Adventures in cooking

I love to cook. so much so that when asked by a colleague what I wanted to do to get into the community more I said join a cooking class, with out even a thought.

Of course, I had no idea how to go about FINDING a cooking class, much less signing up for one.

To my great joy and surprise, while wandering aimlessly through the underground shopping center at the train station, we walked straight into a cooking school, which just happened to be offering sample lessons!

In my best Japanese, I awkwardly asked for information about the class. S-Sensei ran back to the desk and brought me a floor guide to the shopping area.

"Yes, I know I'm in Passeo."

Let's try this again...

"I like to cook. I learn to cook?" (Yes, this is direct translation of my awkwardness, S-sensei deserves a raise for dealing with me!)

I was able to sign up for a class a few weeks later.

The class itself was really fun. After I got over my initial terror of having to learn something new in Japanese, I had a blast. S-Sensei was eager to practice her English with me, so between the two of us trying, we understood each other pretty well.

Here's the cake we made in the sample class.

Hands down, the funniest part of the class was making the whipped cream. As I learned from my mom, when whipped heavy cream first turns into whipped cream, and then into butter/buttermilk. So, when I was using the hand mixer on the whipped cream and saw it reach the proper consistency I asked S-Sensei, if it was okay. She said, "A little more." and walked away.

I watched the whipped cream start to develop chunks and gradually separate into butter and butter milk. But I kept the mixer going, because the teacher said, "a little more." Maybe she wanted me to make butter for the cake filling.

When she came back and saw the butter, she was quite surprised. Apparently she had never seen that happen before! (If you haven't seen it either, I recommend trying it out. Quite a fun cooking science experiment!)

Me, S-Sensei, and my beautiful cake (with second-try whipped cream filling)

I had a great time, and am excited to go again to another sample class that S-Sensei invited me to.

The Trials and Tribulations of Learning Japanese.

Japanese is filled with English words said with a Japanese accent.

teburu (table)

ko-hi (coffee)

bah nah nah (banana)

takushi (taxi)

hanbah-gah- (hamburger)

Oren jee juu suu (orange juice)

And there are so many more. More times than I care to count, I have asked what to call something in Japanese and was told an English word. I've come to the conclusion, that if I can't think of the word in Japanese, I should just say it in English with an accent.

This love of English words does have it's downside though. When I try to order a caramel macchiato at Starbucks, I get blank stares unless I say "kya me ru ma ki ah to. " Even though the menu is written in English over the barista's head.

Or if when talking about our English class, I mention the text book and no one can seem to figure out what I am talking about. But then some light bulb goes off and some one says, "Ohh, the tekisuto." and now, miraculously everyone knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

This past week, Japanese English kicked my butt again.

At church last week, Sunday, the pastor was saying something about Tohoku, and our church going to "BorAntia."

Hmm, Borantia must be the city in Tohoku where they are serving.

But 3 days later, a non-church member was talking to me about BorAntia Japanese classes. And how I should take one. And how a mutual friend went to BorAntia in Tohoku.

Huh, is BorAntia a university, or an organization that does both Japanese classes and tsunami relief? Just nod and smile.

The next day, I was asked by a church member if Stephen and I were going to BorAntia in Tohoku.

It wasn't until Friday that I figured out that people were not saying the name of some city of organization. They were saying "BorAntia" the Japanese way to pronounce "Volunteer".

Our church went to volunteer in Tohoku, and my friend was suggesting volunteer Japanese classes that were held at a community center.

So, this week I have learned that in order to learn Japanese, I must relearn English.

Yet another reason we need to learn more Japanese

A lot of things can happen when you don't know a language. You might be asked up in front of the church to be introduced as the new missionaries, with no foreknowledge (so that's why our name was in the bulletin every week with today's date next to it!). You may spend all afternoon preparing for the Jr high boy who is coming to your English class, and be quite surprised when a 31 year-old woman walks through the doors instead. You might even find your self a member of the Easter Choir, even though you have no prior singing experience.

A few weeks ago, we were hanging out after church, just like every week. When a church member starts rearranging chairs and and states ".....masho," which means let's.... (I didn't catch the rest of the verb, so I had no idea when I was agreeing to.) Just nod and smile and follow their lead.

The church member, M, hands out a song sheet, "Lord I lift your name on High," and has me read the English portion for the group.

I'm more than happy to help out. I figure they are just practicing a song for next week, and want to make sure they are singing the English portion correct. So, I model the words and sing along after we've read through it a couple of times.

Then the weird part came. M started assigning parts. Wow, this seems like a lot of work for an English song in a Japanese church, but whatever. I keep singing and figure that since M is in a choir, he is just having some fun with us. cool.

