Happy Birthday Ridge

Here's a couple of shots from Ridge's birthday (number 6!)

Merry Christmas!

Not much text today. Ridge’s birthday is tomorrow and I’m keeping myself pretty busy. We’ve got a group of his friends coming to play and eat cake, so there’s lots to do.

Here’s a group of photos for everyone. The main one is Ridge and Holt curled up on the couch watching an episode of The Muppet Show.

This is Kentucky Fried Chicken (known here as “Kentucky”) as they prepare Christmas Eve dinner baskets. Roast chicken is customary dinner fare here for the night before Christmas. They shut down the dinning room in this little Kentucky so they have more room to prep the orders.
Fried Chicken

Speaking of chicken, here is the one we bought for our Christmas dinner. They only sell whole chickens for a few days out of the entire year. Note that this one was a whopping 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds). It cost us 1050 yen, which is just under $10. All the chickens were the same size. They had a more expensive chicken to choose from; it was smoked and cost a meager 5,000+ yen (about $45).
Cornish game hen or chicken? You decide.


A student from one of my adult English classes gave us a goodie bag. Inside, among other things, was this beautiful bottle of wine, bottled not too far from Nishiokoppe.
Beautiful wine

She also made some origami Christmas ornaments and miniature God’s Eyes (I taught her English class how to make them). Aren’t they just beautiful? She’s a wonderful, thoughtful lady.
Handmade ornaments

This is Holt on Christmas day, peeking out of the cardboard play house which Santa brought. Ridge had requested a remote controlled, flying eagle, but he was very happy with his cardboard box.
Hello! Like my box?


Happy Holidays to everyone, and check back in a few days for more photos!

Studio Photos

Dad scanned these in so I could post them for everyone to see. These are the pictures I had professionally done of the boys back in early November.

The two of them
Holt
Ridge

Holiday Season

I’ve been incredibly busy the past many days, thanks to the holiday season. I’ve decorated cookies with junior high students and elementary students (if you do the math, you realize that means I’ve baked about one hundred cookies – sixty of which were gingerbread men – thank you Aunt Donna!!). I’ve taught a pecan pie baking class, made play doh to pass out at the pre-school tomorrow, which is Christmas day, hosted a potluck party for my advanced English class, made two piñatas, and organized a Christmas party for the elementary students. On top of that, our family must prepare for Solstice, Christmas, New Year’s, and two birthdays!

The reason I’m giving you a run down on what I’ve been up to is to explain why I probably won’t be writing much for a few days. I’ve got some time off and we plan on relaxing and getting caught up on some things around the house. I’ll try and post some photos every couple of days, and I promise to fill you in more completely on our holiday season when it’s not Christmas Eve.

Here’s a few photos for you:

Holt wearing his new "knight" dress up outfit

Ridge shows off his

Middle school students and teachers cleaning on the last day. I'll explain more later. These girls are cleaning the floor with rags, a common practice.

A poor quality shot of one of our pinatas (Aaron helped me)

Photo of the Day

Here's Aaron as Santa, singing along with the guests who came to perform a special program. They are singing "Jingle Bells". I think Holt either doesn't know what to think about the whole thing, or he is really enjoying the music. It's hard to tell.

Photo of the Day

This is Ridge and Holt at the Komu yesterday. Aaron did his bit as Santa Claus yesterday afternoon. I'll write about that later.

Mochi Day

Okay, Mom – here are the pictures!

This mochi-making event occurs every year in December at the pre-school. Many of the mothers come to help, and several fathers come to swing large mallets at gobs of innocent and unsuspecting rice. Unfortunately, I had to teach several classes that morning, so Aaron went instead and beat up some rice in between taking pictures.

As you can see from the pictures, the mochi rice, still somewhat grainy but very sticky, is placed into large, hallowed-out tree trunks. Considering the pounding that this rice will receive, it’s no wonder that they use tree trunks.

Mochi rice
Mochi rice 2
Stirring/turning

The men then whack away at the rice using these traditional mochi mallets. According to Aaron, this particular fellow pounded the rice, “like it had been talking bad about his momma.” That’s a direct quote from my husband. The men smack the rice while the brave women sitting next to the stump turn and stir.

Watch out!

Periodically they check the mochi to see if it has the correct consistency. Exactly how does one decide if rice is stretchy and gooey “enough”? Coming from a culture (in America) where “light and fluffy” rice is highly prized, this stretchy-gooey thing is still hard to comprehend.

Checking
Still checking

After the adults have had some time with the mochi rice, the kids, eagerly waiting in the background, are given a turn. Fortunately, they are not given the larger mallets, but instead wield child-sized versions. Here are some lovely mochi-pounding shots. Last year, Ridge and Holt were too new and nervous, but this year, they happily pounded away.

Holt
Ridge
Ridge 2
Holt 2
Ryuuya - do you think he's having fun?

