I've been in Japan for six days now, and the only real panic I've experienced is grocery shopping and stupidly realizing everything is written in Japanese. I wanted to buy a tube of toothpaste but couldn't be sure if what I was purchasing wasn't shaving gel or soap (it was toothpaste, thankfully, since I don't know the number for poison control). I bought what I thought were mini hamburger buns (typical American mistake) but turned out to be an pan, a delicious doughy bread, traditionally filled with azuki (sweet red beans), but in this case custard. One day in our kitchen, when I was reaching for what I thought were pink sugar packets, I peered more closely at the box and realized there was a cartoon depiction of a cockroach happily stuck in goo and that it was cockroach bait I nearly put into my tea (and anyway, the Japanese don't put sweetner in their tea). I still can't find soy milk and have spent the last four days at the supermarket standing in front of a huge display of milk cartons, pitifully trying to discern which ones might be soy. They all have pictures of cows on them, so I'm guessing none.
