Thursday, December 20, 2007

Beauty in Every Fallen Leaf

This one may take top prize as the latest entry thus far: three weeks. I don't know where to begin to describe the sheer volume of time-consuming activities that render our lives here busy beyond belief - and thus I won't endeavor to. I'll just say that "I've been a little engaged," and leave it at that.

So! Last (3) weekend(s ago), decided to crack one of the biggest eggs that Japan has to offer: The 1000+ year old city that is Kyoto - seat of emperors and cultural hub of the whole shebang. It's probably the one city that I've wanted to visit for as long as I've known about Japan. It's always held a piquing interest to know of the history that walks the very streets; that many a person since very long before I was born walked the same ones - It's fascinating.

First stop was Kinkakuji. This temple dates back some 800 years or so, however the actual building that we see is less than 100 years old itself. Nonetheless, it doesn't take away from the marvel of what it once was. And the nice thing about the compound is the surroundings of nature. The whole area is this sea of red and gold and green that frankly makes Canadian fall seem like just another season.







The afternoon continued on with a destinationless wandering around the backstrees and alleyways of the city. One really gets that "lost in time" feel when they're going down streets that have changes very little over the course of centuries.

The following noteworthy stop was Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple with over 1,000 years of history, and whose buildings date back almost 400 years. Truth be told, didn't take advantage AS MUCH of the cultural aspects of the temple, but, as it seems everyone else there was about, taking in the views from the temple was what it seemed to be about. Looking out over the forests and parks to see Kyoto in the background surrounded by mountains with the sunset approaching... No words of mine nor pictures that I could have taken could do it justice. It is such a sight that there is no ifs, ands, or buts about me returning to do it all over again. Simply incredible. When the ancient Japanese were designing a city, they certainly had their game faces on.

All and all, the trip was short, but sweet - Lasting only that day. It can be said with certainty that I will be heading back there will all due speed, hopefully in the spring when the cherry blossoms come in. This city did not fall short in any capacity and as captivated me to seek more. Although it goes without saying that if one ever visits Japan that they must visit this city, I can now put my official endorsement behind it with all urgings that descriptions are understatements and it must be seen to be known.






Tuesday, December 18, 2007

"Do you agree with the idea that housework is for women?": A Student's Perspective

In my second year writing class, the students are doing a unit on housework with overtones of gender roles. They had a short assignment in which they had to evaluate the question, "Do you agree with the idea that housework is for women?", and respond with their own opinion. The following is one student's response that caused me to laugh for quite the while because I was picturing his situation in my mind. The spelling has been corrected for sake of legibility, but the grammar and word order are exactly as they appear on his paper.

I disagree with the idea. Because now, many Japanese women is working. My father very tired when finish father's works. But, my mother too. My mother and my father many mouth battle. But, they start the home work as soon as finish mouth battle. For example, my mother is wash the dish and clears the table. My father is smoking and eat a ice cream. My mother say "Hey you! You wash the your sox for yourself!" My father say "Yes, yes."

Monday, December 17, 2007

Mochi, Mochi, Mochi, I made you out of rice...

I've recently discovered a new form of therapy designed to relieve stress and keep you in shape all at the same time. It runs along the same lines as punching bags and stress balls: Make mochi.

One of my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) from one school invited me to make mochi with her and her family (Including her twin brother, who happens to be a JTE at my other school) last Saturday.

For those of you not familiar with what mochi is: It's a rice cake made from really sticky rice. You pound it into a paste, as indicated here, then break it into smaller pieces and mold it. You can get it anytime, but it's usually a New Year's food. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi

You cook rice in a thicker-and-stickier-than-usual manner to get the right consistency, then you toss it all into an usu (type of big mortar) and mash it all together with kine (pestle - think high school science, but about 20x as big. And with handles. Once it's sufficiently mashed, that's when the therapy/fitness aspect kicks in. You have two people working on it: one to bash and the other to fix. The one bashing uses the kine in overhand strikes to beat the rice into paste; the one fixing keeps their hand wet with water and smacks the rice. This is done both to keep the rice from drying out, and also to indicate where to hit next. When the basher is breaking through all the way to the bottom, the fixer has to grab and end and fold it over to ensure that there's always a thick layer of rice to pound. Crazy thing is that this is done in between the strikes, so the fixer has about a half second in which to either smack the rice or grab and end and fold it over. Rhythm is key because it is very easy for the basher to bash fixer's hand, which no one wants to see happen.