It wasn't until the next week, when we not only didn't sing the song during service, but then after service, prepared the chairs and handed out the papers, did I realize this wasn't just some song for fun.

We got tricked into singing in the Easter Choir!

Check out Stephen struggling though. He didn't know when we were getting into either.

I must say, after the initial shock, It has been kind of fun. I am still not sure what the Japanese part is saying, or what note I am supposed to be singing. You mean I can't just sing it how I want? I am thankful that Japanese is phonetic. And that there are much better singers on either side of me, who sing much louder that I do.

The "Number 2"

There are basically 3 hair cuts in Japan.

(1)Long, (2) short and (3)REALLY short

1)

2)

3)

After my first trip to the hair salon, I am now the "proud" owner of cut number 2.

Now, I didn't walk into the hair salon with the intention of having 1/2 of my hair chopped off. Nor did I expect to have bangs when I walked out, but here I am.

After been in Japan for about 7 weeks, I decided I needed a hair cut. Nothing fancy, just chopped at my collar bone, with a few layers. I asked my English-speaking neighbor where I could get a cut. She pointed to a sign down the street that read "Ka-to" (cut).

The shop was very close. Less than a 2 minutes walk. Inside, the hair dresser was working on two ladies at once: one getting a perm, and the other just finishing up a hair cut. I was able to have a seat quickly and explain in my broken Japanese, and her Broken English, along with a lot of hand motions, that I wanted my hair cut to here (points to collar bone). "Layers?" She asks me. Horray, I was worried how I would explain that. "yes," I say emphatically, "a few."

As she is piling the hair on my head to begin, the lady who just stood up makes a comment about gaijin (foreigner) hair and comes over to feel mine.

Once she goes, the hair dresser and I start up a long converstation filled with short sentences like "I come from California. Where do you come from?" "I like to cook." "I teach English." Only in Japanese. Mixed with random English from her.

A bit later, she shows me myself in the mirror. My hair had been cut to the right length, but no layers. If she hadn't have suggested it, I would not have asked. "Layers?" I ask.

"Ok" comes the reply. And she proceed to lift up random pieces of hair and start chopping. My hair is getting shorter by the second. I work hard to mask the panic from showing on my face. When she is finished, she hands me the mirror again, and I notice I now have bangs (something I haven't had since I was 9!).

Thanking her, I paid and rushed home.

I am starting to appreciate my new hair cut, but am continuing in my montra of "hair grows."

I think I'll go back to her again, at least once more. But next time with a picture of what I want.

Enjoy the "after" photos.

What a week!

What an eventful few days it has been! Filled with joy, panic, crying, and the realization that God is in control no matter what.

First, Joy:

This Sunday Stephen and I decided to get our house into the Christmas spirit. We stopped by the tree lot on the way home from church to get our traditional "Charlie Brown" tree. At this point in our lives, we have so few ornaments, and so little space, a tiny tree is just perfect. We also decided to get a wreath for the first time. (wow, we sure felt grown up! :) )

I was so proud of our tiny tree, and Christmas decorations that I wanted to sit down and blog. After pouring myself a glass of water, I sat down to my computer and proceeded to knock the FULL glass of water onto my laptop keyboard!

Panic! :

Immediately, I flipped my lappy over and screamed for a towel. water was dripping from it as I tried to wipe down the keys. In the confusion, I am pretty sure I hit the power button one or two times (something in hindsight, I should have avoided).

Stephen was sent to research my predicament on his computer, while I tended to mine. sure enough, DON'T TURN IT ON while it's wet! was the number on piece of advice on the internet.

I ended up flipping mine on a towel with paper towels shoved under the keys to wick out the water for 48 hours, to avoid shorting anything any further.

Check out my lovely paper-towel-strip work under the keys. Nice huh!?

Crying:

I'm not sure if you have ever lost, crashed, or shorted a computer, but it is a stressful thing to do. In this modern age my life is on my laptop: my files, my music, my photos, everything. So I did what any one would do ( or at least anyone who cries as much as I do). I cried for 2 hours.

God is in control no matter what! :

Over the last two days, God has been working on my heart that computer or no computer He is my sustenance, and my portion. Though His Spirit, and a loving husband, I came to remember that "life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions."

Well, 48 hours of drying on the desk was up tonight. After prayer and a reminder that if it is dead, it's ok, I put the battery back in, and pressed the power button.

I am glad to say, my computer is alive. There is no damage to be seen, except the light is out on my keyboard, but I can deal with not typing in the dark. :)

The LORD is good.