Each child was then set up with a little mochi-making station. Here you can see Ridge and Holt, each with a place mat with their names written on them. Both boys can recognize their own name written in katakana (one of the three forms of Japanese writing. It’s typically used when writing foreign words). Several balls of the mochi “dough” and azuki bean paste have been placed on each mat. The kids then roll up little balls of mochi with the “an” (bean paste) inside.

Mochi making station

Here is the lunch that was prepared for the students. The bowl of soup is shoyou-based (soy sauce) soup with small balls of mochi in the bottom of it. The small snoopy that you see floating in the bowl is actually made from fish paste. They mince up fish and then form it into long tubes in various shapes and designs. You buy it at the store in the tubes and then slice it thin to put in soup or as an accent for someone’s bento (box lunch).

The group
Lunch - Ridge ate all his soup!

Mochi Day: Preface

I have lots of time in my office today, so prepare yourselves for a Japanese food/culture lesson. Sorry Mom, no pictures in this one. I’ll do that one next.

Last Friday was “mochi pounding day” as Aaron and I affectionately call it. Before I can really describe this wonderful event held at the pre-school, allow me to indulge myself in some extended explanation. Being the lazy writer that I am, I will defer to my good friend, “Wikipedia,” the online encyclopedia extraordinaire.

First, some definitions (from Wikipedia, unless otherwise noted by brackets).

Mochi: is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape [Sounds yummy, doesn’t it?]. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki. While eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and commonly sold and eaten at that time.

Mochi is very sticky and somewhat tricky to eat. After each new year, it is reported in the Japanese media how many people die from choking on mochi. The victims are usually elderly. Because it is so sticky it is difficult to dislodge via the Heimlich maneuver.

Mochi Confectionery: Many types of traditional Japanese traditional sweets are made with mochi. For example, "daifuku" is a soft round mochi stuffed with sweet filling, for example a sweetened red bean paste. "Ichigo daifuku" is a version containing a whole strawberry inside. ["Ichigo" means strawberry. I happen to have a particular fondness for this kind of mochi. We just call it strawberry mochi. The kind we buy has sweet bean paste and a strawberry inside.] There is a green variety of mochi flavored with "yomogi" (mugwort). [I love yomogi! They also make bread with it and it’s one of my favorite treats. Does anyone in America eat mugwort?]

Mochi Trivia: In Japanese folk tradition, rabbits living on the Moon produce mochi in the traditional method with mallets and mortars. This legend is based on the traditional idea that identifies the markings of the moon as a rabbit pounding mochi. [Americans see a man’s face in the moon, but the Japanese see a rabbit.]

Red bean paste (or "azuki" bean paste )is a sweet, dark purplish-red paste used in Chinese cuisine, Japanese confectionery and Korean cuisine. It is prepared by boiling, mashing azuki beans and then sweetening the paste with sugar or honey.

Okay…that’s it for the definitions. Mochi plays a big role in Japanese food and culture, so I felt it was worth it to spend some time explaining everything. Now I’ll write the blog to describe last Friday, as well as the photos.

By the way, it's been 10 years...

For anyone who is interested, today is the ten-year anniversary of the day Aaron and I met each other. Most people probably don’t remember the date of their first meeting, but Aaron and I met on a Friday the 13th, so it’s been easy to remember. It wasn’t much of a bad luck day for us all those years ago, was it? I guess we feel like celebrating this particular anniversary because of the fact that since the day we met, we’ve been together as a couple. No break-ups or “let’s-slow-things-down”. Just us, together, the whole time. Ten years. Wow! Pretty cool, wouldn’t you say? We think so.

Aaron, if you ever get around to reading this: I love you. And I put it up on our blog so everyone knows. Happy Ten Years!

Cheerios

Today we introduced Ryuua to the wonders of Cheerios. The boys all tucked in for an afternoon snack after school. Holt, being his usual self, insisted on his being dry. He only wanted milk in his cup. As you can see, everyone gave snack a thumbs up.

Ryuuya
Holt
Ridge

Kamiokoppe Barber

Today we decided it was time once again for Ridge and Holt to have a haircut. This particular event has become much easier since our discovery of the barber in Kamiokoppe.

If you will remember, Kamiokoppe is a tiny gathering of houses about ten minutes south of Nishiokoppe. I teach the five Kamiokoppe elementary school students once a week. Last month, we decided to give this particular barber a shot after Holt admired our neighbor’s hair cut. Ryuugi is four years old and lives across the street. He is Kaori and Nana’s youngest brother and Holt really liked his haircut. So, after asking Mrs. Taniguchi where they take their boys, we followed suit and went to Kamiokoppe.

This visit was much easier than last month’s, when Aaron had to set the boys in his lap. As you can see, both of the kids sat independently and even chatted with the barber. Ridge looks angry in the photos, but he’s just being serious.

