Ridge Turns Five!

Yesterday was Ridge’s fifth birthday. It’s hard to believe he is really five years old! He was so excited about turning five he could hardly sleep the night before. When he awoke the next morning, he stumbled from the bedroom, examined himself in front of the heater, and promptly announced, “Mommy, I’m not any bigger.” Holt followed Ridge into the warm living room and mumbled something with his pacifier in his mouth. Ridge responded by wrapping his arms around Holt and declared, “Look, I am bigger. Yesterday I was the same size as Holt and now I’m bigger than he is!” I didn’t have the heart to point out the obvious.

I was lucky enough to grow up with a mom who always made me totally awesome birthday cakes. Because of this, I think, I find myself really wanting to make interesting cakes for my boys. Last year I made Ridge a fire truck caked and he desperately wanted another one. I explained the difficulties surrounding frosting an entire cake in bright red icing: (1) Red icing tastes really, really yucky, (2) Last year I used a spray on color with no taste, and (3) Food coloring is difficult to come by here, much less spray on color. At first I tried to convince him that I could make him an ambulance cake (white icing – easy!), but he would have none of it. So, in the end, I agreed to a castle cake. Oh, who are we kidding; the castle cake was my idea and I talked him into it. He never would have thought of it on his own.

Front view of cake
Side angle view of cake

So, for Ridge’s birthday, he had a castle cake complete with decorations made from Japanese candies and a dragon Aaron formed out of clay. The clay that most kids here use is a kind of paper clay that is easy to use and dries very nicely. He also made the little flags on top of the castle. Thanks to Mom, I didn’t have to make the icing or cake from scratch. Thank goodness! For dinner, we had corn dogs, coleslaw, and mac and cheese sent to us from my friend Debbie. Mom sent me corn meal and a great recipe for corn dogs. The only adaptation I made was that instead of using a fryer, I cooked my corndogs in a wok with chopsticks. Those cooking chopsticks are really quite handy to have around!

Cooking corn dogs
The finished product

For the “party”, I told Ridge he could invite one friend. Of course, Ryuya was the chosen one. I screwed up my courage a few days ago, rehearsed the Japanese, and went next door with Ridge to invite his little friend to join us on the 27th.

Believe it or not, even popping into a Japanese home can be a cultural experience. This, I think, is due to the unique structure of a Japanese home. You see, everyone here has a genkan. This is the entryway where you leave your shoes and then, usually, you step up a step into the actual house. Some larger houses, like ours, have another entryway that you enter into. It’s awkward to have to put on your shoes to open the front door should someone come over. So, the usual custom is to let yourself into the genkan and announce yourself by bellowing, “konnichiwa!” This way, the occupants simply come to the edge of the genkan to see who has come visiting and no shoes need be dealt with unless you are invited in. Still, knowing this, it was difficult for me to just walk into the house and announce myself. Grandma Otosaka (as we call her) bounced down the stairs, saw me, and with a smile called for Ryuya’s mother, “Okasan!” This means, literally, “mother”. Her head poked around the corner and she, too, grinned at my shy son and me. I managed to spit out a little Japanese and some English. “Ridge no tanjobi. Nigatsu….27. Ryuya kimasu onegaishimasu. Gohan. Cake.” Not very good Japanese, but it worked. Literally, I said, “Ridge’s birthday. December….27. Ryuya come please. Meal. “ I think she already knew that his birthday was coming up. The pre-school newsletter had mentioned it (I had someone translate it for me).

So last night, around four, a very excited Ryuya loudly burst into the house, his mother bearing gifts for both Ridge and Holt. They were bags full of small toys; all prepackaged. It’s very common here to buy a gift bag that is already loaded with little gifts. Ridge and Holt did not even notice the presents, though, as the followed the little whirlwind that is our neighbor into the playroom, his coat flying off behind him. The boys began to play wildly and then our next guest arrived. I invited my teaching partner, Mr. Kurata, his wife, and their son. He had as yet been unable to attend any of my dinner parties, so I asked him if he wanted to hang out for an American birthday. We all munched on snacks while the kids ran crazy. Occasionally we had to pick up the Legos because Kurata’s son is only about 18 months old and kept stuffing his cheeks with the little plastic blocks. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food, though Ryuya wouldn’t eat. He told Kurata’s wife that his mother had told him not to eat because it was too close to dinnertime. This sure didn’t stop him when we had cake, though. After the meal, we lit candles, sang Happy Birthday, and watched all three boys help blow out the candles. Holt was excited about the cake, also, surprisingly enough. He has never agreed to eat cake before. I think it’s because this particular cake was one hundred percent chocolate. Lately, his Garis genes have been making themselves apparent as he demonstrates just how obsessed he is with chocolate. So, now, at his request, I will make him a cake instead of cookies for his birthday.

Ridge posing with his new sword and a play silk he is using as a cape
Holt being silly with pj's

Tonite we have the first of several parties to attend. This time of year is full of “end of the year” parties. Fortunately, the whole family has been invited to this one at the hotel tonight. On January 1, we will go to Mr. Kamaya’s house. Then, on January 6th, I will attend one for all the Yakuba staff. Finally, on January 8th, the whole family will again visit Mr. Kamaya’s house for a party to celebrate Coming of Age Day. More on that later.

Final Note: the photo at the top is of Ridge and Holt pretending that the play structure is a rescue vehicle.