!!! What a nice story, isn't it? He had another episode when he was lost and went to a gas station, where one old man bought him a road map and explained where he was. Mr. H was happy to meet kind Americans but got tired... Soon after he bought a car navigation system. This is a heartwarming story, but funny... Otherwise, I also have to drive here in the not too distant future, so there is no time to laugh at the others...

Japanese Super Market Mitsuwa / 日本食材の殿堂

I went straight to Mitsuwa. Mitsuwa is the biggest supermarket in NY and NJ. It was renovated and the external appearance of the building was better than 2 years ago. We can find most Japanese foods and daily necessaries there. Futhermore, there is a food court, Ramen Santoka and a Sanseido book store and many kinds of Japanese free papers are very useful. Inside the store it's very clean and the displays of groceries are as beautiful as a supermarket in Japan. But the prices are higher than Japan and other American supermarkets, so we buy things that we can only find here. Today, we bought Natto and Japanese Rice and Tamakimai that was delicious when we came here last time. The rice sold here is Japanese rice made in the US. It is delicious when you eat it as soon as you boil it, but later it becomes hard (BOSOBOSO). I think it is because it's not sticky rice.(←I don't know how to describe the character of Japanese rice)

Starting life / やっと生活が始まります

My husband's company made contact with the management company of our room and asked them to bring the spare key. Finally, life in the U.S. has started!
On both sides of the lightly-trafficked street, there are trees and a walkway that is good for jogging, and it is lined with apartments of almost the same scale. Our apartment is one of them. Our room is on the 18th floor. The view from the living space is good; we can see distant mountains and the roofs of houses between green trees. 2 years ago, we lived in Manhattan for several months, but it was impossible to see a distant view and greens from the apartment because of many buildings. I was surprised with the difference of the environment between New Jersey and Manhattan as it only takes 30 minuets by car.

Arrival Newark / 事件です〜

We arrived at Newark and received MISO without any problem. At the airport, 2 co-workers picked us up by car. There, we found a big problem, {we didn't have a key to our apartment!} the co-workers believed that we had already received the key from the former person in charge who had already gone back to Japan, but we hadn't. Of cause we had believed the key had been at New Jersey office. We couldn't reach the former person in charge nor find in office. We lent a car and stayed at Holiday In at the first day in the United States.

Departure Narita / 味噌持って行きたいんです

It was hard to escape from Japan with my husband leaving our newly-built detached house. We finally arrived at Narita. Only one thing we had to do was board an airplane. But! The security check didn't allow us to pass through smoothly. I knew that pet bottles were prohibited as carry-on baggage. Otherwise, I didn't know cosmetics and toothpaste etc. were regulated. All liquids over 100ml are prohibited as carry-on baggage. liquids less than 100ml are allowed if you put them in a plastic bag of less than 20cmx20cm. This rule has been in effect since March, 2007 for all international airlines.
So I put my face lotion and milky lotion etc. in my checked baggage in haste. Furthermore, I had MISO and NUKAMISO in my carry-on baggage. These also went into my checked baggage. I thought these were not liquids but they were. Is that obvious??? But these were the most important things for me. They were valuables... I've never found MISO better than the home made miso of my parent's house. I was worried about it until we arrived at Newark.