As rare an occurrence as it is, occasionally snailmail parcels have gotten assembled and sent. From Japan to family-and-friends back home in Estonia (mainly), I mean. The trouble is, after the long time here, my previously ingrained level of understanding about an average non-here person's tastes, preferred food styles, extra ingredient availability at a location, usage methods of certain foodstuffs etc have gotten significantly distorted. Not to mention forgetting that most people neither understand what is written on the packages I might send over, nor are able to look up any necessary instructions due to the small hitch of just having no idea what to type into google. Which is to say that choosing what to get them while trying to balance the exotic-interesting vs edible-useful scales is a rather involved process. Typically.
Enter R, a self-proclaimed Japanaddict, who conveniently also happens to be an inspiring and experimentative cook. So a mission "send me a parcel of JP snacks, the official services that do this are insanely overpriced", basically means I can go to a random shop here, load up the basket with whatever catches my eye and not for a second have to worry about whether the things I choose, both the things I myself enjoy and those I don't care for (oh goddamn it, I'll never be free of these tons of quotes still obsessively circling in my head, sneaking into every second sentence, will I...), will be understood, appreciated or used up in one way or another.
The limitations or outright bans of the postal system as to ingredients (to certain destinations), breakability of some goods, expiry dates etcetc are still an issue, of course. Not to mention the actual admin involved in the process, ughhh.
Cheers,
Hedi