Once the rice is no longer rice and instead becomes sort of a white, homogeneous paste, it is placed on a wooden board with flour and separated into smaller pieces. These are then worked out by hand into disc-shaped portions that are left to cool. Once that's done, eat! It's a traditional New Year's food here
(Mid-sentence aside: New Year's here is where it's at. Christmas isn't really celebrated other than to give gifts, that being because more than 90% of the country is Shinto/Buddhist. But! New Year's is the spiritual time to let go of the current year and hope for good luck in the coming year. Very family-intensive. I make it that Japan's New Year is analogous to the West's Christmas in terms of family-time and sentimental meaning.)
and so it's often bought or given out as gifts. It's also used in the home as offerings at shrines, and and charms meant to bring good fortune.

That all being said, it's quite relaxing to picture someone's face in the rice while you're beating it to high heaven. Not only does it turn it into paste faster, but it feels oh so good. I think that gyms should start stocking striking apparatuses - they work wonders for both the body and mind.

One bale of rice is more than enough to tire one out. So you can imagine my resignation when I learned that we were making six. Our rapid swings and devastating blows expended on the first bale soon gave way to haphazard hacks and snail-paced rhythms towards the end, and the time that we needed for break in between increased arithmetically.

After many a tired and grueling hour later, we all enjoyed lunch together, at which it seemed that my glass of beer could never be filled fast enough after the smallest sip. My JTE and his infant daughter had the right idea with a nap, and it goes without saying that as soon as I got home, I followed suit.

I'll be spending the next 11 months, 30 days training for next year's mochi-making day. I'll need every day, believe you me.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Delicious Multiculturalism Goes International (Or, They call me Mr. Tibbs!... er, Mr. Levy)

As the law of averages will oft tell us in life, everything tends to have a way to even out. We hear it all the time: "Can't have the good without the bad", "Can't enjoy victory without knowing defeat", etc. Yesterday, I had one of those high days - the ones you get out of bed for and make work worth going to (At least, so much as one would want to go to work as opposed to spending all day in bed).

Day begins with the discovery that my afternoon classes are cancelled. For whatever reason, my one school has cancelled afternoon classes from now until the end of the semester. So the kids can go home at lunch. This nets me with just one class. Huzzah. Spend the first period making eggnog with one or two of my teachers for the first time. I never knew how easy it was to make. I highly recommend for those who have ready access to milk and eggs. After the time warp that accelerated me past my class, enjoyed lunch, and then prepped for my afternoon.

Today, we made Nanaimo Bars.

I'll have to explain why. So, maybe a month ago, the librarian approached me and asked of I could prepare a Canadian dessert for some students in December. I can't remember what the reason was - perhaps it was just an internationalization thing wherein I do something Canadian and talk with the kdis about it. I replied that I would and at once set to think of a sweet that screams "Canada". All I can say is amen to Wikipedia, because within five minutes of searching, I discovered the joy that is Nanaimo Bar. I've been slowly learning how to make it over the last month - even testing it out on friends during Thanksgiving Dinner. And yesterday was show time.


So for a week or so, there were ads around school saying, "Let's cook with Raymond-sensei!" I was expecting perhaps a half dozen students to show up; imagine my surprise when a good 20+ kids were in the room waiting for me, in addition to about six or so teachers. In a short and skinny, they made it all while I - the quote-unquote expert - supervised. They did a great job, and all turned out well. Afterwords, we ate and drank tea. The aforementioned eggnog was a surprise for them, as I didn't tell them that I'd be making it. All and all, it was a fun experience for me, but the best came at the very end.

Most of the students reluctantly tried the eggnog, reluctantly especially so after I told them that it was made from eggs. Some flat out refused. I got a few smiles from it and a few interesting expressions, but all and all they just seemed to quietly enjoy it. When we were all done and cleaned up, and the students had left, the teachers and I were talking when another student entered the room. She was a quiet girl who also attended my Jack O'Lantern demonstration a few months back. She apologized that she was unable to attend due to some unavoidable circumstance. The teachers gave her a piece of Nanaimo, and I also offered her a cup of eggnog to try. She took one sip, then looked up with widened eyes and exclaimed in a quiet voice, "Oishi!" (Delicious), after which she quickly finished the rest in a few quick gulps. Most of the other students just took it down without too much expression, so perhaps her genuine reaction stood out in my mind. I don't know why I thought that that was meaningful, but it really made my day when she thanked me for the delicious "Canadian" drink.
They've asked me to do this sort of thing again in the spring, but this time make a Canadian food typically found at lunch/dinner. Any ideas?