The barber first cut their hair with scissors and a comb. We didn’t tell him how to cut it; he just started (same as last time). Perhaps last month we did mention something about Ryuugi’s hair. I’m not sure. Anyway, after cutting their hair all over with his scissors, he then dusted them off and gots out the straight razor. He carefully lathered up their necks and sideburn area and shaved away. I was nervous the first time, but he’s very good with the razor and there have not been any problems. We like this barber immensely. He’s always cheerful and pleased to see us. He doesn’t seem at all intimidated by our lack of Japanese, and he doesn’t speak a bit of English. Apparently, Aaron was actually turned away from a barbershop in Nayoro once, as soon as they discovered he didn’t speak any Japanese. Fortunately, we don’t have that problem here! Looks like this will become a monthly event for us. Maybe next time only the boys can go. What an idea!

Ridge looking serious
Using the razor
Holt chatting

Nishishou Matsuri and God's Eyes

Last Friday was Nishiokoppe Elementary School’s student festival. In Japanese, the word for elementary school is, “shougakko”. Nishiokoppe Shougakko’s nickname is “Nishishou”.

A common feature of festivals (“matsuri”) in Japan are the game booths, which are usually arranged throughout the festival area. The games are typically just for fun and involve tasks such as catching goldfish using a rice paper net. Other games are more like what you might see in America; fishing games, shooting things with a pellet gun, etc. As a fun activity, the elementary schools here (or maybe it’s just in our area) will have an annual “matsuri” organized by the students for the benefit of themselves and their parents.

On Friday, students at the elementary school didn’t have classes. Instead, the spent they morning setting up their game booths and preparing. At 10:15, a handful of parents arrived and the opening ceremony was held. This basically consisted of the 5/6th graders welcoming the guests and each of the other grades stood up to explain their game to the others.
Opening ceremony

Everyone, students and adults alike, were given tickets handmade by the students. These were to be used for each game.

The 5/6th graders had a paper airplane throwing contest/game. Set up in the gym, each person was allowed to choose between making their own and using a pre-made airplane. Then, standing at the designated line, each person threw their plane, with the landing point being marked by a piece of paper with their name on it. A tally was kept of each distance, and at the end of the matsuri, certificates were given to the five that went the furthest. All the participants of this game were given a small bag with two cookies, which the 5/6th graders had made.
Paper airplanes

The 2nd graders were quite clever in making this maze. Here, you can see three of them posing for the camera (as soon as Japanese children see a camera, they pose). One of them is inside the maze tunnel. This maze was a series of tunnels constructed with cardboard and arranged in the science room. Participants were required to crawl on hands and knees until reaching the end. Upon completion, each participant was told to reach into a box and draw out his or her “fortune”. The best explanation I got for what mine said had something to do with me completing a difficult task, such as climbing a mountain, and then I would yell at the end. I still don’t get it, but I had fun nonetheless.
Maze game

For the first grade game, there was a simulation of the goldfish catching game I mentioned earlier. The kids had made small nets out of rings and fixed rice paper to them. The task was then to scoop out as many plastic bottle caps as possible before the rice paper completely dissolved. I only got one. Each participant was given an origami shape when the finished.

The 3/4th grade had a variety of games to play and they were set up in the big multi-purpose room used for lunch and English classes. One table had something like Shrinky Dinks (draw on plastic then melt it and it shrinks down in size). Other games were a fishing game, a game where you used a flat fan to try and drop a balloon into various boxes worth various points, and a game called “You Back.” After watching, “You Back” for a few minutes, I realized that it was essentially a drinking game. It involves trying to keep track of whose turn it is to talk based on whether the person before you said, “you”, “back”, or “jump”. I think I’ll hurt my fingers typing if I try to explain it any more than that.

The games went on for about 2 hours and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It amazed me just how quickly the kids cleaned up the multi-purpose room to prepare it for lunch. They had removed their stuff and replaced the table in about ten minutes. Within about forty minutes of the ending of the matsuri, we were all seated at our tables and eating lunch.

That afternoon, I taught my 5/6th grade English class. What with it being the holiday season and all, I have planned several craft activies. After all, what’s Christmas without crafts? So, the older kids and I made God’s Eyes. Now, I’ve tried really hard to find Popsicle sticks, the ever-present, America’s-most-common-craft-material, but to no avail. So, we used the most logical replacement: disposable chopsticks. I mean, really, how could I not? I can get 30 sets of disposable chopsticks for a mere 100 yen (less than a dollar). Here are a couple of photos of the kids working on them. Several of them really got into it and had a great time. Mr. Kamaya was curious about them, also. He had seen me working on an example while sitting at my desk. He commented that they might be nice to put in the Komu, so I had the 5/6th graders make a few extra. Now, there are some hanging in the multi-purpose room, and at the Komu (the wooden playground we always go to). Pretty cool!
L to R: Sayuri, Minako, and Kaori
L to R: Kaori, Natsumi, Shiori
L to R: Musashi and Tatsushi
One wall
above the sinks